Samsung · Display · Filed Jun 25, 2026 · USPTO published Nov 12, 2026 · This week's release

Samsung Files Patent for TV Lights That Glow on Your Wall When a Message Arrives

Samsung's filing describes a TV that tells you a message arrived by changing the light on the wall behind it, near where the app would normally pop up. Your movie stays untouched until you decide to look.

By Patentlyze Team · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · 3 min read

A television screen lights up behind one edge to alert viewers to an incoming message before displaying the chat window. Drawing from patent filing US 2026/0362568 A1. — A television screen lights up behind one edge to alert viewers to an incoming message before displaying the chat window.All 13 drawings ↓

Publication number: US 2026/0362568 A1(US20260362568A1)
Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Filed · Published: Jun 25, 2026 · Nov 12, 2026
Inventors: Donghun KANG, Sunmin SON, Sangyoon LEE, Jingun JUNG, Seungbin OH
Status when we published: Waiting for an examiner
Document: 20 claims
US classification: 345/419
Parent application: Continuation of PCT/KR2024/017353 (filed Nov 6, 2024)(PCTKR2024017353)

What Samsung's glowing TV notification does

Imagine you're halfway through a tense movie when a friend texts you. Today, a TV usually does one of two things: it ignores the message, so you never know, or it drops a box over the picture, which breaks the mood.

Samsung's filing describes a third option. Some TVs have small lights along the back edge that wash colors onto the wall to match the picture. Samsung would reuse those lights as a quiet alert. When a message arrives, the lights closest to the spot where that app would normally appear glow in the app's color.

If you notice the glow and want to read the message, you give a command and the notification shows up over the picture. The filing also describes giving each family member their own color, so you can tell whose message it is without looking away.

From the filing · CLAIM 1

… a plurality of pixel elements on a front surface of the display and a plurality of light emitting elements on an edge region of a rear surface of the display …

Translation: The TV has regular pixels on the front and extra lights around the back edges.

How the rear-edge lights pick a spot and color

The display in the filing has two sets of lights. Ordinary pixels on the front show the picture. A row of small light-emitting elements along the edge of the back, split into left, right, top and bottom groups, shines onto the wall. Normally those back lights copy the colors from the matching part of the picture, like the surround lighting some TVs already have.

When a predetermined notification (a push alert, such as an instant message) arrives, the processor makes two choices:

Where to glow: it uses location information on the screen tied to the notification, such as the previous or default spot where that app's window appears, and lights the elements next to that spot.
What color to use: it uses color information related to the notification, such as the app's title-bar color, its main color, or a preset color.

The glow can stay on or flicker for a set time (5 seconds in one example). If you respond, say with a remote or a camera that tracks where you're looking, the message appears over the picture and the lights go off or return to picture colors. On a glasses-free 3D screen, the message is brought forward by blurring the 3D image or pushing it back, to avoid eye strain.

The filing also describes a color for each person, a progress bar shown as a strip of light filling along the bottom edge, and alerts from a nearby device such as an air purifier, with the glow placed where the TV knows that device is.

From the filing · THE ABSTRACT

… cause the at least one identified light emitting element to emit light based on color information related to the predetermined notification …

Translation: It makes the back lights glow in a specific color depending on what kind of alert comes in.

What this means for Samsung TV viewers

The practical payoff is a TV that can tell you something happened without making you stop watching. Anyone who has had a pop-up cover the last minute of an episode, or missed an important text because the screen stayed silent, will see the appeal. A glow on the wall is easy to ignore if you don't care and easy to spot if you do.

The filing goes beyond messages. The same lights could show a download or task progress along the bottom edge, point toward a home appliance that needs attention, or mark which player or video call participant is active. It builds on rear lighting the filing says TVs already use, so the idea is about new software rules for existing hardware rather than a new kind of screen.

Samsung's 133rd filing we've tracked in our display technology watchlist since May adds to a run that includes a floating hand-tracking screen and moisture-blocking holed screens.

Editorial take

Claim 1 is short and wide. It asks for a screen with pixels on the front and small lights on the rear edge, plus a processor that picks a light based on a screen location tied to a notification and colors it using information about that notification. Nothing in that wording says TV, messaging app, or that the lights must also copy the picture. Those details sit in the later claims.

If granted as written, that breadth would reach any screen with rear-edge lights that signals an alert this way, whether it is a living room TV or a large display in a lobby. The pairing of a light chosen by on-screen location and colored by notification information is what gives the claim its shape.

The idea is modest and easy to grasp, and it builds on rear lighting the filing says TVs already use. Anyone who has watched a pop-up cover a final scene will understand it at once.

Source: US 2026/0362568 A1 at the USPTO (PDF). Full patent text and figures are in the official publication.

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The drawings · 13 sheets

13 drawing sheets from US 2026/0362568 A1 · click any drawing to enlarge

Front screen and rear backlight strip on a television, drawing sheet 1 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 1 Front screen and rear backlight strip on a television

Internal parts that control pixels and rear light elements, drawing sheet 2 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 2 Internal parts that control pixels and rear light elements

Existing TVs pop alerts directly over the video, drawing sheet 3 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 3 Existing TVs pop alerts directly over the video

Rear lights glow before an alert appears on screen, drawing sheet 4 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 4 Rear lights glow before an alert appears on screen

Background video dims when a 3D alert window opens, drawing sheet 5 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 5 Background video dims when a 3D alert window opens

Multiple rear lights signal incoming messages from different apps, drawing sheet 6 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 6 Multiple rear lights signal incoming messages from different apps

Glowing lights match where an incoming notification will appear, drawing sheet 7 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 7 Glowing lights match where an incoming notification will appear

Assigning unique rear light colors to individual family members, drawing sheet 8 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 8 Assigning unique rear light colors to individual family members

Show the other 5 sheets

Backlights fill across the edge to track download progress, drawing sheet 9 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 9 Backlights fill across the edge to track download progress

Glowing zones pinpoint where different viewers sit, drawing sheet 10 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 10 Glowing zones pinpoint where different viewers sit

Matching wall lighting to the scene on the screen, drawing sheet 11 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 11 Matching wall lighting to the scene on the screen

Projecting alerts toward nearby smart home devices, drawing sheet 12 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 12 Projecting alerts toward nearby smart home devices

Steps for choosing which rear lights flash for notifications, drawing sheet 13 from US 2026/0362568 A1 — Sheet 13 Steps for choosing which rear lights flash for notifications

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The drawings · 13 sheets

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