LG's new stretchable display can grow by 50%, bendy panels can be deformed into new form factors

LG Stretchable display
(Image credit: LG Display)

LG Display, one of the global leaders in display technologies, unveiled a new stretchable display prototype that can expand by up to 50%. This makes it the most stretchable display in the industry, more than doubling the previous record of 20% elongation. LG Display showcased the new screen at the LG Science Park in Seoul as part of the Stretchable display national project, with over 100 stakeholders taking part in the event.

This stretchable technology goes beyond expanding its size, though, as you can freely twist, extrude, and fold it without damaging the screen. This gives the technology a limitless number of applications — from clothing and wearable technologies to extruded touchable automotive panels. LG even showed a concept where the stretchable display is sewn or attached directly to firefighter uniforms and displays real-time information to the rest of their team.

The prototype being flexed in the top image is a 12-inch screen with a 100-pixel-per-inch resolution and full RGB color that expands to 18-inches when pulled. LG Display said that it based the stretchable display on a “special silicon material substrate used in contact lenses” and then improved its properties for better “stretchability and flexibility.” It also used a new wiring design structure and a micro-LED light source, allowing users to repeatedly stretch the screen over 10,000 times with no effect on image quality.

The Stretchable display national project is one of the programs spearheaded by the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korea Planning & Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology. This move has allowed LG Display and South Korea to gain a foothold in the next-generation display market, as well as ensuring that the research, development, and manufacturing supply chain will benefit local companies and organizations. In fact, aside from LG Display which took the lead, the current stretchable display prototype involves over 19 domestic industry and research institutions. So, its commercial success will likely benefit the South Korean economy as a whole.

MOTIE's initiative has allowed LG Display to produce this groundbreaking screen, showing how crucial government support can be in developing advanced technologies. This is similar to how the U.S. government is funding semiconductor research with the CHIPS Act. And although Washington is playing catch up with South Korea, Taiwan, and China, its massive investment will hopefully pay off within the next ten years.

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Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    It also used a new wiring design structure and a micro-LED light source, allowing users to repeatedly stretch the screen over 10,000 times with no effect on image quality.

    Multiply that by...say 10 and they'll be ready for foldable phones.
    Reply
  • Notton
    The only use cases I can think of are...
    Wrapping them around the A-pillar of vehicles so they don't obstruct forward visibility with some camera trickery,
    Using them in buses and trains to display info to passengers. The display atop doors is usually a clunky flatscreen, but the stretchy one would fit better.
    A portable monitor that can stretch to a larger one. Like a 12" that stretches to a 15.6" could be useful, idk.
    Reply
  • Elusive Ruse
    Notton said:
    The only use cases I can think of are...
    Wrapping them around the A-pillar of vehicles so they don't obstruct forward visibility with some camera trickery,
    Using them in buses and trains to display info to passengers. The display atop doors is usually a clunky flatscreen, but the stretchy one would fit better.
    A portable monitor that can stretch to a larger one. Like a 12" that stretches to a 15.6" could be useful, idk.
    Pardon my cynicism but it probably evolves into expensive Tshirts sporting passive aggressive witticism.
    Reply
  • AngelusF
    Does it know by how much it's being stretched so the display driver can adjust for the new aspect ratio?
    Reply
  • DougMcC
    Alvar Miles Udell said:
    Multiply that by...say 10 and they'll be ready for foldable phones

    Curious as to why people think it needs to be so high. I know Samsung flip advertises ~200k folds but who needs to fold that often? That's a hundred folds a day for years. I'd be surprised if anyone really uses more than ~10.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    DougMcC said:
    Curious as to why people think it needs to be so high. I know Samsung flip advertises ~200k folds but who needs to fold that often? That's a hundred folds a day for years. I'd be surprised if anyone really uses more than ~10.

    It depends on the phone. Foldables like the Samsung Z Fold or Pixel Fold with a full size outer screen and can be used as a proper smartphone without opening it will be opened less, whereas a foldable like the Samsung Z Flip or Motorola Razr with a half size outer screen that is of far lesser use will need to be opened more.

    With both opening and closing each counting as a fold, and even assuming the average use is 14 folds per day (opening and closing 7 times), that's 10,220 folds over 2 years (the average contract length in the USA), or 35,770 folds over 7 years (the software support term for Google and Samsung phones now).

    If you're paying upwards of $2000 for a foldable phone, wouldn't you basically demand that the phone be able to take its full lifespan of abuse and have some to spare?
    Reply
  • gg83
    Notton said:
    The only use cases I can think of are...
    Wrapping them around the A-pillar of vehicles so they don't obstruct forward visibility with some camera trickery,
    Using them in buses and trains to display info to passengers. The display atop doors is usually a clunky flatscreen, but the stretchy one would fit better.
    A portable monitor that can stretch to a larger one. Like a 12" that stretches to a 15.6" could be useful, idk.
    Genius! I think Volvo tried making it kinda clear with a scaffold. Never caught on.
    Reply