Foldable smartphones haven’t quite taken off like we’d hoped, which unsurprising considering how much they cost – that and the fact that regular smartphones still work great.
But there is a future in foldable technology – it extends a display when needed, and retracts to a regular-sized phone when not in use; that’s a great solution! But, TCL thinks they can do one better – they’re apparently experimenting with a setup that lets the display roll across to extend the panel.
Spotted on video via @FoldUniverse are two displays of the kind in two sizes – 4.5-inch and 6.7-inch. There are two hinges on both sides of the phone, one of it allows the screen to roll out, extending the display like a scroll.
Another design sees a less obvious hinge, because the mechanism that moves is hidden under the main phone bumpers. The mechanism then slides out from the phone case, and reveals the rest of the display. We’ve seen this before back when TCL teased the technology – so we’re finally seeing the real thing in action.
We assume this lets manufacturers pack a larger display in a smaller frame – but it also looks pretty expensive. The tech is most likely to be shown off to the public next year and we can’t wait to see the applications this will enable.