LG is producing a TV screen so flexible that it can be rolled into a tube.
And flexible screens can help TVs be used more creatively, according to the BBC. LG says they can create a 60-inch flexible screen by 2017. The screen won’t be distorted, even after it’s rolled into a tight cylinder.
According to engadget, LG has already created an 18-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 1,200×810. But that’s not all — this screen can be rolled into a 3 cm tube.
LG has a very flexible 18-inch display, promises 60-inch rollable TVs http://t.co/xzk1nPzIfm pic.twitter.com/tJ0sAddvNF
— Engadget (@engadget) July 10, 2014
The screen is flexible because it has a backplane that isn’t made of plastic — it’s made from a “high molecular substance-based polyimide film,” the BBC reports.
Experts said that flexible screens are exciting developments, and they can be used in more creative ways because the screens are more durable.
“Imagine a 10in (25cm) iPad that you can fold out into a 16in (40cm) screen – effectively doubling up as a small desktop computer or TV monitor,” said Stuff.tv online deputy editor Stephen Graves.
And Jeremy White, the product editor for Wired magazine, said that flexible TV screens could lead to flexible tablets, which could be the most useful way for for consumers to use the screens.
But the editor of TrustedReviews said that the rollable TVs would be too expensive for the average person, but the screens could create a projector-like experience.
“You can easily hide away the screen when not in use,” Evan Kypreos said. It would be like a projector “but without the noise and complexity of an actual projector.”
But he said that’s not the most interesting way the tech could be used.
“The more interesting application of this tech could be in wearables,” he said. “Curved screen smartwatches with a whole wrist screen are an obvious example.”