# Samsung set to show off 5.5-inch flexible phone screen



## editor (Dec 20, 2012)

> Samsung Display, a spin-off from Samsung Electronics, will show off a pair of bendable screens at CES that could one day appear in a radically new smartphone or TV design, according to company representatives.
> 
> Attendees will get to see a 5.5-inch flexible screen intended for smartphone use, with a 1,280x720-pixel HD resolution and a 267 pixel density. In addition, the team will also show off a television-size 55-inch screen.
> 
> ...


This opens up all sorts of possibilities for mobile device design and should herald near-unbreakable screens.

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-34447_1-57559886/samsung-preps-5.5-inch-flexible-phone-screen-for-ces-demo/


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 20, 2012)

editor said:


> This opens up all sorts of possibilities for mobile device design and should herald near-unbreakable screens.
> 
> http://ces.cnet.com/8301-34447_1-57559886/samsung-preps-5.5-inch-flexible-phone-screen-for-ces-demo/


 
or phones that fit in your pocket without feeling like a brick or riding up out of your pocket.

I'm having huge problems at the moment trying to find a new phone for myself that's either not wide, long, too basic or hasn't got a thingamajig for putting a wrist strap on


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## Badgers (Dec 20, 2012)

Apple did it first


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## editor (Dec 20, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Apple did it first


Yes. They're retrospectively filing the patents now.


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## Kid_Eternity (Dec 20, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Apple did it first


 
iFlex?


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## Sunray (Dec 22, 2012)

I don't think a screen which looks as inflexible as that does is particularly interesting. OK it allows more scope in the look of the phone but adds very little in the way of new functionality. 

The holy grail of doing this at all would be fabric level flexabilty. Allowing large formar displays to be pulled out of a mobile device,


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## rubbershoes (Dec 22, 2012)

Kid_Eternity said:


> iFlex?


 
iSue


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## maldwyn (Dec 22, 2012)

Why would you need a bendable screen?


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## editor (Dec 22, 2012)

maldwyn said:


> Why would you need a bendable screen?


Why do mobile phone screens break? Why do mobile phone screens have to be flat and square?


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## Callum91 (Dec 23, 2012)

I don't see why it's a good thing? Why would I want the screen on my phone to be able to bend? Might be good if they move away from the notion of there being ''a phone'' rather than just a screen. I'd like one that bends round my wrist.


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## weltweit (Dec 23, 2012)

Seems a bit gimmicky to me, does anyone actually want a flexible screen?


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## Pingu (Dec 23, 2012)

weltweit said:


> Seems a bit gimmicky to me, does anyone actually want a flexible screen?


 
yes i do.

what i actually want is a huge seemless monitor that curves round me iand this is  agood step to making tta easier to achieve (it can already be done but this would be a more elegent solution)

it will alos (i reckon) be a huge hit with car manufacturers who wil be ale to include curved screns into car dashboards


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## Crispy (Dec 23, 2012)

The tricky bit will be protecting the screen from scratches.


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## maldwyn (Dec 23, 2012)

Flexible I can understand - but the image in the picture seem a really odd way to interact with a phone.


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## weltweit (Dec 23, 2012)

Pingu said:


> yes i do.
> 
> what i actually want is a huge seemless monitor that curves round me iand this is agood step to making tta easier to achieve (it can already be done but this would be a more elegent solution)


 
So you want a curved screen. But this is a flexible screen.



Pingu said:


> it will alos (i reckon) be a huge hit with car manufacturers who wil be ale to include curved screns into car dashboards


 
Again you want a curved screen and this is a flexible screen.


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## editor (Dec 23, 2012)

weltweit said:


> So you want a curved screen. But this is a flexible screen.
> 
> Again you want a curved screen and this is a flexible screen.


But it has to have the ability to flex to be able to be made into a curved screen.

I'm surprised so many people are failing to see the possibilities of curved and flexible screens, to be honest. Why on earth should all screens have to be flat, inflexible things?


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## Crispy (Dec 23, 2012)

editor said:


> I'm surprised so many people are failing to see the possibilities of curved and flexible screens, to be honest. Why on earth should all screens have to be flat, inflexible things?


Flatness is desirable because curved screens distort the image.

Flexibility seems handy for resilience - sit on it and the layers don't crack and spill liquid crystal everywhere. But I very much doubt we'll see a device that actually bends. The circuit board and battery would have to be bendy too.


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## weltweit (Dec 23, 2012)

editor said:


> But it has to have the ability to flex to be able to be made into a curved screen.
> 
> I'm surprised so many people are failing to see the possibilities of curved and flexible screens, to be honest. Why on earth should all screens have to be flat, inflexible things?


 
I am just trying to be precise. The things pingu said he wanted are curved screens.

That is not to say that someone else may not want a flexible screen, just that is not what he said.


