How to hide your TV – get screens that blend into the decor behind, or disguise themselves as artwork or a family photo when not in use
LG is close to launching a foldable TV screen, Samsung has models that blend in, chameleon-like, with your wall or look like artworks when not in use, and designers working on Hong Kong’s ever smaller flats have novel solutions too
Now you see it; now you don’t. That’s an ideal scenario for those with a large-screen TV, but who don’t want it to dominate their living space. A set that disappears when not in use could be the answer.
LG has been working for a while on a flexible TV that rolls up like a newspaper and can be tucked away in its own little box. The latest prototype of this innovation, unveiled at consumer electronics trade show CES 2018 in Las Vegas, is a paper-thin, 65-inch OLED (organic light emitting diode display) screen – although launch date and pricing have not been revealed.
While Samsung’s TVs are getting bigger, the brand is also designing for “today’s consumer who is mindful of the aesthetics of their space”. In March 2018 in New York, the company unveiled another addition to its barely there TV stable, called Ambient Mode, following last year’s launch of The Frame.
For home entertainment, the new quantum-dot QLED TV gives a visual display designed for total immersion. Switched off, it becomes an information screen for news, weather and traffic updates, which can also play music. Chameleon-like, the set can blend into the interior decor by mimicking the colours and patterns of the walls around it – a feat achieved via the corresponding Samsung SmartThings app.
Doing away with a screen altogether, Sony has announced a new home projector that projects images directly onto a wall, the workings concealed in a small, faux-marble-topped credenza intended to look like a piece of furniture.
Yves Behar, designer of Samsung’s The Frame – a TV launched last year that is meant to look like an artwork – says that, especially in smaller homes and apartments, people don’t want a black square taking up space when it’s not in use.
