To See or Not to See? The Evolution of Whether and How to Hide Television Screens Comes Full Circle

When televisions began taking over our living rooms after World War II, how they looked was as important as the images they broadcast. Manufacturers hid their bulging picture tubes behind the sliding or hinged doors of beautifully crafted cabinets, perhaps with a radio and turntable also inside. But even in the 1950s, television pioneer and RCA head David Sarnoff predicted that one day we’d all have flat TVs hanging on our walls like paintings.