Future Tech: Samsung’s Concept Foldable 3D TV

3D TV we can deal with, but a foldable 3D TV that can wrap around to fit your entire field of vision? Oh Samsung, is there anything you can't do?

By Emmet Purcell

So is 3D TV the future or to quote Danny McBride's Kenny Powers wisdom on HBO's Eastbound and Down, "No one wants to sit on the couch wearing glasses, popping bubbles out of the air like some kinda fucked up Ray Charles"? One things for sure, every single home entertainment supplier worth their salt is clamouring for the public's attention right now, as each steps up their investment in the burgeoning technology.

With Sky 3D just a couple of months off the ground and essentially just one, oft-repeating channel, it's difficult to fully imagine how far along until 3D becomes the norm for households, or if it goes the way of much-vaunted tech that failed to connect with the buying public, such as virtual reality headsets (such as the laughable Nintendo Virtual Boy), LaserDiscs or MiniDisc Records.

Samsung, however, are pushing ahead and with good reason - the Korean giants have already captured 86.3% of the US 3D LED TV market due to very early market entry and are forecasting 3.4m 3D TV units to be shipped for 2010. In such a comfortable current position, the company is free to explore the limits of 3D technology as they see it, hence their new concept design for a 3D AMOLED TV, pictured below.

I'll do the dishes in a minute... I'm just watching the floating yellow 3D orb!

So what exactly are we looking at? Samsung's design is for a flexible AMOLED (Activematrix organic light-emitting diode) display that could be literally be folded to encompass your entire field of vision.

The advantages are many - the TV itself would be a lot more versatile when you consider it could be folded in any given way to suit the needs of any viewer(s). Could there be anything more three-dimensional than watching sport in 3D after wrapping your telly around your peripheral vision?

The Samsung concept was shown last week at the FDP International 2010 show, while the technology could be hitting living rooms anytime between the next 5-10 years. With each tantalizing glimpse of 3D's power and immersion we at JOE grow ever convinced - if 3D is the future of television broadcasting, flexible displays are surely the future of the humble TV itself.