LG to Sell Roll Up TVs in 2019

At CES 2018 in January, LG showed off a 65-inch TV that could be rolled up completely when not in use or adjusted in size to remove those black borders around content. It's now thought we'll see these roll up TVs on sale in 2019.

If you stretch your mind back to early January, LG turned up to CES 2018 with a 65-inch TV that rolls up into its base. When the TV isn't in use you can roll it up completely, or based on the content being watched the size of the screen can be adjusted to remove those black borders. It was a novel concept, but it's now expected to become a real product next year and in the process probably shake up many best TVs lists.

As Bloomberg reports, a "person familiar with the matter" says LG intends to roll out (sorry!) its rollable displays next year with the 65-inch TV present at CES likely to be the first model to appear for sale. The OLED TV could do a lot to boost LG's television sales due to the novelty factor alone, but also because a size-adjustable TV which can be "put away" is genuinely useful.

The prototype seen at CES used an OLED display with a 4K resolution. Rolling it up was achieved using a remote control, with the screen being stored on a spindle inside the base. In total, it takes about 12 seconds for a complete unroll and it is a completely silent process. LG also claimed the rolling mechanism was good for 50,000 cycles of rolling and unrolling.

The reason LG can release this TV so quickly after showing off the prototype is because it uses the company's existing OLED manufacturing line. That suggests LG has spent the last year perfecting the concept and ensuring the lifetime of all the components used is good enough to ship them inside a consumer TV.

Two things we are still eager to know is how much this TV weighs and how much it will cost. The weight may be comparable to a standard 65-inch display, but it all depends on the materials used for the spindle inside the box and the electric motor used to power it. As for price, a standard LG 65-inch OLED TV today costs anywhere between $2,600 and $3,300. The roll up version is likely to carry a significant premium over that.