We are there now: SEL demos tri-foldable 8.7" tablet display with 1080p resolution
Semiconductor Energy Laboratory (SEL), the same guys that did a 6" foldable display for Nokia, are now back at it, demonstrating one for tablets. Back in June, Nokia and a SEL subsidiary, showcased a 6" phablet OLED HD phablet panel that can be folded once, and another one that is a tri-fold, both able to bend up to 100,000 times to a just 2mm radius.
At Display Innovation 2014, an expo that ran from Oct 29 to 31 in Yokohama City, Japan, SEL revealed a foldable OLED tablet display with an 8.7" diagonal that boasts some pretty decent specs, such as a 1080p resolution and 254ppi. If you are interested how did SEL do this, well, it's the same technique used by Samsung and LG - in a nutshell, you replace the typical glass substrate with a plastic one, which brings on the bendability phenomenon.
The foldable 8.7" display has an integrated touch panel, too, and can bend three times, fitting in a much smaller footprint, ready to be taken anywhere at a fraction of the unfolded size. It's a nice proof of concept, hinting at how a tablet might become bearable to carry around and be used for quick tasks, then unfolded and used for browsing or watching videos, for example. We aren't there yet, as there are plenty of non-bendable components to take care of still, but things are progressing nicely, it seems.
source: Techon.nikkei.co.jp via OLED-Display
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