The ASU Flexible Display Center in Tempe is working with the US Army and manufacturers to develop flexible display screens for use in consumer electronics and military devices. The goal is to make screens that can bend, fold, and roll up out of plastic rather than glass. This would enable lighter, more durable devices that use less power. The Army has invested $50 million over 5 years to support this research. Flexible screens could be incorporated into e-readers, phones, laptops, tablets, and military vehicles and gear. Challenges include developing manufacturing processes that don't damage flexible plastic and driving down production costs.

1. ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012
GUILBAULT Florian
LIOTARD Adrien
TOURNEUX Julien

2. BIBLIOGRAPHIE : LES ECRANS SOUPLES
TECHNOLOGIES
Andrew Johnson. « ASU developing flexible-display screens », 14 février 2009. …………p6
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/02/13/20090213biz-flex0214.html.
Didier Sanz. « Le Figaro - Sciences et Technologies : Sony présente l‘écran souple à
enrouler », 7 juin 2010. ………………………………………………………………p8
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20100607ARTFIG00453-sony-presente-l-ecran-souple-a-enrouler.php.
« Flexible display screens: Bend me, shape me, anyway you want me | The Economist », 22
janvier 2010. ………………………………………………………………………….p9
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Jim Krane. « A Bright Future For Roll-Up Video Screens », 6 juin 2003. ………………...p12
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Larry Greenemeier. « New Glasses-Free 3-D Approach Could Work on Thin, Flexible
Displays: Scientific American », 30 août 2011. ……………………………………p14
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« Le Figaro - Flash Eco : Un écran Sony souple qui se roule », 26 mai 2010. ……………..p16
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ecran-sony-souple-qui-se-roule.php.
« OLED Flexible Display Technology Could Be Used in Smart Product Packaging », 20
janvier 2012. ………………………………………………………………………...p17
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be-used-in-smart-product-packaging.html.
Rick Callahan. « Nation & World | Thin, flexible computer screen a peek into future | Seattle
Times Newspaper », 8 mai 2003. …………………………………………………...p19
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Sarah Graham. « Scientists Fabricate Pliable Electronic Display: Scientific American », 8 mai
2003. ………………………………………………………………………………...p21
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Simon Perry. « Innovations: Flexible screen | Technology | The Guardian », 13 octobre 2005.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/oct/13/innovations.mobilephones2?INTC
MP=SRCH. …………………………………………………………………………p22
« Sony met au point un écran souple qui s‘enroule - LeMonde.fr », 26 mai 2010. ………...p23
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souple-qui-s-enroule_1363217_651865.html.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 1

3. « Un prototype de tablette souple et translucide », 6 décembre 2011. ……………………..p24
http://www.leparisien.fr/high-tech/un-prototype-de-tablette-souple-et-translucide-06-
12-2011-1756834.php.
William D‘Urso. « Flexible screens nearer to commercialization », 10 avril 2011. ………..p25
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2011/04/10/20110410asu-army-tech-
manufacturers-flexible-plastic-screens.html.
Yuri Kageyama. « Sony develops flexible, razor-thin display | The San Diego Union-
Tribune », 26 mai 2007. …………………………………………………………….p27
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070526/news_1b26sony.html.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 2

4. APPLICATIONS
Bobbie Johnson. « Flexible LED screens on the way | Technology | guardian.co.uk », 21 août
2009. ………………………………………………………………………………...p28
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/aug/21/research-
gadgets?INTCMP=SRCH.
Brandon Bailey. « Flexible electronic display will get Army field test - Los Angeles Times »,
21 février 2011. ……………………………………………………………………..p28
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/21/business/la-fi-flexscreen-20110127.
Brian X. Chen. « Flexible Computers Make Smarter Credit Cards - NYTimes.com », 11
janvier 2012. ………………………………………………………………………...p30
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/smarter-credit-
cards/?scp=1&sq=flexible%20screen&st=cse.
Dattatreya Mandal. « Flexible screens and secret future of Tablets », décembre 2011. ……p31
http://www.gizmowatch.com/flexible-screens-secret-future-tablets.html.
Gianluca Mezzofiore. « Flexible Samsung phone ―to be issued in 2012‖ - Telegraph », 27
septembre 2011. …………………………………………………………………….p34
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8790189/Flexible-Samsung-phone-to-
be-issued-in-2012.html.
Guillaume Deleurence. « PaperPhone : et si l‘iPhone demain devenait souple ? », 9 mai
2011. ………………………………………………………………………………...p35
http://www.01net.com/editorial/532478/et-si-demain-liphone-devenait-flexible/.
Jean-Luc Goudet. « Actualité > Paperphone, ou comment un écran souple sert d‘interface à un
mobile », 9 mai 2011. ……………………………………………………………….p36
http://www.futura-sciences.com/fr/news/t/informatique/d/paperphone-ou-comment-
un-ecran-souple-sert-dinterface-a-un-mobile_30036/.
Jean-Sébastien Zanchi. « Vers des téléphones à écrans souples en 2012 », 2 novembre 2011.
http://www.tomsguide.fr/actualite/ecran-souple,1478.html. ………………………..p39
Jesse Bauer. « Futuristic Samsung Flexible Displays Coming In 2012 - Technorati
Technology », 5 décembre 2011. …………………………………………………...p40
http://technorati.com/technology/article/futuristic-samsung-flexible-displays-coming-
in.
« L‘écran flexible est-il l‘avenir du smartphone? - 20minutes.fr », 27 octobre 2011. ……...p41
http://www.20minutes.fr/high-tech/813944-ecran-flexible-est-il-avenir-smartphone.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 3

5. Mat Smith. « Nokia‘s kinetic future: flexible screens and a twisted interface (video) --
Engadget », 26 octobre 2011. ……………………………………………………….p42
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/26/nokias-kinetic-future-flexible-screens-and-a-
twisted-interface.
« Nokia a déposé un brevet pour un téléphone souple avec plein de fonctions | Gizmodo », 19
janvier 2010. ………………………………………………………………………...p43
http://www.gizmodo.fr/2010/01/19/nokia-a-depose-un-brevet-pour-un-telephone-
souple-avec-plein-de-fonctions.html#more-58223.
« Nokia demonstrates a phone with a flexible OLED display - GSMArena.com news », 27
octobre 2011. ………………………………………………………………………..p44
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_demonstrates_flexible_oled_display_at_nokia_worl
d-news-3318.php.
« Nokia et le concept Morph de téléphone pliable et auto-nettoyant | Gizmodo », 25 février
2008. ………………………………………………………………………………...p46
http://www.gizmodo.fr/2008/02/25/nokia_et_le_concept_morph_de_telephone_pliable
_et_autonettoyant.html.
« Pliez-le », 26 novembre 2009. ……………………………………………………………p47
http://www.leparisien.fr/societe/pliez-le-26-11-2009-724925.php.
Richard Waters. « Taking the paper out of work | FT Tech Hub | FTtechhub - Industry
analysis – FT.com », 7 janvier 2010. ……………………………………………….p48
http://blogs.ft.com/fttechhub/2010/01/taking-the-paper-out-of-work/#axzz1jGFOz9zh.
« Samsung‘s transparent, flexible screen with 3D so real it looks like you can touch it | Mail
Online », 7 décembre 2011. ………………………………………………………...p50
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2070741/Samsungs-transparent-
flexible-screen-3D-real-looks-like-touch-it.html.
« Sony annonce un prototype d‘écran souple en couleurs », 26 mai 2010. ………………...p53
http://www.easybourse.com/bourse/high-tech/article/16293/sony-annonce-un-
prototype-decran-souple-en-couleurs.html.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 4

6. ENTREPRISES
Anthony Myers. « Samsung Future is Now: Flexible Screen Device to Launch in 2012
[VIDEO] - International Business Times », 30 octobre 2011. ……………………...p54
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/240088/20111030/samsung-future-flexible-screen-
device-launch-2012.htm.
« Beautiful Flexible Screens Samsung New Phones | Art, Concepts, Design, Gadgets », 7
janvier 2012. ………………………………………………………………………...p55
http://designskings.com/beautiful-flexible-screens-samsung-new-phones/.
Ed Oswald. « Samsung plans to make flexible screens a reality in 2012 », octobre 2011. ...p57
http://betanews.com/2011/11/01/samsung-plans-to-make-flexible-screens-a-reality-in-
2012/.
Jay Alabaster. « Samsung to Sell Phones With Flexible Screens Next Year | PCWorld », 28
octobre 2011. ………………………………………………………………………..p58
http://www.pcworld.com/article/242770/samsung_to_sell_phones_with_flexible_scree
ns_next_year.html.
Josh Wolford. « Phones With Flexible Screens Coming Next Year, Says Samsung |
WebProNews », 28 octobre 2011. ………………………………………………….p59
http://www.webpronews.com/phones-with-flexible-screens-coming-next-year-says-
samsung-2011-10.
Mike Perlman. « Samsung Challenges Nokia in Flexible Display Wars | TechnoBuffalo », 30
octobre 2011. ………………………………………………………………………..p61
http://www.technobuffalo.com/mobile-devices/phones/samsung-challenges-nokia-in-
flexible-display-wars/.
Rick Henderson. « Samsung promises flexible OLED screen phones for 2012 - Pocket-lint »,
28 octobre 2011. …………………………………………………………………….p62
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/42782/samsung-promises-flexible-screen-phones-
2012.
« Samsung et Nokia dans la course - 04/11/2011 - leParisien.fr », 4 novembre 2011. …….p64
http://www.leparisien.fr/espace-premium/air-du-temps/samsung-et-nokia-dans-la-
course-04-11-2011-1701229.php.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 5

