LG flexible e-paper to be real later this year

LG in a recently discovered SEC filing confirmed that it plans to mass produce its flexible e-paper and more before the end of 2010. The company plans to make both its 19-inch grayscale but bendable screens as well as firm, 9.7-inch color displays in a similar timeframe. What devices would get the screens wasn't mentioned.

The 9.7-inch screen is most likely to find its way into a very high-end reader, as the costs of large, color e-paper would likely rule it out as a replacement even for an existing 9.7-inch e-reader like the Kindle DX. What happens to the 19-inch e-paper is less clear, since the design wouldn't need the hard backing of traditional electronics but might still be too large. Flexible electronics are also still in their infancy and might not support it.

One possibility for both is digital signage: both would be large enough to be used for concert posters. They could be changed for new events but, like existing designs, wouldn't consume any power unless the display needed to update.

Few other competitors exist in the space. Plastic Logic has long-term plans for flexible e-paper screens, but HP is leaping to LCD. [via PCWorld]

By Electronista Staff