LG might have thrown a white towel in the smartphone business, but it’s not done making smartphone parts and components.
LG Chem has revealed that it is developing a new foldable display cover window (the outermost part of a display that prevents it in case of impact) that is as durable as glass yet as flexible as plastic without causing fold creases.
“Unlike existing polyimide films and tempered glass-type materials, the cover window that applied LG Chem’s new coating technologies will maximize flexibility, while also providing optimized solutions for foldable phones such as making improvements to chronic issues like fold impressions on the connecting part of the screen,” said an LG spokesperson in the company’s press release.
LG is calling the material “Real Folding Window,” which is coated with polyester film material on each side of the glass and is “thinner compared to existing tempered glass and has the same hardness, but no cracking on the screen,” reads the press release.
Further, unlike current folding tech that can only be bent in one direction, the “Real Folding Window” can be folded both outwards and inwards. LG Chem claims it is thinner than tempered glass, has a competitive price, and can withstand over 200,000 folds. LG is also working to develop a Real Folding Window 2.0 that doesn’t require the PET film.
LG expects to begin manufacturing the foldable display technology next year, with ambitions to start full-scale sales in 2023, with folding mobile phones as the primary target and desktops, laptops and tablets following suit later.
Image credit: LG
Source: LG
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