7. TECHNOLOGIES
ASU developing flexible-display screens
ASU teaming with the U.S. Army and manufacturers
By Andrew Johnson - Feb. 14, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Mobile phones, laptops and televisions of the future will have display screens that can bend, fold and
roll up.
The military, high-tech manufacturers and academia have made Arizona ground zero for bringing the
technology into mainstream use.
They are pinpointing key materials and testing manufacturing techniques needed to make the
sophisticated screens at Arizona State University's Flexible Display Center. The goal is to incorporate
the flexible material in everything from entertainment devices to tools that aid soldiers.
Based at the ASU Research Park at Loop 101 and Elliot Road in Tempe, the center recently renewed a
cooperative agreement with the Army, which is providing $50 million over the next five years to
operate the facility.
The Army signed an initial agreement with ASU in 2004 worth $43.7 million to establish the center.
Since then, ASU and Army researchers have worked with Honeywell International, Boeing, HP,
General Dynamics, DuPont Teijin Films and several startup companies to lay the groundwork for
mass-producing flexible displays.
"We're poised to do more on the development side to show, demonstrate and scale the process," said
Shawn O'Rourke, director of engineering at the Flexible Display Center.
The Army has been a major force behind private industry's willingness to invest in the technology.
Soldiers would benefit by reducing the weight of electronics they carry. Military vehicles with flexible
displays inside them also would emit less heat and consume less power.
"Our electronic devices that are in our combat vehicles . . . are power-hungry," said Thomas Killion,
the Army's deputy assistant secretary for research and technology and chief scientist.
"The less energy they demand, the less demands you place on engines, and you extend the battery
life."
Scottsdale-based General Dynamics C4 Systems, a center partner, has experimented with flexible
displays for potential mission-planning devices that soldiers could wear on their wrists or carry in their
hands.
Manufacturers see potential for consumer applications.
Polymer Vision Ltd. expects to begin selling an electronic-book device called the Readius later this
year. It will have a rollout screen.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 6

8. Experts say future versions of Amazon.com's Kindle likely will include a flexible display, making the
e-book device more rugged and power-efficient.
Sales of flexible displays are expected to reach $2.8 billion by 2013, up from $80 million in 2007,
according to technology-research firm iSuppli Corp. in El Segundo, Calif.
Although the term "flexible display" is typically associated with screens that can bend and roll up, the
phrase applies to broad characteristics that generally allow for less power consumption and greater
portability.
Most panels used in electronic devices today are made with glass. Flexible displays are made with
plastic, which is more durable.
The technology is considered a financial gamble because the materials needed to manufacture the
panels are scarce.
Through collaboration, the center aims to encourage companies to invest in the technology by
lowering the "business and technical risks" of manufacturing, said Nick Colaneri, center director.
Key characteristics of flexible displays include the ability to view the screens in a variety of lighting
conditions, outside or at an angle, said Carl Taussig, director of the information surfaces at HP Labs,
the research arm of computer seller HP.
The devices also are lighter and thinner because they require fewer battery components.
A major challenge for HP and other companies is figuring out how to avoid damaging the plastic
during manufacturing because existing equipment is made to handle glass.
Researchers tried gluing sheets of plastic to glass plates and other hard surfaces and running the plates
through traditional machines. But temperature variances caused the plastic to stretch.
The center now uses glue made by Henkel that overcomes those challenges, Colaneri said.
Using discoveries learned by center researchers, Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP developed a flexible-
display prototype last year.
HP also designed a process for running rolls of plastic through a device that cuts individual panels
similarly to the way newsprint is processed by a printing press.
Such roll-to-roll manufacturing is significant because it drives down production costs, Taussig said.
Honeywell sees potential for using flexible displays in cockpit tools that could result in lighter, more
fuel-efficient aircraft, said Bob Witwer, an advanced-technology director at the company's Aerospace
business in Phoenix.
The center has a staff of 35 researchers funded by the Army, Colaneri said. In addition, about a half-
dozen ASU faculty members work at the center, which is in a 250,000-square-foot building formerly
part of Motorola.
The center's industry partners pay annual dues of $50,000 to $500,000, depending on their size and
involvement, Colaneri said.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 7

9. Sony présente l'écran souple à enrouler
Par Didier Sanz
Ce prototype promet de nouvelles applications pour diffuser les vidéos et les journaux
électroniques.
Après l'écran flexible qui peut se courber, voici l'écran ultrasouple qui s'enroule. C'est Sony qui vient
de présenter cette nouvelle technologie : un minuscule écran en couleurs qui résiste à plusieurs cycles
d'enroulement et d'étirement. Pour l'instant, la taille de l'écran se limite à 10,4 centimètres de
diagonale, mais les images diffusées par Sony montrent une qualité d'affichage étonnante en 432×240
pixels avec 16,7 millions de couleurs et des animations très fluides. Le géant japonais a adapté pour
l'occasion la technologie d'écrans plats Oled représentée sur un de ses minitéléviseurs. L'écran se
compose d'un film ultrafin en polymère souple, recouvert d'une couche de matériaux organiques
électroluminescents qui assurent la reproduction des images. Dépourvu de circuits électroniques, il
peut facilement être enroulé et déroulé.
Comme les autres fabricants d'écrans souples, Sony compte attirer l'attention des constructeurs
d'appareils mobiles ultrafins, notamment pour la diffusion de journaux sous forme électronique. Ce
modèle permettrait ainsi d'enrouler le support pour le glisser dans la poche comme un stylo ou encore
de plaquer l'écran sur un bracelet. La mise à jour des éditions s'opérerait par Internet.
Journaux actualisés
Les observateurs imaginent également d'autres applications liées à la diffusion d'émissions télévisées
ou à la visioconférence. Au Japon, la chaîne de télévision publique NHK planche sur ces technologies
depuis de nombreuses années et le ministère de l'Industrie a lancé un programme en partenariat avec
des entreprises privées pour mettre au point un procédé de fabrication en série des écrans souples
comparable à l'impression de journaux.
Pourtant, la recherche sur les écrans flexibles semble suivre un parcours chaotique. Après avoir
mobilisé plusieurs industriels au début des années 2000, elle n'a pas connu de débouchés commerciaux
à la hauteur des espoirs qu'elle avait suscités. Outre les contraintes techniques, le développement de ce
type de produit se heurte à des problèmes de brevets. L'innovation de Sony inaugure peut-être une
nouvelle direction plus concrète dans ce domaine.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 8

10. Flexible display screens
Bend me, shape me, anyway you want me
Electronic screens as thin as paper are coming soon
Jan 22nd 2009 | from the print edition
OVER the years, the screens on laptops, televisions, mobile phones and so on have got sharper, wider
and thinner. They are about to get thinner still, but with a new twist. By using flexible components,
these screens will also become bendy. Some could even be rolled up and slipped into your pocket like
a piece of electronic paper. These thin sheets of plastic will be able to display words and images; a
book, perhaps, or a newspaper or a magazine. And now it looks as if they might be mass produced in
much the same way as the printed paper they are emulating.
The crucial technological development happened recently at the Flexible Display Centre at Arizona
State University. Using a novel lithographic process invented by HP Labs, the research arm of
Hewlett-Packard, and an electronic ink produced by E Ink, a company spun out of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, the centre‘s researchers succeeded in printing flexible displays onto long rolls
of a special plastic film made by DuPont. To make individual screens, the printed film is sliced up into
sections rather as folios for magazines or newspapers would be cut from a printed web of paper.
The resulting ―electrophoretic‖ screens are lightweight and consume only a fraction of the power of a
typical liquid-crystal display (LCD). Their first use is likely to be by the American army, which helped
pay for the project. It hopes its soldiers will be able to use the screens as electronic maps and to
receive information. The idea is that the flexible screens will replace some of the bulky devices that
soldiers now have to lug around. If that works, the retail market beckons. The first trials of consumer
versions could begin within a few years.
Flickering beginnings
Although printing flexible screens in this way will help to make them affordable, they still have a long
way to go to catch LCDs. For that, two things need to happen. One is that the displays must turn from
black-and-white to colour. The other is that they must be able to refresh their images at a rate fast
enough to show moving pictures. Researchers at the Flexible Display Centre and elsewhere are
working on ways to do that, and there seems little doubt it will happen. Yet even with their present
limitations, flexible screens have some important advantages over LCDs.
For a start, LCDs are difficult and costly to make. Most are produced in huge, ultra-clean factories
using batch processes similar to those for making silicon chips. Layers of material which work as
filters, electrodes, transistors and the liquid crystal itself are deposited onto a thin glass plate to form a
sandwich that is covered with another pane of glass. At each stage the layers are etched to make
electrical connections. This is a fractious, finicky process and tiny defects in the materials, or failures
in the alignment of the different layers, can result in 20% or more of a batch being scrapped.
Moreover, the glass means LCDs are heavy and easily broken, as anyone who has dropped a laptop
knows to his cost.
Another drawback is that LCDs consume a lot of power because they are lit from behind. An LCD
works because, when an electrical field is applied to the transparent liquid crystals that form each
picture element, or ―pixel‖, within the screen, the crystals become opaque. Red, green and blue filters
then allow different colours to show within each pixel, but light has to be shone through them for this
to happen. That, plus the fact that the liquid crystals will revert to transparency if the power goes off,
mean an LCD eats batteries. It also means that the image can be hard to see in bright sunlight.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 9

