Future folds could switch from current single-fold designs to double fold, use screens that fold in and out, or even use rolling screens to expand outward. That is if manufacturers adopt the new foldable screen technologies that are being shown Samsung screen And LG screen This week in San Jose, California, during the annual Show Week conference.
LG displays an 8-inch foldable touchscreen that it says can fold in and out, similar to what we’ve seen from TCL’s Ultra Flex Concept earlier this year. The design allows for one foldable display to serve as an indoor screen (as with Galaxy Z Fold 3) and an external monitor (such as files Huawei Mate XS). Devices with a “360-degree foldable OLED” can avoid the need for an indoor and outdoor screen in favor of just one large screen.
LG’s foldable 360-degree OLED display can apparently survive being folded “more than 200,000 times” before it starts to break, and LG Display says it uses a “special foldable chassis” that minimizes any wrinkling. Gizmodo Reports That the screen has a resolution of 2480 x 2200 pixels, which is the same as the resolution of the internal screen Huawei Mate X2.
Not to be outdone, Samsung Display is also showing off some of its very interesting foldable tech. Flex G and Flex S screens, which were shown for the first time Back at CESBoth offer double foldable screens. In the case of the Flex G, it folds twice in the same direction as the trifold wallet, while the Flex S folds once inward and once outward like a paper map.
The Samsung Display also has a pair of sliding phones with screens that can open horizontally or vertically. We’ve seen a lot of tradable concepts over the years from companies including TCLAnd OPPOeven LG Before that Completely exit the smartphone business. But despite the interest, no smartphones with foldable screens have been released on the market yet.
These are just some of the new form factors LG Display and Samsung Display are showing off at this week’s show. Both companies are also investing heavily in OLED displays for in-car infotainment screens, as well as screens designed for gaming, such as Samsung’s OLED laptop display with a 240Hz refresh rate, or a foldable screen designed to connect game controllers to either end. LG’s display also has a 17-inch foldable OLED laptop, where the entire inner surface of a single clamshell design is a large foldable screen.
As the display divisions of the South Korean tech giants, neither LG Display nor Samsung Display actually produces the consumer devices that end up in their panels. But as it provides screens for some of the world’s largest consumer tech companies, models like Display Week can give us an interesting glimpse into the trends of foldable devices in the coming years.
