LG's phone division shut down back in April 2021 and took away the most innovative foldable/rollable design we've seen in a wave. Although these designs were very cool, they never caught on because they were too whimsical, which also doomed the fate of the department. Or is that really the case? The latest patent documents show that LG may still have a few cards to play.
To recap, LG has developed a wild rollable smartphone concept that is aptly called "LG Rollable". It even made it to the prototype stage, but the project was eventually shelved when LG said goodbye to the smartphone market.
A year later, in 2022, the phone garnered more media attention when a hands-on review from BullsLab surfaced. The device's screen expands from a 6.8-inch display to a 7.4-inch mini tablet. It also comes with a Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB of RAM, and a 4500mAh battery.
Now, though, it seems that LG Display, the display manufacturing subsidiary of LG Group, has been quietly working on rollable display technology. Their latest patent, which they filed in October 2023 and published this month, describes an ingenious magnetic system that keeps scalable OLED screens smooth and wrinkle-free.
Here's how it works: add a piece of magnet to the back of the display and build magnets into the frame of the device. This magnetic force helps smooth out the folds that may form when the screen is stretched or retracted, allowing the display to return to its original flat state more quickly.
The 21-page patent application even includes detailed schematics showing how this scrolling display technology can be applied to smartphone-sized devices and larger-sized devices.
Before you get too excited, it's important to note that LG hasn't officially announced the resumption of its smartphone business. Mobile phone manufacturers often file patents, mainly to protect their intellectual property. Therefore, this possibility is slim to none.
Still, it's hard not to feel a little excited at the thought that LG will be making a comeback to smartphones. After all, it was the same company that launched quirky products like the dual-screen LG Wing, the curved LG G Flex 2, and the detachable secondary display LG V60 ThinQ.
A rollable phone with an expandable display will coincide with LG's unique futuristic design style. Who knows, if LG decides to license this patented technology to other manufacturers, maybe this patented technology will appear on other manufacturers' devices.