LG has developed an industry-first stretchable screen that bends, twists, and stretches out like taffy, from 12 inches to 18 inches.
The screen is just a prototype, but it could have useful applications for wearables, cars, smartphones, and other industries in the future. For example, the flexible material could be used to make clothes and handbags.
LG showed off the screen on Friday at LG Science Park in Seoul, South Korea, to more than 100 onlookers. Its expansion rate of 50% is the highest in the industry, and it has a resolution of 100 pixels per inch. The screen gives full color.
LG screen. Credit: LG
LG has been working on stretchy screens for years. In 2019, the company launched a TV with a screen that rolls away into the base when not in use. However, LG discontinued the 65-inch, $100,000 TV in May 2024 after slow sales.
In 2022, the company showed off a 12-inch display that could extend out to 14 inches. To create the screen, LG used a base silicon material like the one used for contact lenses. They layered micro-LEDs and circuits shaped like springs on top to create a screen capable of being twisted, stretched, and folded with no damage.
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LG’s stretchable screens have already made an impact on the fashion industry. In September, the displays were seen on the runway at Seoul Fashion Week on the front of garments and bags designed by Youn-Hee Park and Chung-Chung Lee. The designers used the 12-inch screens that could stretch out to 14 inches.
“We have been able to design future fashion concepts with new materials that have never existed before,” Park stated in a press release.
One garment with a 12-to-14-inch stretchable screen embedded on the front. Credit: LG
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LG competitors are also working on flexible screens. In August, Samsung publicly showcased a prototype of a stretchable display for the first time. The microLED screen can stretch up to 125% of its starting size and has a resolution of 120 pixels per inch.
Samsung placed the screen on a smartphone and demonstrated how it could move to show the topography of a map. The screen could rise to show the presence of a mountain, for example.