Sharp Unravel New Rollable TV

Just a few days after the unveiling of LG’s foldable OLED TV that can be stored inside a cupboard when not in use, Sharp has unravelled its own 30-inch rollable OLED panel.

Following the headlines of the LG Signature Series OLED R and its rollable form factor, Sharp’s take on its rolled-up panel differs from LG’s.

Working in collaboration with the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Sharp has developed the world’s largest colour filterless (RGB light emission) high-definition 4K flexible organic EL display using a 30-inch diagonal film substrate.

What this means is that the panel’s pixels are able to emit coloured lights rather than using coloured filters when projecting an image.

The flexibility of the ‘film substrate’ means the display, with a thickness of 0.5mm, can be rolled up and stored with a winding radius of approximately 2cm.

A video demonstrating the rolling mechanism was posted to YouTube last week, with a demonstration planned between 13 and 15 November at the International Broadcast Equipment Exhibition “Inter BEE 2019”.

It comes following LG’s push into rollable panel technology, which is used to showcase its new commercial display solutions at the ‘Oz Connect’ showcase, which ChannelNews covered.

Hyun-Jin Kim, the head of LG’s Planning & LG Signature R Task Team, said the rollable OLED TV would initially launch in Korea later this year, with broader global release the year after, though with Christmas soon approaching, it seems like Sharp has sliced its way into the market before LG could get the first cut.