AUO demos 20in fixed, 6in flexible displays

AU Optronics, best known for making displays for others, today unveiled a pair of relative breakthroughs for e-paper. The Taiwan-area company claims to have the largest-ever display of the kind at 20 inches across; the screen is large enough that it can be used not just for reading but for signs, where omitting a backlight can save power in an already well-lit area. It uses under 2W of power when updating.

More significant to home electronics is a six-inch flexible display that can bend to where it creates a 4-inch radius; the move lets it behave more like real paper in unconventional e-book readers or other devices that need some flexibility. The panel's 9:1 contrast ratio isn't exceptional but is still as good or better than most fixed panels.

AUO hasn't detailed when the 20-inch display would be ready, but the flexible screen is one of the first to have a more definitive release target and should enter mass production sometime in 2010.

By Electronista Staff