Transparent display prototypes have had a presence on the CES show floor for many years. They\u2019re a guaranteed way to wow people and showcase the unique capabilities of an OLED panel. But LG has seemingly decided that the time has come to ship a real, bonafide transparent TV that people will actually be able to buy this year. At some undisclosed date. For what\u2019s certain to be an exorbitant amount of money. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The company has announced the OLED Signature T (you can guess what the T stands for) here at CES 2024. The product that LG demoed for press in Las Vegas isn\u2019t exactly \u201cfinal.\u201d The 77-inch display won\u2019t be changing at all, but the company hasn\u2019t decided whether it\u2019ll come bundled with all the side furniture you see in these photos or if it\u2019ll sell those items separately. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Behind the OLED T\u2019s transparent panel is a contrast film that, with the push of a button on the remote, can be raised to make the TV look like any regular OLED or lowered<\/em> if you want to see what\u2019s behind the screen. The TV has custom widgets that take up only a lower section of the screen, which seems like an idea that LG carried over from its rollable TV<\/a>. And it runs a custom webOS interface that\u2019s optimized for the unique display. It\u2019s certainly less cluttered and busy than the version found on LG\u2019s normal TVs. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n LG went through a ton of demos in its CES suite, and there were times when the TV\u2019s transparency mode gave off a sense of depth that really messed with my brain, like in this shot below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But here\u2019s one downside: when the contrast filter is up, the OLED T technically isn\u2019t on par with LG\u2019s very best conventional OLEDs like the G series. It lacks the Micro Lens Array technology that has led to major brightness improvements for that line. I\u2019m an unabashed display nerd, so if I owned this thing, I think it would constantly eat at me that it\u2019s an inferior TV compared to the G4 or, if you want to go even fancier, LG\u2019s wireless M series, which does<\/em> include MLA. And this TV is destined to cost far more than either of those. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n You\u2019re making objective sacrifices for the transparency trick, so it\u2019s worth considering how quickly the novelty of this TV might wear off. For certain people, maybe never. But me? I can\u2019t help but feel like I\u2019d be over the whole schtick within a matter of days. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The fundamental question is really this: who is the OLED Signature T supposed to be for? I asked the company\u2019s reps why LG decided that now was the right time to launch a commercial transparent TV. The answer I got was that some consumers are in search of something that feels truly new and different. And that\u2019s always been the driving purpose of LG\u2019s Signature OLEDs. This is also the company that makes a damn suitcase TV<\/a> \u2014 review coming soon, I promise \u2014 so it\u2019s willing to go against the grain if it creates some buzz.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As for other specs, the OLED T has down-firing speakers beneath the display. And just like the M series, it receives all of its video and audio from LG\u2019s Zero Connect Box, which can be positioned as far as 30 feet away so long as it maintains line of sight with the TV. That\u2019s what you plug your streaming boxes and gaming consoles into. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n LG intends to ship the Signature OLED T this calendar year, but it\u2019s not yet committing to a particular timeframe. And the price is anyone\u2019s guess. That rollable OLED ended up retailing for $100,000<\/a>. Last year\u2019s more attainable 77-inch wireless OLED sells for a cool $4,999.99.<\/a> Transparency will undoubtedly tack on several thousand more dollars. But at the end of the day, at least we\u2019re seeing another longtime CES gimmick finding its way into a real product \u2014 even if the see-through novelty isn\u2019t solving any real problems in the TV landscape. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n