Flexing the Display Screen

Korean researchers developed a “flexible display screen” that can be used as a rolled-up electronic newspaper or electronic book.

Professor Lim Dong-geon (63) of the Physics department at Korea University stated on January 12, “After 30 months of research with professor Jin Jung-il from the department of Chemistry and Shin Sung-tae from the department of Applied Physics, we succeeded in creating a 3-inch display screen (3.47cm×6.65cm) that preserves the images even when the screen is flexed.”

The results will be published in the March edition of the American Journal of Applied Physics.

The “flexible display screen” has the advantage of preserving its images for over 24 hours after cutting off its electricity.

A larger version of the screen is projected to replace paper newspapers or books with e-newspapers or e-books.

Professor Lim added, “While ordinary screens display 16 or 32 levels of brightness through the digital method, this screen utilizes the analog method, allowing for a greater range in brightness.”

The project, which has been funded by the Next-generation Information Display Technology Developmental Project of the 21C Frontier R&D Project conducted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, will be exhibited at the Seoul Kyoyuk MunHwa HoeKwan located at Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul until January 14.

cosmos@donga.com