Over the years, Samsung’s OLED panels went from rigid to flexible to foldable, and now it looks like the next evolutionary step may be stretchable OLED panels. Earlier today, Samsung Display demonstrated such technology at Global Tech Korea 2021.

This wasn’t the first demonstration of a stretchable OLED display, but it certainly looks like Samsung Display brought this technology to a whole new level from the last time we saw it in action.

A few months ago, SAIT demonstrated stretchable display technology for a small wrist-worn heart rate monitor. The stretchable display looked unconventional and consisted of a few pixels — too few to form high-detailed images. However, the stretchable OLED panel demonstrated earlier today (via @Kuma_Sleepy / ETNews) looks much more like a conventional display with very unique characteristics.

Watch Samsung’s 13-inch stretchable OLED display in action

The video below emerged after the Global Tech Korea 2021 presentation from earlier today concluded, and it shows a stretchable 13-inch OLED panel in action. There’s an image of flowing lava on the screen, while a hardware element hidden behind the stretchable OLED panel pushes the surface of the screen outwards. It literally adds a third dimension to the otherwise 2D surface of a screen.

Now, this type of technology might not be fit for conventional mobile phones or tablets, but Samsung creates all sorts of display-based products, from mobile panels to the largest LED videoboards and digital waterfalls in the world. The company also powers cinemas and has created a green screen alternative for moviemakers. With that in mind, Samsung and/or its numerous display clients have surely considered more than one use for this new technology. Time will tell if it will ever be put into practice, and until then, we can only imagine the applications it could have.