LG’s exit from the smartphone space elicited a nostalgia-driven bittersweet response. While it was right at the cusp of reinventing phones with bold design concepts, LG shuttered its smartphone division.
But it seems one of the brand’s most ambitious relics is still kicking. Even though the chances are amazingly slim, there is still some glimmer of hope that LG will return to the smartphone game—and with a rollable smartphone, no less.
According to a patent that was first spotted by MSPowerUser, LG’s display unit has developed a device that includes a “roll-slide” display assembly. At the center of it is a flexible panel that is essentially a substrate developed using plastic as one of the ingredients.
The use of plastic is not surprising here, primarily because it adds some much-needed flexibility. When the first generation of foldable phones arrived on the scene, Samsung was also using plastic for the inner foldable panel and subsequently shifted to a hybrid material called ultrathin glass.
The display material in LG’s patent implementation makes it bendable and rollable. There’s a frame that includes a roller and guide system, allowing the flexible display to extend and retract.
Sandwiched between the multi-frame array is a system of magnetic sheets that rely on magnetic pull to ensure that no creases or wrinkles form as the flexible display expands and retracts. Removing the wrinkles isn’t merely an aesthetic choice. Instead, it also keeps the display integrity intact and ensures that it lasts for long-term use.
It seems LG’s patent doesn’t restrict itself to smartphones. Instead, it harbors a few more ambitious ideas, as well. Take a look at what it says:
“The flexible display device can be easily carried and implement a large screen so that the flexible display device may be applied to various fields including not only mobile equipment such as a mobile phone, an electronic book, or electronic newspaper, but also a television or a monitor.”
Now, rollable tech is not merely a figment of patent imaginations. LG showcased a working prototype of its own take on a rollable phone. Oppo reached the showcase stage, but never released its rollable phone. TCL also got into the race for fold-and-roll concept phones.
Does this patent mean LG is getting back into the smartphone battle? Well, that would be a massive endeavor. Though, technically, it can happen. This patent, which was filed on October 10, is registered under the LG Display unit, a company that has historically supplied phone panels to the likes of Apple.
It is plausible that LG’s display unit is arming itself for the changing landscape of smartphone design. And down the road, if a smartphone brand is willing to launch a rollable phone, LG would readily present itself as a supplier of the fundamental rollable display tech.
When exactly will we see a rollable phone hit the shelves? Well, we don’t have a solid commitment from any brand yet. On the other hand, Huawei is steering the idea of foldable phones into the ridiculous domain of tri-folds, where the screen unfolds twice into a massive tablet.
In the meantime, if you’re wondering what LG’s Rollable phone was all about, check out the video above.
