Samsung has a very special idea on how to maximize the screen of a small device such as a mobile phone without having to resort to folding screens: with three screens, one on top of the other and that unfold like a fan.
This is clear from this patent signed by Samsung in the Korean patent office in August 2018. But which was not approved until early 2019. A screen consisting of three panels that pivot on an axis to deploy is described.
Smartphone with three screens
Unfortunately, the patent itself does not include too much text. Although it is indicated that “the design represents the invention of a device with a screen for displaying images”. And it is a smartphone, a tablet or a multimedia terminal. The schemes included in the patent, however, speak for themselves.
In this patent, the device has three screens, one on top of the other. When the device is folded, only the top screen is accessible. However, the other two screens, located in layers just below, rotate on an axis to unfold like a fan.
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Although it is a curious way to add more screens that does not involve folding them, the truth is that it is difficult to imagine a functional smartphone that includes them, and it would be really difficult to adapt the applications so that they can adapt to a system with three screens. They have two main orientations, left and right. Another issue would be the difficulty to include the components of the mobile (battery, cameras, etc.) when the body is divided into three.
Of course, patents, patents are, and does not mean that we end up seeing any fan mobile in the future, although at least we can give Samsung points for the creativity of this concept. It’s almost as crazy as Oppo’s, where one smaller screen came out of another.
I could see some usage if there were just 2.
I can picture a few situations where you want an app on portrait and another on landscape.
That or an app that has a canvas on one screen and the interface (or part of it) on the other.
3 is gimmickry.