Ooh, big stretch! LG’s portable screen is now 50% longer – the stretchiest screen yet
- LG’s stretch screen now offers 50% stretch for… bodycon clothing?
- It can fold, bend and rotate without damaging the screen
- It is the shape of things to come
We’ve been following LG’s quest to create practical, stretchable displays for some time now. And a new report claims that while Apple is also experimenting with the technology (as we discovered earlier this year, Apple patented its own “Stretchable Display”), LG has beaten it, and rivals with flexible displays like Samsung, to the punch.
LG has announced a new prototype of a stretchable display, and it’s much more pliable than anything we’ve seen from the company in the past: where previous prototypes could stretch by 20%, this prototype can achieve the kind of deformation that even the Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four might be a bit of an exaggeration: it can expand by more than 50%.
What is a stretchable display for?
LG’s stretchable screen is designed to change shape depending on what you want your device to do. It doesn’t just stretch; it can also be rotated and folded, all without damaging the screen. While the image above shows extreme examples, an application could be a tablet that rolls into a foldable phone, or a phone that becomes portable.
There are even applications in clothing. LG’s concepts include smart displays attached to firefighters’ uniforms to provide them and their crew with real-time information, although the announcement ignores the heat protection requirements such a display would require.
The new display uses a micro-LED light source, an improved silicon substrate also used in contact lenses, and a new wiring design. The result is a promised lifespan of 10,000 stretches without damaging the screen.
We are still far from commercializing this technology. But it remains extremely exciting; we have seen the future, and it is elastic.