11. Electrophoretic displays work in a different way, using a form of electronic ink that has been under
development since the 1970s. E Ink‘s version employs tiny capsules filled with a clear fluid containing
positively charged white particles and negatively charged black ones. The capsules are arranged as
pixels and electric charges applied to each pixel pull either the black or the white particles towards the
top of the capsule (and the opposite colour to the bottom). Unlike an LCD‘s, this image does not
require backlighting. Instead, the user relies on reflected light, as he would if he were reading a sheet
of printed paper. Moreover, once the particles in the capsules have settled down they stay put. That
means the image remains on the screen without drawing power. A further dose of electricity is
required only when the image changes; when a user ―turns‖ to the next page, for example. Not only
does this mean that electrophoretic displays are cheaper to run, the lack of constant refreshment makes
them more comfortable to read—as comfortable, it is claimed, as printed paper.
Kindling the fire
In fact, electrophoretic displays are already available, but they are built on glass in a similar way to an
LCD. One such device is the Kindle, launched by Amazon, an American online retailer, in November
2007. Thanks in part to a ringing endorsement by Oprah Winfrey on her television show, it is now a
big hit and prospective purchasers face long delays getting their hands on one. The Kindle, which
costs $359, is about the size of a slim paperback (see picture below). It can download books and other
publications directly using a built-in wireless connection, and offers electronic editions of some
newspapers.
It is not alone, though. Its rivals include Sony‘s Reader, and a device with a larger screen launched late
last year by iRex, a Dutch company. And, later this year, an electrophoretic reader that is built the
LCD way, but on plastic, rather than on glass, will also be launched to take them on.
Plastic Logic, the firm that makes this reader, was founded by researchers at the University of
Cambridge, has its headquarters in Silicon Valley and does its manufacturing in Germany. The firm
uses an adapted version of LCD manufacturing which employs electronic ink and plastic substrates to
make its screens. Plastic Logic‘s prototype reader, which has a screen about the size of a magazine, is
a mere 7mm thick and weighs less than 450 grams. It should run for a week in normal use before its
battery needs recharging.
Plastic Logic says its reader will be aimed at businessmen who might want to store, on a single
machine capable of being slipped into their briefcase, all the paper documents and spreadsheets that at
present they normally print out. Books and periodicals can be read too. And for those who think they
would miss the ability to scribble comments and underline things that paper provides, the reader‘s
screen will be touch-sensitive, allowing such annotations to be made.
Even Plastic Logic‘s approach, though, is likely to be transitional. If Hewlett-Packard‘s ―self-aligned
imprint lithography‖, as it describes its new technology, can be commercialised, it will take the
manufacture of screens through what has proved a crucial transition in every industry in which it has
happened—from batch processing to continuous manufacture.
The breakthrough here was to work out a way to simplify the process by which the electronic circuit
that controls the pixels is carved out of layers of conducting, semiconducting and insulating materials.
In standard silicon-based electronics, this involves the repeated application of resistive materials to
protect those parts of the layer being etched that need to be preserved. Hewlett-Packard‘s scientists,
however, have worked out how to print a layer of resistive material of variable height on top of all the
other layers. After each stage of the etching process a fixed depth of this is dissolved away, exposing a
different part of the circuit to the etching chemicals.
The result is a continuous process, much like a printing press. This promises to become a cost-
effective mass-production method which Hewlett-Packard will license to other producers, says Prith
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 10

12. Banerjee, the company‘s research director. Once that happens, he hopes, flexible screens could be
used in all sorts of devices.
Colour section
The one feature these screens do not yet offer is colour and, though colour versions will surely come
to market, no one is yet sure which version will succeed. Electrophoretic displays can use coloured
particles and filters to produce red, green and blue subpixels, but as each colour occupies only one
third of a pixel‘s area, the brightness of the image is correspondingly reduced. Liquavista, a spin-off
from Philips, a big Dutch electronics company, is trying something called ―electrowetting‖. This uses
an electrical field to modify the surface tension of coloured oils and water within pixels that are
mounted on a flexible Teflon base. As each pixel is activated, the wetting properties of the oil and
water change, making colours visible.
Another approach is to use materials that emit light. Some firms, such as Sony, are looking at organic
light-emitting diodes composed of thin films of organic molecules which generate light in response to
an electric current. This approach is reckoned to have potential for use in ultra-thin, wall-mounted
television sets.
Photonic crystals are a further alternative. These are tiny particles that have a crystal structure which
influences the flow of photons, the particles of light. By changing the structure of such a crystal
slightly, using an electric charge, the colour of the light reflected by that crystal will change too. Tune
the crystals appropriately and you can create different colours.
There are also hybrid methods, like that used by Adrian Geisow at HP Labs‘ campus in Bristol,
England. He has taken a conventional approach to generating colour, using liquid crystals and red,
green and blue filters. However, he has done so in a plastic film produced in a printing-type process.
The screen can be backlit, like a standard LCD, but it is capable of retaining its image because the
material the liquid crystals sit on encourages the pixels to stay transparent or opaque once they have
been switched. However it is eventually done, Dr Geisow is convinced that putting colour into flexible
screens is what will turn them into a very big picture indeed.
From the print edition | Science and technology
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 11

13. A Bright Future For Roll-Up Video Screens
Published: January 6, 2003 7:00 PM
By Jim Krane. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A new technology that makes cell phone screens glow like a firefly's tail may well be destined to
brighten displays on everything from televisions to digital cameras. Built on organic molecules or
polymers that glow when they're electrified, the technology could even spur the currently unattainable:
roll-up computer screens that can fit in a breast pocket or sheets of radiant lighting that shimmer like
the aurora borealis. "Imagine a plastic film or a fiber-optic cable that emits light, that you can bend in
any shape you want," said Stewart Hough, vice president at Cambridge Display Technologies, "It's
one of those limited-by-your-imagination things." Hough's company is developing a polymer-based
version of the technology, known as organic light-emitting diodes or OLEDs (a diode being a piece of
electronics in which current flows in only one direction). Chemical, electronics and lighting
companies - including Kodak, Samsung, Philips, DuPont and others - are pouring funds into research
and development of OLEDs, rushing tiny screens to market and scrambling to race ahead of
competitors. For now, the monochrome screens appear on a handful of products: cell phones, an MP3
player, car stereos. As the bright new screens mature into full-color displays with an active matrix that
permits video, analysts say they'll jump to digital camera displays, auto dashboards, laptop screens and
TVs. Global sales of OLEDs, estimated at just $80 million in 2002, are expected to jump to $2.3
billion by 2008, said Kimberly Allen, research director at iSuppli/Stanford Resources, a firm that
tracks the industry. As OLEDs progress, analysts say, they'll replace the silicon-based LCD, or liquid
crystal display technology, which is used in everything from watches and calculators to flat-screen
monitors and some TVs. OLED screens are composed of arrays of tiny diodes made of organic
materials used in plastics and polymers. The diodes in today's little screens are sandwiched between
layers of glass, glowing in various colors as electricity flows through them. The delicate organics
wither and die at a hint of moisture, so glass is needed to keep them dry. Experts say it will be a
decade or so before someone figures out how to make a durable OLED screen on a plastic base,
perhaps a flexible one, which would require flexible circuit boards and other components. A few
companies, including DuPont and Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs, already are working on bendable
plastic electronics for such a screen. "You could put it on curved surfaces," said Alan Heeger,
professor of physics at University of California at Santa Barbara. "You can imagine nifty-looking
things." Heeger, whose discoveries in polymer conductivity earned him and two colleagues a Nobel
prize in 2000, said the innovations in lighting could be more dramatic than those in consumer
electronics. Today's OLED-bearing products are comparatively mundane. The first emerged in a
Pioneer car stereo in 1998. Since then, they've shown up in cell phones made by Motorola, Fujitsu and
LG, an MP3 player made by Taiwanese firm Delta Optoelectronics and a Philips men's shaver sold
under the Norelco brand in the United States. The shaver, with its orange screen that displays battery
life, turned up in the recent James Bond movie "Die Another Day." For 2003, Samsung is making a
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 12

14. cell phone with the first full-color OLED display, for sale in South Korea, Allen said. And Kodak is
quietly shipping 2-inch horizontal OLED screens to a consumer-device manufacturer it refused to
name. Those screens, configured like those used in digital cameras, are the first to use active-matrix
technology that can play video, said Daniel Gisser of Kodak's display products unit. The product will
emerge in the first half of next year, Gisser said. Larger screens for handheld computers and video
cameras might be ready in a year or two, said Paul O'Donovan, an analyst with Gartner Dataquest.
Prototypes of 15- and 17-inch screens have been cooked up, although none are expected to hit stores
for years. O'Donovan said OLED PC monitors might be available in four to five years, televisions in
five to 10. "The trouble is scaling them up," O'Donovan said. "They've got a 2.5-inch screen working
impressively. The real technological leap will be to expand these into the replacement of TVs." One
manufacturing technique, pioneered by Britain's Cambridge Display Technologies, allows the screens
to be simply "printed" by inkjet printers that can spray glow-producing polymers onto sheets of glass.
In a few years, analysts and experts predict the onset of flexible plastic displays will allow roll-to-roll
printing, making the screens far cheaper to build than an LCD, which must be assembled in a vacuum.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 13

15. New Glasses-Free 3-D Approach Could Work on Thin, Flexible Displays
Korean researchers envision 3-D on OLED displays for smartphones and other gadgets
By Larry Greenemeier | August 30, 2011
Three-dimensional television and the like got a major marketing push nearly two years ago from the
consumer electronics and entertainment industries, yet the technology still has major limitations.
Whereas glasses-free 3-D on television screens and computer monitors is seen as crucial to generating
widespread interest in new consumer electronics, for the most part, viewers still need to wear glasses
to experience stereoscopic 3-D images, although glasses-free TVs are starting to hit in Japan.
The use of 3-D sans specs has been much more successful in smaller screens such as smartphones and
portable gaming devices. But these LCDs must be backlit to work properly—which can be a big
battery drain and limits how small the gadgets can be made.
Now a team of researchers in South Korea is developing an approach to autostereoscopic 3-D using
tiny prisms that would enable viewers to see three-dimensional images without glasses on organic
light-emitting-diode (OLED) screens. Because OLEDs do not need to be backlit—they get their
lighting from organic compounds that emit light in response to electric current—they can be thinner,
lighter and more flexible than LCDs. The innovation is detailed in a paper published in the August 30
issue of Nature Communications. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)
The researchers—from Seoul National University, Act Company and Minuta Technology—used an
array of microscale prisms placed on a screen to create a filter that guides light directionally. Using
such a prism array—which the researchers refer to as a lucius prism after the Latin word meaning
"shining and bright"—they were able to display an object on the screen that could be seen only when
viewed from a particular angle. They were also able to manipulate light intensity such that two
distinctly different images could be shown from the same screen—one to a viewer's left eye and a
second image to the right eye. Seeing the two images together creates a sense of depth that the brain
perceives as 3-D, without the help of special eyeglass lenses. (Click here to see an interactive graphic
illustrating the principle of autostereoscopic display created by New York University computer
science professor Ken Perlin.)
The lucius prism array described in the paper is a four-centimeter square, yet the researchers estimate
the size could be enlarged to that of a smartphone screen or even a video monitor. The prism array was
made from photocurable polyurethane acrylate (PUA), although any kind of transparent polymer could
be used, says Hyunsik Yoon, a professor at Seoul National University's School of Chemical and
Biological Engineering in South Korea and a researcher on the project.
Another approach to glasses-free 3-D has been to generate 3-D holograms. Researchers at the
University of Arizona's College of Optical Sciences (OSC) in Tucson, Ariz., last year reported
developing technology that can write and rewrite such holograms onto a photorefractive polymer
every two seconds using a laser. Whereas fluid motion via such holographic images remains elusive,
OSC's pulsed laser can write information into an array of holographic pixels, or hogels, that convey
three-dimensional depth by showing different sides of the object depending on the viewer's angle to
the hologram. It can be used to provide full parallax—viewers can move not only from side to side but
also up and down to see different perspectives, according to Nasser Peyghambarian, chair of photonics
and lasers at OSC.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 14

