LG Shows Off Flexible E-Paper Display

LG has started mass production of what it claims is the world’s first plastic e-paper display (EPD) and has claimed products using the technology will arrive in Europe as early as next month.

The Korean manufacturer says its plastic EPD has a number of advantages over glass EPD and claims the development will “revolutionise” the e-book market.

Revolutionary?

The 6-inch XGA display is capable of resolutions of 1024 x 768 and is flexible enough to be bent to a range of 40 degrees from the centre of the screen. Claiming to offer a “paper-like experience”, the display is protected by plastic that is as slim as mobile phone protection film.

The EPD uses e-ink, which shows thousands of pixels which are white when positively charged and black when negatively charged and are controlled by a small voltage, staying in place until the next time a voltage is applied.

E-ink is used in the Amazon Kindle e-reader’s glass EPD display, but LG says that compared to a glass EPD of the same size and resolution, plastic EPD is a third slimmer and more than a half lighter.

Clumsy readers will be reassured to learn it will also offer more protection than glass EPD, with LG claiming that around 10 percent of owners have damaged their screens in accidents. The plastic EPD suffered no damage from durability tests which saw it dropped from 1.5 metres repeatedly, or from being hit with a small hammer.

Boiling point

One problem that LG had to overcome during the development process was that the creation of LCD screens requires exposure to high temperatures, meaning it had to create a plastic EPD that could withstand subjection to 350 degrees.

“With the world’s first plastic EPD, LG Display has once again proven its reputation for leadership and innovation with a product we believe will help greatly popularize the e-book market,” said Sang Duck Yeo, head of operations at LG Display’s Mobile and OLED division. “Based on our success in mass-producing plastic EPD, we are excited as we look toward applying concepts from this experience to future developments like plastic OLED and flexible displays.”

The development could be a significant step forward for e-paper, which is seen to have a number of environmental benefits over traditional paper, and was even used to create a bendable smartphone by Canadian scientists.

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