Coming to an e-book near you - LG's flexible e-paper display

Like most display manufacturers, LG has kept a finger in the flexible e-paper pie. Now, however, the company has announced that its six-inch XGA resolution Electronic Paper Display (EPD) is now in full production, and should be in devices bound for Europe within the next month. LG's new plastic EPD, claimed to be the world's first in mass production, takes the form of a plastic substrate that is 0.7 millimeters (0.027 in) thick, about 2/3 the thickness of glass EPD devices. At 14 grams (0.49 oz) in weight, the new display comes in at less than half the weight of glass-based alternatives. However, the flexibility is what causes the plastic EPD to step up as a game changer. The rugged device will bend as much as 40 degrees from the plane of the display, will survive blows from a small urethane hammer and repeated drops from a height of 1.5 meters (4.92 ft). "With the world's first plastic EPD, LG Display has once again proven its reputation for leadership and innovation with a product we believe will help greatly popularize the E-Book market," said Mr. Sang Duck Yeo, Head of Operations for LG Display's Mobile/OLED division. "Based on our success in mass-producing plastic EPD, we are excited as we look toward applying concepts from this experience to future developments like plastic OLED and flexible displays." LG says it was able to adapt conventional LCD manufacturing technology to the production of the new product by reducing the process temperature of the LCD process to a level that the polymer structures of the plastic EPD could tolerate. The new display is to be shipped to Chinese ODMs, who hope to supply product to Europe by, according to the March 29 press release, "the beginning of next month."