CES 2025: Wild ’mind blowing’ TV coming to Australia
It was the revolutionary TV written off as a gimmick, but one of the world’s biggest tech firms has confirmed it’s coming to Australia – but it’ll cost you.
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One of the wildest – and most revolutionary – TVs ever produced is set to make it to Australia.
But it will cost you, with a “really high price,” tag that could come in north of $80,000.
South Korean appliance giant LG confirmed to news.com.au at the CES tech conference in Las Vegas, being held this week, that its fully transparent Signature OLED T will begin to be sold in Australia this year.
Both LG and rival Samsung launched transparent TV concepts at last year’s CES, the biggest consumer electronics show in the world.
They were the hit of the show, even if some belittled them as just gimmicks. But LG is shaking off that slur and putting the sets on sale.
“Sometimes we present this stuff and it never comes out because it’s a concept,” LG Australia’s home entertainment marketing chief Tony Brown told news.com.au at CES, the world’s largest tech showcase.
“Well we previewed (transparent TVs) last year and it’s actually coming to Australia in the first half of 2025 which is great.”
‘Blew my mind’
At 77 inches and with four distinct sides in a metal frame, the Signature OLED T has fish tank vibes – albeit a very sleek, very cool fish tank.
When turned off, the screen goes fully see-through and can either fade into the background or cycle through images like a picture frame.
Turn it on, and you can choose to keep the transparency going or a blind rises from the back of the TV converts it into a traditional screen.
Last year, one reviewer said the LG TV “just blew my mind”.
As TVs get ever bigger, a transparent screen is pitched as being a solution to having a big black block on the wall when the TV is off.
“It’s the best looking 4K picture quality I’ve seen on a transparent TV,” Mr Brown said.
High price
LG is upfront about the cost, however.
“The price isn’t finalised at the moment but it is really high, that’s the simple term for it. It’s like most technology,” said Mr Brown.
“We start off by making hundreds and when we start making thousands it becomes more efficient.”
A price point of around $80,000 was possible, he said.
Samsung won’t follow suit
In contrast, Samsung has stated it has no current plans to sell its MicroLED transparent TV, which it also showed off at CES 2024, for home use.
It thinks businesses will be keener right now. Samsung envisages fancy showrooms, for instance, having a screen that can flip between see-through and showing product information.
“I’m really excited about what transparent technology can do for commercial entities and in the future for residential. But at the moment, it’s not a part of our core plan for 2025,” Samsung consumer electronics vice president Jeremy Senior told news.com.au in Las Vegas.
If your budget doesn’t stretch to $80,000 – and LG admits its transparent TV will appeal mostly to “a very high end customer,” – other options, thankfully, are available.
“We’ve expanded our QNED range and we’ve also made our OLED pricing this year similar, if not the same in most things to the year before”, said LG’s Mr Brown.
“So the technology has got better but we’ve held our prices”.
The QNED range now goes up to 100 inches and it’s wireless (except the power cord). It connects without a cord to the LG Zero Connect Box where you can plug in all your cables.
On the premium side, the OLED evo G5 models now boast the LG Alpha 11 AI processor Gen2 which the company claims brings “impressive OLED picture quality with perfect blacks, exceptional brightness and advanced processing capabilities”.
Artificial intelligence is of course part of the new TVs. LG has partnered with Microsoft bringing its Copilot technology to improve its AI capabilities.
LG has branded its AI as “affectionate intelligence”. It said its TVs will now be able to recognise different members of a household, recommend shows for them, turn the TV up if the viewer grumbles about the sound, and respond to prompts to change other settings.
LG has also launched a new version of its StanbyME Go portable TVs. The range now comes with a lightweight stand or with a foldable cover like the iPad.
StanbyME Go has a three-hour battery life and can stream TV, so long as you have internet. It’s being sold as a TV you can move around the home and office or even take camping.
For its part, Samsung launched Vision AI at CES. The firm states it will bring “personal AI-powered screens to enrich your everyday life”.
In practical terms, your TV will be able to generate AI wallpapers based on a series of prompts, it will live translate subtitles such as overseas sports match commentaries, and give you extra information about shows and stars you’re watching.
Some of the features of Vision AI will be across Samsung’s Neo QLED, OLED and QLED, and The Frame models.
“Vision AI, which we’re bringing out in our 2025 TV line-up, is a really exciting next step in helping consumers manage their connected homes, but also express their personalisation and customisation,” said Samsung’s Mr Senior.
The reporter travelled to CES with the assistance of LG.
Originally published as CES 2025: Wild ’mind blowing’ TV coming to Australia
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