Samsung Shows ‘Flex in and Out’ 360-Degree Bendable Display Prototype: Report

Samsung Display is said to have developed a 360 degree rotating screen. According to a report, the foldable display prototype, first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023, can bend back and forth through a full 360 degree range. Samsung Display (a Samsung subsidiary that manufactures its displays) calls it the “Flex in and out” display and while it’s not a new form factor as far as foldable devices go, it certainly has some interesting use cases. Samsung showed off several display prototypes at CES 2023, including a new Flex Hybrid display that bends and slides simultaneously.

According to a report in The Verge, Samsung recently showed off this prototype display at CES 2023. The “Flex in and out” display, as its name aptly describes, can bend both inward and outward. the outside. This means the screen can open like unfolding a newspaper or fold outward and wrap around the device like the hard cover of a book.

The report claims that the featured display also uses the teardrop hinge design, which makes the inward and outward folding mechanism possible. This new hinge, which holds the screen in a teardrop shape when bent inward, is quite different from the one currently used in Samsung’s outgoing Galaxy Fold models. The brand claims that the new hinge design, in addition to leaving a much less noticeable crease, will also help reduce stress on the foldable display, which in theory should help with long-term reliability.

The “Flex in and out” display also appears to be attached to a working device with a software interface and looks very similar to currently available Galaxy Fold models. It is therefore possible that Samsung will bring it to the next Galaxy Fold model which, according to tradition, should be announced in August this year. The Verge mentions that Samsung showed off a similar display, but with multiple inward and outward bends at an earlier event in Korea.

A dual-function foldable and unfoldable display primarily reduces the need for a second external display, which is often used when the device is folded. This is possible, as the inner display can double as an outer display when folded outwards, where the device can be placed on one side on a surface, such as a table. Although this design was experimented with in the past, it was abandoned mainly because foldable screens were not durable when exposed at the time. If Samsung goes ahead with this new hinge and foldable display for its next Fold model, it will reduce the need for having a secondary external display, unless Samsung expects the user to keep the screen folded inwards and protected by two outer shells, when it is in pockets or in storage.

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