Technology continually pushes boundaries, but LG Electronics has produced something clearly different, and there’s only one in the country on display, according to an electronics and lifestyle store in Glenview.
Abt Electronics is the first, said Marketing Manager Lyndsey Ager, to display the 77-inch see-through device from LG, which they’re billing as the “world’s first transparent 4K TV with true wireless video and audio transfer.”
It’s not a prototype, Ager said, and it’s for sale — for $60,000, or about 10 times the price of other high-end OLED televisions the store sells.
As to why there’s a need for a transparent television, Mark Sasicki, Abt general manager, said, “The whole idea is to have the TV disappear into the room when it’s not on. There has always been a demand for an unobstructed view.”
That demand might become more important for people whose homes face a lake or skyline, where a transparent television wouldn’t block the view like an ordinary television would, according to a video Abt made for the product.
The television looks like a glass box, and while it’s on display at Abt, it’s programmed to show screensavers, including brightly colored flowers. Sasicki said the swimming fish are his favorite, since the television looks slightly like an aquarium anyway.
The technology uses an electronic box which functions as a wireless transmitter that sends audio and video to the television, according to an Abt informational video. It must be positioned within 30 feet of the television, although Sasicki said that in the store, it’s positioned behind the television. For serious television watching, a black screen can be lowered to cover the device’s back wall and make it opaque.
As with all technology, Sasicki expects the price for transparent televisions will come down eventually.
He said Abt has fielded serious inquiries about purchasing the television, but any early adopter who puts money down for it will still have to wait five weeks for delivery.
