SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - Samsung Display has developed a new OLED technology aimed at tackling a persistent weakness of foldable screens, uneven brightness around curved and folded areas, as the display maker looks to improve image consistency across the next generation of flexible devices.
The company said Wednesday it will unveil its 7.6-inch "Wide View" display for the first time at IMID 2026, a four-day display industry conference running through Friday at BEXCO in Busan.
Current commercial foldable displays can appear significantly dimmer around the curved sections on either side of the central fold, with brightness falling to about 40 percent of the level seen when viewing a flat portion head-on, according to Samsung Display.
The new technology redesigns the materials and structure of the OLED's organic light-emitting layer to maintain more uniform brightness across curved sections of the panel.
Samsung Display said the technology could eventually be applied beyond foldable smartphones to slidable and rollable devices, where curved viewing angles can produce similar variations in brightness.
The company is also unveiling a 20-inch stretchable display, its largest to date. Samsung combined two stretchable panels using tiling technology, more than doubling the size of its previous version while minimizing the visible boundary between them.
Samsung sees potential applications for the larger stretchable display in automotive digital cockpits, humanoid robots and digital signage, where screens increasingly need to conform to curved or unconventional surfaces.
The exhibition also includes several experimental OLED applications aimed at emerging AI devices, including a display for humanoid robots with eye-tracking capabilities and a wearable AI OLED pendant. Samsung is also showing new automotive and high-refresh-rate gaming displays.
Samsung Display will present 57 technical papers at this year's conference, the largest number among participating companies. Its OLED panel used in Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S26 Ultra also received IMID's Korea Display of the Year award for its privacy display technology.
Samsung Display said the Wide View technology could improve brightness uniformity around curved portions of displays and could eventually be applied to foldable, slidable and rollable devices.
AJP Takeaways
- Samsung Display's new Wide View OLED targets a longstanding foldable-screen issue in which curved areas around the fold can appear substantially dimmer than the flat center of the display.
- The technology redesigns the OLED light-emitting layer to deliver more consistent brightness and could eventually extend to foldable, slidable and rollable devices.
- Samsung is also showing a 20-inch stretchable display and experimental OLEDs for humanoid robots and AI wearables, signaling a push to take flexible displays beyond smartphones.
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