LG is set to show off a new 5-inch, unbreakable, flexible OLED screen at the Society for Information Display, an annual gala taking place this week. The new bendable screen could be used to power LG Optimus smartphones and will likely compete in the future with Samsung bendable smart devices, among others.
Not much is known about the alleged bendy LG screen yet, as this will be its very first public unveiling. The company claims that it's unbreakable and has already stated that it's 5-inches, fueling speculation that the screen is intended for an LG Optimus device or some other smartphone.
2013 was billed by some as the year of the bendable display, however we're nearly at the midway point and have yet to see more than a prototype from anyone. Samsung was considered the most likely to debut a bendy smartphone first, but so far, the South Korean manufacturer has only shown off prototypes.
Samsung first unveiled a bendable screen at CES 2011 and at this year's CES in Las Vegas, Microsoft chief technical strategy officer Eric Rudder took to the stage with what appeared to be a working prototype of a Windows 8 smartphone with flexible display.
According to TechRadar, LG's curved glass 55-inch OLED television, which also recently debuted with a bit of help from Ewan McGregor, will be making an appearance alongside the bendy LG display. Additionally, a 23.8-inch Ultra HD monitor display and a 7-inch tablet display rumored to boast a very impressive pixel density should be making the rounds later this week at the Society for Information Display conference.
The concept of a bendable OLED display goes back at least as far as 2008, when Nokia first unveiled a concept called the Morph. The smartphone concept, which debuted at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City does not actually function and was intended as a proof-of-concept to showcase the possibilities of nanotechnology.
While Nokia was among the first to posit a bendable display, the Finnish company has stated that it projects Nokia Morph features will begin migrating to high-end smartphones no earlier than 2015. Meanwhile, LG and Samsung might release bendable smartphones as early as Q4 of this year.
