Mobile World Congress 2023, the world’s largest mobile industry convention, began on February 27 in Barcelona, Spain. Under the theme of “Hyperconnected Through OLED,” Samsung Display set up a public exhibition booth to showcase a variety of innovative technologies. The booth consisted of five zones under different themes, filled with state-of-the-art OLED products. “Dr. OLED’s Weird LAB,” in particular, drew the attention of visitors by offering them opportunities to have a hands-on experience with the products through fun experiments.
Dr. OLED’s Weird LAB — Display Panels on Balloons and Submerged
What greeted the visitors once they entered Samsung Display’s booth was Dr. OLED’s Weird LAB. Wearing white lab coats, visitors were invited to look around the space filled with a unique set of lab equipment. Their eyes lit up with curiosity. The space drew much attention by allowing visitors to experience four experiments using Samsung’s OLED displays.
The first experiment was a waterproof performance test on the OLED display panels.
Visitors could submerge Galaxy Z Fold 4 in a bathtub filled with water and take photos of themselves with the phone in the water. It was interesting to see the facial expressions of the visitors as they watched the OLED display function perfectly underwater. The photos, taken with a high level of clarity, could be printed for the visitors upon their request.
The second experiment was to compare the weight of OLED displays and LCDs.
Unlike an LCD, an OLED display has a simpler structure that makes it thinner and lighter. When the display panel decreases in thickness, it reduces the weight and thickness of a smartphone, allowing the production of a slimmer product. In this experiment, an LCD display panel and an OLED counterpart were tied to a helium-filled balloon to compare the difference in weight. Visitors could see how much lighter the OLED display is by looking at that balloon travel further up compared to the LCD one.
The third experiment was to test the strength of the OLED display. An iron bead hit the OLED display panel. Visitors could see how durable the OLED display was as it stayed intact after multiple impacts from the bead.
The last experiment was about seeing the lower blue light emission from Samsung’s OLED display as compared to LCDs. A special filter was used to filter everything but the harmful blue light for visitors, to find hidden letters on an OLED display and an LCD. A display that emits a high level of blue light would show the letters. It was a simple experiment, but it truly highlighted the strength of Samsung’s OLED display, which takes good care of the eyes.
A Comprehensive Suite of Next-Generation OLED Displays — From Multi-Foldable to Slidable and Automotive!
Samsung Display also showcased a variety of display technologies at experience zones, with themes such as Foldables, IT, Automotive, and ESG. At the Foldable Experience Zone, foldable and slidable products were displayed to showcase Samsung Display’s next-generation form factors.
The next-generation display products that were showcased included Flex Slidable Solo™, which can expand the screen in one direction; multi-foldable products that can be folded into an S or G shape; and the 17.3-inch Flex Note, which can be used as a foldable laptop. At this experience zone visitors could also witness Samsung Display’s technical capabilities, through video footage of the folding test where the foldable OLED display withstands 200,000 folds, and the Ultra Thin Glass (UTG - a cover window that can be folded) test where the display panel does not break under the pressure of a lever.
The IT Experience Zone showcased the clear image quality, reduced blue light, and gaming performance that the OLED display boasts. At the “Creator’s Studio,” visitors could see the vivid image quality of the OLED display through photography tasks, the comfort that the OLED display brings to the eye compared to LCDs thanks to its reduced blue light, and the 120Hz performance of the gaming OLED display. In particular, the Galaxy S23, equipped with the Samsung OLED display, was used to take photos that were displayed on the big screen of the Galaxy Book3 Pro.
At the Automotive Experience Zone, a New Digital Cockpit was on display that offered visitors a chance to experience 34-inch and 15.6-inch OLED displays behind the wheel of a future self-driving vehicle. With the bendable display technology applied to create the 700R curvature of the wide cockpit, the display offers information optimized to the needs of the driver. The experience zone also exhibited the 13.4-inch round OLED to showcase a new display design for automobiles.
At the ESG Zone, a fun, storytelling video was played to showcase the reduced plastic usage of OLED displays, through a structural comparison between LCD and OLED displays. We also introduced major ESG activities of Samsung Display.
Samsung Display’s exhibition at MWC 2023 drew much attention with its fun, original experiments.
This year’s exhibition was even more special thanks to the different zones that allowed visitors to have a first-hand experience of the excellence of OLED displays, accompanied by innovative, next-generation display products. Stay tuned to see the OLED ecosystem evolve in various areas, including smartphones, laptops, and automobiles.