16. Yoon notes the distinction between his work and that of OSC: "The work done by Peyghambarian is
about the hologram-type autostereoscopic 3-D display. Although it could be the ultimate goal of 3-D
displays, our optical film can be used and is applicable for commercialized LCD and OLED devices
by just putting the film on the display panel." The 3-D display's resolution can be improved by shadow
mask technology already developed in the OLED industry to deposit materials on selective areas,
Yoon adds. One criticism of shadow mask evaporation, however, is that it does not scale well to large-
size screens and is not conducive to high-volume manufacturing, although this is not likely an issue
yet for Yoon and his colleagues (pdf).
In addition to research done by Yoon and OSC, 3M's Optical Systems Division announced in 2009
that it had developed a 3-D optical film for handheld devices that enabled autostereoscopic 3-D
viewing on mobile phone, gaming and other handheld devices without the need for glasses. Seoul
National University's work differs from 3M's in that the 3M film cannot be used for OLED devices,
which have no backlight unit, Yoon says.
Smartphone makers are already bringing 3-D handsets to market worldwide. The HTC EVO 3D and
LG Optimus 3D feature 11-centimeter displays that use parallax barrier screens to provide a 3-D
effect. Such a screen is made with precision slits that allow each eye to see a different set of pixels.
When placed in front of an LCD, the screen creates a sense of depth using the parallax effect (each eye
views an object from a slightly different angle). Unfortunately, this approach requires the viewer to
look at the screen at a very specific angle in order to experience the 3-D effect.
AUTOSTEREOSCOPIC 3-D DISPLAY: This schematic illustration shows the concept of an
autostereoscopic display with the lucius prism array. When the prism side of the lucius prism array is
placed on a mixed image in good alignment, two distinctively different images are seen by the left and
right eyes. (b) Pictures taken from the positions of the left (SNUlogo) and right eye (smiley face). (c)
Transformation of the printed picture when the flexible lucius prism sheet is bent backward
(SNUlogo) and forward (smiley face) while holding the left-hand side firm. The slit area was 4
centimeters by 4 centimeters. Image: Courtesy of the researchers and Nature Communications
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 15

17. Un écran Sony souple qui se roule
Le fleuron de l'électronique japonais, Sony, a annoncé mercredi avoir développé un prototype d'écran
vidéo souple en couleurs, qui se roule autour d'un petit cylindre et peut se transporter dans une poche
comme un simple stylo.
Il s'agit d'un écran d'une dizaine de centimètres de diagonale, composé d'un substrat souple ultra-fin
sur lequel sont répandues de minces couches de matériaux organiques semi-conducteurs et
électroluminescents.
Cet écran peut afficher des images animées en 16,7 millions de nuances colorées et peut être roulé car
il ne comporte plus de circuit électronique rigide à la périphérie, selon Sony.
"Même après plus de 1.000 cycles d'enroulement et étirement, nous n'avons pas constaté de nette
dégradation dans l'affichage", a assuré le groupe.
Sony n'est pas la seule firme nippone à travailler sur le développement d'écrans souples qui puissent se
manier comme un journal. La chaîne de télévision publique japonaise NHK s'intéresse aussi à ces
techniques depuis des années. L'organisme public des nouvelles énergies et techniques industrielles
(Nedo) conduit aussi un vaste programme pluriannuel de recherche, avec plusieurs entreprises privées
nippones, pour créer un dispositif qui permette de fabriquer des écrans souples à la chaîne de la même
façon que l'on imprime des journaux.
C'est ce type de procédé à haut rendement que Sony entend également mettre en oeuvre.
Son prototype d'écran sera présenté jeudi lors d'un colloque en marge du salon Society for Information
Display (SID) à Seattle (Etats-Unis).
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 16

18. OLED Flexible Display Technology Could Be Used in Smart Product Packaging
European researchers have developed a cost-effective method for manufacturing flexible displays in
much the same way that newspapers are printed. Their work promises to revolutionise packaging,
advertising and even clothing.
Ultra-thin and energy efficient displays that use organic compounds to emit light have been stirring up
excitement in the consumer electronics industry for several years. Organic Light Emitting Diodes
(OLEDs) are already being used commercially in some high-end flat-screen televisions, offering
superior image quality, wider viewing angles and lighter power consumption than the current
generation of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and plasma flat-panel TVs.
Low Production Cost OLED Screens for Smart Product Packaging
But OLEDs' unique properties mean the displays using them can be put to a far wider range of uses,
from electronic paper to adaptive clothing - so long as production costs can be brought down.
"Lowering production costs is extremely important if OLED devices are to become more widespread,
and particularly if they are not just going to be restricted to high-end applications," explains Arto
Maaninen, technical manager of the printed electronics department of the VTT Technical Research
Centre in Finland.
Maaninen led the team of researchers behind the EU-funded ROLLED project, which developed a
technique for manufacturing OLED devices at considerably lower cost than current methods.
OLED Display Technology and TV Screens
Whereas the OLEDs now making their way into TV screen sets and some mobile devices are
manufactured in a glass substrate, the ROLLED researchers print their OLEDs onto flexible protective
films, a procedure known as roll-to-roll processing that allows thousands of devices to be rapidly and
cost-effectively produced in a single "print run."
As part of their work, the researchers developed printable nano-particle indium tin oxide (ITO)
coatings to form the anode, and they developed a new low-work function metal cathode, with the
light-emitting organic layer sandwiched in between.
As an electric current passes from the anode to the cathode layer, the organic compound emits light
that, depending on the application, can create a high-contrast TV image or a simple coloured sign.
Each OLED sheet is just a fifth of a millimetre thick - equivalent to three or four sheets of paper.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 17

19. "The biggest cost saving is on equipment. The equipment needed to print OLED displays is widely
available, so the initial manufacturing costs are lower compared to other techniques. The material
costs are about the same, but you can produce many more units in a much shorter period of time,"
Maaninen says. "This brings down overall production costs three to five fold."
Organic light everywhere
That opens the door to OLEDs finding their way into all manner of everyday items. The biggest of
several markets for cheap, flexible OLED displays may be in product packaging. Sheets of them
could, for example, be used to create more visible logos and more attractive promotional wrappings to
differentiate products on supermarket shelves, or they could be used as part of "smart packaging" to
improve product quality and safety.
"One demonstrator we developed consists of a two-colour OLED display: one showing a green tick,
the other a red cross. It could be used on packaging to let consumers know if a product has been
opened or tampered with," the ROLLED coordinator says.
The tiny amount of energy OLED devices need to operate, could mean that they be powered by a
small watch battery, solar cells or even radio waves. "It might be possible for a store to use its shelves
as an RFID antenna that would power the OLEDs in the product packaging," Maaninen says.
The tiny amount of energy OLED devices need to operate, could mean that they be powered by a
small watch battery, solar cells or even radio waves. "It might be possible for a store to use its shelves
as an RFID antenna that would power the OLEDs in the product packaging," Maaninen says.
Using flexible OLED displays in smart product packaging or even to replace paper billboard
advertisements still remains some way off, however, as too does the vision of clothing embedded with
OLEDs to display different messages, pictures or colours.
"Our flexible OLED devices could be used in clothes - the biggest barrier would be making them
robust enough to survive being worn and put through a washing machine," Maaninen says.
Having developed the technical ability to produce flexible OLEDs roll to roll, the ROLLED project
partners are now working to meet the needs and requirements of potential end applications. Their aim
is to carry out the first market trials within the next two years.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 18

20. Thin, flexible computer screen a peek into future
By Rick Callahan
The Associated Press
In a step toward electronic newspapers and wearable computer screens, scientists have created an
ultra-thin screen that can be bent, twisted and even rolled up and still display crisp text.
The material, only as thick as three human hairs, displays black text on a whitish-gray background
with a resolution similar to a typical laptop computer's screen.
The screen is so flexible it can be rolled into a cylinder about a half-inch wide without losing its image
quality.
Although it's not quite the dream of single-sheet, electronic newspapers or books that can display
hundreds of pages of text, its creators said it's the first flexible computer screen of its kind.
"I think it's a major step forward. We have cleared a big obstacle in electronic-paper development,"
said Yu Chen, a research scientist with E Ink of Cambridge, Mass.
E Ink is one of several companies working to develop electronic "paper" for e-newspapers and e-
books, and other possible applications — even clothing with computer screens sewn into it.
The new screen is described in today's issue of the journal Nature.
Aris Silzars, the past president of the San Jose, Calif.-based Society for Information Display, said one
of the technology's first applications could be something like an electronic tablet that lawyers could
use in place of laptops.
But Silzars said the best uses of the new screen, which E Ink is still developing, may not be evident.
"It's very hard to predict where this thing may go," he said.
Chen and his co-workers made the 3-inch-wide display screen flexible by developing a stainless-steel
foil topped with a thin layer of circuits that control an overlying film of electronic ink.
That "ink," developed in 1997 by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist, contains tiny
capsules with black and white particles with opposing electrical charges floating in a clear fluid.
When a negative voltage is run through circuits behind these capsules, the positive white particles
move to the capsule's top. A positive current does the same to the negative black particles.
The human eye blends these resulting patterns of black- or white-topped capsules into text displayed
in a traditional column.
Information and power now is fed to the screen through a wired hookup. But Chen's team is working
on a self-contained system that could receive data through a wireless connection.
They also hope to boost the speed at which the screen switches to a new "page" of text, from the
current quarter of a second to at least 10 times as fast, so it can display video.
Another goal is making the screen display a full range of colors.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 19

