LG presents a display capable of stretching

I foldable displays are gaining ground in the smartphone market, but there is another related technology, that of extendable displayswhich is emerging.

LG Display indeed showed a 12 “panel that can stretch up to 14” and then released again at 12 ″ without being damaged in any way. This type of flexible and elastic display (or “free-form display, that is” free-form “as LG calls it) can be used in different fields, from clothing to furniture: this type of panel can easily adapt to complex shapes and it has the ability to stretch, which makes it more comfortable to wear.

LG Display foresees uses in various sectors including “fashion, wearables, mobility and games”.

The display could also find a place in the automotive and aviation industries. It is quite high quality for a prototype: at 100ppi it has a pixel density similar to that of a 40 ″ 4K TV. And it has RGB functionality.
The screen is built on a special silicon substrate also used for contact lenses. It is equipped with micro-LEDs (less than 40 µm) that can stretch by 20% without breaking.

In the past, the market has already seen the birth of some extensible display prototypes, like Royole’s last year, able to stretch by 30%, but the demo unit was a small 2.7 ″ panel with a resolution of 96 x 60px. A few years ago, in 2017, Samsung also unveiled an extendable display, although that panel was mostly able to resist warping (such as pressing hard on the flexible display) rather than stretching.