Samsung was granted yet another patent for flexible display technology

26 November 2016
Could we finally be on the verge of mass-marketable, bendable and foldable panels?

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • krW
  • 02 Dec 2016

AnonD-152638, 29 Nov 2016"Many years ago, people said that : We don't need more t... moreYou obviously have no clue what you are talking about and just trying make tech stay at a stand still just for your own ideals

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • tZk
    • 30 Nov 2016

    Why the Samsung always bragging it flexible phone? Many problems still can't fix easily for it flexible designs. Could people live in reality? It is not coming yet, even it come out, the selling price and the service fee and repair step must be very make you sad

      • D
      • AnonD-152638
      • mhA
      • 29 Nov 2016

      Someone Else, 27 Nov 2016Many years ago, people said that : We don't need more th... more"Many years ago, people said that :

      We don't need more than 5 inch of display
      We don't need more than 2 GB of RAM in our phone
      We don't need more than 720p display
      We don't need a quad core processor

      Look where we are now.

      You can't stop technology/innovation until it reaches it peak."


      Just because we have things does not mean we need them;
      We should not need more than 2GB of RAM in mobiles today. The reason we do, is due to bad programming. And that affects the performance even with the added RAM.
      So we still should not need more than 2GB in a mobile.


      More cores rather than upping the processing speed saves battery, if the system is able to fully utilize the cores. So that probably comes from people that does not understand the technical reason. But it could be a valid point if somone can prove that todays systems can't effectively make use of more than two cores, and perhaps they can't.


      The 5" screen thing is kind of valid.
      As a pocketable device, more than 5" screens isn't really practical.
      But mobiles has shifted from beeing a pocketable device, more in to beeing a carry-with computing device.
      As a phone, we don't need more than 5" displays.
      But as most peoples main computing device, 5" or less is limiting.
      (personally I would be much better suited with a device with less than 5" screen and a physical keyboard, as I do a lot of typing on my computing device, and even on a 5.5" device, with the onscreen keyboard I still get less usable display size than on a much smaller screen combined with a physical keyboard)
      So for a person looking for a mobile that is supposed to be a mobile and not really the go to computing device, there is little need for a screen larger than 5".


      We need more than 720p screen, because displays are bigger.
      Up to 5", 720p would be just fine.
      However, since some 5" display devices had higher resolution, when compared, people tend to prefer the one with higher resolution, as it does provide some amount of extra level of fine details. Had those higher resolution 5" displays never come along, people would hae been just fine with 720p 5" displays.
      About 300 DPI is enough to render the smallest readable text size for a person with normal vision, at normal working distance for a phone. Higher DPI can render it better. But going to far beyond that, if the text is rendered according to the DPI and not size, it would be too small.
      So since many displays are bigger today there is a need for higher resolutions.
      Having a bigger display, without increasing the resolution means that there is no additional information, meaning that there really is no point for the additional size, other than perhaps better accurracy when typing as the keys are bigger.

      Then of course, there is VR today, which needs much higher DPI than 300.

      And there is also the fact that with higher resolution, displays can look better, due to some technical reasons related to how display technology works (the use of sub-pixels, and the need for space between pixels). But that is not a need. And it would be invalidated if there was a new display technology that did not have those drawbacks.


      With flexible displays, we still have to see what they can do.
      If they are much better at handling impact, so they can better survive droptests, that could be one important aspect.
      If they can deliver a more pocketable device, that still has enough display area when unfolded to be enough to use it as a computing device, that could be one important aspect.
      If it fits better in a pocket, despite it's size, so that people can have larger phones, without having to take them out of their pockets, or correct their position in the pocket as they sit down, that could be a pratical thing, for some, but the optimal size would still vary from person to person.

      If it's just a way to show off a unique design that does not have more advantages than disadvantages (like the LG Flex series), then it's fair to be sceptical.
      We don't need the marked flooded with those kind of devices, just because it's the latest hype. If one or two devices come along just to differentiate, then it's still ok.

        • D
        • AnonD-152638
        • mhA
        • 29 Nov 2016

        AnonD-29831, 28 Nov 2016I must agree to the general teneur in the posts below. Appl... moreFirst off, I think you have to go back much more than 5-6 years to find anything innovative from Apple.

        To be fair, though, beeing innovative is not really the way large companies operate.
        Large companies are expected to be able to produce products at large volumes, and with new technology, that is not really possible. Since their research is often aimed at larger volume sell products, they often end up behind smaller companies that can be first with a technology, no matter if the large company was already looking in to that type of technology even before the small company released it.

        Apples strength is more in design, and in making things mainstream, than innovation.
        But they had some real flops as well. The Newton was a quite early PDA. They made a digital camera that was early on. They made a gaming console, that was however not early.
        Had they stayed with those, they could have probably been major player in the respective fields. But I guess they did not have the money at the time. But that also shows that Apple even without Jobs, was a company willing to try new things, as that all happend when Jobs were not with Apple.

