If you thought LG’s super slim and bezel-less 5.3-inch 1080p display was amazing, wait till you hear what SEL showcased at the Display Innovation 2014 trade show. Semiconductor Energy Laboratory (SEL) brought out an 8.7-inch OLED panel with a tri-fold design and it also comes with a touch panel integrated.
The screen is made using the same technique used by Samsung and LG where the glass is replaced with plastic, notes PhoneArena. The tri-fold design basically means that the display can be folded up to three times as shown in the video below.
The panel which is officially called the Foldable Display, states Techon.nikkei.co.jp, features a 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution with a pixel density of 254ppi. The company along with Nokia showcased a 6-inch OLED HD display back in June that could be folded once and a second screen that also has the same tri-fold design as the new one.
Also read: BlackBerry CEO confirms tablet and slider concept smartphone under development
Both panels are capable of being bent up to 100000 times. The 8.7-inch screen is obviously intended for tablets and with the tri-fold design, it can be used to create convertible form factors like the concept Samsung showcased when it revealed its YOUM panel at the CES 2013. Well, the screen from SEL brings that design to fruition, somewhat (see video below).
Now that we have foldable screens, it’ll still take time before we see a device come to the market which takes full advantage of the design. Samsung was rumored to bring a tablet with a foldable form factor in early 2015, so maybe CES or MWC have something worth looking forward to. The hardest part in designing a bendable device would be getting the non-foldable hardware onboard.