LG Display introduced a new retractable screen 50% expandablethe highest elongation ratio in the industry and a new advancement to achieve panels that were previously reserved for science fiction.

LG Display is the display division of the South Korean technology company. It is one of the most important of its kind on the planet, directly competes with another from the same country (Samsung Display), sells an enormous amount of products to third companies, and also allows the parent company itself to be at the top. -3 in the world in sales of televisions and computer monitors.

A new advancement in the retractable screen

The new flexible screens have enabled a new generation of devices to come to market, first smartphones, then laptops, and then everything once engineers are able to use and replicate all these technologies in commercial products.

Retractable screens are a derivative of the flexible ones. And they are considered the final frontier because they can be transformed into any shape at will, including stretching, bending and twisting. LG unveiled a prototype in 2022 that could stretch up to 20% of its overall size. Now he introduced a second version that can be stretched even further, in a larger size and with a higher quality and native panel resolution. The new prototype multiplied the elongation ratio up to 50%. The 12-inch screen can stretch up to 18 incheswith 100 DPI resolution and full RGB color gamut.

LG Display explains that it has increased the flexibility and extensibility of the original display by introducing new technologies, improving the properties of a special silicon material substrate used in contact lenses, and developing a new wiring design structure.

The new prototype also uses a micro-LED light source with a size of up to 40μm to increase the durability of the screen. LG claims that this allows you to stretch more than 10,000 times and maintain sharp image quality even in extreme environments such as exposure to low or high temperatures and external shocks.

What can a retractable screen be used for?

LG Display has unveiled a number of concepts for the commercial use of expandable displays, including a automotive panel for vehicles which extends into a convex shape and can be operated by hand, as well as a wearable display attached to the firefighter’s uniform that provides real-time information.

The flexible and rollable phones They will be the next product group for your application, even if the 100 DPI of the current prototype is too small for a commercial product. As the company claims stretchable displays are not only thin and light, but can also adhere to irregularly curved surfaces such as clothing and skin, this will mean they could be suitable for industries such as fashion.

Currently, all of this development is in the prototype stage, although progress is expected. “We will continue to build a sustainable visualization ecosystem for the future through close collaboration between industry, academia and research entities in South Korea”Soo-young Yoon, chief technology officer and executive vice president of LG Display, explained in the announcement.