[Article by Ted Kritsonis and Shelly Wutke]
What do you do with a TV that is truly wireless to the point it has no cables sticking out? You pick it up and take it with you. That’s the general idea behind the Displace TV, coming from a startup that seems intent on freeing up its TV by making things interesting along the way.
This is a 55-inch 4K OLED TV that runs on batteries—hence, the lack of even a power cable sticking out of it. Not to mention no ports, either. Weighing in just under 20 lbs, the TV’s real promise comes from its mounting options. Basically, you can pick it up and mount it almost anywhere. It is perhaps the first truly wireless TV that will actually be available to consumers.
Your TV sticks to any wall in your home
When you’re looking at a TV like the Displace wireless TV, you can’t help but compare it to other new TVs on the market. Most new TVs weigh between 50 to 100 lbs, whereas the Displace TV will be reasonably light enough for most to carry. Mounting a TV on the wall requires extra hardware to keep it there. Not with the Displace TV—just pick it up and stick it to any surface.
How does it do that? The folks at Displace claim they use proprietary technology that effectively “vacuums” the TV to a surface. No magnets, apparently, so it’s not that. All you have to do is place it close to the wall, give it a little push, and it will stick to the wall using Displace’s own active loop vacuum technology. It will attach to drywall, windows and other surfaces, and then detach without a struggle when you want to move it.
Mounting a TV can feel like a big commitment. You need to decide where to place it on your wall, make sure it’s level, and ensure you drilled the bolts into the wall studs so the entire display doesn’t fall down. That’s one of the reasons why Displace’s 55-inch 4K OLED TV is so unique.
I’ve set up quite a few TVs, and I think what could be one of the best parts of this tech is that you can easily set up a TV yourself. You don’t need two people to unbox it and lift it, and you’re not committed to one wall.
Displace 4K TV is battery-operated
Imagine, you have the TV in a den at home, and then decide to move it to the bedroom. While technically possible with this TV, there are a couple of things to consider. All components you want to connect to the TV run through a separate box that communicates wirelessly with the TV. That needs to be at a reasonable range to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Even so, modular movement is part of the story here. Displace says you can even link together multiple displays to create one very large TV that’s synced together. That means you could take four TVs to create an extra large 110-inch TV with 8K resolution or add 16 TVs to create a 220-inch TV that has 16K resolution.
Did I mention it runs on batteries and doesn’t plug into power? That’s right, the TV has battery slots and a system letting you hot swap them to keep one going while the others can recharge. The TV can keep on playing while you swap the batteries out. Displace says the battery charger in the TV will refill one extra battery at a time. You get a month of battery life per charge if you watch for about six hours per day.
Pinch, zoom, and toss your content from room to room
A camera can pop up at the top that looks for hand gestures to help control the TV. That’s on top of the touch and voice controls Displace built into it. If you have another Displace TV in another room you can grab whatever you’re watching and throw it to the next TV. And because the camera sees that you’re in the room, it will automatically shift the content you’re watching to the next TV once that one sees you.
Displace says it will aim to offer its own content portals or smart TV interface, though it’s not clear what that might be, or look like. While it is completely wireless, you can still plug in your favourite devices. The base unit plugs into power and can be placed away from the TV, like on a bookshelf or or in a closet, letting you stay connected to whatever you’ve plugged in. The base unit is built like a mini-computer. It has an AMD CPU, NVidia GPU, and offers Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.
Displace TV will be available in late 2023. If you’re interested in adding a unique TV or TVs to your living room, it’s definitely one to watch for. Check out the latest TVs available now, and for the latest in tech coming from CES 2023.
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