Samsung to reveal world’s first “stretchable” OLED display this week
23 May 2017
Samsung's display division will reveal the world's first ''stretchable'' OLED display at the Society for Information Display 2017 in Los Angeles, where many major panel manufacturers will showcase their latest inventions from 23 May to 25 May.
According to Korean media outlets, which first reported the news, the stretchable display was "the most advanced flexible display" to date.
The specific panel, which will be showcased at Display Week will sport a diagonal of 9.1 inches and can bend up to 12mm (about 0.47 inches) in both directions even as it retained a high resolution.
According to commentators, this might not seem to be a big deal, but the technology was still in its early development stages and will be perfected in the future. It was too early to tell as yet, whether a smartphone bearing such a screen will actually be built.
According to a Samsung Display representative, while current flexible OLED can be transformed in only one side, the stretchable OLED can be transformed, whether curved, bent or rolled both above and below, www.phonearena.com reported.
The South Korean innovation is likely to find application in the wearable and automobile industry, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things.
Meanwhile, a number of patents had already be filed around the display, with Apple submitting a patent in February this year for a stretchy "input/output device" - essentially, a stretchable iPhone - while Samsung had been rumoured for a while to be working on a "Galaxy X" smartphone that would expand into a tablet.
According to industry watchers, sales of the global flexible display market could rise to $15.5 billion in 2022, from $3.7 billion last year.
According to London-based research firm IHS Markit, the displays could continue to evolve in the coming years. "The varieties of flexible displays include screens that are bendable, curved and edge-curved, but fully foldable form factors are expected within the next two years," Jerry Kang, an IHS analyst said, Mashable reported.