We have seen displays that curve and displays that you can bend and roll up. The next step will, according to Samsung, be very durable displays that you can stretch. These displays can be used in entirely new types of products.
Update 29.5.2017: Video added.
Stretchable displays
This is first of its kind. The display, which is based on OLED technology, is currently being showcased to the industry at the SID conference in Los Angeles, USA.
The screen can stretch like a balloon in both directions up to 12 millimeters while still maintaining high resolution. It can also be bent, rolled together, and twisted. The OLED display has been developed by Samsung Display who sells its panels to every company interested in buying. The prototype is 9.1 inches in diagonal.
Stretchable displays are by industry watchers considered the ultimate manifestation of the flexible display trend. It allows screens to be implemented in entirely new ways. Samsung believes that its display can be used in wearable products as well as products in the IoT (Internet of Things) ecosystem.
- “While current flexible OLED is able to be transformed in only one side, this stretchable OLED can be transformed -- whether curved, bended or rolled -- in both sides, above and below” said Samsung Display.
OLED technology makes it possible to create displays in a variety of form factors because the display is made from one single layer. An LCD panel on the other hand consists of several layers sandwiched together, which makes it rigid.
Samsung emphasized that it is an early prototype and that further research and development will be necessary to commercialize a product. The company did not provide a time frame.
