Samsung's Stunning Flexible AMOLED for Q2 2012

By Marcus Yam
published

Wrap your mind around these.

We've seen Samsung's flexible AMOLED demonstrated at various trade shows, which impressed us to no end each and every time we saw it. According to a translated Korean report, Samsung has partnered with Japanese company Ube Kosan for the production materials and could be mass producing these wondrous things by Q2 2012.

We're not exactly sure what consumer-level applications there will be for flexible screens, but perhaps we'll be seeing some crazy curved phones, tablets and media players next year.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
30 Comments Comment from the forums
  • scook9
    phone that you literally fold up and put in your pocket :D
    Reply
  • cybr
    yep, flexi-phone you can just put in your pocket and not worry about breaking it!
    Reply
  • sinfulpotato
    Make it transparent and roll up into a pen sized device. Then I can play future space man for real.
    Reply
  • tmax
    Cool but, I am still waiting for OLED TV.
    Reply
  • genghiskron
    invention (disclosed here june 14 2011): dynamic discoball for nightclubs. sphere covered in flex amoleds capable of full range display. display processor contained inside sphere. in a seperate embodiment, the same concept could be used for a dynamic globe.

    invention 2: morphographic imagery (mostly porn). area underneath screen is an array of rods that can each raise or lower beneath the screen and can be controlled individually (rods would optimally be linked to a maximum adjacent separation to avoid literal screen tearing). areas of screen could be raised or lowered to take on shapes that match the displayed imagery (for example, 2 mounds could be raised in the screen at the location of breasts) the invention would add tactile feedback to appropriate media (could be used in conjunction with variable texture surfacing as is being developed for touch screens)
    Reply
  • genghiskron
    also, these screens could be potentially used for active camoflauge for organisms or vehicles, or simply entertaining clothing.

    360 degree coffee mug display

    a flex tv could allow for a wider viewing angle for crowds, or a narrower one for privacy.

    a flag could be made of flex amoleds and displayed outside the un, where it cycles through the flags of all member nations.
    Reply
  • NightLight
    @ genghiskron : patent ? :p
    Reply
  • tomate2
    i totally dig a e reader with flexible display...
    get it out and read a couple of articles books or get yourself updated with the newspaper
    it will feel like reading from a paper
    when done put it in your bag or a folder without worrying it will break!
    Reply
  • huron
    Is it foldable or flexible. I'm not going to lie, I would love it to be foldable, but is is there yet?
    Reply
  • ikyung
    E paper. In 20 years we won't be using paper.
    Reply