Fold-out television – reduce the visual presence of the television by folding it away

Bang & Olufsen presented a fold-out television called “Beovision Harmony” at the Milan Design Week. This has a flexible and plastic element at the front that closes when not in use. The model can sit low on the floor while the two oak and aluminum covers partially cover the black screen. When the television is turned on to unfold, these panels unfold like a butterfly opening its wings. Thus, the thin OLED screen rises above it, which is known as the perfect viewing height.

Modern living rooms with a television that can be opened

Like the 2017 Frame model from Samsung and the rollable TV from LG, Beovision Harmony blends in with the decor of a living room. This will allow you to get rid of the black emptiness of the screen and customize the innovative design to suit your style. The presence of a large screen is rarely a welcome addition to living spaces. With Beovision Harmony, the brand wanted to create a meaningful object for indoor use that would reduce the visual presence of the device. This turns the pop-up television into something that people form an emotional bond with. When switched off, the screen is partially hidden by two control panels.

The Beovision Harmony panels also contain the sound system, while the front is actually used to optimize acoustic performance. Turning on the TV continues a trend towards invisible technology that blends into the background. Panasonic is also showing a similar prototype at the Milan Design Week. Its showcase TV looks like a shop window when not in use. So far, designers have taken various paths to make the television disappear as part of the interior design. While you can keep LG’s rollable TV out of sight in its base station at the touch of a button, the other two manufacturers have taken different approaches.

Innovative methods for optimal results

The brand’s first approach is to disguise the object in the style of a painting-like frame TV designed by Yves Behar for Samsung. The other focuses on making the television eye-catching, like the Serif TV designed by the Bouroullec brothers. With its hidden canvas and its sculptural form, the Beovision Harmony connects these two approaches a little closer.

Samsung may be a pioneer in this genre of television, but Beovision sees Harmony by Bang & Olufsen as a continuation of longstanding design principles and not as a response to a trend. The company points to its Capri TV from 1959 as a special inspiration. The teak product was designed to be fully integrated into the living spaces of the time. A future successor, the Capri 611 FM Television, also contains a radio that is completely disguised as a wooden cabinet when not in use.

Bang & Olufsen presented these and other designs in an exhibition at the Milan Design Week entitled 93 Years of Magic. It is a dialogue between the past and the present. The company has shared an obsessive passion for almost 100 years. It was a mission for the designers to perfect the techniques. Devices thus reproduce sound and vision and embody them in a design that people are proud of. Wood has also always been an important aspect of Nordic architecture and furniture design due to its individual character, robustness and versatility.

For those who are less fond of wood, the fold-out television is also available with a two-tone gray fabric and aluminum covers. Consumers can also mount the device on a floor stand or wall bracket.