Can a TV be transparent?

The main type of transparent TV screen, an OLED screen, has such amazing properties because of the way it's constructed. Basically, OLEDs are composed of a couple of layers of plastic -- the organic, or carbon-based, material in the name -- sandwiched between two layers of glass. That's why you can see right through an OLED screen. The design also includes tiny clear cathodes to inject electrons into the screen, and anodes that enable the electrons to flow out of the device. When you turn on the TV, it sends electricity through the plastic layers, and it reacts with chemicals in the plastic to create the picture on the screen [source: Antonaidis].

One of the advantages an OLED has over a liquid crystal display (LCD), another common type of screen, is that when the electricity goes through the plastic, it actually emits light on its own. An LCD screen, in contrast, only creates the shapes and color. It has to be backlit with another light source. That means that an OLED doesn't require as much electricity as an LCD, and unlike that type of screen, an OLED can produce a true black, by not giving off any light in a certain area. A plasma screen can do some of the same things, but because it has gas inside, it needs to have thicker glass and is bulkier than an OLED, and it isn't as efficient [source: Maxwell].

The OLED has a lot of advantages, but it isn't the only type of transparent TV. Electronics engineers have also come up with ways to make LCD screens transparent as well.

OLEDs have been used in phones and other devices for a while, and the first OLED TVs first hit the market back in the mid-2000s in Japan. But the early models had tiny screens and were extremely expensive -- a 15-inch (38-centimeter) model made by Korean electronics giant LG cost a princely $2,700, for example. One big obstacle was that manufacturing really big OLEDs was tricky. Additionally, early versions of the panels were more vulnerable than conventional flat-panel TVs to moisture, and TV makers didn't want to have hordes of angry consumers stomping into big-box stores to complain that their new sets had gone on the fritz [source: Kanellos].

The holdup in getting OLEDs to market has led some consumer electronics analysts to cast a skeptical eye on the big-screen OLED TVs that manufacturers such as Samsung have displayed at industry trade shows in recent years. One writer, The Verge's Vlad Sarov, has even called the technology "hype-emitting diodes" [source: Sarov].

Additionally, a few electronics manufacturers also have developed transparent displays using older liquid crystal diode (LCD) technology. Samsung, for example, actually has designed a clear window for a house that can double as a TV screen. The window-screen is illuminated by sunlight (or on a cloudy day or at night, by light generated from solar-powered batteries). That means that it can be much thinner than a conventional LCD screen [source: Heimbuch].

Further ahead, we'll probably see even more amazing advances in TVs. For example, we may have OLED screens that are so thin and flexible you'll be able roll them up and stick them in a closet -- or even in your pocket -- when you're not watching [source: Owen].

I think the idea of flexible, super-thin transparent TV screens is really cool. But what I really want to have is a TV without a screen, one that projects images on the inside of my eyeglass lenses or, better yet, creates three-dimensional holograms around me. Throw in some haptic technology that would create tactile sensations and super-vivid audio, and we could have reality TV programs that actually would seem like reality.

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