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This Wireless TV Relies on Swappable Batteries for Power

A TV from the startup Displace can run for about a month, thanks to four rechargeable batteries inside. It also ditches the remote for gesture-tracking.

 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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Wires can be annoying, but one startup has eliminated them entirely from its new TV, which runs on battery power.

At CES, a company called Displace is showing off its “truly wireless TV,” which is now up for pre-order in limited quantities. The so-called Displace TV drops the conventional electrical cord for four rechargeable batteries. 

On the plus side, the 55-inch OLED TV clears away unsightly wiring. However, it can only run for about a month on the four batteries, depending on how much you watch it. To keep the TV functioning, the owner will need to recharge the batteries periodically. That may sound like a hassle, but the batteries can be swapped out and recharged individually while the TV is still on.   

The battery to the TV

Displace designed the 20-pound TV to be easy to transport and mount. It comes with a “proprietary active-loop vacuum technology,” which promises to suction itself to any surface. 

In addition, Displace eliminated ports entirely from the TV. To receive content, it streams programs from a “base unit,” which essentially acts as a mini computer outfitted with an AMD CPU and an Nvidia GPU. The same base unit can connect to Wi-Fi, but has to be plugged into an electrical outlet the old-fashioned way. The TV itself has a 4K resolution and supports Wi-Fi 6E.

Displace TV

On top of all this, Displace is ditching remotes for the TV. Instead, the product relies on gesture, voice, and touch controls to access and flip through content. 

The product isn't cheap. It starts at $2,999 for one Displace TV and a single base control unit, but can run as high as $8,999 for four Displace TVs and a base control unit. The company is taking orders on its website now, with shipments slated to begin in December 2023.

It'll have competition from at least one well-known TV maker. Also at CES, LG unveiled the 97-inch OLED M3, which uses a Zero Connect box kept physically separate from the TV to send video up to 4K 120Hz wirelessly to the screen.

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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