Why settle for a boring old plasma screen TV when you can go super high-tech and get a TV that's transparent when you turn it off? That's what the new transparent rear-projection screen is, and it works by having a layer of laser-activated ionic reflective material between two sheets of glass or clear acrylic. That reflective material becomes active when it's projected upon, but when it isn't it just looks like a regular sheet of glass.

It's certainly a neat design, although whether or not anyone would actually want one in their living rooms is debatable. Judging by the image, the picture isn't all that great, and trying to watch TV on a transparent screen with something like sunlight streaming in behind it seems like it'd be more trouble than it's worth. But hey, who knows, maybe it'll be the next big thing. — Adam Frucci

Woehburk, via GizMag