A few months after unveiling a concept laptop with a rollable OLED display that could extend upward to give you extra screen space, Lenovo is showing off the latest version of that concept at Mobile World Congress this week.
The company still hasn’t committed to actually selling a laptop with a rollable display yet. But we have learned more details about the technology at play. And it’s not like Lenovo is averse to launching unusual devices, so I’d say there’s a decent chance the company could make this concept device a real product one day.
At first glance, the concept laptop looks like a pretty typical Lenovo ThinkBook or IdeaPad laptop. It features a 12.7 inch, 2024 x 1604 pixel display with a 4:3 aspect ratio when the screen is retracted.
But press a button and a set of motors will extend the display upward until you have a 15.3 inch, 2024 x 2368 display with an 8:9 aspect ratio, which Lenovo notes is sort of like having two (nearly) 16:9 screens stacked one above the other.
The display is a rollable screen manufactured by Sharp, and when it’s retracted, part of the screen hangs out in the keyboard area. When fully extended, there’s a visible crease, but it’s worth keeping in mind that Lenovo is showing off a prototype, not an actual product that you can buy.
In fact, the company isn’t even letting journalists touch it. So videos posted by sites like NotebookCheck and first impressions articles from sites like The Verge and Android Authority are still a little light on details about what it’s like to actually use the laptop. We don’t know what kind of battery life it gets, how much the laptop weighs, or whether it gets top-heavy and prone to tipping over when the display is in its upright position.
What we do know is that it takes about 10 seconds to extend or retract the display and that Lenovo is hoping to be able to ensure that the display can be rolled and/or unrolled at least 20,000 to 30,000 times without damage.
That rad! The display is a rollable screen laptop. What about television? Able double size in full rollable?.
Look like TV normal size when sports coming or movie coming so display rollable to be wide screen? Ideal is that?
Well, LG does have rollable TV I think. It doesn’t get wider, just taller and hides when not in use.
This could be great. I have the LG Dualup and I love it, it really gives you good real estate which you can actually focus on (apparently studies show that you normally focus on a 30º field of view, so while ultra-wide can be nice and fills your field of vision, you can’t focus on all of it.)
The only thing is that I think it’s a bit too small. 12.7 inch in 4:3 means it’s as wide as a 12 or 11 inch 16:9 screen (I think, it’s too early to do the math). I’d want it to be at least as wide as a 14 inch 16:9 screen and hopefully higher res.
Not sure about the rolling phone concept, but this is potentially interesting form factor. More vertical allows a document or a page of a book makes a lot of sense maybe the possibility of adjustable resolutions, or we could continue adjusting to reading horizontally to appease the gamers.