LG has created a new flexible display material that it claims is as strong as glass.
Named the “Real Folding Window,” the material was developed by LG Chem and consists of PET film that’s coated on both sides with new technology that gives it more strength while reducing folding marks.
“Unlike existing polyimide films and tempered glass-type materials, the cover window that applied LG Chem’s new coating technologies will maximize flexibility, while also providing optimized solutions for foldable phones such as making improvements to chronic issues like fold impressions on the connecting part of the screen,” said a spokesperson for the South Korean tech company.
On top of these traits, the Real Folding Window has also been designed to fold both inwards and outwards, giving it an advantage of current flexible displays which are only intended to be folded in one direction. It’s also thinner than tempered glass and can be folded over 200,000 times.
Despite these developments, LG hopes to take the technology even further, eventually removing the need for PET film altogether. While no specific smartphone or tablet models carrying the new material have been announced just yet, the company is planning to mass-produce the displays as early as 2022.
Elsewhere in tech, Chinese EV maker XPeng is building a rideable robot unicorn.
