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With its retracting screen, LG's OLED TV R looks less like a TV and more like a visual effect from a sci-fi movie. Taking advantage of OLED’s inherent flexibility, the 65R9 (to give it its full model number) rolls up or 
fully retracts into a smart designer cabinet.

We’ve seen this flexible characteristic before, on curved OLED screens, but, viewed at CES 2019, it looks less like a gimmick and more like the harbinger of a radical change in form factor.

The TV is able to present its 65in screen in two different ways. For movie/TV watching, select LG's Full View option, which sees the panel rise up completely. Line View (pictured below), meanwhile, partially unrolls the display, leaving only the top half of the screen visible. This mode is used for music playback, clock, mood (presets include flames, stars and arty rings), and photo frame.

There's also Zero View mode. Here the screen remains fully retracted, and allows the TV to function as a standalone speaker. The cabinet houses a 4.2-channel Dolby Atmos sound system, claiming 100W of power – and it sounds suitably punchy. However, there are no upfiring Dolby-enabled speakers behind the Kvadrat cloth grille.

One missed trick 
with the LG 65R9 OLED is that the screen doesn’t retract to create a 21:9 widescreen viewing mode, which – to us – seems 
an obvious idea.

Away from this particular innovation, LG has also refreshed its more traditional OLED and LCD product lines, most notably with the introduction of 8K resolution models.

Employing Alpha 9 Gen 2 processing are the Z9, W9, E9 and C9 OLEDs. Those with knowledge of LG's naming system will note the Z range is a new addition, and it's here where the company will debut its 8K OLED panel (with HDMI 2.1 connectivity) in an 88in guise.

HDMI 2.1, which supports frame rates up to 120fps, eARC and variable refresh rates in addition to its headline 8K transmission, also features on LG's 2019 4K OLED TVs.

In the brand's NanoCell LCD TV range, 8K also appears on the 75in SM99 flagship. When it comes to HDR support, LG continues to offer Dolby Vision on its premium sets, ignoring the HDR10+ standard co-launched by its Samsung rival.