While not as known as CES, SID, or the Society for Information Display, has its own trade show this week to show off the advances in consumer display tech. Samsung looks to make the most of this with the possible debut of its own stretchable display.
Stretch It Out
According to a report from the Korea Herald, the tech company will use SID 2017 to show off its new stretchable display. The trade show runs from May 23 to 25 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The display is said to be a 9.1-inch stretchable OLED display. Unlike other flexible display techs, like rollable or foldable screens that can only stretch in one direction, this new display would be able to stretch up to half an inch in any direction. And while other flexible displays might lose image resolution when flexed, Samsung's new display could maintain a high-res image, even when stretched.
"While current flexible OLED is able to be transformed in only one side, this stretchable OLED can be transformed - whether curved, [bent], or rolled - in both sides, above and below," a Samsung Display spokesperson told The Korea Herald.
This isn't the first bit of news to come out this year about new, flexible displays. In April, researchers in South Korea developed a way to replace the normal materials in OLED screens with graphene.
Graphene is a stronger material than the indium tin oxide currently used in OLED applications and it is also malleable. This makes the material ideal in the development and commercialization of flexible displays for the future. It doesn't hurt that it's also one of the strongest known materials on Earth.
It is also worth noting that this won't be the only piece Samsung will be showing off. According to the same report from The Korea Herald, Samsung will also be bringing a glassless 3D OLED display and a new UHD LCD display. The 3D display would have some light face tracking to adjust the image, while the LCD display could have applications in virtual and augmented reality.
Wait And See
It is worth noting that Samsung's new display is still in early development, with no actual target date for a possible, market-ready version. However, according to research firm IHS Markit, flexible displays could make up nearly 15 percent of the display market by 2024.
Apple, not looking to be left behind, has already filed multiple patents for companies that have been working on their own flexible/stretchable displays. With Apple filing these, it's safe to assume that the company wants to get a workable, stretch/flex display to apply to the iPhone.
Given that Samsung is likely already testing this display at the phone level it means that these devices could the market hit sooner than people think.
