Jordan O'BrienCES 2016 may be over, but one of the most interesting concepts on the show floor was on Panasonic’s stand. It’s something that has been teased by other companies in previous shows, but this time around, Panasonic proved that it could one day be a viable product.
How did Panasonic manage this amazing feat? Well, unlike previous concepts that showed a completely transparent display with objects on the surface, Panasonic has managed to create a display that can switch between being opaque and completely transparent at the touch of a button.
This is far better than previous concepts as the viewer will be able to take advantage of deep colours, rather than being forced to watch content while artefacts in the background leak through.
Panasonic is utilising a thin LCD panel with adjustable dimensions and can show either still images or videos on the panel. The company was unable to confirm whether it was a Full HD panel or UHD, but confirmed that it was definitely showing HD content.
Of course this is yet another concept and not a product coming to retail any time soon. There are likely to be other problems with the technology as well, like how to hide cables and the reflective surface causing problems with viewing angles.
Panasonic’s demonstration of the technology on the show floor however proves that in just a few years, TVs may not be obtrusive black boxes placed on the wall or sat on a media unit, and could be embedded into a piece of glass or even in a window.
