LG is preparing to build flexible POLED displays for cars

By Christian de Looper July 6, 2016

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The tech world is changing pretty darn quickly, and within a few years the flexible display could be an extremely important part of our digital lives. LG is trying to stay ahead of the curve, and is reportedly set to start production of the plastic OLED, or POLED display for use in wearables, phones, and even cars, starting next year.

To prepare for ramping up its production, LG has brought in some new equipment to its factory in Gumi, South Korea, and will start supplying POLED displays to clients in the first half of next year.

POLED is an interesting take on the OLED display — it takes OLED technology, but instead of using glass it uses a type of plastic, permitting flexible displays. That includes use in things like flexible smartphones, such as the one Samsung is developing, but it also includes cars.

In fact, LG currently has a partnership with Audi to supply folded OLED displays for Audi’s cars. There are plenty of places this could be used, including a car infotainment system, however it’s likely some of the uses for POLED displays haven’t yet been incorporated in cars — for example, displays that show what’s behind the car in place of a rear-view mirror, as in BMW’s mirrorless i8 concept car.

OLED in general is being widely adopted by tech companies of late — even Apple is reportedly looking into replacing the LCD display on the iPhone with an OLED display. There are a number of reasons why OLED has an advantage — not only does it produce deeper colors, but it also doesn’t use as much battery.

It will be interesting to see how much of the market LG ends up supplying. The company is clearly looking to play a big role in the rise of the POLED, but it’s sure to have competition from the likes of Samsung.

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Christian de Looper

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Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…

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