Author Topic: Saphire smart phone screens  (Read 1757 times)

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Offline TerraHertzTopic starter

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Saphire smart phone screens
« on: March 13, 2018, 04:45:59 am »

GT Advanced - Sapphire Glass Production

Well, it's an advert I guess. But interesting. It stuck out to me because I'm nearly finished making a thing for removing iPad (and smartphone) screens.
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Offline jmelson

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Re: Saphire smart phone screens
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2018, 03:58:25 pm »

GT Advanced - Sapphire Glass Production

Well, it's an advert I guess. But interesting. It stuck out to me because I'm nearly finished making a thing for removing iPad (and smartphone) screens.
Oh my GAWWWD!  Sapphires the size of a bathtub!  YIKES!  (I must have missed the armed guards.)

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Offline amyk

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Re: Saphire smart phone screens
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2018, 12:41:06 am »
The process is similar to what's used to grow silicon crystals for electronics, but with a different material. Not surprising they've scaled it up.

It's extremely hard, but that also means it's very brittle:
https://www.cnet.com/news/sapphire-phone-screens-not-as-strong-as-you-think-says-corning/

The same is probably true of diamond, which is actually surprisingly cheap now and may become another contender for screen material in the future.
 

Offline rfeecs

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Re: Saphire smart phone screens
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2018, 12:55:22 am »
Looks like the video is from the company that Apple dumped as a screen glass manufacturer and subsequently went bankrupt:
https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/4/9668922/apples-sapphire-glass-supplier-iphone-debt-deal

I guess they came back from bankruptcy and are still around:
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/18/gt-advanced-emerges-from-bankruptcy/
 

Offline Halcyon

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Re: Saphire smart phone screens
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2018, 06:13:05 am »
Why not use a material similar to acrylic plastic (perspex)? It's relatively flexible, resistant to shattering and scratches, cheap and easy to produce.
 

Offline Ampera

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Re: Saphire smart phone screens
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2018, 06:23:18 am »
That's a good question. The bad answer is that people view plastic screens as cheap and flimsy (and not without cause as many plastic screens were thing and usually there for resistive touch layers).

I think it would be a great idea.
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Offline Halcyon

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Re: Saphire smart phone screens
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2018, 06:28:25 am »
That's a good question. The bad answer is that people view plastic screens as cheap and flimsy (and not without cause as many plastic screens were thing and usually there for resistive touch layers).

I think it would be a great idea.

That's the thing, we're paying through the nose for decent phones these days which are fragile as anything. One drop and they're almost useless. I found this out the hard way recently with my Samsung Galaxy S8. Brilliant phone, but one drop onto concrete shattered the screen and rear glass resulting in a $300 repair bill. Before that, all the phones I've owned just take the punishment and/or the back and battery pops off.

Nokia's had plastic covering their screens for many years and survived without any issues.
 

Offline Paul Moir

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Re: Saphire smart phone screens
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2018, 06:32:21 am »
Nokia's had plastic covering their screens for many years and survived without any issues.
But we wore them in little holsters or folded them up.  The glass screens came out when the acrylic got scratched by someone's keys.
 

Offline Halcyon

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Re: Saphire smart phone screens
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2018, 06:42:40 am »
Nokia's had plastic covering their screens for many years and survived without any issues.
But we wore them in little holsters or folded them up.  The glass screens came out when the acrylic got scratched by someone's keys.

Don't they make train and bus windows from acrylic? Surely the technology exists to withstand a set of keys.
 


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