Smartphone manufacturer Oppo has presented an exciting concept for rollable smartphones. The parent company of OnePlus wants to make changeable display sizes possible. So far, this is only possible with foldable smartphones.
Rollable display on X 2021
The Chinese company used its in-house Inno Day 2020 to present an exciting idea. Oppo also had a suitable device ready for this purpose. The X 2021 is to be a smartphone with a rollable display. Thanks to the scrollable design, it should be possible to have a flexible screen size between 6.7 inches and 7.4 inches. A motor is used to move the two halves of the smartphone.
How will this work?
The motor ensures that the display of X 2021 rolls out of the case on the left side. This offers a decisive advantage over already known folding mechanisms. The hated central fold is no longer necessary. The result is a uniform display. Of course, a rollable display doesn’t really sound resistant. But Oppo says it relies on a special design that is intended to ensure a high level of stability inside the smartphone.
Thus the unrolled part of the screen lies on an extension of the base plate. The surface of the base plate grows simultaneously with the unrolling of the display. The Chinese manufacturer makes this possible thanks to extendable interlocking struts. In this way, one should not only have a stable but also a flat display.
Stability and flexibility
Oppo uses a special coating for the panel itself. According to the manufacturer, this special warp-track lamination not only ensures the flexibility of the display, but also the necessary stability.
The basis for the stable display is a very special steel. Oppo processes this steel in a sophisticated procedure. A striped pattern etched into the metal is intended to ensure the stability of the display. This metal structure will form the back of the display of the X 2021.
Much is still uncertain
As is often the case with concepts, we know only little things about the X 2021. Oppo, however, wanted to show the competition in which direction it could go in the future. In any case, it is still uncertain when we can expect this or similar smartphones from the Chinese manufacturer. Nevertheless, it is very gratifying to see that a fresh breeze is being brought to the slowly dusty smartphone market. We are curious to see whether we will see such rollable displays in the future, even from competitors.
