Samsung Display, like other major display screen manufacturers, is participating in the SID Display Week 2023 conference taking place this week in Los Angeles. And it has some interesting news to propose, especially prototypes and conceptual designs on flexible screens that we will be able to see in commercial solutions in the coming years.
The one we liked the most is Rollable Flex . It is a 49mm length shade that can be vertically rolled and unrolled to extend up to 254mm using an O-shaped shaft.
While extended, the screen can be used as a monitor. Once rolled up it can be used as a mobility device, be it a laptop or electronic tablet. Very cool, but as always in this type of prototype you have to wait to see its effective application in a product that we can use. And pay… because these technologies are not cheap as we are “suffering” in folding smartphones.
Another new display, aimed at wearables, is called the OLED Sensor , which can recognize fingerprints anywhere on the panel. This is different from currently marketed displays that have fingerprint sensors as modules attached below the panel in specific areas.
Here, light detection sensors have been embedded throughout the screen and it serves other purposes. These sensors are able to read the light reflected from the contraction and relaxation of the blood vessels within the fingers of both hands when they touch each other and convert it into health information covering heart rate, blood pressure and stress level.
More news will come from Flex Hybrid . First announced at CES, it’s a 10-inch screen that adds the best of both worlds in flexible panels as it’s both foldable and slideable above 12 inches. It is compatible with stylus pens and is intended for use on laptop computers.
Rounding out the show in new display technologies, Samsung Display will also showcase the Flex In & Out, a panel that can fold in and out 360 degrees.
This new concept of a ‘fold in’ form factor phone requires a separate external panel to view information while folded. But it has the advantage that thinner and lighter folding phones can be produced.