Alt.CES: Flexible e-paper newspapers

Oddly, electronics manufacturer LG chose not to announce their revolutionary-seeming invention — flexible e-paper in A3 size — at CES. From their press release:

LG Display has announced its development of a newspaper-size flexible e-paper. The 19-inch wide (250x400mm) flexible e-paper is almost as big as a page of A3 sized newspaper. The product is optimized for an e-newspaper and able to convey the feeling of reading an actual newspaper. Additionally, as the product measures 0.3 millimeters thin, the e-paper weighs just 130 grams despite its 19-inch size.

LG Display arranged TFT on metal foil rather than glass substrate, allowing the e-paper display to recover its original shape after being bent. The use of a metal foil substrate makes the e-paper both flexible and durable while maintaining display qualities. In particular, LG Display applied GIP (gate-in-panel) technology which integrates the gate driver IC onto the panel. This improves its flexibility by removing driver ICs which are attached to the side of panel and hinder the bending of the display.

Any thoughts on why they didn’t want to wow the crowd at CES? What are the odds that this technology will spawn a viable product anytime soon?

[via Dvice]