LG kicks off production of e-paper displays

Flexible e-paper displays have been the stuff of our collective mobile dreams for years, but the technology is typically relegated to showroom floors at CES, MWC and CTIA.

But that is all about to change, as LG recently kicked off mass production of its long-awaited flexible e-paper displays. 



According to The Verge, the 6-inch, 1024 x 768 e-paper screens rolling of the production lines are capable of safely bending up to a cool 40 degrees.

Although LG has yet to issue an official press release or statement, a number of Korean publications confirm the plastic-based screens are already shipping to Chinese manufacturers.



Meaning, e-readers using the flexible tech are likely to be manufactured in the very near future, with bendable devices hitting parts of Europe sometime this spring – perhaps even by the end of April.



As Nicole Scott of Netbook News notes, the display is only 0.7mm thick and covered with a protective film identical to those found on a mobile phone.



Nevertheless, the product is meant to be so rugged that LG apparently had no problem dropping the e-paper from a height of 1.5 meters (5 feet) or smacking it repeatedly with a rubber mallet. 



Personally, I think the concept of flexible e-paper displays is pretty sweet indeed, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing some of the cool e-reader form factors slated to hit the streets in 2012.