Samsung's Unbreakable Screen ...

[John F]

The flexible part sounds interesting (and is news to me):

http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspe...rtner=yahootix

[pl001]

So the new "unbreakable" screen is....plastic? That is interesting, but I don't know if it's progress. Although I suppose the plastic screen on my old Palm Centro was pretty durable, it never scratched.

[QuantumIguana]

It is progress. It's not simply replacing glass with plastic. The glass is there because the substrate would break if flexed. Having a substrate which can flex without breaking allows plastic to be used instead of glass.

[pl001]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

It is progress. It's not simply replacing glass with plastic. The glass is there because the substrate would break if flexed. Having a substrate which can flex without breaking allows plastic to be used instead of glass.

The glass is there today because it resists scratching a lot better than plastic. Which is why I'm a bit skeptical on this. Will flexible plastic be more scratch-resistant than hard plastic? I have my doubts.

It's nice to see more choices though, even if it does scratch easier there is certainly a market for it.

Originally Posted by pl001

The glass is there today because it resists scratching a lot better than plastic. Which is why I'm a bit skeptical on this. Will flexible plastic be more scratch-resistant than hard plastic? I have my doubts.

They are talking about a part of the screen, not the protective sheet of glass or plastic that they place over top the screen. Scratching is not an issue in this case, and plastic's ability to absorb shock would be useful.

As an aside, some of us prefer a plastic protective layer over our screens. Yes, it is more prone to scratching. On the other hand, I'd rather put up with a bit of scratching over a shattered screen.

[kevinp]

Originally Posted by pl001

The glass is there today because it resists scratching a lot better than plastic. Which is why I'm a bit skeptical on this. Will flexible plastic be more scratch-resistant than hard plastic? I have my doubts.

It's nice to see more choices though, even if it does scratch easier there is certainly a market for it.

My plastic eyeglasses don't scratch. I don't put a stylus on them, but I do clean them with my t-shirt. Still look good after a year.

[SeaKing]

There is plastic, and then there is hard plastic, and finally really hard plastic.
(just like glass)

One assumes that they have tested these compounds out.

I put a film over my tablet and Droid I. Any scratches, just replace the film. (but none worth using one of the 2 extras I bought originally yet.)

[Teknikal]

Plastic does have certain advantages I remember when I scratched a PSP plastic screen I was able to polish it out again pretty easily with some optician stuff. I think a normal style screen protector on plastic is probably the best all round solution to not ruining a screen.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

There is plastic, and then there is hard plastic, and finally really hard plastic.
(just like glass)

One assumes that they have tested these compounds out.

There are also scratch-resistant coatings.

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by pl001

So the new "unbreakable" screen is....plastic? That is interesting, but I don't know if it's progress. Although I suppose the plastic screen on my old Palm Centro was pretty durable, it never scratched.

The Centro had a regular glass transflective tft lcd typical for Palm and others in 2007. It was not plastic. The resistive touch layer above the display was plastic.

Nobody has yet made a plastic lcd screen in a consumer product. The only plastic display retailed to date is the eink one in the Wexler ereader http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...ereader-video/

Originally Posted by pl001

The glass is there today because it resists scratching a lot better than plastic. Which is why I'm a bit skeptical on this. Will flexible plastic be more scratch-resistant than hard plastic? I have my doubts.

.

The glass is there today because of technical limitations and production limitations. Nobody until very recently has shown the ability to produce flexible displays in yield high enough to make it "cost effective". Previously, only two companies could do roll to roll production with plastic tfts and plastic display materials and they are both using eink(one technically doesn't exist now). of course cost effective is a relative term, check the price of the wexler.

What others have resorted to because of temperature differences in the production of glass versus plastic is first produce the tft back plane on glass and then delaminate it from the glass and meld it with the plastic display material. off course that destroys the glass and the delamination process leads to defective tft's lowering overall yield. both of those drive up cost.

edit- SiPix's process was roll to roll also but their yield was horrible which pretty much ensured the dominance of Eink in the electronic paper market for anything over the size of shelf signage.

[Dulin's Books]

here's an excellent read from 2011 on the subject http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic..._s_the_holdup_

LG was producing flexible eink displays with a metal foil tft.

http://www.hitechreview.com/uploads/...le-e-paper.jpg

you may remember hearing about the device they were supposed to go in, the Skiff reader http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/04/s...-a-sprint-sto/

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

here's an excellent read from 2011 on the subject http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic..._s_the_holdup_

LG was producing flexible eink displays with a metal foil tft.

http://www.hitechreview.com/uploads/...le-e-paper.jpg

you may remember hearing about the device they were supposed to go in, the Skiff reader http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/04/s...-a-sprint-sto/

Really outstanding information!