LG’s folding plastic screen promises to be as hard as glass

LG is done make smartphones, though that doesn’t mean you’re still not trying to get your biggest rival. Samsung outperformed the competition with folding pHones, but it is flexible the screens arrived with a preinstalled protective film layer to maintain the screen falling to pieces. LG’s solution to this promises to be more sophisticated, with improved plastic that the company is calling “Real Folding Window”.

There are not many details about the new material used. LG Chem, which published the Press release, mentions that he uses a polyester (PET) film material to cover each side of the glass. According to an LG Chem spokesman, the coating is reinforced enough to “maximize flexibility.” LG adds that it’s thinner “compared to existing tempered glass” and while it has the same hardness, it’s not as prone to “cracking on the screen”.

The actual folding window is coated with “a few tens of micrometers” of this new material to increase its heat resistance. The company is also working on developing a version of the actual folding window without additional reinforcement.

The actual folding window has an advantage over its competition: Iit can be bent outwards and inwards. It’s unclear if the screen can be folded in both directions on the same device or if that’s just a mention to show off LG’s manufacturing scalability plan. The company says the coated glass will work with tablets, laptops and folding phones.

LG plans to start production of folding screen technology next year, with plans to “start selling on a large scale” in 2023. The company expects to start with mobile phones and plans to expand into laptops and tablets.

Of course, LG is not free of Samsung’s competition in this area. Samsung showed off its next folding display technology earlier this year at the SIDannual Show the week. Samsung is too tip work with Google on a folding Pixel smartphone and with Corning on a stronger glass. It will be interesting to see which manufacturers LG partners with when their actual folding folding window hits the market.