LG Foldable And Rollable Screens Are On Display This Week
Samsung may have the lion's share of attention when it comes to its foldable screen in the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip but it is hardly the only display company playing around with the screens of the future. Although it hasn't launched any commercial product yet, LG has long been showing off its flexible screens that even go beyond simple folding or even bending. At this year's online version of the Society for Information Display conference, LG will be showcasing no less than four such applications in its "Unlimited Design Freedom Zone" that might make you wish you could actually be there.
Earlier this year, LG already revealed one such "design freedom" product in the guise of its Rollable OLED TV RX. That large 65-inch TV unrolls its screen from above when needed and hides from sight when not. LG is also presenting smaller 12-inch versions of this rollable screen for use in in-vehicle infotainment systems or even desktop displays.
LG is also flaunting one of the holy grails of screen design and manufacturing: transparent touch screens. Like in many futuristic or concept videos, LG's 55-inch transparent OLED display can be used as "covers" for closets, providing information at a glance while also showing your available wardrobe for the day.
Perhaps the most immediately practical display, however, is LG's 13.3-inch Foldable OLED that, as you might have guessed, can be used to turn a large tablet into a laptop. LG boasts that it is the first of its kind to even support an active stylus, something that even Samsung has yet to accomplish. Curiously, LG's demo product also has the screen curve a bit at one end to provide a ticker display when the device is folded close.
LG also has a more modest 65-inch bendable OLED display that can go from flat to curved, depending on the need or content being shown. These screens, along with other more "normal" displays, form part of the company's SID 2020 showcase this week. Whether LG plans on commercializing these technologies, however, is still a question of if and when.