21. Robert Wisnieff, senior manager of IBM's Advanced Display Technology Laboratory in Yorktown
Heights, N.Y., said E Ink's flexible screen is something many futurists think is crucial to making
electronic screens part of everyday life.
He envisions such lightweight, thin screens being used for a credit card that could display the available
balance or recent purchases.
Another possible use is a jacket with a screen sewn into its sleeve to allow its wearer to read e-mail
while on the run, check stock prices or access maps in an unfamiliar city.
"This is a peek at the future," Wisnieff said.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 20

22. Scientists Fabricate Pliable Electronic Display
By Sarah Graham | May 8, 2003
For some people, nothing can replace the joy of cracking the spine of a new book or spreading the
Sunday paper across the breakfast table. But researchers hope to one day replace traditional ink and
paper with electronic displays that bend and fold like paper, yet can also be erased and reused again
and again. A report published today in the journal Nature moves scientists one step closer to electronic
newspapers and wearable computer screens. It describes a flexible electronic ink display just three
times the width of a human hair that can be viewed from almost any angle.
The new display is comprised of a thin-film transistor (TFT) array, which can impart both positive and
negative charges to different areas of its surface, and an electricity-conducting layer of clear fluid.
Within this layer are millions of tiny capsules of black and white pigments that respond to charge.
Thus, a negative voltage on the TFT causes white particles to move to the surface while a positive one
moves black particles to the top to create the appearance of print. Yu Chen and his colleagues at E Ink
Corporation report that the display can be bent 20 times and rolled into a cylinder with a diameter of 4
millimeters without compromising its performance (see image).
Changing the ink arrangement on the novel screen takes 250 milliseconds, which is sufficient for
electronic paper applications but is too slow for video displays. Chen notes that most of the major
technical challenges have been solved; however, it will still be several years before digital papers
appear at a newsstand near you.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 21

23. Flexible screen
Low-power colour display from Fujitsu can be rolled up or reshaped
By Simon Perry | The Guardian, Thursday 13 October 2005
Fujitsu isn't the first to pursue the idea of a flexible screen, but as the crowds around its display at
Ceatec demonstrated, the idea of a low-voltage, flexible screen has been a long-held dream for many.
Fujitsu has created a colour version that requires little power and, in the case of one demonstration
unit, could be updated wirelessly. This would make it ideal, for example, as an external screen to show
information from your mobile phone, freeing it from the limitations of the small display typical of
most handsets.
The prototype screen displays a reasonable range of colours and only needs minimal power to change
what is displayed. Once there, the image will remain for two months, even if the power is switched
off.
Fujitsu acknowledges that there are other colour screens, but claims they lose out on flexibility by
using glass, and require more power, since they need to be refreshed more regularly to maintain what
is displayed.
But don't go thinking you'll be folding it in half and stuffing it in your back pocket. When the product
hits the market sometime in 2007 or 2008, it will need a semi-rigid protective coating on either side,
taking it from a thickness of 3mm to just under a centimetre.
The designers claim that will make it flexible enough to roll up or bend around a lamp post, so it could
be used for advertising or changeable information bulletins.
It uses a Cholesteric LCD (ChLCD), which was designed for images that either move very slowly or
are still: that means it won't be displaying TV or films. The slowness of the display becomes apparent
when the screen refreshes: a visible vertical line washes from left to right, with the new image
displayed in its wake.
If you fancy one, you will have to get in line behind Japan's crown prince Naruhito, who paid it
particular attention when he visited the show.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 22

24. Sony met au point un écran souple qui s'enroule
LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | 26.05.10 | 13h09
Le fleuron de l'électronique japonais, Sony, a annoncé mercredi avoir développé un prototype d'écran
vidéo souple en couleurs, qui se roule autour d'un petit cylindre et peut se transporter dans une poche
comme un simple stylo.
Il s'agit d'un écran d'une dizaine de centimètres de diagonale, composé d'un substrat souple ultra-fin
sur lequel sont répandues de minces couches de matériaux organiques semi-conducteurs et
électroluminescents. Cet écran peut afficher des images animées en 16,7 millions de nuances colorées
et peut être roulé car il ne comporte plus de circuit électronique rigide à la périphérie, selon Sony.
"Même après plus de 1 000 cycles d'enroulement et étirement, nous n'avons pas constaté de nette
dégradation dans l'affichage", a assuré le groupe. "Nous pensons que ces résultats entraîneront la
création d'appareils électroniques mobiles fins, légers et robustes", a-t-il souligné.
Sony n'est pas la seule firme nippone à travailler sur le développement d'écrans souples qui puissent se
manier comme un journal. L'organisme public des nouvelles énergies et techniques industrielles
conduit aussi un vaste programme pluriannuel de recherche, avec plusieurs entreprises privées
nippones, pour créer un dispositif qui permette de fabriquer des écrans souples à la chaîne de la même
façon que l'on imprime des journaux.
C'est ce type de procédé à haut rendement que Sony entend également mettre en œuvre. Son prototype
d'écran sera présenté jeudi lors d'un colloque en marge du Salon "Society for Information Display" à
Seattle, aux Etats-Unis.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 23

25. Un prototype de tablette souple et translucide
Publié le 06.12.2011, 16h14
Samsung a présenté en vidéo (et en Coréen) un concept de tablette transparente et flexible qui pourrait
révolutionner les terminaux mobiles de demain.
On pourrait être tenté de disqualifier cette vidéo en n'y voyant qu'une divagation, mais Samsung a déjà
présenté des prototypes d'écrans flexibles et transparents.
Au Consumer Electronics Show (CES) cette année, Samsung présentait un écran AMOLED
translucide de 19 pouces et au Samsung Mobile Display un écran flexible de 4,5 pouces.
Nokia a profité du salon Nokia World en octobre pour présenter un prototype similaire, le Kinetic.
Nokia et Samsung prévoient tous les deux de commercialiser ce type d'appareils dès l'an prochain.
Ultra-minces et souples, ils suivraient la forme et les mouvements du corps et répondraient aux
pressions et aux flexions.
Dans la vidéo repérée par OLED-Info.com, le Flexible de Samsung est également capable de projeter
des images holographiques en 3D.
On devrait voir d'autres exemples d'écrans transparents et flexibles à l'édition 2012 du CES en janvier.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 24

26. Flexible screens nearer to commercialization
By William D'Urso - Apr. 10, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
A plastic screen that rolls up and doesn't crack when you drop it may sound like science fiction, but
the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University is investing millions to liberate electronic
devices from the constraints of rigid glass.
And reality could come sooner than you think.
The project was initiated by the U.S. Army in cooperation with a number of companies, including
Boeing and Hewlett-Packard, to expedite the development of the technology.
"Flexible ... black-and-white screens for e-readers are very close to commercialization," said Nick
Colaneri, Flexible Display Center director. Black-and-white screens are less complicated to create, and
he estimates flexible screens capable of rolling up and displaying color images are three to five years
away.
Manufacturers see vast potential for consumer applications. DisplaySearch, an industry research
company, says the market for flexible screens will likely surpass $1 billion this year and reach $8.2
billion by 2018.
From the beginning, the project has been pushed along by the U.S. military, which is interested in
flexible screens for their portability, durability and miserly use of power.
The military, high-tech manufacturers and academia have made Arizona ground zero for bringing the
technology into mainstream use. They are pinpointing key materials and testing manufacturing
techniques needed to make the sophisticated screens at the Flexible Display Center.
Colaneri, who has been director of the project for two years, said about $90 million has been spent on
the project since the center was launched in 2004 under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army,
and about $10 million more will be needed for completion.
Projects of this scale generally take at least 25 years to complete, Colaneri said. Even though flexible
screens face manufacturing hurdles, because many companies have come together to collaborate, the
process has been streamlined.
Carl Taussig, director of the information-surfaces lab at HP Labs, said, "If you can do it all yourself, it
would be ideal. In practice, the risk-reward tradeoff does favor mitigation of the risk by defraying
costs and tasks to partners. This also speeds the development, which is an increasingly important
aspect in today's marketplace."
The development of color screens is highly coveted, because black-and-white screens typically show
less detail.
Jennifer Colegrove, DisplaySearch vice president, believes the technology will be widely adopted,
especially once it is available in color.
Because one of its hallmarks is its light weight, Colegrove believes the technology will find its
greatest value in devices such as smartphones, tablet computers and laptops.
"It will not have a huge market share in TVs and computer monitors," she said.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 25

