LG is bringing transparent TVs to CES

CES 2022 hasn’t even started yet (it’s scheduled for Jan. 5) and LG Display is already the absolute king of weird displays.

Shortly after showing off some wonderfully curvy OLEDs, the company is back with a bunch of see-through TVs. Yes, these are actually TV sets that are partially transparent, meaning you can…well, see what’s behind the TV when you sit in front of it. Which in my case is just a wall, but with one of these displays, I guess I have an incentive to decorate the wall behind the TV?

Jokes aside, LG Display’s transparent OLEDs are probably best suited for stores, galleries, and other spaces where they can sit in the middle of the space without being overly obtrusive.

One example is the Shopping Managing Showcase, which is a transparent OLED display that can be used as an attention grabber for the products on display inside an offline store (yes, that’s what we call regular stores now).

You can run, but you can’t hide.
Credit: LG

Similar in idea is the Show Window. It consists of four 55-inch transparent OLED displays, and makes window displays come alive with a “more unique and informative shopping experience,” according to LG Display.

The Smart Windows concept is designed to be used in offices and conference rooms; again, the idea is that it could be used instead of conference room windows or to add “a sense of openness” to the workplace.

Another concept is the OLED Shelf, which combines two transparent OLED displays, one on top of the other, so you can have one display, say, a movie, while the other displays static art – or any combination of the two.

When one transparent OLED isn’t enough.
Credit: LG

All of the above are concepts, meaning you can’t walk into an offline store and buy them yet, but LG Display can help other companies produce end-user products like these. The company says its transparent OLED displays, which have first been introduced in 2019, have already found home in spaces such as shopping malls, subways, and museums.

As for these new transparent display concepts, they will be showcased at CES 2022, with LG Display being one of the companies that haven’t pulled out of the show. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, T-Mobile, and several other companies have ditched the physical portion of the show over Covid-19 concerns.