Panasonic have been showing off their new prototype OLED screen which turns into transparent glass when not in use. At first glance, it looks like a glass pane in a sliding door, but with a push of a button a television screen instantly appears.
Panasonic idea is to make it completely invisible by using an OLED screen which doesn’t require a backlight and so when in transparent mode, the set is completely undetectable – allowing users to clearly see through it. Panasonic hope to create a set where the image is ‘almost indistinguishable from existing televisions’
Be warned the TV is still a prototype, and is unlikely to be available for at least three years. The cost is also unknown.
How does it work?
An OLED panel is made up of a layer of plastic sandwiched between two electrodes – the cathode and anode – all deposited on a glass substrate. When electricity is fed through the plastic, the OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screens produces light so no backlight is needed. Clever!
