SAMSUNG has dished out some mind-bending (and literally bending) gadget concepts – including a stretchable screen and foldable games console.
The South Korean tech giant’s display division is showing off its “magic” screens of the future at a special event this week.
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They include a small 18.1-inch telly that folds up into a briefcase.
And there’s even a gaming device – which looks a lot like a Nintendo Switch – that can fold in half to fit in your pocket.
The future-gazing gadgets were revealed at the Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona.
Most of the gadgets are built from special OLED displays, but they’re just concepts for now.
One demo gadget was called OLED Tile, which is meant to create the effect of a TV – but without the giant border, or “bezel”.
It works using ten 6.8-inch OLED panels that have a bezel that’s just 0.6mm, so it’s barely visible.
These tiles can then be stuck together side by side to create the illusion of a big screen.
“The OLED Tile demonstration showcases full-screen technology. The tile’s ultra-thin bezels create the appearance of a single display when all panels are illuminated.
Samsung also showed off a clever gadget called Flex Gaming.
It’s described as a “concept gaming console” that has a 7.2-inch foldable OLED.
Samsung has already been making foldable smartphones for years now – and the console looks very similar.
The idea is that you could have a large screen for gaming, but that the device would fold up and tuck away.
Samsung also showed off a “stretchable” screen that was encased in glass at the show.
The gadget maker has previously boasted that its stretchable screen can be pulled out to 125% of its original size.
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That means you’d get an extra quarter of display just by pulling on it.
And Samsung’s stretchy screens can squeeze in 120 pixels per inch of display.
Also on show was a bizarre TV-in-a-briefcase, which is meant to be handy for air travellers.
It’s called the Flexible Cabinbag, and looks just like a briefcase from the outside.
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But inside, Samsung has packed an 18.1-inch foldable OLED display.
“This device can be transformed into a bag-like form with grips for easy carrying,” Samsung explains.
“When unfolded, it servers as an 18.1-inch tablet, equivalent to the size of two standard tablets.
“And can be folded into a compact briefcase for convenience.”
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WHAT IS AN OLED SCREEN?
OLED screens are all the rage in the tech industry – and are increasingly popular for smartphones and TVs.
Normally screens use an LED-backlit LCD design, which means a giant backlight illuminates the crystals that make up your screen.
This is what lets you see an image when you’re looking at the display.
But OLED screens have pixels that illuminate themselves, without the need for a big backlight.
Samsung – a brief history
Here’s what you need to know…
- Samsung is a major South Korean company made up of many businesses that operate globally
- It’s known locally as a “chaebol”, which means “business conglomerate”
- It was founded by Lee Byung-chul in 1938 as a trading company
- But over several decades, it branched out into food processing, insurance, textiles and retail
- It wasn’t until the late 1960s when Samsung entered the electronics industry – for which it’s best known in the west today
- It also launched businesses in construction and shipbuilding in the 1970s
- Today, Samsung’s most important sources of income are its smartphones and computer chips
- The firm accounts for around 20 per cent of the South Korea’s GDP
- More than 270,000 staff are employed by Samsung globally
This means that individual pixels can be turned off, allowing a display to show true blacks – because there’s not a backlight running the whole time.
The result is improved contrast and a wider range of colours, so you should see TV and movies depicted more accurately.
And OLED screens are generally more power-efficient than panels with big backlights, which is better for battery life and electricity bills.
The downside is that gadgets with OLED screens typically cost more than ones without.
