Samsung has been designing and refining rollable and foldable display panels for some time now and we have seen rumors that the company is planning on releasing a foldable smartphone in 2017, perhaps as a replacement for the Samsung Galaxy Note family of large-screen smartphones. We’ve also seen Samsung use flexible displays for many years now, with devices such as the Google Nexus S using a curved Samsung AMOLED panel when released in 2011 through the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge released earlier in the year. In the television space, however, we’ve seen reports that the company has been working on a rollable television display. Earlier this week, Samsung applied for a patent related to a rollable display panel, such that the screen may be rolled up not unlike a scroll. This patent follows a number of other alternative display technology patents that Samsung has relatively recently applied for.
The concept of a television screen that may be rolled up is a curiosity, but it does bring with it a number of advantages. Chief amongst these is that the technology can make the most of living space, as a television or other display panel may be rolled up out of the way when it is no longer needed and the space used for a different purpose. Furthermore, Samsung’s technology is not restricted to OLED panels: the company explains that the scrollable display technology works with LCD, LED and OLED displays, which may mean that we can see all manner of scrollable displays from smartphone-sized to large in-home televisions. As of yet, there’s no word on if Samsung intends to manufacture any sort of automatic rolling out and rolling up television or monitor displays, or how the technology might be integrated into a smart TV for example. We do know that Samsung is planning on using the technology for televisions, monitors, multimedia devices and gaming systems: it seems that a rollable display is going to become a core part of Samsung’s television product line.
Unfortunately, at this juncture we do not know a timescale as to when Samsung will be putting scrollable display panels into production and when they will start to reach stores and the general public. We will have to wait until Samsung provide more information or further guidance.