Blame it on Samsung.
Or wait, let’s blame it on the chap they call my Barra Sahib, Hugo Barra.

Late last year, Xiaomi launched the Mi Mix, a Phone with no bezels to speak of around its display. And to show just how seamlessly the phone could appear as compared to the real world, a number of Xiaomi executives showcased the device in which the image on the phone seemed to blend in with a larger picture – the most common being the phone being held in a hand and showing a part of the hand behind the phone on its display, making the phone almost seem transparent.

It was a neat trick. And it has been one that Samsung has duly picked up to highlight the edge to edge “Infinity Display” of its Galaxy S8 device, placing the phone in situations that made it appear almost transparent. The core idea was the same: to show that the phone’s absence of bezels made its display seem almost a part of reality.

The fact, however, is that the concept has more to do with photography than with the display itself. Yes, having a display with slim bezels will help, but at the end of the day, you can make almost ANY phone out there look transparent, a la the S8 or the Mi Mix. And no, it is not difficult at all. All it requires is some clever photography. Just follow these steps:

1. Use your phone (whichever it is) to take a picture of the area on which you wish to place your phone. So say you want to take a picture of the iPhone 7 Plus placed on the palm of your hand. Take a picture of the palm of your hand with the iPhone 7. Or if you want to place a Gionee A1 on a book cover, take a picture of book cover using the Gionee A1. Remember to take a close up, high-resolution image.
2. That done, place the phone where you want it – on your palm, on a book – and open the picture that you have snapped in step 1.
3. And here we come in with the bit of magic. Align the image open on your phone with the object on which you place it (your hand, a book, whatever), and now simply zoom in out, depending on your requirements to make the image fit in with the object on which it is placed.This requires some practice and the more detailed image you have snapped, the better the results will be. Remember to keep size and patterns in mind – don’t obsess too much, though, the human eye will often “autocorrect” what it sees.
4. That done, simply take a snap of the phone on the area on which you have placed the phone. If you have done your adjustments right, your phone should look transparent and a part of the surface on which it is placed.

Yes, that’s all it takes really and it is really about the photograph you take and how you adjust it on a display rather than the display itself. Yes, having thinner bezels will make the phone “fit” in more easily, but you can also place the phone on a slightly darker background to make bezels blend into it.

Go right ahead, create your own Transparent Phone snap. No Infinity Display required.