Concept → Reality · Rewritten

The laptop you could see through

At CES 2010 Samsung showed a laptop whose lid was a transparent OLED screen. It became the most-linked story this site ever published. Here is what happened next.

The Design Blog editors

Illustration of a laptop with a transparent display

Illustration, AI-generated. Not the original design.

Verdict 2026

Shown, not shipped

Samsung’s transparent OLED laptop stayed a prototype and was never sold. Transparent screens did reach a store in 2024, as LG’s $59,999 OLED T television, while no transparent laptop has gone on sale.

  1. 2010Samsung shows a 14-inch transparent OLED laptop prototype at CES in Las Vegas.
  2. 2024LG unveils the Signature OLED T, a 77-inch transparent OLED television, at CES in January.
  3. 2024Lenovo shows the ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop Concept, with a 17.3-inch Micro-LED screen, at MWC in February.
  4. 2024In December, LG puts the OLED T on sale in the US for $59,999.

What it was

In January 2010, Samsung brought a laptop to CES whose lid was a 14-inch transparent OLED panel. Switched off, you could see the room behind it. Switched on, the interface seemed to float in the glass. This site covered it the same week.

The idea was never wrong. It was waiting for a room it could work in.

Why it stalled

Transparency is the problem as much as the promise. A see-through screen cannot show true black, so contrast drops as soon as there is light behind it. And a laptop is used in front of walls, windows and other people, so everything behind the screen competes with what is on it.

Where it went instead

The idea moved to places where those problems matter less. In 2024 LG showed a transparent OLED television that raises a contrast screen behind the panel when you want a normal picture, and by the end of that year you could buy one, for $59,999. A month after LG’s reveal, Lenovo showed a ThinkBook concept laptop with a transparent Micro-LED display.

As of October 2026 we found no transparent laptop on sale. What you can buy is the look: clear cases, glass objects and gear that shows how it is made.

The original post, summarized

Our original article reported Samsung’s prototype from the CES show floor and focused on the transparent lid. It is summarized here rather than republished.

See-through, today

You still cannot buy a transparent laptop. A clear case that shows off the phone is not.

  • The 5 best iPhone 17 Pro cases, by designIncluding the clear OtterBox Symmetry, our pick for a case that shows the phone.Read the guide

Sources