Samsung’s Prototype AMOLED Folding Display Bends, Doesn't Break

Folding e-ink is probably going to make landfall before we can get any sort of really cool retractable color screen like the one in Gene Roddenberry’s Earth Final Conflict. But researchers may be onto a breakthrough with a visually seamless AMOLED screen that can be folded with no resulting crease.

The prototype designed and built by researchers at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology in South Korea was vigorously tested against 100,000 folding-unfolding cycles. The results of the trial produced no visible crease and the screen’s brightness at the pivot line only decreased by 6%.

The AMOLED display itself consists of two panels place on the bottom and top of layer of silicone rubber. A protective glass cover is then placed over the optic sandwich to protect it from scratches and allowing display to act as a touch screen. All the components were placed inside of a case that folded to a 180° angle, which positioned the two panels on top of each other.

As NetworkWorld notes, Samsung's been talking about this sort of technology for a while, including at this year's CES.

It’s not exactly the one piece, roll-able color screen of the future, but at least it’s a step foward from a Nintendo DS or a Kyocera Echo.

[Applied Physics Letters via PhysOrg and NetworkWorld]

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