South Korean company, LG Display, a subsidiary of LG, has developed a prototype 18-inch screen that will be demoed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, which uses OLED technology and it can be “rolled up like a newspaper”.
According to LG’s press release, the company will be showing off rollable and extreme-curved displays, an S-shaped 139-inch Vertical Tiling OLED panel that can be used for signage, and a wave-shaped 25-inch “Waterfall” LCD panel designed to fit in the interior of automobiles or places with curved surfaces.
In 2014, the pioneer in OLED panels had showed off an 18-inch panel that could just roll up like a newspaper. The 18-inch panel was only 3 cm across and featured a 1200 X 810 resolution.
LG is also planning to unveil 55-inch paper-thin OLED TVs and 65-inch concave, convex OLEDs at its booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) during the four-day tech fair.
At the upcoming fair, the company said it will also introduce displays for automobiles in a move to meet increasing demand for infotainment devices.
“The move is part of our efforts to establish a strong foothold in the rapidly growing market for OLEDs as well as auto parts and signs,” said LG Display CEO and Vice Chairman Han Sang-beom. “LG Display, as a display market leader, is seeking to strengthen our position with our differentiated products.”
In its auto zone, it is making a bigger play for automotive displays with a new 25-inch “waterfall” curved LCD for interiors, as well as a 10.3-inch LCD screen that allows users to touch a screen with gloves on.
The in-cell touch technology has been mainly used for smartphones or tablets, but the company aims to show how it applies the technology to displays for laptops or 23-inch monitors at its booth.
The company is also planning to underline the importance of OLEDs for commercial use under the theme of “Your Imagination, Our Innovation.”
LG Display said it will showcase the S-shaped, 139-inch vertical tiling OLED in its commercial zone. It will also reveal stretched liquid crystal displays (LCDs) with an 86-inch, 58:9 aspect ratio, which the company says is optimized for retail stores, airports or guidance displays in public places.
The company will also advertise a video wall made of four 55-inch displays with the world’s thinnest bezel of 0.9 millimeters.
It’s been speculated for several years when exactly Apple will start using the next-generation technology OLED displays for its iPhones. The company has been adamant to sticking with LCDs for its smartphones citing that OLED displays brought about issues on production costs and longevity despite it being thinner and not requiring backlighting.
Since several reports and sources conflict with one another, there’s no sure timeline of when Apple will indeed have the new displays on its smartphones. However, what these reports have in common is that it’s a confirmation that the tech giant is truly going to use the display technology in the near future.
Japan’s Nikkei newspaper had also reported that Apple plans to start using OLED screens for iPhones starting in 2018.
LG and Samsung Display are close to a final agreement with Apple for the screens and the two firms plan a combined 15 trillion won ($12.8 billion) in capital expenditure to build up OLED production capacity over the next two to three years.