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by com2kid 3012 days ago
Foldable screens have been real and orderable for several years.

There problem is, screens need a protective layer on top, and bendable glass tech hasn't caught up. You need to be able to embed a touch layer, have good optical clarity, be scratch resistant, and impart resistant.

I've, gently, played with production ready bendable LCDs. Then realized that they weren't practical for any of the sci-fi scenarios I had imagined.
2 comments
delecti 3012 days ago
> any of the sci-fi scenarios I had imagined

This is what I don't get. It's entirely possible that I'm particularly unimaginative, but I can't even think of any devices with screens I'd want to bend. All of my devices bend exactly as much as I want them to: none (or at least negligibly).

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est 3012 days ago
> but I can't even think of any devices with screens I'd want to bend

How about a 75' TV you can carry around like a scroll.

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com2kid 3012 days ago
> How about a 75' TV you can carry around like a scroll.

It'd be a rather thick scroll. :)

The problem of break-ability again comes to mind.

The use case is niche. All the electronics for control still have to be there, so it isn't featherweight or anything, and it is not exactly pocket sized, and now the screen is really fragile.

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jd20 3012 days ago
What about just curved displays? Like in a car, it seems there could be some interesting applications (screen embedded in windshield, or wrapped around the dashboard or center console). Is curved glass tech also a barrier, because I feel I've seen very few applications of curved displays other than TV's.
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stouset 3012 days ago
It’s infinitely cheaper if you want a display on your windshield to just do what aviation HUDs do: project upward onto the glass.
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com2kid 3012 days ago
> What about just curved displays?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/band

http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/gear-fit2/

Actual applications do exist. :)

Lots of cell phones have screens with a slight curve to them now days. Or in the case of Samsung's edge displays, a rather dramatic curve.

To the best of my knowledge, neither display in those fitness products was flexible, just bendable.

I know that as of a few years ago, Corning was hard at work on flexible "glass" for flexible displays.

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