27. HP recently demonstrated a lightweight wristwatch designed for soldiers in the field to view digital
maps and other data on a flexible plastic screen that won't shatter or crack. The device uses E Ink
front-plane technology, which is used in digital book readers like the Kindle and has better visibility in
sunlight. It does not consume a lot of energy and requires no power to hold an image. And the screen
is flexible enough that it can be sewn to fabric.
Taussig said HP also has been considering uses for the technology and ways to market it.
"We started thinking about all kinds of commercial applications for this military demonstrator," he
said. "There are many uses for an inexpensive, super-lightweight, mechanically rugged hands-free
display. Think about all the people that need to have their hands free but could use simple maps,
schematics or other instructions available."
He said the technology would be particularly useful to first responders.
Armband displays for the military could be widely used in the not-too-distant future
Colaneri said the complex nature of the project has demanded collaboration. One of the problems has
been to find adequate ways to seal the screens to prevent them from degrading.
"The organic molecules we use are very sensitive to oxygen and moisture," he said. "Plastic is like a
huge open netting, and oxygen and moisture just pass right through it."
Finding ways of attaching the electronics has also proven to be a problem because the electronics are
too hot and melt the screen.
A major challenge has been figuring out how to avoid damaging the plastic during manufacturing
because existing equipment is made to handle glass.
Researchers tried gluing sheets of plastic to glass plates and other hard surfaces and running the plates
through traditional machines. But temperature variances caused the plastic to stretch. The center had to
research and create a special kind of glue, Colaneri said.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 26

28. Sony develops flexible, razor-thin display
By Yuri Kageyama
ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 26, 2007
TOKYO – In the race for ever-thinner displays for TVs, cell phones and other gadgets, Sony may have
developed one to beat them all – a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-color
video.
Sony released video of the 2½-inch display yesterday. In it, a hand squeezes a display that's 0.3
millimeters, or 0.01 of an inch, thick. The display shows color images of a bicyclist stuntman and a
picturesque lake.
Although flat-panel TVs are getting slimmer, a display that's so thin it bends in a human hand marks a
breakthrough.
Sony said it has yet to decide on commercial products to use the technology.
―In the future, it could get wrapped around a lamppost or a person's wrist, even worn as clothing,‖
Sony spokesman Chisato Kitsukawa said. ―Perhaps it can be put up like wallpaper.‖
Tatsuo Mori, an engineering and computer science professor at Nagoya University, said some hurdles
remained, including making the display bigger, ensuring durability and cutting costs.
But he said the display's pliancy is extremely difficult to imitate with liquid crystal displays and
plasma display panels – the two main display technologies now on the market.
―To come up with a flexible screen at that image quality is groundbreaking,‖ Mori said. ―You can drop
it, and it won't break because it's as thin as paper.‖
The new display combines two technologies: Sony's organic, thin-film transistor, which is required to
make flexible displays, and an organic, electroluminescent display.
Sony's new razor-thin display can show full-color images but bends like paper. The company said it
has yet to decide on commercial products to use the technology.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 27

29. APPLICATIONS
Flexible LED screens on the way
Researchers have developed flexible LED screens that they suggest could be used in the future for all
sorts of applications, reports Reuters. The screens - developed using a technique described by scientist
John Rogers at the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign - effectively create "rubber stamps"
made of LEDs that can be imprinted on any surface. Possible suggestions include car brake lights.
(Here's the paper in Science, behind a paywall)
Flexible electronic display will get Army field test
The Army this year is expected to receive a working prototype of a device that can be worn
by soldiers. Advantages of plastic screens include being lighter and less fragile than glass.
February 21, 2011|By Brandon Bailey
Reporting from San Jose — Later this year, Hewlett-Packard Co. researchers say, they expect to
deliver to the U.S. Army a working prototype of what they're calling a Dick Tracy wristwatch — a
lightweight, wearable device that soldiers in the field can use to view digital maps and other data on a
flexible plastic screen that won't shatter or crack like glass.
Although it will be Spartan by design, researchers say HP's prototype could be one of the first in a
wave of products incorporating flexible electronic displays. Freed from the constraints of a rigid-glass
screen, designers could one day build flexible plastic displays into clothing, wall coverings and
perhaps even e-readers or tablets that can roll up like a newspaper.
"You can start thinking about putting electronic displays on things where you wouldn't ordinarily think
of having them," said Nick Colaneri, a scientist and director of the Flexible Display Center at Arizona
State University. "How about a stack of thin displays that I can peel off and stick on things, sort of like
a pad of Post-It notes?"
Long before those hit the market, however, flexible plastic displays will provide tablets, smart phones
and other portable computers with big screens that weigh less and are far more durable than today's
models, said Carl Taussig, director of advanced display research at HP Labs in Palo Alto.
"Unlike glass, plastic doesn't break when you drop it on the floor," said Taussig, whose employer has a
vested interest in electronic displays as the world's biggest seller of personal computers.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 28

30. Experts have long predicted a big future for flexible displays. The Defense Department has funded
efforts to develop lightweight screens that soldiers can use in hostile environments. A host of
computer makers and electronics companies are working on commercial applications.
"We're quite bullish on this market," said Jennifer Colegrove, vice president for emerging technologies
at DisplaySearch, an industry research and consulting firm, which estimates that sales of flexible
displays will grow from $85 million in 2008 to more than $8 billion in 2018.
But technical issues have made it a long and sometimes frustrating quest. Plastic Logic Ltd. of
Mountain View, Calif., showed off a prototype e-reader with a flexible display last year, dubbed the
Que, only to announce later that its commercial release would be delayed indefinitely.
Standard components for liquid crystal displays, used in most portable computers today, generally
require a rigid glass to keep images from being distorted. Traditional displays also depend on
transistors that are embedded in glass through processes that involve temperatures high enough to melt
or distort plastic.
Taussig's team at HP, however, is working with plastic film that is both lighter and thinner than glass,
and which can be stored in rolls. Their method resembles, in a sense, the way newspapers are printed
from giant spools of paper.
The process starts with rolls of plastic that have been treated with thin layers of metal and other
material. The plastic is run through a press that imprints a microscopic, three-dimensional pattern,
which can then be etched to create transistors on the film. These can transmit instructions to
electrically charged particles or diodes contained in a second layer of plastic, which then displays text
or images.
Although it's not yet ready for commercial use, Taussig said he's convinced the roll process can be far
cheaper than current "batch" methods used for making glass displays, which require vast clean rooms
and precision robotics to keep each pane from being damaged in production.
Other groups in Taiwan and elsewhere are developing manufacturing processes in which layers of
transistors are laid down on sheets of plastic temporarily bonded to a pane of glass. Colaneri said
display manufacturers could adopt that approach while using much of their existing equipment.
But eventually, Colegrove said, HP's roll approach may be a less-expensive process for making
flexible screens in large volume. Currently, she added, the cost of the glass display might be $30 to
$40 for a typical e-reader such as the Amazon Kindle that sells for $139.
The prototype that HP is building for the Army also takes advantage of low-power features associated
with E Ink, the technology used in most e-readers. As a result, Taussig said the device will be able to
run on the power from a small, flexible solar panel that can be part of the wristband.
E Ink uses black and white particles with opposite electrical charges, floating in tiny capsules of
liquid. Electrical signals cause the particles to form a pattern of letters, words or other images. The
display requires little power because it has no backlighting and uses electricity only to create a new
page.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 29

31. Flexible Computers Make Smarter Credit Cards
January 11, 2012, 1:11 pm
By BRIAN X. CHEN
LAS VEGAS — Miniature, flexible computers can act as credit cards that offer more control over
payments.
Dynamics Inc., a New York-based start-up, has been manufacturing ―smarter‖ credit cards that can
take on multiple identities.
One version of the card allows a user to press a button to choose between a checking or a savings
account. For example, press button 1, and the magnetic stripe is configured to charge a purchase to the
checking account. Press button 2, and the stripe is rewritten to charge the savings account.
Another version of the card is tailored to big businesses that need tighter security. The card has a
flexible display and five buttons. Press a personal unlock combination, and digital numbers will appear
on the card to complete the credit card number; the magnetic stripe is written with the information of
the credit account. When the card turns off, the numbers disappear, and the magnetic stripe erases its
data. This way, if the card is stolen, a thief cannot view the full credit card number or swipe the card to
make a purchase, which helps prevent fraud.
―There‘s not one card for everyone,‖ said Jeffrey Mullen, chief executive of Dynamics Inc., in an
interview. ―We are trying to be a technology innovation arm for an industry where that‘s never
happened.‖
Each card contains a miniature, flexible circuit board, a battery and a programmable magnetic stripe.
Some of the cards are being tested in trials with various bank customers, according to Mr. Mullen, and
Citibank is already offering a version of the technology that allows card owners to choose between
paying with credit or rewards points.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 30

32. Flexible screens and secret future of Tablets
Posted By: Dattatreya Mandal | 2 months ago
As we know it
Going by the past trend of a slew of electronic products, starting from laptops to smartphones, it
implied a dictum of 'thin is beautiful'. But now, as the chimes of rampant technological evolution are
sounding at all corners of the electronic realm, the dictum should be changed to 'flexibly ultra-thin is
beautiful'. Now you may ask, why? Well, the simple answer is: in a space of just two years, there has
been a fascinating spurt of flexible display technologies (most of them in developmental stage),
ranging from HTC phones, Nokia Kinetic Future to Kodak Televisions.
Flexible screens
Need for change
Then again, amidst this brouhaha over flexible, bendable gadgets, are there any significant advantages
of such devices, other than their avant-garde factor? According to pundits and analysts, the answer is
comprehensively yes. The primary point in favor of them is obviously the improved essence of
portability. But beyond mobility, the technology in itself makes the components easier to store and
improve upon their hardiness (from cracking and scratching). Finally, we are also looking at the price
factor, and how such systems can allude to a better cost effective alternative.
What’s Next?
1. Samsung Flexible AMOLED
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 31

