LG flexible e-paper launching this month
Flexible displays will reach Europe this month, according to LG. Could this mean e-book readers take a leaf out of traditional paperbacks?
Ebook readers could be about to become a lot more like traditional paperbacks. LG will launch a flexible e-paper display in Europe this month, the Telegraph reports.
The 6-inch EPD (e-paper display) is the same size as the screen on the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader and many other e-book readers. It's about a third thinner though, and because it's made of plastic rather than glass, is only half the weight. You can't fold or roll it up, but you can bend it up to 40 degrees apparently. That should make it more tactile for reading, as well as more durable when slung into a bag or pocket.
The maximum resolution is 1,024x768 pixels -- that's the same as the LG Optimus Vu. Though don't expect any colours or animations. Not yet anyway. That's a very high resolution for just showing text and the odd picture though, so everything should look crisp.
Head of operations for LG Display's mobile/OLED division Sang Duck Yeo said the screen was "a product we believe will help greatly popularise the ebook market". No ebook readers have been announced using the display, but it can't be long. It's not known whether LG will license the tech to other companies, or launch into the ebook reader market itself.
Earlier this week, Amazon announced the Kindle Touch would finally be coming to the UK at the end of April. It's a touchscreen version that has so far been unavailable on these shores, and lets you flick through pages like leafing through a book. The prospect of a bendable Kindle sounds great to me. Much as I like my Sony Reader, it is a bit like reading off a piece of slate. Though LG's screen could be used in advertising as well, just like 3D TVs are.
Would you like to see bendable electronic newspapers and ebook readers? Or can you think of a better use for the screen? Let me know in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.