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Japan Display is going to make flexible LCD panels

By Ng Chong Seng - on 30 Jan 2017, 1:01pm

Japan Display is going to make flexible LCD panels

(Image source: Japan Display Inc.)

Flexible smartphone screens are a hot research topic right now. But between OLED and LCD, the former is seeing more progress, with display makers such as Samsung and LG having successfully produced OLED displays on flexible plastic substrates in the last couple of years.

But LCD is getting some love now, as Japan Display Inc. (who happens to be a supplier for Apple and Huawei) has revealed that it plans to mass produce flexible LCD panels in 2018. According to JDI, to achieve that, it's using plastic instead of glass for both sides of the liquid crystal. JDI's first LCD panel to use this tech is named "Full Active Flex", a 5.5-inch full HD IPS screen that supports 60Hz, 30Hz, and 15Hz driving frequencies.

To be clear, this new LCD screen isn’t expected to have a high degree of flexibility, so don’t expect a bendable iPhone in 2019. A bendable phone requires way more than a flexible screen, because manufacturers also have to take into account the flexibility of the other components in the housing. As such, JDI’s Full Active Flex panels are most likely going to be still used on smartphones with a rigid form factor, much like Samsung’s Galaxy Edge phones.

Source: Japan Display Inc.

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