Samsung demoes 'world's first slidable PC display' with a 17-inch rollable OLED screen

Samsung used Intel's 2022 Innovation forum to demonstrate a rather unorthodox computing form factor that can turn from a 13-inch to a 17-inch device by simply pulling the display apart. Equipped with a rollable OLED panel, Samsung calls it "the world's first 17-inch slidable display for PC" and it is exactly what it says on the tin. The gear is made by Samsung Display and its CEO JS Choi got on stage during Intel's keynote to showcase its 13-inch-to-17-inch convertible PC of sorts.

The presentation of the 17-inch slidable laptop display starts at the 10:25 mark in the Intel Innovation keynote highlights video below. The panel gets "extended" and shut numerous times by both Samsung Display and Intel's CEOs to exemplify how it works. "Sometimes you need a larger screen" from a small PC, headlined JS Choi, and pulled the display apart.

Instead of bending around a hinge like foldable OLED screens on Samsung phones, the rolled display section "slides" along rails in the frame to expand into a larger 17-inch panel from a space-saving 13-inch design. There were a few audible thumping sounds when the screen reached its maximum size or was pushed to roll back into a smaller form factor, as well as a slightly visible crease reflection at the separation notch in the frame running down the panel.

This seems to be the culmination of Samsung's multiyear research into OLED displays with plastic substrate that can flex, bend, or roll. It already has established product lines with foldable screens like the Galaxy Z Fold 4 you can get on Amazon, but no commercialized device with rollable display just yet.

The slidable PC screen may be a harbinger of things to come, and Samsung Display's CEO mentioned that they are working with Intel on figuring out the added value such a form factor, and the new interface possibilities it opens, could bring to the personal computing table.