Displays are shaping up to get even weirder and more wonderful, literally ‘stretching’ the boundaries of what might be possible.
In its latest gambit, LG Display has shown off a new kind of stretchable MicroLED prototype display that improves on those we’ve seen in the past, with enhanced stretchiness.
LG Display first unveiled its concept stretchable MicroLED displays in 2022, saying they could be stretched by up to 20% of their standard size. Earlier this year, it unveiled new stretchable display sizes, but now, the next generation of such displays has increased the "stretch factor" to 50%.
The displays, which boast 100 pixels per inch and full RGB colour, are 12-inches diagonally in its standard form, but with the extra stretchiness, they can now be expanded to 18-inches, the company explained. When fully stretched out, they retain the same pixel density and colour reproduction.
"Stretchable displays are seen as the ultimate free-form screen technology because they can be freely transformed into any shape," the company said in a statement.
The concept will potentially transform our ideas of what displays can actually do, as the prototypes can also be twisted and folded, and even scrunched up, as the images above reveal. The screen remains undamaged, and although we’re stretched to think of some practical applications of the above examples, LG Display cites a number of possible use cases, such as new types of wearable devices, a smartphone that can be stretched into a tablet form, or a phone that can also be worn on clothing.
In one example, LG display suggested that smart displays could be attached to the uniforms of firemen, providing them with real-time information, although the company said less about what kind of heat protection might be required for them to remain functional in a towering inferno.
According to LG Display, the prototypes utilise 40 micrometre micro-LEDs, like its earlier models. However, they’re integrated onto a more flexible silicon substrate that’s commonly used in contact lenses to increase their stretchiness. They also feature a new wiring design that further stretches their stretchiness. All told, they can be stretched up to 10,000 times without any degradation being noticed.
Of course, there’s still a long way to go before such technology is commercialised, and it may never happen. But the fact LG can already do this suggests it’s not a stretch of the imagination to think such concepts could one day become the norm.
