I saw LG’s ultra-thin OLED TV at CES 2026, and it made even last year’s models feel outdated

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I love my LG C5 OLED. It was heavily discounted last holiday season, delivers that inky-black contrast and surprisingly bright imagery, and has just enough performance features to keep things competitive when I occasionally pick up my Xbox controller.

But then I saw LG’s Wallpaper TV at CES 2026, and my life hasn’t been the same. Alright, that’s a bit of an exaggeration — everything kind of is when you’re in Vegas, but just the thinness alone, 9mm to be exact, is enough to hook any passerby in and keep them there.

Also: CES 2026 live blog: Latest news on TVs, AI, phones, more

The Wallpaper TV is effectively a comeback story for the Korean electronics maker, with the original debuting back in 2017. Since then, manufacturers, including LG, have focused more on the performance and visual fidelity of TVs and less so on thinness and flush appearances.

But there’s more to the Wallpaper TV this year than its design. For one, LG says the TV can achieve nearly four times the brightness levels of conventional OLED sets, thanks to a new Brightness Booster Ultra feature that’s expected to be on all of its flagship models in 2026.

The Wallpaper TV is also treated with a low-reflectance coating that greatly reduces glare and reflections. While the LG booth that I saw the TV in wasn’t necessarily the brightest environment, I did catch a few spotlights that were effectively diffused when a darker scene appeared on screen. I’m all for normalizing this.

Also: This wireless HDMI adapter from Belkin lets you link devices from across the room

I also don’t mind that the Wallpaper TV comes with a Zero Connect Box to manage all the input/output. That makes the TV easier to manage when mounted onto a wall, and LG says you’ll still be able to broadcast lossless 4K video and audio at up to 10 meters away. Having tested several Zero Connect Box models at our Louisville lab over the past two years, we can attest to the technology.

Powering the system is a new A11 AI Processor Gen 3. It’s a mouthful, but the key difference with this year’s chipset is the improved AI computing — think greater restoration of natural details and improved sharpening, more responsive Voice ID detection, and support for both Gemini and Copilot assistance. You can even select a preference for which AI model you’d prefer to use for chatting.

As far as gaming goes, the Wallpaper TV has a commendable 165Hz refresh rate at 4K resolution, a 0.1ms response time, and compatibility with both NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium. That feels par for the course with most flagship LG TVs nowadays, but it’s great to see one that’s more design-forward share those specs.

LG hasn’t shared any information regarding the price and availability of the Wallpaper TV, but don’t be surprised if it costs tens of thousands of dollars. That’s how much the company charged previously for its wireless TV sets, and I expect the design of this one to carry just as much weight.