Electronics supremo Samsung claims to have achieved a breakthrough in LCD panel technology that will enable a different image to be displayed on each side of a mobile device screen.
The double-sided innovation will be showcased at next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with production scheduled for the first half of this year.
The company's innovation looks set to revolutionise the form factor possibilities for mobile computing as, by replacing two display panels with one, it will be able to reduce the overall thickness of products by at least 1mm.
Taking advantage of Samsung's new double-gate, thin-film transistor (TFT) architecture and two pixel-control gates, the double-sided LCD controls liquid crystal alignment to display a different image on the front and back of a screen, rather than just the reverse of an image.
Traditionally, when more than one TFT gate is used, driver integrated circuits increase in size. Samsung has worked around this issue by using its proprietary Amorphous Silicon Gate (ASG) technology with negates the need to increase driver size when more gates are added.
"Our new double-sided mobile display underscores Samsung's commitment to equip our customers with advanced display technology that accelerates the trend toward slimmer mobile products," said Yun Jin-hyuk, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile display division.
