Forget foldable phones –LG's 'stretchable' in-car display can grow physical buttons when you need them, and I can't stop watching it

• LG’s innovative display has been designed for automotive use
• Company says a display and buttons can merge seamlessly into one
• The tech is just a concept, but we could see it in cars soon

The argument surrounding physical buttons in modern vehicles continues to rage, with some vocal sectors (arguably led by journalists) calling for a reduction in potentially distracting touchscreens and more easily locatable switches when driving.

But LG may have come up with an intriguing solution, as it's revealed a Stretchable automotive display ahead of SID Display Week in California – arguably the CES of the screen world.

The company says that its unique display, which sees a curved touchscreen miraculously come to life with a physical dial and buttons, has been designed to turn every interior space into a display… but one with physical buttons built into it.

There’s scant information about the inner workings of the innovation, but LG claims the display can expand by up to 50% while maintaining a high resolution of 100 ppi (pixels per inch) and full RGB color, comparable to that of a standard monitor.

In a video demo (below), the company shows how a dial rises out of the touchscreen surface when activated, allowing the user to increase or decrease volume or other settings with a twirl of a finger.

Similarly, a further two buttons rise out of the display below the main dial, which allow the user to more easily navigate menu screens.

LG points out that a conventional automotive fascia requires a separate automotive display and physical buttons, whereas this doesn't. Although it seems to have ignored the fact that many automakers tend to remove the physical buttons entirely, anyway.

As a result, LG thinks its expandable display, complete with protruding touch buttons, offers the best of both worlds that is "easy to operate even while driving".

Alongside the Stretchable display, the South Korean tech giant is also showcasing the world’s largest pillar-to-pillar 57-inch automotive display, as well as an 18-inch Slidable OLED display that can be rolled up and hidden in a vehicle’s interior headliner.

Analysis: One touch too many

While LG’s display technology is mightily impressive, looking like something hailing directly from an alien aircraft, it doesn’t really solve the issue of driver distraction when behind the wheel.

The beauty of physical buttons is that they remain static, easy to locate and the sort of thing drivers can operate with muscle memory alone, negating the need to take eyes off the road.

LG’s demonstration reveals that the unit has to be tapped a number of times before the physical buttons appear, often via very small and possibly quite fiddly parts of the screen.

It’s almost like a futuristic BMW iDrive system, but with additional steps required to reveal the physical dials and buttons that made the German marque’s system so easy to use... although the new version has controversially dispatched of buttons.

While a stretchable display might not be the best solution for drivers, it could be an ultra-luxurious system for those traveling in the rear – allowing designers the freedom to keep spaces looking clean and minimal, while offering a bit of drama when occupants decide they want to enjoy some Netflix on the 18-inch Slidable OLED display that’s tucked away in the roof.

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