LG shows off 18-inch flexible, rollable, and transparent OLED displays

LG’s Display division is one of the most significant contributors to the smartphone production ecosystem. And it’s got a stellar record of producing some eye-catching new display tech. Today the company is announcing that it has developed a 18-inch flexible OLED panel which is rollable, as well as a 18-inch transparent OLED panel.   With these new panels, LG says it now has all the fundamental technologies needed to give devices flexible or transparent displays of high quality.   The flexible OLED panel has a HD class resolution of 1200X810 with almost a million megapixels. The panel’s curvature radius is 30R, which means the panel can be rolled up to a radius of 3cm without affecting the function of the display. LG says in its press release that this means LG Display can bring rollable TVs of more than 50 inches to the market in the future. While that’s an interesting thought, we would like to see the practicality of such a device.   LG says it used high molecular substance-based polyimide film as the backplane of the flexible panel instead of conventional plastic to achieve the maximum curvature radius. The polyimide film helped in keeping the thickness of the panel low, improving its flexibility.   [caption id=“attachment_227154” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  The 18-inch transparent OLED display[/caption]   The LG transparent OLED panel boasts 30 percent transmittance and boasts LG’s transparent pixel design technology. LG says it has lowered the haze by using circuit devices and film components to a level of 2 percent. “Considering that the transmittance of existing transparent LCD panels is around 10 percent, this new panel offers significantly improved transmittance,” the press release says.   Senior Vice President and Head of the R&D Center at LG Display, In-Byung Kang, said the company is confident of enhancing the display quality, flexibility of such displays in three years.