News

Planar intros LookThru OLED digital signage display technology

Display and digital signage technology provider Planar Systems Inc. debuts the Planar LookThru OLED transparent display at the Xlab 2015 Conference presented by the Society for Experiential Graphic Design.

November 5, 2015

Today at the Xlab 2015 Conference presented by the Society for Experiential Graphic Design, display and digital signage technology provider Planar Systems Inc. will debut the Planar LookThru OLED transparent display, which it's calling "a breakthrough product that creates a new category for see-through displays, achieving the vision of futurists and science fiction filmmakers who have predicted a world filled with clear displays that present video content."

The new Planar LookThru OLED transparent display uses organic light emitting diode technology to eliminate the need for a backlight or enclosure. Transparent OLED technology overcomes one of the major hurdles to transparent LCD display adoption by making it possible to create truly see-through installations unobstructed by enclosures that sit behind the displays, Planar said.

"Planar's transparent OLED offering creates new applications for display experiences never before possible," said Jennifer Davis, vice president of marketing and product strategy at Planar Systems. "This revolutionary product provides new surfaces for storytelling and allows for a futuristic and modern aesthetic that has appeal across industries and applications."

The Planar LookThru OLED transparent display allows users to view video content, digital images and text on a virtually frameless glass display while enabling designers to overlay this content onto real objects or scenes that sit behind the glass. Planar said it continues to invest in bringing transparent solutions to market, expanding on the company's early transparent display innovations first introduced in 1999. The company said it was the first to showcase a transparent OLED technology display demonstrator in February 2015 at Integrated Systems Europe, where the display received industry attention and earned a rAVe Best of ISE 2015 Award for "Best Overall New Product."

The large, 55-inch Planar LookThru OLED transparent display is self-emissive and designed to offer "brilliant picture quality, exceptional contrast and wide viewing angles," the company said. When paired with a Planar image processing solution, the display can be tiled to create video wall installations. The new display is intended to be ideal for a broad range of applications including retail, corporate and museum settings. It can be integrated into any environment in which glass is used, the company said, including room dividers, conference rooms, counters, museum exhibits, retail fixtures and ticket booths.

"The advancements in flat panel displays have allowed us to bring in digital content as active architectural surfaces in the environments we design," said Alan Robles, associate and experience designer in the Retail Studio with the global architectural firm Gensler. "Transparent OLED represents the opportunity to further extend those interactive surfaces into more enveloping interactions where we can put our user in the midst of the content, and the content becomes a transparent layer of their experience. This technology could revolutionize the retail environment by taking traditional components such as fitting rooms and product interaction displays to their next evolution."

Planar said its LookThru OLED transparent display offers the following benefits:

• Truly see-through installations: The Planar LookThru OLED is a self-emitting display that requires no backlight or box behind the display, making it possible to create truly see-through installations. It offers virtually frameless screen with 45 percent light transmissivity, creating clear, unobstructed views of objects, scenes or other digital screens behind the transparent display.
• Flexible design options: The Planar LookThru OLED transparent display is available in two mechanical configurations — a model for table-top or ceiling-mounted installations as well as a model for flush-mounted installations. It can be used in both portrait and landscape mode and can be tiled to create large video wall arrays.
• Touch interactivity: The Planar LookThru OLED is available with optional touchscreen interactivity offering 32 simultaneous touchpoints. Both models are available with optional touch technology and use the latest touch sensors tested and proven to perform in today's most demanding environments, the company said.
• High picture quality in a large viewing size: The Planar LookThru OLED transparent display measures 55 inches diagonally and offers bright, vibrant colors greater than 100 percent National Television System Committee performance as well as wide viewing angles with no off-axis contrast or brightness limitations. The display provides full-HD resolution that allows for beautiful graphics and full-motion video, according to Planar.
• High durability: The Planar LookThru OLED transparent display features proprietary Planar Extended Ruggedness and Optics technology, which uses a damage-resistant optically clear Corning Gorilla Glass bonded to the front surface of the display. This high-durability surface can withstand the rigors of high-traffic environments and interactive touch. The combination of Planar ERO technology and Corning Gorilla Glass improves perceived contrast by more than 300 percent when compared to traditional large format cover glass, making the display more readable and impactful even in bright public venues, the company said.
• Source compatibility: The Planar LookThru OLED display comes with standard digital inputs including HDMI and DisplayPort, is fully controllable using RS-232, LAN, Crestron and other control systems, and is compatible with sources ranging from PCs and players to consumer video devices that rely on High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection compliance. The display is compatible with processing solutions from Planar including the Clarity Visual Control Station for tiling applications or advanced source management.

Planar Systems will showcase the Planar LookThru OLED transparent display at Xlab 2015 on Nov. 5 and 6 and InfoComm Connections New York on Nov. 11 and 12. The new display will be available in February 2016 through Planar's global network of authorized resellers, who are currently accepting pre-orders, the company said.

Included In This Story

---

Planar

When Image Experience Matters

Planar is a global leader in display and digital signage display technology, providing premier solutions for the world's most demanding digital signage environments.

Request Info

Learn More