Amid all the of talk about a foldable smartphone, Samsung has released an ‘Unbreakable' OLED Panel which is certified by Underwriters Laboratories, an official testing company for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the US Department of Labor. The South Korean giant said that the newly-developed display can be used in smartphones as well as in other electronic products like display consoles for automobiles, mobile military devices, portable game consoles and tablets.
Samsung said that its display unit developed the flexible OLED panel with an unbreakable substrate and an overlay window securely adhered to it. The current-generation flexible displays attach a glass-covered window to their display that makes them more fragile. “The fortified plastic window is especially suitable for portable electronic devices not only because of its unbreakable characteristics, but also because of its lightweight, transmissivity and hardness, which are all very similar to glass,” Hojung Kim, general manager of the Communication Team, Samsung Display Company, said.
According to the Underwriters Laboratories, the unbreakable display has passed a rigorous real-time durability test which is based on military standards set by the US Department of Defense. “After a drop test administered at 1.2 meters (nearly 4 feet) above the ground 26 times in succession, and accompanying high (71 degrees) and low (-32 degrees) temperature tests, the Samsung unbreakable panel continued to function normally with no damage to its front, sides or edges,” Underwriters Laboratories said. Moreover, in a subsequent 1.8 metre (nearly 6 feet) drop test, which is higher than the US military standards, the new Samsung’s display operated normally with no sign of damage.
The company has not revealed which phones will get these unbreakable OLED panels, but it is possible that Samsung could incorporate them in its flagship devices starting next year. The South Korean giant is one of the major players in the display business and companies like, Apple and Xiaomi, among others, use Samsung’s displays in their smartphones.