The evolution of OLED display technology has advanced to the point that the future of TV is no longer just about bigger screen sizes and more realistic picture quality. No, the future is one where just about any surface can be transformed into an eye-catching display, be it train doors or even exercise machines.
At CES 2022, LG Display is set to unveil yet more oddball OLED displays that make use of the technology’s unique transparency and flexibility.
First up is LG’s unique Media Chair device, (above) which is best described as a large semi-circle seating system that the company says will serve as a “modern relaxation device”.
As the name “LG Media Chair would suggest, inside is a reclining chair that faces a curved, 55-inch LG OLED display with built in Cinematic Sound OLED, where the display vibrates to make its own sound without the need for external speakers. The reclining chair and the screen can rotate inside the circle, ensuring the screen stays perfectly aligned with the viewer. In another twist, the screen can also rotate by 90-degrees at the touch of a button.
LG Display said the display has a curvature radius of 1,500R, which it says is the optimal angle for most users.
The second innovation the company is planning to showcase at CES is the LG Virtual Ride system, which sees a stationary bicycle rider enveloped in three, brilliant 55-inch OLED displays that surround them from the tips of their toes to over their heads. LG Displays claims it’s an “immersive system”, but of course there are no OLED displays to the left or right, so that will only be the case if the rider stares dead ahead at all times.
Still, the LG Virtual Ride seems like a far more engaging alternative to sitting on an exercise bike at the gym. It’s easy to imagine someone installing one at home where they can cycle through an imaginary forest for example, or the streets of a virtual European village. It will definitely encourage whoever buys one to get more exercise, at least until the novelty wears off.
The Consumer Electronics Show has a reputation as a place for companies to showcase all kinds of outlandish and niche product concepts. Many of the designs we see unveiled there never end up being commercialised, with the idea being more to test the public’s reaction.
That said, LG Display has become a master of the OLED concept in recent years, showing off all kinds of transparent and bendable displays and more than a few have since been commercialised. At previous events LG Display has rolled out transparent OLED windows that are now a thing on subways in China, for instance.
Such concepts are only possible due to OLED’s unique structure, with self-emitting pixels fitted into an organic structure that makes it possible to build them on thin, flexible substrates.
More important perhaps, LG Display’s latest concepts serve to remind us that its flexible OLED displays really can be fitted just about anywhere where they might prove useful. At the same time, more mainstream TV manufacturers than ever before are embracing OLED as a premium display technology. For the first time in 2022, it’s expected that Samsung Electronics will launch its first ever OLED TVs, with some expected to be fitted with LG Display’s panels
For now at least, the future of TV most definitely belongs to OLED.
