Philips has beaten South Korean tech giant Samsung in rolling out the world's first transparent TV for commercial sale. TP Vision, which is a joint venture between Philips and TP Technology, unboxed on Thursday the PDL8908 DesignLine television sets which feature a unibody glass chassis from the top to the floor.

With the design, there is no need for a separate stand. It also features a halo which mirrors the onscreen colours and created via the onboard Amblight function.

As early as 2012, Chinese manufacturer Haier had on its display a transparent TV in the CES that year.

However, Philips is apparently faster when it comes to commercial production and is ready to sell the units in Europe by the second quarter of 2013 in 46-inch and 55-inch screen sizes.

"The new TV carries the Philips DesignLine hallmark of lightness and transparency, a TV without a neck, without a stand and without a visible frame, one seamless sheet of glass leaning against a wall," Philip described the gadget in a statement.

The set features 1080 p HD. Passive 3D, Wi-Fi connectivity and a 1400Hz Perfect Motion refresh rate. It supports the Philips MyRemote SimployShare technology, Smart TV online apps, Catch-Up TV and USB recording.

Samsung gave a peek of its transparent TV, which has a 3D functionality, at the CES 2013.

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