Back in the days, people envisioned a future with electronic newspapers, which led to tablets a few years ago. But what if you could bend your tablet like paper? LG will make it possible with the world’s first flexible E-Ink display panel that will launch in Europe next month.

Flexible display panels coming in 2012
Flexible and paper thin display panels is one of the new trends in the display industry, and LG is now accelerating their plans to bring flexible display panels to the market. Today, LG has officially announced that the first flexible E-Ink panel has gone into mass production.


LG has created the first flexible E Ink display on a plastic substrate

E-ink panels look like real panel and are already found in all of the popular e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle. But LG’s 6-inch panel is the first flexible version. The panel is monochrome but has a relatively high resolution of 1024x768 pixels. The panel is just 0.7 mm thick; 1/3 of current E-ink panels with glass substrates. It weighs just 14 grams.

The screen can bend by up to 40 degrees. LG says that it is extremely durable, and can survive 1.5-meter drop tests or even take hits from a rubber mallet without being damaged.

It is reported that the first product based on the new flexible panel will be available in Europe next month. It will be manufactured by an unspecified Chinese manufacturer. However, we have not been able to confirm if the actual product will also be flexible or just incorporate the flexible panel in a fixed frame.

LG also plans to expand their production of flexible display panels, and by the end of 2012, LG will have flexible OLED panels in mass production. Samsung also expects to start mass production of flexible OLED panel by the end of 2012.

See the video below for a quick demonstration.