Samsung is showing off a prototype display that would allow a smartphone to be rolled up and put in your pocket.
The rollable OLED, displayed at the SID 2016 conference, measures 5.7 inches when it’s unfurled but can fit into a 35mm film canister.
Samsung says the screen is 0.3mm thick and weighs 5 grams.
The battle for a rollable display is on between Samsung and LG, Korea-based companies that both have display-making divisions. At CES this year, LG showed off a rollable OLED display with an HD resolution of 1,200 by 810 and almost 1 million megapixels. It can be rolled up to a radius of 3cm without affecting the function of the display.
It’s unlikely that a rollable display will hit store shelves anytime soon. And once it does, it’ll likely be quite expensive, since early screen technologies are tough to make. In addition, companies will need to build devices, complete with a processor, memory, storage, and other features, that can fit into the small, rolled-up size.
According to Samsung, the rollable display it featured at SID does not include a touch panel, which will add some thickness. And as Slashgear noted, it’s unclear how many times the OLED can be rolled before it breaks.
Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.