33. Samsung Flexible AMOLED
What’s new
The very recent uproar in the flexible display domain was caused by none other than the Korean giant
Samsung. The company has quite nonchalantly put forth that they will start shipping their 'bendy
screen' gadgets by 2012. Aptly touted as the 'tablet of the future‘, the ductile displays would be just
around 0.3mm thick, while their high-tech bearing will feature a myriad of attributes: starting from
instant translation, video and never before seen level of three dimensional image quality.
What difference will it make
We may be smitten by the plethora of features that will supposedly be offered by Samsung's Flexible
AMOLED technology. But beyond the glittery essence of attributes, it is the very basic idea that really
would appeal to the consumers. Just imagine that your device (a smartphone or a tablet) can be rolled
up like a newspaper or even stretched out for different tasks! And if you thought that was cool,
Samsung is also talking about complete transparency of the screen (which means we can see right
through it). Of course, it is not just about the screen's highfalutin nature. Users can certainly utilize the
display to watch videos, read e-books, surf the net and occasionally snap neat pictures.
Problems
Technically speaking, flexible OLED are comprised of a plastic substrate on which the
electroluminescent organic semiconductor gets deposited. Now, this plastic substrate along with the
physical process of bending and thermal effect can induce an element of stress for the OLED material.
Long term exposure to such type of stresses can result in reduction of efficiency and brightness of the
device. Moreover, according to Samsung, the transparency of the screens can also cause some
predicaments, related to the availability of equally transparent batteries (and other internal
components).
2. Nokia's kinetic future: flexible screens
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 32

34. Nokia's kinetic future
What’s new
Nokia Research Center certainly has a lot of feathers tucked in its cap, starting from speech and
channel codec found in almost all GSM phones to creating the world's very first music based ringtone.
But this time the organization has really notched it up a level with their Kinetic concept. The
conceptualization entails a real OLED display with all the circuitry of a modern day computing
system. The only difference is that all of it is bendable, both along the vertical and horizontal planes.
The intrinsic flexibility of the device is not just exemplified by its bending, because a twisting
mechanism is also applicable in other circumstances.
What difference will it make
Now, many of us may be fascinated by all these twisting and bending, but in the practical scheme of
things, such motional attributes do have their own set of functionalities. For example, the twisting in
opposite directions will allow the device to scroll through a wealth of multimedia collection, including
videos and photos. While, the bending motion will allow the users to zoom the photos, along with a
pause and play function for music. This means, one can interact and operate with his portable device,
without actually having to look at it. On the other hand, this will also solve the predicaments relating
to conventional touch interfaces (where the magnitude of touch and other factors are related to the
response).
Problems
Other than the stress factor (mentioned earlier), flexible OLEDs are also more susceptible to the
adverse effects of external air and moisture. So, the developers do need to come up with a efficient
encapsulation technology, which would take the place of glass (like Gorilla Glass) protection found in
conventional high-end mobile devices.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 33

35. Flexible Samsung phone 'to be issued in 2012'
The new Samsung Galaxy Skin is set to feature a bendable AMOLED display that will allow
users to roll it up like a wrist-watch.
By Gianluca Mezzofiore | 7:00 AM BST 27 Sep 2011
Samsung is poised to release a flexible mobile phone, according to reports in the International
Business Times. The new Samsung Galaxy Skin will feature an AMOLED display that will allow the
phone to bend around a cylinder with a 1-inch diameter. Brighter than the normal screen, the
AMOLED display is also low-energy and almost unbreakable, according to the reports.
Using a plastic polyimide substrate instead of glass, Samsung has produced displays that are ―rollable
[and] bendable‖ and which can even ―survive blows from a hammer‖. The phone was developed by
Prof Haeseong Jee and Jye Yeon You.
The key material of this new technology is ‗graphene‘, touted as ―the miracle material‖. Research by
scientists from Columbia University has established that ‗graphene‘ is the strongest material in the
world, ―some 200 times stronger than structural steel‖.
The Galaxy Skin will offer a high-resolution 800×480 flexible AMOLED screen, eight megapixel
camera and 1Gb of RAM as well as a 1.2GHz processor. Samsung has not yet disclosed the device‘s
operating system, but there have been rumors about Jelly Bean – Google‘s next Android release after
Ice Cream Sandwich – or a new release called Android Flexy.
The new core technology also allows the phone to be used as a mouse, a clock or a wrist-watch.
Samsung has not confirmed the exact date of release.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 34

36. Et si, demain, l'iPhone devenait flexible ?
Un laboratoire de l'université canadienne de Queen's a dévoilé le PaperPhone, un prototype
d'écran souple et interactif à base d'encre électronique. Et annonce que ce genre d'appareils
fera partie de notre quotidien d'ici à cinq ans.
Guillaume Deleurence | 01net | le 09/05/11 à 18h24
Imaginez un iPhone, ou tout autre smartphone, qui soit plat, souple et que vous pourriez ranger dans
votre portefeuille aux côtés de vos cartes de crédit. L'idée peut paraître incongrue et pourtant, des
chercheurs y travaillent concrètement. Demain, mardi 10 mai 2011, lors de la conférence Computer
Human Interaction (CHI 2011), sera ainsi dévoilé un prototype, baptisé PaperPhone, conçu par le
Human Media Lab (HML) de l'université canadienne de Queen's.
Dans un communiqué, Roel Vertegaal, directeur du HML, présente cette innovation comme le
« premier ordinateur-papier du monde, prêt à révolutionner l'univers de l'interactivité informatique ».
Pour lui, « voici le futur », ce à quoi ressembleront les technologies « d'ici à cinq ans ».
Ce PaperPhone se présente comme « une fine feuille de papier interactif » qui peut être pliée, par
exemple pour tourner une page de texte, ou sur laquelle on peut écrire. Ses concepteurs expliquent que
cet sorte « d'iPhone flexible » peut faire les mêmes choses qu'un smartphone, à savoir « stocker des
livres, jouer de la musique ou passer des appels », avec un écran de 9,5 cm de diagonale souple
utilisant la technologie d'encre électronique de E Ink (celle dont se sert le Kindle d'Amazon, par
exemple).
Le HML, qui a collaboré sur ce projet avec l'université d'Arizona et E Ink, indique que, encre
électronique oblige, l'appareil ne consomme rien quand il n'y a pas d'interaction avec l'écran ou de
rafraîchissement. Et prédit des versions plus grandes, qui annoncent « l'entreprise sans papier ». A ce
stade cela dit, le prototype PaperPhone a encore besoin d'être connecté pour fonctionner.
Dans une interview donnée à nos confrères de PC Mag, Roel Vertegaal précise que le PaperPhone
coûte 7 000 dollars. De fait, ses concepteurs n'ont pas osé le tester de façon trop brutale, pour voir
jusqu'à quel point il pouvait être tordu. Nos confrères de News.com rappellent qu'en 2010, Nokia a fait
enregistrer aux Etats-Unis un brevet d'écran souple, qui effectuerait telle ou telle action selon qu'on lui
ferait prendre telle ou telle forme.
Nombre de fabricants travaillent sur des écrans souples, depuis des années, – citons le Pholed,
d'Universal Display –, mais ce PaperPhone est le premier à être interactif. Reste à savoir s'il verra le
jour ou non et, si oui, quand. La solution, en ces temps de débats sur la sobriété énergétique, ouvre en
tout cas une voie intéressante.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 35

37. Paperphone, ou comment un écran souple sert d’interface à un mobile
Le 9 mai 2011 à 11h38 | Par Jean-Luc Goudet, Futura-Sciences
Un laboratoire canadien propose d’utiliser les écrans souples comme une interface : quelques
mouvements de torsion déclenchent des commandes simples. Les testeurs-cobayes ont apprécié
et convergé vers les trois mêmes gestes. La même équipe a essayé l’ordinateur au poignet et les
T-shirts lumineux…
Pour tourner la page, saisir le coin supérieur droit. Les humains apprennent ce geste dès leur premier
livre d‘images. Il n‘en faut pas plus pour passer à la page suivante sur un Paperphone, prototype
d‘interface mis au point par le laboratoire Human Media de l‘université Queen, en Ontario. « C’est
l’avenir, affirme Roel Vertegaal, le directeur de laboratoire dans le communiqué de l‘université
Queen. Tout ressemblera à ça d’ici cinq ans. » Voici donc l‘iPhone de demain…
Les chercheurs canadiens ont réalisé leur appareil autour d‘un écran souple utilisant l‘encre
électronique E-Link monochrome. En soi, il n‘y a là aucune invention nouvelle. Ce que l‘équipe
voulait réaliser, c‘est un essai dans le but d'utiliser cette souplesse pour en faire une interface.
L'écran souple est loin d'être une nouveauté mais sur le Paperphone cette souplesse sert à quelque
chose : tordre l'afficheur sert à tourner les pages, à envoyer un e-mail ou à choisir une option dans un
menu. Une vidéo (avec commentaires en anglais) illustre son fonctionnement. © Human Media Lab
Dans l‘article décrivant ce Paperphone, les auteurs, Byron Lahey, Audrey Girouard, Winslow
Burleson et Roel Vertegaal, expliquent que comme dix volontaires, ils ont eux-mêmes essayé
différents gestes qui leur semblaient intuitifs. La quête a convergé vers trois paires de gestes : torsion
d‘un coin, supérieur ou inférieur, vers le bas ou vers le haut, et torsion latérale, vers le haut et vers le
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 36

38. bas. Pour envoyer un mail, par exemple, affichez-le et poussez-le en tordant la feuille comme pour en
expulser des miettes…
Les gestes qui ont obtenu un bon succès chez les testeurs. Tous ont utilisé les trois premières paires
(A-B, C-D et E-F), mimant les mouvements de doigts servant intuitivement à feuilleter un livre. ©
Human Media Lab
Un écran au poignet et sur mon T-shirt
On retrouve le principe intuitif d‘un écran tactile où un mouvement du doigt fait défiler les photos ou
les pages. Pour les chercheurs canadiens, un écran souple doit servir autrement qu‘un écran rigide et sa
souplesse doit être mise à profit…
Depuis longtemps, l‘électronique souple passionne les scientifiques, qui les voient un peu partout et de
nombreux prototypes ont été présentés. Sony a montré un écran que l‘on peut enrouler, et Readius un
prototype abouti de smartphone à écran enroulable.
Snaplet s'utilise avec un stylo mais peut aussi être roulé autour du poignet. © Human Media Lab
Des modèles en couleur existent déjà et le laboratoire japonais de Takao Someya a même réalisé des
écrans sur supports élastiques et déformables… D‘ailleurs, l‘équipe canadienne du Paperphone montre
aussi Snaplet, un modèle plat que l‘on peut enrouler sur son poignet et Tagurit, un T-shirt à affichage
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 37

