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New Super Stretchy OLED Could Make Cars and Even Clothes More Sci-Fi

Don't expect these 12-inch screens from LG Display to appear in your living room any time soon.

Headshot of Ty Pendlebury
Headshot of Ty Pendlebury
Ty Pendlebury Editor
TV and home video editor Ty Pendlebury joined CNET Australia in 2006, and moved to New York City to be a part of CNET in 2011. He tests, reviews and writes about the latest TVs and audio equipment. When he's not playing Call of Duty he's eating whatever cuisine he can get his hands on. He has a cat named after one of the best TVs ever made.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
LG Display's stretchable OLED

LG Display's prototype OLED can be stretched up to 10,000 times.

 LG Display

A new flexible OLED screen can stretch up to 50% and attach to fabric. LG Display, the screen-manufacturing arm of the Korean electronics giant, unveiled the new technology at LG Science Park in Seoul on Nov. 8.

The 12-inch prototype screen can stretch up to 18 inches and has red, green and blue pixels at a density of 100 pixels per inch. That's not very high: By comparison, a smart phone typically has between 300 and 500 ppi. 

The company says the new display incorporates contact lens technology as well as a micro-LED light source, which can be repeatedly stretched over 10,000 times, the company said.

LG Display debuted a stretchable OLED at Seoul Fashion Week in September, but it's unclear if it's the same one. The company did not respond immediately to CNET's request for clarification.

We don't anticipate seeing these screens in TVs. Rather, LG Display suggested applications including convex touchscreens for cars or wearable displays attached to uniforms to provide real-time information.