Electronics

LG Display serves up travel info on subway train windows

LG Display serves up travel info on subway train windows
The transparent OLED display replaces a subway train window and provides commuters with schedules, travel updates and local weather
The transparent OLED display replaces a subway train window and provides commuters with schedules, travel updates and local weather
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The transparent OLED display replaces a subway train window and provides commuters with schedules, travel updates and local weather
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The transparent OLED display replaces a subway train window and provides commuters with schedules, travel updates and local weather
The transparent OLED subway train windows are currently in use in Beijing and Shenzhen, will plans for more rollouts in the future
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The transparent OLED subway train windows are currently in use in Beijing and Shenzhen, will plans for more rollouts in the future

While a transparent TV in your living room might prove to be a stunning talking point, there are more practical applications for see-through display technology. Earlier in the year, LG Display showed its vision for the aircraft cabin of the future, which included transparent OLED partitions, and has now installed the technology in subway train windows.

According to the Prescient & Strategic Intelligence consultancy, the market for transparent displays is expected to mushroom at a rate of 46 percent every year, reaching an estimated US$4.93 billion by 2024. LG Display says that it's received expressions of interest in its technology from auto makers, airplane manufacturers, smart building developers and subway operators.

"The application of transparent displays will become more diverse," said the display innovator's Dr. Chang-ho Oh. "LG Display aims to supply products to a wide range of industries in line with its vision as the leading display solution provider."

The transparent OLED subway train windows are currently in use in Beijing and Shenzhen, will plans for more rollouts in the future
The transparent OLED subway train windows are currently in use in Beijing and Shenzhen, will plans for more rollouts in the future

For the subway train window project, which is reported to be a world first, the 55-inch transparent OLED displays have been installed in trains on Line 6 in Beijing and Line 10 in Shenzhen, and provide commuters will real-time information about subway schedules, travel updates and lifestyle information such as weather and news.

And if you're traveling in China, you can expect these display windows to become more common as LG Display partners with railroad companies and subway train glass manufacturers for expanded rollout of the technology.

Source: LG Display

1 comment
1 comment
piperTom
I'm sure this is just SO cool, but wouldn't it be much cheaper and more flexible to simply provide travelers with WiFi and a local web server? Every router made in the past decade has a built-in web server with a standard (fixed) address; it could easily provide all this info and more to a traveler's own phone.