Foldables are a tough piece of tech to make. Their displays have a problem of balancing between flexibility and durability. Plus, most foldables have a crease at the part of the screen from where it folds.
LG has developed a new material to solve problems of durability and creasing. The chemical branch of the company has made a cover window — the protective part that lies on top of the display — that is supposed to be as tough as glass and as flexible as plastic.
To build this cover, the company has used a special kind of coating on top of a thin polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic film. LG claims that this material is more sturdy and flexible than the current crop of polyimide film and tempered glass-based solutions for foldables.
The firm claims that the “real folding window” solution holds its shape even after being folded and unfolded more than 200,000 times — that roughly translates to five years of usage.
LG is planning to start the mass production of this new material in 2022, and full-scale production in 2023. It is also aiming to use this material beyond phones in laptops and tablets.
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The company hasn’t announced any partners yet, so we don’t know at the moment what phones might feature this tech. I can’t wait to try out a foldable phone without any creases.
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