LG's New Stretchable Screen Makes Foldable Displays Look Boring

LG may have given up its smartphone dreams, but the company continues to be among the leading manufacturers of high-quality displays. LG's display-making subsidiary — LG Display — is among the leading suppliers of displays to various companies, including biggies like Sony and Apple. In fact, if you use a mainstream consumer electronics product with an OLED panel, chances are high that they're either sourced from LG or Samsung.

Along with Samsung Display — LG's display division has often been in the news for pioneering several display innovations ranging from transparent OLED screens to foldable and rollable displays. Earlier this year, LG was in the news again after it debuted the world's largest OLED screen (measuring 97-inches) called the LG OLED.EX. While LG could not bring its rollable smartphone concept to fruition due to closing down its smartphone division, the company is now hoping to become a pioneer in an entirely new display concept.

LG Display recently showcased what it claims to be the world's first high-resolution stretchable display. LG claims that this new panel is the first in the industry to achieve 20% stretchability with a pixel density of 100 PPI.

While LG's stretchable display prototype measures 12-inches across, it can be stretched to 14-inches when required. Besides getting the ability to stretch, LG's "free form" stretchable display can also be folded and twisted without the fear of distortion or damage, the company confirmed. LG is pretty vague in explaining the technology used to achieve this flexibility. LG's blog post about the display refers to a "highly resilient film-type substrate" as the material used to make this panel. This is the same silicon-based material that is used to make contact lenses.

What makes the display even more interesting is that it doesn't appear to be an OLED panel. LG confirmed that the stretchable display uses a micro-LED light array as a light source with a claimed pixel pitch of less than 40μm. In addition, this panel also uses a flexible S-form spring wired system that allows it to be flexible and durable at the same time. The 100 PPI resolution — while low by smartphone standards — is perfectly usable for larger gadgets, including laptops and monitors. However, given the low resolution of the display in its current avatar, the chances of making it to a smartphone remain low.

LG believes that its stretchable panel will open up entirely new ways of using displays. Its stretchable and foldable form factor allows it to be attached to unconventional objects ranging from clothes and skin to furniture and automobiles. While the company stopped short of giving us a time frame in which they expect this stretchable display to go mainstream, it did say that they intend to complete this project without much delay.