What you need to know
- LG is pushing the future of flexible displays with a new prototype that stretches up to 50% beyond its original size.
- The screen starts at 12 inches and stretches to 18 inches, but its 100 ppi pixel density lags behind modern smartphones.
- Made from contact lens material, this display has the highest elongation rate in the industry, allowing it to stretch without damage.
LG envisions a future ruled by flexible displays, and its latest concept screen brings that vision to life. Stretching up to 50% beyond its original size, LG's new stretchable display is pushing screen tech to new limits.
LG Display recently showed off its game-changing display tech at LG Science Park in Seoul. The prototype screen starts at 12 inches but can stretch all the way to 18 inches. It features a pixel density of 100 ppi across its RGB subpixels.
While impressive, this falls behind modern smartphone displays like the Google Pixel 9 Pro, which sports a 495 ppi screen. So, it’s probably not ready for mobile devices just yet.
The panel is crafted from the same material found in contact lenses. LG claims this stretchable display has the industry's highest elongation rate, allowing the screen to stretch beyond its usual size without damage.
Though unconventional, the Korean company sees this stretchable display as a game-changer for innovation in the consumer electronics world.
The latest concept display is similar to LG’s 2022 reveal, but this new version takes it up a notch by doubling its stretch. The new display tech isn’t just stretchable and twistable—it also shows a full color spectrum, thanks to microLED tech. Like OLED, it emits light directly, so there's no need for a backlight.
With its microLED light source, the new display can be stretched over 10,000 times, according to the company. MicroLED's tiny size opens up some pretty unique possibilities, like LG’s prototype.
Even though flexible displays are already in products like foldable phones and rollable TVs, LG Display hasn’t revealed any plans to roll out its stretchable screen tech commercially yet.
Nevertheless, the company expects this tech to have plenty of uses, like wearable displays that fit into clothing comfortably and in-car screens that mold to the dashboard’s shape without messing with the design.
It's likely, though, that these stretchable screens won't hit consumer products anytime soon.
