LG wants to replace train windows with transparent OLED displays - The Verge

LG Display’s “Transparent OLED for Subway Trains” can replace train windows to display maps, news, weather forecasts, and advertisements, and might be coming to a station near you.

The Verge homepageThe Verge homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo./Tech/Reviews/Science/Entertainment/MoreMenuExpandThe VergeThe Verge logo.MenuExpandTech/LG/TVsPlease don’t let ads on transparent OLED ‘windows’ ruin train journeysPlease don’t let ads on transparent OLED ‘windows’ ruin train journeys / Mind the gap — Sponsored by Apple MusicBy Jess Weatherbed

Share this storyLG Display’s ‘Transparent OLED for Subway Trains’ are already in use within some Chinese trains and Japanese subways. Image: LG DisplayLG Display is showcasing its “Transparent OLED for Subway Trains” at InnoTrans 2022, the world’s largest trade fair for transport technology, where it will feature as a replacement for windows in a concept train from Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway company. The OLED window can be transparent or opaque depending on what it’s displaying. LG Display is using the show in Berlin to expand transparent panel sales to North American and European transport companies.

LG Display has been supplying transparent OLED displays to transport companies in China and Japan since 2020, so we can already see it in action within a number of subway trains in major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shenzhen and Fuzhou, as well as within some of Japan’s overground trains. Seeing the transition between a mostly-transparent subway map and a more traditional screen displaying station layouts feels like we’re stepping ever closer to a world that was teased to us by Sci-Fi franchises like Star Trek.

The technology uses specialized tempered glass that gives its transparent OLED displays increased strength and durability to withstand vibrations and strong impacts, according to LG Display, allowing it to replace standard train windows. The company suggests some useful applications for the tech, such as displaying maps, news, and weather forecasts on screen while transparent, thereby retaining its use as an actual window.

My biggest concern however, is advertising, and LG Display has already mentioned this as yet another use for the technology. Would I be particularly disheartened if commercials replaced the usually grim view we see on subway networks? Potentially, but I have greater reservations about its application on overground rail systems. 

https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/27/23374420/lg-oled-transparent-train-ads-subway-display

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