Samsung Shows Off The Folding And Sliding Displays Of The Future

Samsung is investing substantially in flexible displays that can fold, roll, and slide. If you think this effort is just for its current line of Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip smartphones, you definitely haven't seen the company's latest ideas. While we're still very far away from a future that has touch screens everywhere, Samsung, particularly its Samsung Display business, has an intermediate step planned that is a tad closer to the plausible and the possible. Unsurprisingly, it will revolve around devices that can expand their screen real estate in different ways, folding multiple times or sliding in and out as needed — and they don't have to be confined to just phones, either.

It's easy to criticize Samsung or some consumers for seemingly having an obsession with ever-expanding screen sizes, but it's really something that would benefit most people in the long run. There's only so much space we can dedicate to a large display, especially for something that has to go in our bag or pocket. Admittedly, this flexible innovation doesn't make much sense if the screen is stationary like on a desktop monitor, but Samsung Display also has something to show for those kinds of products, too.

At the ongoing Display Week 2022 convention, Samsung Display is showcasing what it has been cooking behind closed doors. There is a variety of screens that try to address different use cases, not just the typical foldable smartphone form factor. This even includes already large displays that can grow even bigger if you need to reveal more content off to the sides.

At this point, many people will already be familiar with foldable displays, even if they still don't subscribe to the hype. Samsung, however, won't be stopping at what's already on the market. There have been patents and rumors of a tri-fold display or a display that can fold twice, and Samsung has two of those already in the works. The Flex G folds inward twice while the Flex S folds inward and outward like a zigzag.

New to the roster, however, is a 12.4-inch "slidable" display. Actually, that's its full, unfurled size, but the screen is just 8.1-inches diagonally when in its compact form. The display slides, or rather rolls, out from both the left and right sides to reveal the rest of the screen, promising a better viewing experience for videos and multitasking. Of course, Samsung also has ideas for phones that slide off to one side only (like the top) and that fold like a notebook similar to the Microsoft Surface Duo, but without the gap.

Although probably less exciting, Samsung Display is also flaunting technologies that you can already get today, or at least very soon. That comes in the form of its QD-Display, which entered mass production in November 2021. This tech will be available as 55- and 65-inch TVs, as well as a 34-inch monitor. Keep in mind that exact availability will vary by market.