Samsung Display’s foldable panel has passed the U.S. Department of Defense’s durability standard tests, overcoming extreme temperature changes and shocks among other harsh conditions, to obtain the military specification (Mil-Spec) certification. This marks the first time a foldable panel from Samsung Display has achieved the U.S. military spec.
On Feb. 19, Samsung Display announced that its 7-inch class foldable panel, used in the latest foldable smartphones, passed the MIL-STD 810G test, a military standard recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense, thereby gaining recognition for its strong product durability.
To verify the durability of its 7-inch class foldable panel, Samsung Display commissioned UL Solutions, a global institution in the field of applied safety science, to conduct tests on four criteria related to temperature and shock that one may encounter in daily and outdoor activities, as part of the MIL-STD 810G standard.
The results showed that Samsung Display’s foldable panel could function normally after being sprayed with water at -10 degrees Celsius and then frozen with a 6mm thick layer of ice on its exterior, maintaining this state for four hours. Additionally, the panel withstood environments of -32 degrees Celsius and 63 degrees Celsius consecutively for two hours each, and underwent this rapid temperature change three times over 12 hours without developing any performance issues.
The panel also underwent severe shock tests. From a height of 1.22 meters, typical of the height from which a person might use a phone, it survived twenty-six drop tests with varying orientations. Furthermore, like astronauts undergoing gravitational acceleration training in a centrifuge that rotates 360 degrees, the product was rotated at speeds applying up to 10.5 times the force of gravity, ensuring no abnormalities even during extreme external activities. A gravitational acceleration of 10.5 times is among the most severe conditions in acceleration tests for aircraft or helicopter parts. This is the first time a foldable panel from Samsung Display has achieved military standard certification from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Jo Yong-seok, head of the marketing team at Samsung Display’s Small to Medium Size Business Unit, stated, “Through this military spec certification, it has been confirmed that Samsung Display maintains a firm technological lead in the foldable display market, which has become the next-generation form factor. Foldables are moving beyond the prejudice of being less durable, and we expect foldable panels to be utilized in a wider variety of devices and environments.”