Samsung shows off several exciting displays including one that expands more than 5 times

Samsung is reportedly working on a new technology that will allow an OLED panel to scan a fingerprint from anywhere on the screen. It was one of the projects that Samsung Display revealed at SID (Society for Information Display) Display Week 2023 which started today and runs through May 25th at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The Sensor OLED Display recognizes fingerprints using a light-sensing organic photodiode (OPD) that is embedded into the panel itself. Currently, a separate sensor attached to the panel is used but requires the user to press a specific area.

The Sensor OLED Display can also monitor the user's user’s heart rate, blood pressure, and stress level with the touch of two fingers on the screen. Samsung explains that "OLED light is reflected differently depending on the contraction and relaxation of the blood vessels inside the finger, and when it returns to the panel, the OPD recognizes it and converts it into health information." Samsung is the first to develop an OLED panel that can sense biometric information and fingerprints at the same time.

A spokesperson for Samsung Display said, "To accurately measure a person’s blood pressure, it is necessary to measure the blood pressure of both arms. The Sensor OLED display can simultaneously sense the fingers of both hands, providing more accurate health information than existing wearable devices."

Another display that Samsung has on, uh, display at the event, is called Rollable Flex. It expands from 49 mm to 254.4 mm, an increase of over five times! About this display, Samsung says, "While conventional foldable or slidable form factors offer up to three times the scalability, Rollable Flex overcomes such limitations by enabling the display to be rolled and unrolled on an O-shaped axis like a scroll." A spokesman added, "The biggest feature is that we were able to turn a difficult-to-carry large-sized display into a portable form factor by making it rollable,"

A fascinating display that Samsung calls Flex In & Out is designed for a foldable smartphone. It can be folded both inward and outward 360 degrees. This can eliminate the necessity of including an external "cover screen" that is needed on inward-closing foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 4. As a result, such devices can be made lighter and thinner.

Samsung Display will also unveil new form factors including Flex Hybrid, which combines foldable and slidable technologies, and Slidable Flex Solo. The latter expands from a 13-inch tablet to a tablet with a 17-inch screen.

It isn't clear how long it will take before any of these screens are found in devices available for purchase. Samsung Display says, "We look to show that the paradigm of the display industry can evolve once again at SID, where industry players, media, and consumers come together. Visitors can see our vision of the future OLED industry through our technology."