BERLIN - Panasonic took another crack at its transparent OLED TV concept, the Vitrine Panasonic Rybakken Transparent OLED TV, and it looks amazing.
There's no word on pricing and availability just yet, as it's still a concept, but Panasonic confirmed that there will be a production-ready model at CES 2020 in January.
The Transparent OLED TV's concept was birthed through a collaboration between Vitra (Swiss furniture brand), Scandinavian based designer Daniel Rybakken and Panasonic Design Kyoto.
In person, Panasonic's OLED TV looks like a piece of art, with the glass surrounded by a lovely thick wooden frame.
I got to see both versions of the Transparent TV, the previous non-OLED one and the updated OLED version. The old one was much more transparent, as I can clearly see the props that were laid out behind it.
Meanwhile, the OLED version blasted me with vivid colors, and there wasn't any transparency. However, you can adjust the transparency, and instead of seeing clear glass, it's supposed to look like looking through black sunglasses. This is because the Transparent OLED TV has two glass panels, one for the colors and behind that is a black panel to get those deep blacks.
The Transparent OLED TV was gorgeous in person, but you won't get picture as good as a regular OLED TV. The green weeds on the screen were lush and vibrant. When it switched to a snow scene, the white was a little dimmer than I'd hoped, and the blacks in the corner weren't as deep, either.
Due to the transparency, you won't get a picture as rich as you'd expect. But the benefit of the Panasonic's Transparent OLED TV is that it'll look amazing in any contemporary living space, and you can place it seamlessly among your other furniture.
Outlook
We can’t wait to see the full production version of this baby at CES 2020, and even more excited to get it through our lab. For now, stay tuned for more of our IFA 2019 coverage on the latest and craziest tech.
