New Super Stretchy OLED Could Make Cars and Even Clothes More Sci-Fi

A new flexible OLED screen can stretch up to 50% and attach to fabric. LG Display, the screen-manufacturing arm of the Korean electronics giant, unveiled the new technology at LG Science Park in Seoul on Nov. 8.

The 12-inch prototype screen can stretch up to 18 inches and has red, green and blue pixels at a density of 100 pixels per inch. That’s not very high: By comparison, a smart phone typically has between 300 and 500 ppi. 

The company says the new display incorporates contact lens technology as well as a micro-LED light source, which can be repeatedly stretched over 10,000 times, the company said.

LG Display debuted a stretchable OLED at Seoul Fashion Week in September, but it’s unclear if it’s the same one. The company did not respond immediately to CNET’s request for clarification.

We don’t anticipate seeing these screens in TVs. Rather, LG Display suggested applications including convex touchscreens for cars or wearable displays attached to uniforms to provide real-time information.