Skip to main content

LG’s swanky, futuristic bed concept has a pop-up transparent OLED TV on the end

LG transparent rollable smart bed TV
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Thanks to advancements in display tech, manufacturers have been able to rethink and bend the form of televisions in unimaginable ways. For example, at CES 2020, LG showed off a roll-up TV that could retract into a soundbar. Now, at CES 2021, LG is back with yet another crazy idea: A transparent TV that can roll up from the foot of a bed.

LG says it has managed to achieve 40 percent transparency on a 55-inch OLED screen — a dramatic improvement over previous generations that were only about 10 percent see-through. Transparency is key in this concept because the Smart Bed TV, as it’s called, isn’t simply meant to stream TV shows and movies. It can also function as a smart home device and roll up from the bed to show you information — like the time, weather, or when your morning alarm is set to go off.

Despite the thin panel, LG has also squeezed in a set of built-in speakers, which it claims are embedded in the transparent frame itself.

The Smart Bed TV isn’t designed just for bedrooms, either. The company hopes to bring it to public places like malls and restaurants as well — if it ever gets released widely, that is. The whole module isn’t tethered to the bed, either, and can be relocated to other spaces in a home.

“Transparent OLED is a technology that maximizes the advantages of OLED and can be used in various places in our daily lives, from stores, shopping malls, and architectural interiors to autonomous vehicles, subway trains, and aircraft,” said Jong-sun Park, LG Display’s senior vice president and head of commercial business. “It will grow into a next-generation display that can change the existing display paradigm.”

LG’s new transparent TV isn’t the first of its class. Manufacturers like Samsung and Panasonic are actively developing the tech behind such displays to power the next generation of televisions. You can’t buy any of them, though, and even if one of these companies does release one sometime soon, the price tag will probably be enough to put you off. Case in point: LG’s rollable OLED TV went on sale last year in South Korea for a jaw-dropping $87,000.

Shubham Agarwal
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Shubham Agarwal is a freelance technology journalist from Ahmedabad, India. His work has previously appeared in Firstpost…
Razer’s immersive gaming chair wraps your head in a 60-inch rollable OLED screen
razer project brooklyn

After showing off its race car-inspired Eracing Simulator last year's show, Razer is back a year later at CES 2021 with a new take on gaming chairs. Unlike the very specific Eracing Simulator, the new Project Brooklyn chair boasts a more conventional form factor, allowing it to seamlessly fit into your man cave for traditional PC gaming sessions.

Like much of what's shown at CES, there's no guarantee that Project Brooklyn will become a sellable product anytime soon, but that doesn't mean it's any less of a cool idea.

Read more
LG TVs at CES 2021: OLED gets a brightness boost
LG OLED EVO wall mount 2021

Nothing about CES 2021 is quite normal, but one tradition remains intact: LG is kicking off the first day of CES 2021 with its official product announcements and, as always, new TVs are the highlight.

In the lead-up to the annual tech show, Samsung, TCL, and Sony announced their premium TV lineups, and now it is LG's turn. As you might expect, there’s plenty of news around OLED, but LG has also revved up its LED TV lineup and given it a new name, so we'll certainly look into what that’s all about.

Read more
Samsung’s 2021 TV lineup surprises with Neo QLED, more MicroLED TVs
Smasung Micro LED 2021

CES 2021 is here -- well, virtually, anyway -- but Samsung had already announced its premium 2021 TV lineup ahead of the event. This announcement comes alongside an early look at the Sony 2021 TV lineup and LG's QNED Mini-LED options, making TVs the center of attention before the event.  Let’s break down everything Samsung has announced for new TVs in 2021.

We'll go big right off the bat. You may have already heard that Samsung unveiled a 110-inch version of its MicroLED TV. But what Samsung has just announced is that it is also bringing a 99- and 88-inch version of its microLED TV into homes this year.

Read more