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.
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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.
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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