IFA 2011: Haier Transparent OLED TV

One of the most incredible and unusual products we saw at the IFA consumer tech show was this Haier 22" LET-22TC TV with a transparent OLED screen!


This is the first transparent screen that we've seen for ourselves, and that we've been able to freely admire for as long as we like. Needless to say, we were impressed!

What's even more surprising is that Haier claims it'll be releasing this TV as soon as mid 2012 in China (but no other countries for the time being). Although the device has no RRP yet and no clearly obvious uses, it's certainly an interesting concept. We suppose it's over to individual users to come up with their own ideas on how to use this screen.

All of this reminds us of a conversation we had a while back with a director of Samsung's R&D labs, who predicted that, in the future, TVs will probably double up as mirrors and windows. Indeed, that opens up all kinds of possibilities for transparent displays. How about a living room window that displays your e-mail inbox, the weather forecast or the latest information on your family's health? Or what about a car windscreen that displays the speedometer, the outdoor temperature or the distance between your car and the next vehicle?

For the moment though, it's a 22" OLED TV.


We can't help wondering if it'll really be ready for release in 2012, though. Haier certainly hopes to get it out there, but that's still a pretty big step away from actually getting this TV into production and out on the market. This wouldn't be the first time that a futuristic product has been announced as 'coming soon' only to be postponed.

Note also that Haier doesn't actually make the OLED technology used here—the firm bought it from Samsung.


The contrast is excellent when there's a natural or artificial light source directly behind the image.


However, if the screen or part of the image doesn't have a direct light source behind it, the display starts to look dark and detail is lost—as you can see in the top right corner of the screen in the picture above.


The LET-22TC is also very, very thin!

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