In-flight movies will NEVER be the same again: LG reveals see-through TVs for planes

LG JUST unleashed a series of futuristic new television screens for the CES 2020 tradeshow, which promise to revolutionise your in-flight movie watching, as well as home cinema set-up.

By Aaron Brown, Express Affiliate Development Editor with 10 years of experience writing about the latest developments in consumer technology, product reviews, and buying advice

LG Plane Smart TV

LG has unveiled a series of innovative new products to enhance in-flight entertainment (Image: GETTY • LG)

LG has taken the wraps off a series of futuristic new televisions as part of its presentation at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, USA. The South Korean company has shown-off a series of new see-through displays that are designed to improve in-flight entertainment on your next flight.

The new displays are OLED panels, so you can expect to the same cavernous shades of black that you’ll see on the latest flagship smartphones – as well as brighter whites. However, unlike most modern smartphones, these screens can be set to a transparent mode. LG says the idea is to use the screens as aisle partitions, so you don’t have to make awkward eye contact with the person next you as you’re both tucking into the in-flight meal. There will also be able to display important information – like the name of the passenger reserved for a certain seat, as well as the seat number and additional flight information.

During the flight, the screen could be used to create an ambience that fits with whatever you’re watching on the main screen. This should help isolate you from the hustle-bustle going on in the rest of the cabin – potentially even helping you sleep.

Not only that, but LG has also unveiled OLED video walls, made of a series of 55-inch OLED displays installed on the wall of a plane that should provide a home cinema-like experience when watching movies at 35,000ft. According to LG, it believes the humongous OLED screen will “enable people to feel more openness in the narrow space of an enclosed cabin”. For us, it just sounds like a better way to watch the latest Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson destruction-filled thriller on our next flight – without having to squint to read anything on-screen.

Of course, it goes without saying that this is unlikely to arrive in economy class anytime soon, with the first airlines to test the system more likely to use it to separate booths in Business and First class.

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LG Plane Smart TV

LG has revealed a transparent display that will display seat information (Image: LG)

LG also sees its transparent OLED panels being used in cars, where they could be used to display important information that’s crucial to the driver – without completely blocking out the view through the windscreen. Car manufacturers have previously looked into projecting information onto the inside of the windscreen itself to solve the same problem.

Elsewhere, LG revealed a new version of its rollable TV at the CES 2020 in Las Vegas. The latest Smart TV is an upgrade on the rolling display that it has shown-off at the consumer electronics tradeshow for the last two years. First up, instead of rolling up from a box that sits on your TV stand, the latest model rolls down from the ceiling – like a projector screen, but without the projector.

Second, LG revealed a smaller 48-inch OLED display at the show that will sit alongside its existing lineup of 55-inch, 65-inch, 77-inch, and 88-inch rollable OLEDs. There’s no word yet on a price or release date for the Smart TV, but the smaller size hints at a more reasonable price tag that could make the technology accessible to more people.

LG isn’t the only company making waves at CES with its futuristic televisions. Samsung has unleashed a bezel-free 8K Smart TV. This new QLED screen uses 99 percent of its front surface for the display, which means the tiny 2.3-millimetre bezel appears invisible when watched from a typical viewing angle.

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