LG is looking to stay ahead of the technological curve for displays, recently announcing the availability next month, April, of their flexible e-ink display. Able to be bent up to 40 degrees, from the centre, the new display is also thinner and much lighter than previous glass based displays.

Making use of a flexible plastic substrate LG’s new display is 0.77mm thin and weighs only 14 grams. Described as an electronic paper display – EPD – this is one tough display. Able to with-stand a drop from 1.5 meters, scratch resistant and of course bendable.

The display itself measures 6-inches diagonally and squeezes in 1024 x 768 pixels, giving ample space for reading. LG is producing the display to be included in e-book readers made by other manufacturers, it’s pure OEM hardware. No official manufacturing partners have been announced as of yet.

LG’s EPD technology is based on E-Ink corporations electronic paper display. With no back light requirements and only requiring power to change the display this is still the number one low power display technology.

Samsung also has similar plastic based e-ink technology in the works. LG looks to have beaten Samsung to market but expect the competition to be close behind. This could also be signifying the shift from old solid substrates, such as glass, to more flexible solutions, plastic. A change that has many benefits besides the obvious bendable ones. Cost and toughness are only the first two that spring to mind.

Bending does also open a whole new style of interface to our touch screen devices. Already demonstrated in 2011 a smartphone interface that includes bend gestures to turn pages and trigger other actions. This style of interface now becomes very practical.

Representing a new generation of both electronics and displays LG has jumped the gun and produced the first flexible substrate display technology, in a practical package. This is the tip of the ice-berg though, as we learn to use these new technologies even unimagined things are possible.

Reference: Bendable Interface