LG shows off its latest amazingly stretchy display tech
The fixed, glass displays we're all used to are changing fast, and that opens the door to new display formats and possibilities.
Key takeaways
- The company’s prototype is a 12-inch display made of a type of silicon used in contact lenses, to form a flexible film-like substrate with micro LEDs as a light source.
- In this case, the display can be stretched to an extra 20% of its initial length, or an extra 2 inches (5 cm).
- LG Display’s new stretchable screen could find use in these kinds of applications too, as well as wearable displays, or being attached to curved surfaces like vehicles, aircraft, furniture, and many other things.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2022) 'LG shows off its latest amazingly stretchy display tech', 311 Institute, 14 November. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/lg-shows-off-its-latest-amazingly-stretchy-display-tech/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
After decades of being solid and inflexible screens are now becoming expandable, foldable, rollable, and bendable, and companies are using these to create new format laptops, smartphones and TV’s, but now we’ve had a glimpse at a new take on the idea. LG Display has unveiled the first high-definition display that can be stretched, twisted and folded during use, and unlike a couple of early prototypes that I talked about, whose future use cases included wearables, the new display is full color.
The company’s prototype is a 12-inch display made of a type of silicon used in contact lenses, to form a flexible film-like substrate with micro LEDs as a light source. It packs a resolution of 100 pixels per inch (ppi), which is about that of many monitors and TVs, and displays in full-color RGB.
The new display
Like other flexible and stretchable electronics, the wires inside have S shapes instead of a straight line, allowing them to continue channelling electricity even while being stretched or compressed. In this case, the display can be stretched to an extra 20% of its initial length, or an extra 2 inches (5 cm). That’s not a whole lot, given previous attempts like that from Royole reported 130% stretchability, but that company has only made a smaller, lower-resolution prototype so far.
I’ve previously talked about laptops and smartphones with foldable displays, TVs that can be rolled up when not in use, and monitors that can be manually bent to different angles. LG Display’s new stretchable screen could find use in these kinds of applications too, as well as wearable displays, or being attached to curved surfaces like vehicles, aircraft, furniture, and many other things.
LG Display’s stretchable display tech still has some room for improvement, but that will no doubt come during the commercialization process.
Source: LG Display
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Why does this matter?
The fixed, glass displays we're all used to are changing fast, and that opens the door to new display formats and possibilities.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
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Sources and further reading
- Lg display unveils the worlds first high resolution stretchable display news.lgdisplay.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 14 November 2022. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2022). LG shows off its latest amazingly stretchy display tech. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/lg-shows-off-its-latest-amazingly-stretchy-display-tech/
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