LG's Signature OLED T: Transparent, wireless - and with 3D effect

"Finally I can see the tangle of cables behind my TV," I wrote back in 2020 about one of the first OLED TVs with a transparent display. Since then, there have always been new prototypes to see. However, the technology has never caught on; although the transparency makes for a cool aesthetic, it hardly creates the "true black" that is usual with OLED televisions. Contrast values suffer as a result: If you want the best picture, you still buy a "normal" OLED TV.

However, LG, the former monopolist in the OLED sector, still arouses my interest. Especially because renowned tech nerds like Caleb Denison from Digital Trends or Chris Welch from The Verge can hardly stop raving about it. The South Korean TV manufacturer presented its own version of a transparent 4K OLED TV at CES 2024 in Las Vegas: the Signature OLED T, perhaps the most exciting new TV at the trade fair. And the TV is set to be launched on the market in the second half of the year. Cost: Unknown, but expect to pay more than ten thousand francs.

Clever 3D effects (almost) without cables

Without having seen it with your own eyes, it's difficult to give a true assessment. But LG's efforts to make the transparent OLED TV accessible to the masses appear for the first time to be more than a simple media show-off. At least that's what the reports from Denison and Welch suggest.

In any case, the photos show that the transparent OLED TV from LG is embedded in a shelf-like piece of furniture with a black frame. LG has not yet decided whether this is included in the scope of delivery or is available separately.

Denison, Welch and co. also report that the OLED T creates an impressive 3D effect in which the image appears to have several levels. Like on a theatre stage, where the backdrops in the foreground, middle and background form different levels.

To ensure that there is no cable clutter behind the TV, LG's T-Series borrows the Zero Connect Box from the M-Series, which I was able to see at IFA 2023:

The advantage of the box is that it can be placed up to ten metres away from the TV. External playback devices such as consoles, Blu-ray players or set-top boxes are no longer connected directly to the TV, but to the Zero Connect Box. It then streams the video and audio signals to the TV and audio device with UHD resolution and at up to 120 hertz - uncompressed, including all HDMI 2.1 features, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

And what about black?

The question of the typical OLED true black remains. Because where there is no black, the contrast values suffer. The picture looks milky and washed out - literally transparent. I criticised this back then with Panasonic's prototypes at IFA 2019.

LG wants to solve the problem by raising a black film behind the glass at the touch of a button. This blocks unwanted background light. This creates black and thus acceptable contrast values, even if they are far from peak values.

Despite the euphoric reports, I'm still not entirely convinced by the transparent concept. The aesthetics cost too much for me and the image doesn't deliver enough - still the most important criterion for me.

How do you see it?