[Rumor] First Mass Produced Flexible Displays From LG and Samsung Coming in November

[dgstorm]

There is some new intel that Samsung and LG have finally overcome the technical hurdles with their flexible OLED display technology. According to the report, both companies will be mass producing flexible displays and they will be showing up in devices as early as November of this year. The first generation of flexible displays will only be able to bend in a single plane rather than multiples, but this is still a big start. The primary advantages of the flexible tech is that displays will be lighter, thinner, unbreakable, and will consume less power.

Those seem like fantastic reasons to bring the technology to market. Right now, Samsung has the capacity to make 1.5 Million 5-6-inch flexible displays per month, although the yields will be less than that since that is only their 100% capacity. The amount that LG will be able to produce was not disclosed although it will be less than that initially.

This technology has been teased for the last two years. It will be pretty exciting to see it finally come to light. Who is looking forward to seeing what they can do with it?

Source: PhoneArena

 

[Hugh Jass]

unbreakable,

 

[tgyberg]

View attachment 65597

 

[Hugh Jass]

Good thing is once this is mainstream, the only thing really left is a huge advancement in battery tech, which is inevitable now that they've pretty much run the gamut on every other spec available in mobile tech. That will be a glorious day, and not just for smartphones.

 

[FoxKat]

They're hot on that path as well. There are some technologies that boast full charges in 10 minutes, others that talk about multiples of times the capacity in the same space and weight. But look where we are now compared to only a few short years ago. From Nickel Cadmium batteries with relatively high current output but being prone to the "memory effect" which rendered them useless, to Nickel Metal Hydride batteries which had less current capacity and production, however handled the charging and discharging with a bit better finesse', and now to Lithium batteries which are lighter, charge faster, hold far more current, can dispense at significantly higher rates of current, and have a relatively flat discharge curve. We've come a long way in just these few short years, and even longer from the Alkaline, Carbon, and even the ungodly heavy Lead/Acid batteries for such purposes.

Where this is all going to break wide open I think, is when we have true fuel cell batteries, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC), that can be "charged" instantly with an off-the-shelf can of Methane (like a Bic lighter). This is not far off either, IMO. Perhaps we'll have some hybrid of the two...a PEM and high density Anode battery. Technology...it never ceases to amaze me.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v400/n6745/full/400649a0.html

 

[kodiak799]

LOL, who's going to carry methane around to recharge their battery. Call me old-school, but I'm a fan of good 'ol fashioned electricity.

Unbreakable displays is awesome, but I worry about scratch resistance. And if they can bend the display around at least one edge of the phone it opens up a lot of potential for customizeable software buttons (why hasn't anyone thought to put capacitative buttons along the top edge, freeing screen real estate?)

 

[wardo]

I just can't grasp the benefits of my phone's screen having the ability to bend. Is the entire phone flexible? Lighter weight is always nice and extended battery life is even better. But
Bending a phone between my fingers... not so much.

 

[TatDroid]

I just can't grasp the benefits of my phone's screen having the ability to bend. Is the entire phone flexible? Lighter weight is always nice and extended battery life is even better. But
Bending a phone between my fingers... not so much.

The immediate benefit, in a phone, is not being able to physically bend it around something. It's that when you drop it, or sit on it, the screen will bend and give, perhaps only a tiny fraction of an inch, but enough to keep it from exploding into hundreds of tiny shards of glass.

Being able to physically bend and reshape it may be a benefit further down the road - when other hardware technologies (batteries, etc) can take advantage of reshaping as well.

 

[wardo]

^^ thanks for the clarification. I feel kind of dumb now since I was expecting something totally different.