For years, display development pointed one direction: brighter, sharper, thinner. That race is largely over, and the interesting work now goes in several directions that do not compete.
Foldables
A phone that opens into a tablet solves a real problem for people who want both. Durability has improved to the point where the crease and the hinge are no longer the main concern.
What has not been solved is price, which remains well above a comparable flat device, and the question of whether most people want a tablet-sized phone at all.
Electronic paper
Reflective displays that hold an image without power, read like paper in sunlight, and cause less eye strain than emissive screens. Long confined to e-readers, now appearing in tablets, monitors and signage.
Refresh rate and colour are the limits. Recent panels are good enough for reading, note-taking and slow interfaces, and remain wrong for video.
The audience is anyone who reads for hours, and it is a larger group than the market has served.
Micro-LED
Self-emissive pixels without the degradation problems of organic displays. Brighter, longer-lasting, potentially more efficient. Manufacturing at small pixel sizes is the challenge, which is why it appeared in large screens first and is only now reaching wearables.
Why divergence makes sense
Reading, watching, and glancing are different activities with different requirements. A display optimised for one is compromised for the others. Expect devices to specialise rather than a single technology to dominate.
What to buy
The screen that matches what you spend most time doing. That sounds obvious and is not how most people choose.