CES 2019: Introducing LG's Stunning Rollable TV

At CES 2016, we saw LG’s prototype folding display technology for the very first time. This was a foldable panel that passers-by could fold to their heart's content. Two years later, LG showed off a prototype TV using this foldable display technology. Fast-forward to 2019, and LG is releasing its new flagship panel, the LG Signature OLED TV R, for the public to buy.

Sporting 65-inches of 4k sharpness and utilising LG’s folding display, this thing is gorgeous. It is part of a new design philosophy that aims to integrate TVs seamlessly into the home space, without looking like huge black squares in the corner of the room. This thing is like a best friend: around when you need them, but absent when you don’t.

Image courtesy of LG Newsroom

The folding display enables the TV to be used in three positions: Full, Line and Zero. The Full position is what you would expect, just a normal TV experience with the 65-inch screen rolled all the way up straight. However, Line view enables you to have only a quarter of the screen raised, for listening to music with on-screen controls. You could also use this to control other smart-home appliances, or simply use it to display a clock. Rather humorously, you can also use Line Mode to display a fire crackling away. The Zero position is, as the name suggests when the display completely rolls up inside the huge brushed metal display stand seamlessly. LG, please release one of these with a transparent base.

Image courtesy of LG Newsroom

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However, this is not just a TV, as the Signature features Dolby Atmos 100-watt speakers - meaning you can Spotify to your heart's content when the display is down. Or if you are Apple-inclined, you can now Airplay to LG TVs for the first time.

As usual with LG TVs, it ships with webOS and can be controlled by the Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa voice integration.

Now, you may be wondering if a foldable, malleable display comes with any drawbacks in terms of durability or picture quality? But LG insists the opposite. They claim that a rolling screen has no significant disadvantages over a normal rigid screen and that this set might be their best ever in terms of picture quality. LG boasts all the traditional advantages of OLED TVs: deeper blacks, more detail and vibrant, sharp colours using HDR technology.

However, there is one significant elephant in the room: the price. If LG’s wallpaper TV, which started at $8,000, is anything to go by, this thing isn’t going to be cheap. LG says the TV will debut in spring but unless you’re a millionaire, you will probably have to spend your time staring in wonder and jealousy at it in electronics shops like the rest of us.

CES 2019 is taking place in Las Vegas this week.