Samsung Unveils Stretchable Display At Society For Information Display 2017

Samsung will showcase a stretchable 9.1-inch organic light emitting diode panel on Tuesday, May 23, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The event, the Society for Information Display 2017, is an opportunity for the South Korean tech giant to exhibit its most advanced flexible display that could bend, fold, and roll.

What makes the new stretchable display different from the current flexible OLED screen is it curves, bends, and rolls in both sides, above and below, a Samsung Display spokesperson explains. If the stretchable display is pressed, it could dent up to 12 millimeters like a balloon does. And then it would return to its original shape, Korea Portal reports.

But it would not be coming to the next flagship of Samsung yet because the stretchable display is still on its early stage of research and development. IHS Markit, a research company based in London, estimates that in 2020, sales of the global flexible display market would go up to $15.7 billion from the expected $5.3 billion in 2017 as more device makers adopt the advanced flexible display to their products.

Engadget reports that aside from the 9.1-inch stretchable display, Samsung would also show in the event two more technologies. One is a 1.96-inch 4K LCD with 2,250 pixels per inch density which is ideal for use in virtual reality applications. It has a UHD resolution of 3,840 x 2,150. The other technology is a 5.09-inch OLED with glassless stereoscopic 3D.

Hot Hardware notes that the 9.1-inch stretchable display is a bit too big for a smartphone. Samsung, though, has yet to indicate the kind of products that could use the stretchable display that big. One possibility is the technology could be used for the Internet of Things or leveraged by artificial intelligence technologies. It could also on a wide range of high-tech products, ranging from wearable to in-car displays.