Samsung unveils 7-inch flexible LCD

Samsung has unveiled their latest display prototype: a 7-inch flexible LCD screen. The new display has a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels and has twice the surface area of Samsung's 5-inch version shown off in January.

"With this advancement, Samsung has overcome daunting problems involving the plastic substrate's heat sensitivity including a previous challenge to maintain the display's substrate thickness when subjected to typical commercial thermal conditions," said a Samsung spokesperson.

"Samsung developed a low-temperature processing technique that can be used to manufacture the display's amorphous thin-film transistors, color filters and liquid crystals at process temperatures much lower than standard glass-based, amorphous silicon (a-Si) technology." Right.

The technology is touted as for use in future mobile phones, PDAs and notebooks, and other mobile devices. While you may not specifically require your screen to be bendy, the move to a flexible, polymer-based substrate from the fragile, glass-based traditional sandwich will hopefully make displays less prone to cracking and ultimate death.



Even when bent, the two layers remain a constant thickness, meaning that there is perfect clarity even when the screen is flexed. This may have interesting potential from a modding point of view: we already mount similar VGA screens to the front of our cases, but what new and wonderful things can we do with a flexible screen? Suddenly, all manner of concave and convex forms spring to mind.


Here at bit-tech, the team already have a number of ideas of cool stuff that would be possible with the introduction of these flexible LCD screens. Join the brainstorm in our Forums.