At CES 2019, LG unveiled the world’s first rollable TV that has changed the conversation around the bendable and foldable display technology. A flexible display is a type of screen that can be curved or rolled without distorting the image or text on the display. Before we get into the LG TV, let’s talk about what is an OLED display and how it is possible to get a flexible display without distortion.
What is an OLED Display?
The term OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), which is an advanced display technology made from thin films of light-emitting organic materials. OLED displays are made by placing a series of organic thin films between two conductors. When electrical current is applied, a bright light is emitted. Currently, OLED displays are made by evaporating gases in a vacuum chamber, but in the future OLED can be made by Ink-Jet printing, which is a process that is quick and cost effective. Compared to LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), the OLED displays are much simpler because the OLED display doesn’t have a backlight and filtering. The OLED display offers better contrast as the black colors are truly black due to the lack of backlight. The OLED screens also have higher brightness, faster refresh rates (ideal for gaming), lower power consumption as only the lit pixels consume power. The OLED displays are also simpler in design, which allows for thinner, flexible, fold-able and transparent screens.
How does the Flexible OLED display work?
As mentioned earlier, a traditional screen technology (i.e. LCD, Plasma) uses a back light as the source for the pixels. On the other hand, the OLED screen uses organic compounds that create their own light source when a current is passed through them and all of the circuitry to control the pixels is fused into the glass. In order to make a flexible display, the layer of glass is simply replaced with layers of (flexible) plastic film, which allows them to be folded, flexed, or bent without breaking the screen.
OLED Displays in the real world
Given the advantages of OLED displays, they are widely used by consumers and professionals in many products including Samsung Galaxy, iPhone XS, Google Pixel, LG, Oppo, and Huawei Smartphones. The flexible properties of the OLED displays also make them ideal for smart watches and they are already being used by Apple iWatch, LG, and Samsung wearable devices. The main predominant use of OLED display is in televisions as manufacturers like LG, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, and Philips all offer OLED versions of their televisions.
The flexible OLED screens offer many different solutions including phones with edge like curved screens, floldable smartphones, and rollable TV that retracts into the base unit.
LG Rollable OLED TV
The LG Rollable TV will be marketed as the LG SIGNATURE OLED TV R, which uses the flexible display technology to blend the TV and design in an intuitive way that we have not seen before. With the retractable screen, the TV appears and disappears on demand. The LG Rollable OLED TV can roll up to reveal the 65 inch 4K HDR Smart TV. The LG rollable TV will feature Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos sound, deep learning LG ThinQ Artificial Intelligence with Google Assistant and Alexa built in. The LG Rollable TV will be powered by LG’s α9 Gen 2 Intelligent Processor.
The LG rollable TV R9 will feature three different viewing modes: Full, Zero, and Line View. In the Full View, the the display will roll out fully to provide you with a 65 inch viewing experience. In the Zero view, the TV is completely rolled down and becomes a piece of furniture, made of metal and wool, that can double as a speaker. In the Line View, the TV screen will roll up to 1/3 its size to offer six different modes including Music, Clock, Frame, Mood, Lighting, Home dashboard. The Line View allows you to take a quick glance at the time and weather while displaying your most memorable photos on the screen. You can also stream your favorite playlist and adjust your mood lighting in the Line View.
Features of LG SIGNATURE OLED TV R9 (OLED65R9PUA):
- 65 inch 4K screen – HDR Smart TV
- LG ThinQ AI | Google Assistant | Alexa
- LG α9 Gen 2 Intelligent Processor
- LG OLED Display – Rollable Innovation
- Dolby Vision | Dolby Atmos
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Source: LG
I am officially a tech addict and enjoy providing my views on matters related to this industry. I am always interested in trying out new tech gadgets and I have owned multiple smartphones including the legendary HTC One, SGS2, Nexus 4, iPhone 4, 5S, 6S, XR, Note 9. You can ask me any tech related questions in the comment section or on twitter @hookedNav