Pop-up TV

The Sharp 52-inch LCD TV prototype is only a miniscule 29-mm thin and has been fit with an automatic pop-up mechanism that discreetly sinks the super thin television into a bed’s footboard. I’m not too crazy about televisions in the bedroom, especially a 52-inch TV that is only about 7 feet away, but I think the idea of hiding your television in a similar contraption that isn’t a bed is a great idea.

With TVs becoming less cumbersome in depth, the ability to hide them when not in use is so much easier. The pop-up mechanism is a fantastic idea when it is taken out of a bed’s footboard and incorporated into an entertainment center. Here are a few options that may be of interest to you:

Or if you are handy and you want to save some cash, you can purchase the lift mechanism and fit it into custom built cabinetry.

(Footboard pop-up via Engagdet)

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Posted by Matt on Oct 5, 2007 | Comments | Tweet This

10 comments posted

  1. Posted by Joyful Abode - 10/05/2007

    That is VERY neat… I am not a fan of TVs in the bedroom either, but it would be nice to have such a sleek hidden TV in the living room.

  2. Posted by Dan Gendreau - 10/05/2007

    I still think a DLP front projector is the best all around option. A projector can be hidden away on top of a shelf in your living room and you can use any white wall as your screen.

    Business class projectors are reasonably priced, produce a larger screen, and are much cheaper than plasma or LCD TVs.

  3. Posted by Kris - 10/05/2007

    We don’t have a TV in the bedroom and I actually bought a cabinet to cover the flat screen we have on the wall in the living room. It hides the TV but still looks kind of goofy, at least to me. I’m going to show my husband the lift mechanism. We have a nice cabinet that would work well for this and he’s handy so could definitely install it. Thanks for this great idea!

  4. Posted by Reg Tait - 10/05/2007

    Very good for us Brits who want to evading paying our Television License. We can press the ‘hide’ button when the inpectors come banging on the door.

  5. Posted by Faculties - 10/05/2007

    What are the chances that people would not put a lot of junk on the top that would have to be removed every time you wanted to watch TV? How many flat surfaces in your house have nothing on them? I’d bet most of the enormous TV-hiding apparatus gets left open all the time anyway. And what’s the deal with hiding the TV? It seems like just an excuse to sell new stuff to me. People aren’t hyper about hiding their computers. Why the mania to hide something so big that’s used so often?

  6. Posted by chris - 10/05/2007

    So you buy a flat screen TV, and hide its sleek 5″ depth in a box that’s about as deep as a regular TV? Considering the only thing you can put on, or in, the box is said flat TV, this seems more like a unitasker to me.

  7. Posted by nk - 10/05/2007

    It looks like it’s backwards — if that were in a bed’s footboard, to watch the TV, the cabinet doors would be lodged against the bed and unable to be opened. Good thing they’re still prototyping :) although I think this is cool.

  8. Posted by nk - 10/05/2007

    OK, never mind — I just can’t read.

  9. Posted by Eric - 10/08/2007

    Chris: I disagree. The box stores not just your TV but also some components, just like any entertainment center. But it has the advantage that (a) you don’t have to look at your TV when it’s not in use and (b) dropping the TV down to floor level frees up wall space for some lovely art. It’s really the same as any TV armoire that hides your electronics, except it is not a towering monolith, which will make your room appear much more open.

    However, I agree with Faculties about the flat top being useless yet attracting clutter. They should have made the top sloped to head off the temptation.

    Disclaimer: I wouldn’t buy this myself; it’s too expensive for its purpose, and as a guy who lives alone, I don’t mind having my giant TV visible.

  10. Posted by Infinity Auto Insurance - 10/14/2007

    Hello, Very nice place you have here. You

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