Philips unfurls flexible prototype display

Polymer Vision NV, a subsidiary of Philips, is unveiling a rollable display called the Concept Readius that can be folded and, it is claimed, squeezed into a pocket.

The demonstration is taking place at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA), an electronics exhibition held in Berlin from 2 to 7 September.

The Concept Readius is a prototype of an e-reader device aimed at business professionals. Polymer Vision does not intend to sell the Readius as a product itself.

The Readius is thought to be the world's first functional prototype of a electronic-document reader that can be rolled up. It has four grey levels and a monochrome, 127mm (5-inch), QVGA, 320x240-pixel display. It has a high contrast ratio to help users read text, graphics, and electronic maps.

It uses a bistable electrophoretic display from E Ink Corporation and consumes little power, according to Philips. When rolled up, the display measures 100 by 60 by 20mm.

Based on Philips Polymer Vision's PV-QML5 rollable display reference design, the Readius was created in order to demonstrate the viability of the rollable-display concept in mobile applications and to gain customer feedback at the IFA 2005, according to Philips.

No-one from Philips was able to comment on the launch in time for this report.

Roll-top desktop?: the Philips Concept Readius e-reader