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Flexible displays are all the talk recently, and Samsung and LG are going head-to-head, as usual, in bringing the first flexible display to market. Remember too, that while they call these displays “flexible,” that does not mean that you can bend the phone or fold it up and place it in your pocket – it means that that sheets that they cut the displays out of is flexible, but once cut the size of the screen, it is place in a rigid body that has a curve to it. The reasoning for this escapes me, other than it allows the phone to be thinner; although the phone may fit in your pocket better. There are also claims that a larger battery can be used on the device, and yes, curved batteries are being used in these devices. Admittedly cool looking, I would find it difficult to use a curved screen and an S-Pen together, so for now I think I will stay “flat.”
Samsung’s Galaxy Round, shown below, is already in limited production in the Korean market only for testing purposes. The phone is basically a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 without the S-Pen, so it is a high-end phone, with a left-to-right curve to it. We are glad to see Samsung not rushing this out to market until thorough testing is done, not only on the screen, but also the newly designed curved batteries.
Not to be outdone by Samsung, LG stepped up its flexible game plan by leaking a few pictures, courtesy of The Verge, of its own flexible, or curved screen, only theirs is curved top-to-bottom, much like the Galaxy Nexus’s shape. LG’s version is based on the LG G2, only larger, and are calling it the LG G Flex, and LG is claiming that it will have much more of a curve than the Samsung Galaxy Round – what, my curves are bigger than your curves!
LG announced that they have started mass producing the flexible OLEDs, starting first with the 6-inch panels that weigh in at only 7.2 grams and only .44 mm thick, which is one-third the thickness of LG’s thinnest LCD screen. LG Display (LGD) claims a capacity of 6,000 per month (down from earlier predictions of 12,000) and it will be interesting to see how LG and the industry uses these displays.
LG would not comment on expanding the production, only to say that they will monitor the market and see how it reacts to the flexible displays. LGD did say that next year we should expect this new display to “enhanced performance and differentiated designs.” What do you think about the new flexible (curved) displays – are you excited about them or will you stick to the flat screen display…let us know in the comments or on Google+.