Samsung Showcases “Unbreakable” Display, no More Shattered Smartphone Screens

Samsung has been a leader in smartphone screen technology for years, sometimes without deserved recognition. The company's latest development in display tech will be one welcomed by most users. The South Korean giant claims its new smartphone screen is “unbreakable”. For anyone who has dropped a device and cracked the screen, that is a bold claim. Most flagship devices today have some sort of display protection, such as Corning's Gorilla Glass. Still, dropping a device that lands face down is all but guaranteed to result in a cracked screen. It is one of the worst things that can happen as a smartphone owner. Indeed, yours truly understands this pain as I currently have a cracked Samsung Galaxy S8. So, hopefully Samsung is working towards abolishing this problem. The company says its unbreakable glass has already been certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the global safety and certifying body. While Samsung is focused on the consumer side of this technologies, its benefits could be wide-ranging. In fact, the company says it could see the glass being implemented in military devices, vehicles, and other functions.

Testing

The innovative technology was created by Samsung Display. Engineers created the glass by developing “an unbreakable substrate and an overlay window securely adhered to it”. Hojung Kim, general manager of the Communication Team for the division says this revolutionizes screen technology: “The fortified plastic window is especially suitable for portable electronic devices not only because of its unbreakable characteristics, but also because of its lightweight, transmissivity and hardness, which are all very similar to glass” The UL says Samsung's display has “passed the rigorous real-time durability test that is based on military standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense”. For example, it was dropped 26 consecutive times from four feet and showed now signs of damage. The same results were observed when the drop height was increased to six feet.