Samsung has been at the forefront of display technology for many years. Whether it’s their latest QLED televisions, the Galaxy S8 / S8+ smartphones, or a convertible devices like the brand-new Galaxy Book 12, all of these Samsung-built devices have some of – if not the – best displays in their respective product categories. At Display Week 2017, however, which is currently wrapping up in Los Angeles, Samsung inched closer to a future where flexible displays are a reality and demonstrated the first stretchable, color OLED display.
The stretchable display shown off at the conference features OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology and was roughly 9.1-inches diagonally. Larger, curved OLED displays have already been available in high-end televisions for some time, but this stretchable display is unique in that it can be flexed in two directions. When the screen is pressed from above, it flexes like a balloon, then returns to its original flat shape when pressure is removed. Whether stretched up or down though, even when pressed, the display is elastic enough to recover. Current-generation conventional flexible OLED displays can be formed in only one direction, and can be bent, folded, or formed (like curved televisions), but not actively stretched in two directions.
In addition, Samsung’s prototype stretchable display is able to maintain its original image quality while stretching the screen to a depth (or height) of up to 12 mm. It’s not clear just how far the display can be stretched, but presumably, image quality will degrade if pressed beyond the 12 mm threshold.
Samsung envisions a future where this type of stretchable display will be used for wearable, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and automotive applications. The company notes, however, that the prototype technology is difficult to mass produce at this time. As such, no dates were disclosed as to when stretchable OLED displays like this prototype will be released.