At Intel’s 2022 Innovation event, Samsung displayed an unusual computer form factor that can be changed from a 13-inch to a 17-inch tablet by just taking the display apart. As “the world’s first 17-inch slidable display for PC,” according to Samsung, it does exactly what it promises.
A rollable OLED panel is present. At the Intel presentation, Samsung Display CEO JS Choi made an appearance on stage to display the gadget, a 13- to 17-inch convertible PC.
In the keynote highlights video for Intel Innovation below, the 17-inch slidable laptop display is introduced at 10:25. The display is continually “stretched” and “closed” by the CEOs of Samsung Display and Intel to show how it works. Pulling the monitor from a little PC, JS Choi explained, “Sometimes you need a larger screen.
This appears to be the culmination of Samsung’s multiyear research and development into OLED panels with plastic substrates that can flex, bend, or roll. There are currently well-established product lines with foldable screens, such as the Galaxy Z Fold 4, but rollable display devices are not yet available.
Instead of folding over a hinge like foldable OLED panels on Samsung phones, the rolling display segment “slides” along rails in the frame to grow into a larger 17-inch panel from a space-saving 13-inch version. There were a few audible thumps and a slightly detectable wrinkling reflected at the separation notch in the frame that ran along the panel when the screen rolled back into a smaller form factor or reached its maximum size.
