Sony develops Film-Thin, Bendable, Full-Colour Display

Sony has unveiled a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-colour video. It has released the video footage of a tiny 2.4-inch wide television, which is just 0.01 inches thick. The display is so thin that it bends in a human hand.

The display puts forth colour images of a bicyclist stuntman and a picturesque lake. The company is yet to finalize on commercial products integrating the technology.

“In the future, it could get wrapped around a lamppost or a person’s wrist, even worn as clothing,” comments Sony spokesman Chisato Kitsukawa. “Perhaps it can be put up like wallpaper.”

According to Tatsuo Mori, an engineering and computer science professor at Nagoya University, “A few hurdles yet remained, such as making the display bigger, ensuring durability and cutting costs, to name a few.” But he said the display’s pliancy is extremely difficult to replicate with liquid crystal displays and plasma display panels- the two main display technologies now available in the market.

“To come up with a flexible screen at that image quality is groundbreaking. You can drop it, and it won’t break because it’s as thin as paper,” continued Mori.

The new display combines two technologies – Sony’s organic thin film transistor, which is required to make flexible displays, and organic electroluminescent display.

Other companies, including LG Electronics, Philips LCD Co. and Seiko Epson Corp. are working on a different kind of “electronic paper” technology, but Sony said the organic electroluminescent display delivers better color images and is more suited for video.

Sony President Ryoji Chubachi said, “A film-like display is a major technology his company is working on to boost its status as a technological powerhouse.”

During a meeting with journalists in 2006, Chubachi claimed Sony was working on a technology for displays so ultra thin it could be rolled up like paper. He had predicted the world would stand up and take notice.

Some analysts seem confident about Sony beating up its rivals in flat-panel technology, including Samsung.