Samsung Display's 'Rollable Flex' OLED Panel Expands More Than 5x

pcmag.com:

Samsung Display figured out how to manufacture a flexible OLED display that can expand to more than five times its original size. Flexible display technology on the market today is limited to just three times its original size.

The new display is called "Rollable Flex(Opens in a new window)," and the key to this increased expandability is an O-shaped axis which allows the display to be rolled and unrolled like a scroll. Samsung Display has a demonstration unit of the Rollable Flex panel at SID Display Week being held in the Los Angeles Convention Center. It can expand from 49mm to 254.4mm.

The aim of Rollable Flex, according to Samsung Display, is "to turn a difficult-to-carry large-sized display into a portable form factor by making it rollable." Possible use cases include tablets and laptops, suggesting it could revolutionize the form factor of both types of device.

Samsung Display is also using SID to unveil its Flex In & Out foldable phone concept and Sensor OLED Display technology. Flex In & Out takes the smartphone form factor in a new direction by allowing the display to be folded inwards and outwards by 360 degrees. The other big advantage of Flex In & Out is the ability to offer an external display without using a second panel. That should save on both weight and cost in commercial devices.

Sensor OLED Display may look like a typical OLED panel, but Samsung Display managed to embed a light-sensing organic photodiode (OPD) within the panel. It means fingerprint recognition is possible anywhere on the display without need of a separate module. Placing two fingers on the panel also allows for heart rate, blood pressure, and stress levels to be monitored.

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