Samsung Display Unveils Wild Rollable, Foldable OLED Concepts

Samsung might have conceded to LG in the TV display wars, but it's holding up formidably in the mobile arena. The company announced several innovations at SID's Display Week, the biggest annual conference dedicated to the screens that have proliferated in society.

One of Samsung's OLED-powered concepts is dubbed Rollable Flex, offering an expandable screen that stretches from 49mm to up to 254.4mm in length. Samsung previewed the tech back in September, and we've seen similar concepts from companies like TCL confined to smaller phone-sized form factors. Here, Samsung demonstrates how a 13-inch laptop display can expand to 17 inches, offering neat versatility when your productivity demands more screen real estate.

"The biggest feature is that we were able to turn a difficult-to-carry large-sized display into a portable form factor by making it rollable," Samsung Display explained. The company likens the internal mechanism to an ancient scroll.

Meanwhile, Sensor OLED hides biometric authentication modules behind the display, allowing devices to read your fingerprint and heart rate without direct contact or outward exposure. "To accurately measure a person's blood pressure, it is necessary to measure the blood pressure of both arms," said Samsung Display. "The Sensor OLED display can simultaneously sense the fingers of both hands, providing more accurate health information than existing wearable devices."

Perhaps most impressive among Samsung's showings is Flex In & Out, named so because it's the first OLED panel that can flex in either direction. The tech potentially negates the need to include a secondary display on foldable devices like the Galaxy Fold.

Imagine folding it completely shut to protect the display when not in use, opening it like a book to use in tablet mode, and then folding it in reverse to use it as a traditional candy bar phone with the added benefit of a two-sided display. Samsung says it could contribute to lighter and thinner foldables.

If that's not enough, Samsung wants to combine its foldable and slidable displays in a new concept called "Flex Hybrid" to create devices that bend to your every will and whim. These are truly game-changing technologies, and it's safe to say smartphone design may be revitalized after years of industry-wide stagnation.

It's truly wondrous stuff, but with no word on planned commercial projects, the timeline for seeing these displays deployed in actual products is its own mystery. We're keeping a hawk's eye on Samsung to know exactly when it'll usher in these digital contortionists.