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LG shows off a smart bed with a built-in, see-through OLED TV

One thing is clear: this TV.

The 55-inch transparent OLED Smart Bed from LG Credit: LG

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Two years ago at CES, LG wowed the crowd with the debut of the R9, a 65-inch rollable OLED TV that mechanically unfurled from a rectangular base that also housed a 100-watt audio system. This year, LG is using a similar magic trick to unveil an all-new transparent OLED display that rises up from inside a frame at the end of a bed. The OLED is part of a setup that LG is calling "Smart Bed," but the company also has bigger plans in mind for its futuristic display technology.

The LG Smart Bed with its transparent OLED tucked away in the footboard
Credit: LG

When not in use, the transparent OLED recedes into a frame that resembles the bed's footboard.

The 55-inch OLED offers 40% transparency, so you can still see through the display even while content is being displayed. The frame itself doesn't appear to be affixed to the bed (and LG says it can be moved), so it only functions as the bed's footboard in appearance.

As far as features go, there's only so much we can surmise. In LG's bedroom tableaux, the OLED cycles through various screen ratios depending on how much of the display is peeking out of its base.

For instance, in one demonstration, the "crystal clear" OLED display remains mostly tucked away while the top portion showcases some sort of sleep analysis app. In another instance, someone appears to be scrolling through a list of movies in a smart platform menu.

The LG Transparent OLED conducting a sleep analysis demonstration
Credit: LG

While a full list of proposed features hasn't been made available, LG imagines its transparent OLED as playing a major role in the Smart Bed's functionality.

LG has mainly been envisioning its see-through OLED in public settings like restaurants and subway trains to this point. In a restaurant tableaux, patrons sitting at a bar interact with menus, watch sports highlights, and track their food order on a transparent OLED—all while maintaining eye contact with the server behind the bar.

Whether or not the transparent OLED (and the Smart Bed setup on the whole) will be available to consumers any time soon remains unclear at this point. Many of the prototypical engineering marvels that find their way to CES showrooms are positioned as concept demonstrations rather than previews of existing, soon-to-be-released products.

LG demonstrating how its transparent OLED can be used in a business setting, like restaurants
Credit: LG

LG also envisions its transparent OLEDs finding homes at businesses like restaurants, where they can act as see-through menus.

That said, LG's much-ballyhooed rollable OLED eventually did hit the market—albeit at an understandably sky-high price. Our guess is that LG's transparent OLED will make its way into storefronts and restaurants before it's available as a consumer product, but time will tell. When it comes to futuristic proofs of concept at CES, it's always best to remain clear-eyed.

But there's good news: Alongside LG's see-through OLED and a bendable gaming OLED, the company also announced a slew of information about the 2021 LG TV lineup, whose releases are very real and, indeed, imminent.

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