You'll Never Guess What Samsung's New First-Of-Its-Kind Display Is Made From

Though Samsung has become best known for a handful of standard products like phones and appliances, it's not afraid to embrace the unusual when the opportunity presents itself. Samsung has a history of making weird products, and its latest innovation very much leans into its more experimental tendencies. The company recently unveiled the 13-inch Samsung Color E-Paper, which, at first glance, seems like any other display screen that you'd see at the front counter of a business. However, it's actually a fascinating creation that features a bio-resin housing derived from phytoplankton of all things.

The implementation of phytoplankton-enhanced tech is a direct result of Samsung's sustainability efforts. Upon the reveal of the new screen, Hyoung Jae Kim — Executive Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics — explained that the idea is for this low-power display, offering 1,600 x 1,200 resolution in a 4:3 aspect ratio, to take the place of paper. Overall, though, the Samsung Color E-Paper doesn't contain all that much phytoplankton, with only about 10% of the materials needed to make the housing being bio-resin and 45% being recycled materials.

The idea of using phytoplankton-based resin in the creation of the Samsung Color E-Paper's housing is quite intriguing. Naturally, one might wonder, though, why does phytoplankton bio-resin exist and what are the benefits of using it?

So, what is Samsung's interest in phytoplankton bio-resin? As mentioned, sustainability is the name of the game here. The use of phytoplankton bio-resin and other recycled materials in the creation of the Samsung Color E-Paper's housing means less need for standard plastics. Therefore, there's a reduced environmental impact from their production and implementation. Also, not only is phytoplankton a renewable resource unlike petroleum-based plastics, but bio-resin is typically considerably more commercially compostable and biodegradable, so the environmental footprint isn't nearly as extreme once they're discarded.

Aside from the environmental element, it has been shown that plankton-based resins are surprisingly durable. Such materials have shown tensile strength values between 77 and 90 megapascals, which is quite an impressive range compared to other, more common plastics. For a screen that will be tapped, swiped, scratched, and dropped on a daily basis, strong protective materials are key. Even still, phytoplankton bio-resin is an emerging technology that, as mentioned, only makes up a small portion of the Color E-Paper's housing, so we have a ways to go before it's a complete petroleum-based plastic replacement.

As a more professional piece, the Color E-Paper may not be one of Samsung's must-have gadgets from a consumer standpoint, but it's undeniably one of the more fascinating creations from the company all the same. Time will tell what the future holds for the device and Samsung's efforts in the phytoplankton-based bio-resin space.