Display Week, an annual event when firms show off their greatest (and weirdest) displays, was the first time we’d seen curved, rollable, sliding, and foldable screens. When it comes to foldable and expandable displays, there’s a lot more variety now than there was just a few years ago.
These are screens that maybe no one asked for, yet the advancements are all there for makers to choose from. The following are some of our favourite concepts.
LG’s OLED panel with a 360-degree field of view
Foldable 8-inch OLED touchscreen from LG Display was demonstrated at CES. On top of all that, it can be used as both an inner and an outer screen by folding it in and out. A big screen is created when the screen is unfolded.
In order to reduce creases, LG employs a “special folding structure.” LG has showed us that a single, foldable OLED touchscreen is achievable, unlike the other folding OLED panels we’ve seen that have additional layers or mechanical hinges to boost endurance in one specific direction. Devices equipped with this panel will be able to quickly make the switch from phone to tablet mode.
According to LG, the foldable OLED display is capable of 200,000 folds. Even when the screen is folded in half (creating a phone-sized gadget with an OLED touchscreen on both sides), the manufacturer believes the device is sturdy enough to be thrown into a bag without fear of damage.
There are 2,480 by 2,200 pixels on the screen, which is equivalent to Huawei’s Mate X2’s internal display. TCL’s 360-degree Ultra Flex concept foldable is a strong influence on the display.
LG’s 17-inch OLED laptop that folds into itself
It wasn’t just LG’s OLED phone/tablet idea that was shown.
LG had a 17-inch OLED laptop with a clamshell design that unfolded into a single large folding screen that was also foldable.
Flex G and Flex S from Samsung
Samsung’s Flex G and S displays were first shown off at CES 2022 and are multi-fold panels for smartphones. A brochure-like folding mechanism is present in the Flex G’s design. As a result of the tri-fold construction, Samsung claims the phone will last longer. A map-folding display called the Flex S does the same thing, except it does so in an outward direction, forming what the company calls a “S-shaped” curve. It’s “almost like having numerous PCs,” according to Samsung, because the three displays can be utilised alone or together.
Mobile phones with displays that slide out horizontally or vertically were also on show by Samsung. Despite the fact that we’ve seen rollable screen idea designs from firms like TCL, Oppo, and others for the previous few years, they haven’t yet made it to commercial phones.
Samsung foldable OLED gaming display
If you’re looking for a larger screen, but don’t want to sacrifice portability, Samsung Display’s foldable display has you covered. To get the most out of your gaming experience, you can also hold the device vertically, with the screen on top and the controller below.
Samsung also showed off the first 240Hz OLED laptop panel, which will be used in high-end gaming laptops like the upcoming Razer Blade 15, later this year..
We can’t talk about foldable displays without mentioning Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 — a phone that folds out into a tablet — but LG’s 360-degree OLED takes the prise. In order to preserve the OLED display from damage, the screen folds inward. Flexpai from Royole also has an OLED display that folds outward.
As digital displays get more and more flexible, we’ll have to see how successfully these ideas make the leap from concept to finished product before we can say for sure that they’ll work.