Every year, the world of television technology seems to leap forward—sometimes in ways that dazzle, sometimes in ways that leave consumers scratching their heads. In 2026, the TV market is more crowded and competitive than ever, with big names like LG, Samsung, Hisense, and TCL vying for the top spot. But while many of these brands are locked in a race to deliver sharper images and bigger screens, a new player is shaking up the industry with a very different vision. According to Consumer Reports, nearly 200 TVs are tested annually, and their ratings cover more than 400 models currently available in stores and online. Their brand scores are based on a blend of rigorous lab tests, extensive survey data, and pricing information—a process designed to help buyers sort through the dizzying array of choices. But what if the real innovation isn’t just about picture quality or price?
Enter Displace, a US-based TV manufacturer that’s turning heads with its unconventional approach. As TechRadar reported on March 20, 2026, Displace’s founder and CEO, Balaji Krishnan, has launched a line of wireless OLED TVs that can fix themselves to the wall and run entirely on batteries. The company’s latest release, the Pro TV 2, doesn’t just push the boundaries of hardware—it aims to redefine what a TV can do for its owner.
In a candid interview with TechRadar, Balaji laid out his philosophy: “If you want to move the needle in this TV market, you have to go beyond a display product.” He pointed out that while the television is the biggest screen in most homes, it’s often the least intelligent. “Ironically, it’s the dumbest screen we all have at home. My watch screen is a smarter product.”
It’s a stinging critique, but one that resonates with many consumers. Despite the proliferation of so-called smart TVs, Balaji argues that the software experience on most sets is underwhelming. “The smart TVs these companies sell don’t work well in terms of software. The user experience sucks.” As a result, many people prefer to use external streaming devices like Roku Stick, Apple TV, or Fire Stick, which often provide a smoother, more intuitive experience than the TV’s built-in platform.
This is where Displace OS comes in. Unlike the proprietary systems used by giants like LG (webOS) and Samsung (Tizen), Displace OS is browser-based and designed to serve as the central hub for all of a user’s daily activities. “We built a browser-based operating system because that is where you connect a lot of your day-to-day activities, be it your email, your Amazon commerce, anything to do with the internet,” Balaji explained. He envisions a future where the TV is not just for watching shows, but for consolidating “all your activities”—a concept that feels straight out of science fiction, with nods to films like Blade Runner and Minority Report.
But what about artificial intelligence? The buzzword has become ubiquitous in the TV industry, with brands touting “AI” features for everything from picture optimization to content recommendations. LG’s OLED sets are packed with tools like AI Picture Wizard and AI Search, while Samsung has rebranded its lineup as “Vision AI TVs.” Yet, Balaji is skeptical. “You walk down the aisle of these TVs at CES—Hisense, TCL, everyone was saying AI TV. All these AI technologies that they call AI, to your point, it is not AI. They just do better contrast, better picture quality, depending upon the ambient lighting and all that stuff, but that's not AI per se, it's more like, you know, optimization of your picture quality.”
So what sets Displace’s Pro TV 2 apart? The answer lies in its “native AI” capabilities, which go far beyond tweaking brightness or color balance. Some of the headline features include “pause-to-shop,” which detects products on screen when content is paused and finds purchasing options tailored to the user’s preferences. There’s gesture control, live conversational search that lets users ask for specific scenes, and even a personalized news agent that can generate video news channels based on a selected text source—like TechRadar, for example. It’s an ambitious suite of tools, and while some might find it a bit dystopian, it’s undeniably forward-thinking.
With all these personalized features, privacy becomes a pressing concern. Many consumers are wary of how much data their smart devices are collecting—and where that data ends up. Displace is keenly aware of this, advertising the Pro TV 2 as a “privacy-first AI TV.” As Balaji put it, “It should not be sending any of your personal information to the cloud, so that is why we built NPUs inside the TV. But it has to access the internet to bring internet data that is personalized for you based on your personal information.” He went on to clarify: “I wouldn't feel comfortable connecting my Amazon account with a third-party cloud provider where they can actually get all my data and then use it for other purposes.”
The issue of privacy is closely tied to another hot topic: advertising and post-purchase monetization. Most major brands have started to include ads in their smart TV platforms, sometimes even in screensaver mode. Roku and LG, for example, have implemented ads that appear when the TV is idle. Balaji sees this as a sign of desperation. “I see this to be a more desperate measure for the TV companies to monetize. They have been trying to monetize in various different ways, they were not succeeding, and the only way that they could monetize now is through ads and selling data.”
He cited the example of Telly, a company that sells a 55-inch LCD TV for just $200—but with a catch: a constant banner of ads at the bottom of the screen, and significant data sharing. “Would you be willing to compromise your privacy for $200?” Balaji asked. “I would not do it, but apparently they are getting into that direction.” He believes that the low-margin nature of hardware sales is driving companies to seek revenue through data collection and advertising, a trend he finds troubling for the ecosystem as a whole. “I think all these things are happening because they think hardware is a low-margin business, so they have to make money beyond hardware, and the only easy path that they can see is to collect data and sell data, which I think is not good for this ecosystem.”
As the TV landscape evolves, so too do the ways companies try to stand out. Consumer Reports continues its rigorous testing regime, providing buyers with data-driven insights into quality and value. But the real question may be whether the next wave of innovation will come from established giants or bold newcomers like Displace, who are reimagining what a TV can be—from a mere display to a true digital hub, with privacy and user experience at its core. For those shopping for a new TV in 2026, the choices are more exciting—and more complex—than ever.
While the battle for the best TV rages on, it’s clear that the future of television is about much more than pixels and price tags. The screen in your living room might soon be the smartest, most connected device in your home—if you’re ready to trust it with your data, that is.