39. lumineux utilisé dans un jeu interactif, rappelant le « chat » des cours de récréation, où les vêtements
de chaque joueur affichent momentanément des sortes de smileys, Goomba et Boo.
L‘électronique souple a-t-elle enfin trouvé une utilité ?
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 38

40. Vers des téléphones à écrans souples en 2012
13:40 - mercredi 2 novembre 2011 - Par Jean-Sébastien Zanchi - Source : Futura
Nokia Kinetic
Deux téléphones souples en 2012 ? C‘est bien ce que l‘on pourrait voir arriver sur le marché si l‘on en
croit Nokia et Samsung. Après la présentation du Kinetic chez Nokia la semaine dernière, le Coréen
vient en effet de promettre la commercialisation pour l‘année prochaine de son premier téléphone
utilisant la technologie d‘écran souple déjà démontrée plusieurs fois depuis 2008. Ce prototype
AMOLED présenté à l‘époque ne faisait que cinq centièmes de millimètres d‘épaisseur. Une version
imaginaire de ce mobile baptisée Galaxy Skin avait même fait l‘objet d'une publicité fictive de la part
de Samsung.
Du côté de Nokia, c‘est le Kinetic qui a fait sensation lors du Nokia World de la semaine dernière. Ce
mobile est quant à lui entièrement souple, même son châssis. En résulte un usage particulier : en
tordant un coin, on faire par exemple défiler les images.
Reste toutefois à démontrer l‘avantage ergonomique à utiliser ce genre d‘écran, pour l‘instant plutôt
cantonné aux fantasmes des films de science-fiction. Les fabricants devront donc trouver une réelle
utilité à cette technologie pour ne pas tomber dans l‘effet gadget.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 39

41. Futuristic Samsung Flexible Displays Coming In 2012
Author: Jesse Bauer
Published: December 05, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Samsung has a good grasp on what consumers want in their technology lately. Going back a few
years, the Samsung LCD and Plasma flat screens were one of the sexiest devices you'd want in your
living room. Going up to the present day, Samsung is leading the technology field by not only building
parts for other device manufacturers to use in their products, such as Apple's iPhone and iPad, but also
their own devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and the hot selling Galaxy S II smartphones.
In the video below, Samsung is taking their ingenuity to the next level, and showcasing what the
future, the very near future, could look like when using the Samsung flexible display. This gives us a
look at how a flexible display could work with us and interact in our lives. The display is shown in a
flexible see-through tablet form factor, but Samsung has every intention of putting this flexible display
onto smartphones first in 2012. That's right, the future is right around the corner for us if Samsung has
anything to do with it.
Have a look at the video, and let us know what you think about these displays in the comments below.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 40

42. L'écran flexible est-il l'avenir du smartphone?
Publié le 27 octobre 2011.
Le Nokia Kinetic, un prototype d'écran flexible intégré à un smartphone.
HIGH-TECH - Nokia a présenté un prototype d'interface lors de son grand salon...
Vous touchiez? Pliez, maintenant. Ou pas. D'abord, le Nokia Kinetic, présenté lors du grand salon du
Finlandais de Londres, n'est qu'un prototype. Surtout, si le gadget entier est flexible, grâce à son écran
OLED, ce dernier n'est pas tactile.
L'interface dévoilée n'est appliquée que pour parcourir des photos ou écouter de la musique. Pour
zoomer, on plie par exemple l'appareil vers l'extérieur –et vers l'intérieur pour dézoomer. Le scroll se
fait un tordant un coin, ajuster le volume également.
Au-delà de l'aspect «science-fiction» indéniablement cool, cela pourrait-il se révéler pratique? Le jury
réserve son verdict. D'un côté, cela permettrait d'effectuer certains contrôles sans devoir regarder
l'écran. De l'autre, l'essentiel de l'interface requiert deux mains –même si Nokia montrait également
une sorte de télécommande flexible contrôlable à une main.
Si Nokia n'est pas le premier à expérimenter sur les écrans flexibles, il s'agit-là du prototype le plus
avancé jamais dévoilé. L'entreprise n'a cependant pas annoncé ses intentions sur une éventuelle
commercialisation dans un produit, expliquant simplement que cela dépendrait de l'engouement du
public. Pas sûr non plus que la technologie soit au point pour la combiner avec un écran tactile. En
2009, le Flexible Display Center avait fait une démonstration tactile+flexible, mais à un stade encore
très embryonnaire.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 41

43. Nokia's kinetic future: flexible screens and a twisted interface (video)
By Mat Smith posted Oct 26th 2011 12:50PM
Hidden within Nokia's Future Lounge, this very flexible display offers up a glimpse of what sort of
thing we could possibly be dealing with when we roll up to Nokia World in 2021. The prototype
Nokia Kinetic Device, including its display, can be flexed across both the vertical and horizontal
planes -- with bending and twisting motions controlling the interface. If you bend the screen towards
yourself, it acts as a selection function, or zooms in on any pictures you're viewing. In music mode,
you can navigate, play and pause with the tactile interface. It's still a way off from arriving on phones,
though Nokia is aiming to whet developers' appetites with this prototype. We may have seen some
twisty interfaces already, but nothing packing a four-inch screen and built-in functionality like this.
Nokia couldn't confirm the screen technology being used. Could that be a flexible AMOLED display?
See those impressive viewing angles and contortions after the break and judge for yourself.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 42

44. Nokia a déposé un brevet pour un téléphone souple avec plein de fonctions
Par Aurélien, le 19 janvier 2010 à 5:11
Nokia nous a sorti un concept de téléphone souple avec un écran transparent, le Morph, il y a de ça
deux ans. Ce téléphone pourrait bien passer du concept à la réalité puisque Nokia vient de déposer un
brevet pour un portable à l‘écran pliable.
Le brevet décrit un appareil qui lancera des applications en fonction de la forme qu‘on lui donnera. Le
schéma d‘illustration du brevet peut laisser croire que Nokia se lance dans les articles pour camping
mais il illustre en fait les utilisations possibles de l‘appareil.
Fig 10a : la forme ressemble à une canette, pouvant contenir de la bière ou du soda, la recherche
d’un café ou d’un bar, soit d’une chaîne spécifique, soit le plus proche pourra donc être lancée
Fig 10b : la forme ressemble à un bol, la recherche d’un restaurant, soit d’une chaîne spécifique, soit
le plus proche pourra donc être lancée
Fig 10c : la forme ressemble à une tente ou à un toit, la recherche d’un hôtel ou d’une chambre
d’hôtes, soit d’une chaîne spécifique, soit le plus proche pourra donc être lancée
Je ne sais pas si le concept est vraiment intéressant, on attendra de voir le téléphone en chair et en os,
s‘il devient réalité un jour. [Go Rumors via Slash Gear]
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 43

45. Nokia demonstrates a phone with a flexible OLED display
27 October, 2011
The Lumia and Asha range of handsets may have been the focus of the Nokia World event but that's
not all that Nokia had to show.
One of the more interesting things on display was a Nokia phone with a flexible OLED display called
the 'Nokia kinetic device'. The device comes with a large flexible OLED display that you can bend
from the middle or from around the edges.
But being able to bend is not its only feature. It actually uses that ability to control the UI on the
device. You can, for example, zoom in and out by bending it from the middle. You can scroll through
a list by bending it from around the edges.
Nokia kinetic prototype live photos
The advantage of this method is that it can be used without looking at the display and also when you're
using gloves, something that capacitive touchscreens cannot do. The downside is that you have to use
both hands and it's not terribly convenient, with far too much effort being required to flex the device
compared to simply tapping on the screen.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 44

46. Update: We got our hands on the prototype at Nokia World and we'll be posting a video of our
experience with it later. Our first impressions are overwhelming. It's a must-see device that easily
redefines what you thought was possible in mobile phones.
First of all, we've never seen a screen with such wide viewing angles - there's virtually NO shift in
colors or contrast no matter how you look at it. The contrast itself is also nice - with nicely deep
blacks. The resolution of the screen is WVGA and it looks great. On top of the screen there's some sort
of plastic protection as obviously glass won't bend. Unfortunately, that means it could be prone to
scratches in real-life use.
The device is just a prototype with no current plans of being put into production. But who knows, we
might just see them in the future, and not necessarily from Nokia.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 45

47. Nokia et le concept Morph de téléphone pliable et auto-nettoyant
Par Cyril, le 25 février 2008 à 12:03
Le concept Morph de téléphone Nokia veut employer les nanotechnologies pour créer un corps
flexible et un écran transparent transformables selon les envies de l‘utilisateur, loin des machines
solides et trapues que nous connaissons.
Même la circuiterie interne serait transparente et souple, pour pouvoir plier et transformer le téléphone
en forme de bracelet ou de tablette de chewing-gum. Les nanotechnologies permettraient même qu‘il
se nettoie tout seul. Développée conjointement avec la Cambridge University, cette vision d‘un futur
proche est exposée au musée d‘art moderne, le MoMA, de New York.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 46

48. Pliez-le
26.11.2009
L'avenir du téléphone portable, chez Nokia, s'appelle Morph. Développé en partenariat avec
l'université de Cambridge (Grande-Bretagne), cet appareil futuriste répond à un cahier des charges très
précis en vue d'un prochain modèle grand public. Le Morph, qui utilise les nanotechnologies, présente
un écran tactile translucide et souple que l'on peut replier comme un portefeuille ou enrouler autour du
poignet, et une oreillette sans fil qui peut faire office de pince une fois l'appareil replié. Autre atout :
l'écran tactile efface tout seul les traces de doigts.
ISTIA – EI2 2011-2012 Page 47