The US Patent Office has granted LG Electronics a patent that adds transparent displays to the design of a potential foldable snmartphone.

The patent is not new, as it was filed in December of 2015, but was published online by USPTO just yesterday.

The patent describes a foldable device featuring a display with adjustable transparency in one half, with the other half of the device having some transparent portion and an opaque section to accommodate its battery. Here is how the patent's description reads:

A mobile terminal includes: a body including a first body, a second body, and a connection unit configured to connect the first and second bodies to each other so that an angle between the first and second bodies is changeable, and the body formed so that at least one region thereof is formed of a transmissive region; a transparent flexible display unit mounted to one surface of the body, and configured to output screen information; a sensing unit configured to sense a first state where the flexible display unit is unfolded, and a second state where the first and second bodies are overlapped with each other, by change of the angle; and a controller configured to change transparency of a region corresponding to the transmissive region, based on change of the angle.

The transparent foldable design in LG’s new patent also describes an interesting hinge.

LG didn't come up with a foldable a phone earlier this year when rivals did (Samsung and Huawei,) and chose to release a second-screen accessory for its upcoming LG V50.

Although you should not expect a transparent foldable smartphone soon, LG has obviously the necessary technology to make it a reality in the future.