Samsung previews certified unbreakable flexible OLED smartphone screen

flexible oled

Samsung has made a genuine certified unbreakable flexible OLED screen (FOLED).

Certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) it can stand MIL-SPEC tests without damage. This includes dropping it 26 times from 1.2 metres and even from 1.8 metres.

The screen uses a pOLED substrate (plastic) and a plastic (acrylic) top cover replacing the traditional Gorilla Glass. It is not known how tough or scratch resistant this is. It is apparently as optically pure as glass.

“The fortified plastic window is especially suitable for portable electronic devices not only because of its unbreakable characteristics, but also because of its lightweight, transmissivity and hardness, which are all very similar to glass,” said Hojung Kim, general manager of the Communication Team, Samsung Display Company.

flexible oledWho will use an unbreakable flexible OLED screen?

Everyone will want it but being MIL-SPEC means it is expensive. Initially it will go into commercial, government and military use where durability is necessary.

But it also has application to automotive, games, tablets and smartphones when costs are more reasonable. It would be a significant leap forward over competitors using glass screens.

GadgetGuys’s take. Flexible OLED (FOLED) is the way

OLED is going in many directions. TOLED (transparent), PHOLED (phosphorescent), SOLED (Stacked) and POLED (plastic OLED) are just some of the variations. It can do this because each pixel is self-emitting. Not back lit, edge lit, or fibre optic lit. There is no light bleed, lower power use and it produces deep, inky blacks.

With mobile phone screen repairs (genuine) costing $200 or more this is good news.