The weirdest way to hide the black rectangle yet
Like other smart television makers before it, Bang & Olufsen has unveiled a new design that aims to blend the screen into the room when not in use.
The audio giant announced the 77-inch Beovision Harmony at Milan Design Week, with partner LG fitting in a display around a design that folds out two wings to reveal and hide the screen. The TV is essentially the same as the LG C9 OLED – the company’s 2019 flagship model – with an oak and aluminium frame folding into the middle, as shown below, to cover most of the screen.
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According to B&O’s Christoffer Østergaard Poulsen, the inspiration behind the look was butterfly wings, with the company wanting its designers to recreate the motion and for the wings to meet in the middle.
It’s not just about the pretty picture and foldable design, though, with B&O also packing in impressive audio; 450 watts is generated across a three-channel array, each with their own amplifier. There’s also a bass management system and a built-in surround sound decoder – something that’s been engineered to work with the company’s range of wireless speakers. Eight in total can be hooked up to the Beovision Harmony.
As we alluded to up top, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen impressive tech packed into an innovative design. Last year saw the Samsung Frame – a TV that, yes, was designed to blend in as a picture frame – while CES 2019 saw LG debut the Signature OLED TV R, a model that rolls into its wooden stand.
Interested? Well, you better start saving those pennies. The Beovision Harmony will cost a chortle-inducing €18,500 (translating to roughly £16,000) when models to fly out into the wild in October.
The Ambient is on hand in Milan to check out all the latest TVs, speakers and more – be sure to check back for our eyes-on impressions of the new B&O TV.
