The implications for the new flexible displays for smartphones set the imagination racing. One has visions of phones that can be unfolded like a map to expose a giant, seamless screen or devices that can be scrunched into a ball to fit any crevice in the luggage, without sustaining damage.
Whilst these things are possible future
applications, the fact is that the use of plastic electronics in consumer
products such as flexible screens and a range of devices are set to transform
the industry. The designs are probably more likely to be relatively low-key to
begin with, but the impact of the new flexible screen technology will be
significant and marks an industry watershed.
The shape of things to come
We can see Samsung at the moment
replacing the traditional sheets of glass used in OLED screens with a type of
flexible polymer, for instance. There are several benefits to moving away from
glass in display screens. The displays become thinner and lighter and are less
likely to crack and scratch, quite apart from the flexibility aspect. These
are, however, important prerequisites to the development of flexible screens.
Flexible displays necessitate a great deal more engineering in order to
guarantee their durability.
Durability issues
There are numerous miniscule circuits
coursing through the material and these have to be able to stay intact if they
are to deliver their signals to the underlying diodes. When they are repeatedly
being bent and re-bent fatigue can quickly set in or they may just snap, which
will result in the creation of dead pixels and a faulty display. Researchers
are currently engaged in overcoming problems such as these to effectively open
the way for plastic electronics to be incorporated into the design of many familiar
devices as well as a whole raft of new ones.
Innovative techniques
Plastic Logic, a leader in the field of
flexible screen technology, believes that flexible screens will soon be
incorporated into things like credit cards and car dashboards as well as mobile
phones and healthcare equipment. Wherever traditional displays like LCDs can’t
be used, either because they’re too big, power-hungry or difficult to fit in,
the new flexible displays can find an application.
Plastic Logic CEO IndroMukerjee has said that: “Plastic Logic’s development of a colour flexible
plastic display is particularly significant, since the same process could
enable unbreakable, flexible display solutions with other media such as LCD and
OLED.”
Green credentials
Although plastic electronics as a
concept has been around since the 1960s it is only now that technology has
reached the point where it can begin to make a significant impact on our
everyday lives. Apart from enabling more flexible and robust designs for items
like smartphones, this innovative new technology is also much greener than
traditional solid state electronics.
Although we’re unlikely to see rollup
TV screens on the market next week, we can expect to witness something of a
revolution in electronic devices in the very near future as the new flexible
display technology is incorporated into them. They will become lighter,
smaller, more powerful and durable as well as friendlier to the planet.