Outside of 3D, curved TVs are probably one of the industry’s most misguided advice. They resulted in a distorted image, harsh reflections, and a generally unpleasant viewing experience for no avail unless you sat at a very specific point in front of them. seriously, they were terrible, It seemed that curved TVs happened because companies could make them, rather than because they needed.

It took me a while to realize it, but LG’s new 42-inch OLED Flex, which was announced at IFA this week and is expected to hit the market this fall, effectively marks the return of curved TVs. It may have a monitor-style stand featuring some gamer-style RGB lighting, and LG may have confused things a bit by placing the monitor-like OLED Flex on top of the desk in its demo area. But make no mistake, this is a TV-ass TV. It has four HDMI 2.1 inputs, runs webOS, and has a built-in TV tuner. This is a TV.

Well, that’s a TV with a very interesting trick – it transforms. At the press of a button a series of motors are triggered inside the device, transforming it from a traditional flat TV to a curved TV. (You can also control the tilting process with the navigation buttons on the bottom of the display.) Or a curved TV that looks like a curved monitor at any rate. This way it is able to avoid the curved TV curse; It is not always curved. It’s an interesting approach that means you shouldn’t have to deal with the problems created by the curve when you’re not going to experience its benefits.

To show you exactly when you want a curved TV, LG had the racing game forza horizon 5 was attached to the display, and was encouraging people to sit about three to four feet away from it to make the most of the sight-covering benefits of the curved screen. At its maximum, the screen can tilt up to the impressively curved 900R, but this can be adjusted on the percentage slider in 5 percent increments for a total of 20 different curvatures. It was hard to tell amid the noise of the IFA show floor, but the whistling sound was certainly noticeable, and it goes without saying that you probably wouldn’t want to hear it mid-game.

Outside of its curving mechanism and chunky stand, the LG OLED Flex is effectively identical to LG’s current 42-inch C2 TV. It has the same LG Display OLED Evo panel, and supports both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos (it can create virtualized 7.1.2 surround sound). It has 4K resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio and maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. Obviously this means that in practice it looks just as good as LG’s popular OLED range.

The LG OLED Flex is unlikely to be cheap. LG spokespeople weren’t ready to confirm how much the TVs will cost when they go on sale later this year, but given that the whole $1,399 LG C2 is originally included, plus the automatic There is a series of very complex mechanisms to make the bending process work. Well, I’m guessing we’re looking at a device costing at least $2,000. Is it worth the 42-inch display?

One argument could be that OLED Flex is effectively two products in one. It’s one part traditional flat OLED TV, and one part curved gaming monitor. But I’m less sure about how a hybrid screen like this would fit into most people’s homes. Is LG hoping customers install it on their desks like a curved monitor, ready to turn into a TV for watching movies? Or plan to set it up on a cabinet like a regular TV, but with the option to pull up your chair right up front and put it into curved mode for some immersive gaming action? I’m not quite sure.

between this and Corsair’s own take on the bendable form-factor – which still has an LG Display OLED panel, but a wider 21:9 aspect ratio and a transformation process that asks you to fold it by hand – looks like we’re entering a new era of curved displays Huh. Curved TVs never really worked, but curved monitors have proven to be quite popular since then. It looks like LG’s OLED Flex is trying to bridge that gap.

Photos by John Porter/The Verge