Amongst the exhibits of Hong Kong technology companies at CES 2025 in Las Vegas last week, our team found a 24-inch, wrinkle-free, portable display made of optical polymer material that can be flexibly folded like a bag. Marketed as the Splay, this radical device — a CES Innovation Awardee from last year — is a collaboration of Hong Kong’s Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI) and U.S. company Arovia. The back of Splay connects with a compact DLP projector box the size of a book that shows high-contrast 2K resolution image on the screen.

NAMI, known for its expertise and R&D in nanotechnology and advanced materials for commercialization across industries, also showcased technologies in batteries, sensors and nanobubbles at their exhibit space. Marketing Manager Sammi Chan demonstrated Splay’s soft foldable screen that was innovated by NAMI.

By applying transparent nanoparticles with a high reflective index to direct optical paths, the screen has a wide viewing angle of up to 180 degrees despite the narrow projection common with a LED source. To enhance contrast ratio and brightness, light-selective nanoparticles and color additives are incorporated to the screen so to sharpen the light source’s peak wavelengths and mitigate ambient lights.

Most importantly, NAMI designed the screen with optical elastomer, which has a dynamic crosslink structure. This resulting material affords the screen’s extraordinary rebound resilience, providing its unique wrinkle-free quality even having been folded or compressed for months.

With this property, the Splay’s use cases include functioning as a portable display for outdoors and trade shows. The projector uses an HDMI video interface, which means it can connect with a computer or smartphone, too. If the screen is removed, the Splay can become a short throw projector. It emits 800 nits with the screen and 260 lumens of brightness without.

Despite its sophisticated material, the screen can be manufactured via common industrial processes economically. NAMI also says the screen size could be enlarged further.

The Splay retails at $1,499 on Arovia’s website and comes with a small tripod to support the screen.