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Sony's latest flexible display prototype is thin and sturdy enough to be wrapped up while
still showing video images.
The 4.1-inch screen has a resolution of 432 by 240 pixels, which is similar to that offered
by many mass-market cell phones, and will be detailed at a display conference in Seattle
this week.
The screen contains newly-developed organic thin-film transistors that are used to make
the driver circuitry to run the display. The transistors can be directly made on a flexible
substrate and remove the need for rigid driver chips that would prevent the screen from being
rolled.
Sony has been developing flexible screens for sometime and previously demonstrated this
display that could be gently flexed.
Flexible and rollable screens are a hot area of display research. The screens are thinner,
lighter and generally tougher than conventional glass-based displays. Researchers envisage
them being used in applications such as portable gadgets, where their sturdiness and physical
characteristics would be an valuable.
It's still an early prototype and there's no word on when or if it might be in a product.
In Tokyo this is Martyn Williams, IDG News Service.