          • D
          • AnonD-29831
          • 05v
          • 28 Nov 2016

          I must agree to the general teneur in the posts below. Apple is great at making something existing into something better. Except for their glory days when a PC was something unreal and where Apple indeed was most innovative we cannot say that they are lately (read last 5-6 years). They have indeed been nicking other tech companies innovations and made it better (sometimes). In terms of marketing they are champions in innovative marketing. Why would they otherwise be able to sell such a hype for that long?
          No the real innovation indeed comes from the Asian side (Korea, China...while the latter only started to be innovative instead of copying everything shamelessly).
          10 years ago it used to be Europe who was the innovative part of the world, now it's still Asia. The US? Well I don't see that much innovative from that part of the world. I can't shake off the idea that most of the time they are stealing key innovations, hiding it from the world until it has a business model to shove it trough the throats of other countries...resembles Apple marketing...kuch...sorry, soar throat...
          Let's come back on the topic. I'm intrigued by this development and it can be useful. For a smartphone? I'm not convinced that that would be the way to go. It seems that it would be more of a gimmick instead of a really useful thing. I'd prefer seeing the same effort in battery technology and even more effort in the reduction of the power consumption (a thing that Apple is good at with their efforts in developing custom cores). I would rather see the same effort or even more in the research to new real ecological and superior power storage instead of the everlasting lithium derivates or other solid chemical compositions acting currently as power storage (kers maybe?).

            • 9
            • 9687
            • 0Ck
            • 28 Nov 2016

            yeeehaaa777, 28 Nov 2016can any apple fan tell me 1 idea that apple invented just 1... morethe button that Samsung mobile used is one of the copy cat by Samsung...

              • y
              • yeeehaaa777
              • MVg
              • 28 Nov 2016

              Dark Reed, 28 Nov 2016White. They invented White.haha they sure did well done lol

                • D
                • Dark Reed
                • 8%x
                • 28 Nov 2016

                yeeehaaa777, 28 Nov 2016can any apple fan tell me 1 idea that apple invented just 1... moreWhite. They invented White.

                  • y
                  • yeeehaaa777
                  • MVg
                  • 28 Nov 2016

                  can any apple fan tell me 1 idea that apple invented just 1 and I don't mean an idea they nicked and claimed as innovation just 1 truly original idea if you can I will be very impressed lol

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • 4Js
                    • 28 Nov 2016

                    Anonymous, 28 Nov 2016no. sony have no innovations at all.That's not true either. Anyone on either side is being ridiculous.
                    The people that say Samsung doesn't innovate, is the only and or worst copy cat, is not top end in any things is just a fool.
                    And anyone that say ones like Sony and LG don't innovate anything are not trailing far behind

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • M5Z
                      • 28 Nov 2016

                      Anonymous, 27 Nov 2016But nowadays companies patent ideas so other companies won'... moreYou are thinking about the likes of Apple Microsoft and co

                        Tourettes Guy, 27 Nov 2016LG innovates Apple innovates Huawei innovates Sony innov... moreThat's supposed to be a Sarcastic comment, right?

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • 9xx
                          • 28 Nov 2016

                          Tourettes Guy, 27 Nov 2016LG innovates Apple innovates Huawei innovates Sony innov... moreno. sony have no innovations at all.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • tZ0
                            • 28 Nov 2016

                            Why the Samsung always bragging it flexible phone? Many problems still can't solve easily for it flexible designs. Could people in reality, it is not coming yet, even it come out the selling price and the service fee and repair step must be very make you sad.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • RIG
                              • 28 Nov 2016

                              let see ... if samsung used this flexible display , did other phone will follow also ? or they still waiting apple to used it ....

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • pmt
                                • 27 Nov 2016

                                Anonymous, 27 Nov 2016Yeah....so when Samsung does come out with this how does th... moreSo when will they start selling foldable phones? When will they show at least a working prototype?

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • krW
                                  • 27 Nov 2016

                                  Anonymous, 27 Nov 2016But nowadays companies patent ideas so other companies won'... moreYeah....so when Samsung does come out with this how does that fit into your idea?
                                  And I'd really like to see any other of these phone companies beat them to it. Maaaaaayyyyyybe LG and probably more so only if they rush a more proto type thing which we know Samsung has prototype basic ideas already

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • pmt
                                    • 27 Nov 2016

                                    Someone Else, 27 Nov 2016Where have you been for the last 10 years? XD .Every compan... moreBut nowadays companies patent ideas so other companies won't produce them - with no intention of producing them themselves. They don't have technology - they just paten broad ideas. They just block progress.

                                      Anonymous, 27 Nov 2016Must be many problems, because not durable. Hardware and ch... moreThe phone will contain special components that can bend, and of course i don't think samsung will make it so you can bend it at 360° or even 180°

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • krW
                                        • 27 Nov 2016

                                        Anonymous, 27 Nov 2016Must be many problems, because not durable. Hardware and ch... moreHence why we are still in prototype, patent, and waiting stage