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## editor (Dec 23, 2012)

Crispy said:


> Flexibility seems handy for resilience - sit on it and the layers don't crack and spill liquid crystal everywhere. But I very much doubt we'll see a device that actually bends. The circuit board and battery would have to be bendy too.


Here's an early prototype of how you could interact with a flexible screen.


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## editor (Dec 23, 2012)

There's already prototype flexible devices breaking through:


> "We are working on flexible, bendable and transparent displays and surfaces that could in future be part of flexible phones, tablets, TVs and solar cells," says Prof Ferrari, who is working with Finnish phonemaker Nokia.
> 
> "Samsung is really quite advanced in this field, but we here in Cambridge have done some great work on Nokia's prototypes as well."
> 
> ...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20526577


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## Crispy (Dec 23, 2012)

editor said:


> Here's an early prototype of how you could interact with a flexible screen.




Can't say that impresses me much :-/ It's a rather clumsy interaction, and makes the map distort and pick up reflections from elsewhere. I don't know about you but I like my maps to be flat!

And remember, the whole of the rest of the device has to flex too - case, circuit board, battery. I just don't see it happening.


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## editor (Dec 23, 2012)

Crispy said:


> Can't say that impresses me much :-/ It's a rather clumsy interaction, and makes the map distort and pick up reflections from elsewhere. I don't know about you but I like my maps to be flat!


Don't know about you, but I prefer the flexibility of a paper map to a rigid, flat screen.

They're already working on flexible batteries. See link above.


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## elbows (Dec 23, 2012)

I suppose I am vaguely interested in some tubular applications. The digital top hat looms.


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## elbows (Dec 23, 2012)

And possibly some new wacky electronic musical instruments.


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## editor (Dec 23, 2012)

Won't be long before curved screens are commonplace, just like non touchscreen laptops will become the exception sooner rather than later.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 23, 2012)

editor said:


> Won't be long before curved screens are commonplace, just like non touchscreen laptops will become the exception sooner rather than later.


 
And they'll still be 1366x768


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## bi0boy (Dec 23, 2012)

editor said:


> Don't know about you, but I prefer the flexibility of a paper map to a rigid, flat screen.



Yes I much prefer folding and unfolding paper maps and trying to make them flat so I can read them to having a nice flat screen I can scroll around on easily


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## bi0boy (Dec 23, 2012)

The ability to fold pages in half as I'm reading them is the main reason I've stuck to paper books rather than buy an ebook reader.


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## editor (Dec 23, 2012)

bi0boy said:


> Yes I much prefer folding and unfolding paper maps and trying to make them flat so I can read them to having a nice flat screen I can scroll around on easily


Wow. How do you manage to get them 100% flat? Do you take a plank of wood to lay them on? And how do you fold the screen up into your pocket?

Here's how most people hold maps. Not exactly flat, then.


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## bi0boy (Dec 23, 2012)

Try doing that on Oxford Street today, or on a windy mountain.


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## bi0boy (Dec 23, 2012)

I mostly foresee adverts on lampposts tbh.


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## editor (Dec 23, 2012)

bi0boy said:


> I mostly foresee adverts on lampposts tbh.


And foreheads.


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## Sunray (Dec 24, 2012)

Just because you can read a bit of paper which can be crushed up and spread out does not mean you actually want to? 

I also suspect that they will also still need a protective layer to prevent sharp objects damaging the screen.


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## editor (Dec 24, 2012)

Sunray said:


> Just because you can read a bit of paper which can be crushed up and spread out does not mean you actually want to?
> 
> I also suspect that they will also still need a protective layer to prevent sharp objects damaging the screen.


Mobile screens are getting bigger and bigger because people like to look at bigger screens. Even Apple realised that. But the bigger the screen the bigger the trouser rocket - hence a form of folding/curling screen would no doubt go down very well indeed.

They're coming anyway, regardless of what you doubters think


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Dec 24, 2012)

editor said:


> Mobile screens are getting bigger and bigger because people like to look at bigger screens. Even Apple realised that. But the bigger the screen the bigger the trouser rocket - hence a form of folding/curling screen would no doubt go down very well indeed.
> 
> They're coming anyway, regardless of what you doubters think


 
I still think we're a long long way of having them durable enough for that.

However much tougher screens are still a win for me.


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## Sunray (Dec 24, 2012)

editor said:


> Mobile screens are getting bigger and bigger because people like to look at bigger screens. Even Apple realised that. But the bigger the screen the bigger the trouser rocket - hence a form of folding/curling screen would no doubt go down very well indeed.
> 
> They're coming anyway, regardless of what you doubters think


 
As I pointed out in my previous post, this isn't anywhere near flexible enough to be pushed into something that is small enough to solve the the real problem that truly flexible displays offer. Large screens on small devices.


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