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Nick DeLorenzo: Tech Talk

November 1, 2011

Samsung releasing flexible displays by 2012

A while back I wrote about a display technology called AMOLED, which, while in fairly wide use today, had properties that could theoretically allow the production of flexible displays.

Well, now two companies, Samsung and Nokia, have are making the prediction come true.

AMOLED – standing for (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) display technology – is in wide use in the mobile phone industry already.

The displays themselves are paper-thin and can be “printed” onto a surface using ink-jet technology.

While these properties have allowed companies to produce devices with curved screens, keeping the display functional while it is being bent or twisted is another matter.

Now it seems that researchers have overcome that limitation.

According to published reports, Samsung plans to have a device that features a flexible screen ready by 2012, most likely a mobile phone or other handheld device.

Both companies have produced impressive prototypes.

As one might expect, limitations still are evident in the prototypes; it’s difficult to make “bendable” electronics, and anyone who has taken a modern smartphone apart knows that components are jammed into the case more tightly than sardines in a can. Samsung and Nokia seem to have gotten around this by housing the circuitry in a solid block and making the display itself flexible.

So what does this mean for consumers?

At first, expect thinner, more sturdy, impact resistant devices.

Instead of shattering when struck, the display can simply distort a bit and survive.

A bit later, paper-thin, rollable or bendable displays might become the norm.

Televisions and computer monitors will eventually inherit the technology and it could potentially revolutionize the tablet PC and e-reader markets.

Imagine an iPad that’s as thin as a sheet of paper, or a Kindle that allows you to simply fold a page corner when you want to create a bookmark.

Classrooms could be equipped with monitors that rolled away like a projector screen when not in use.

Bendable, flexible, or twistable displays have huge potential.

But they might also be hugely expensive, and there’s no word yet on any specific products or an exact release date as yet.

As always, time will tell.

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