Homeowners Figure Out
How to Hide the TV

For Donald Rollins, getting a new plasma TV was contingent on his wife, Kay, figuring out how to hide it. And just when it seemed like Mr. Rollins was never going to get his new TV, his wife stumbled upon the perfect answer: a disguise.

Mr. Rollins's new toy now hangs in the family room of their Santa Ana Heights, Calif., home, covered by a gold frame and a limited-edition print of a snow leopard. People walk into the living room and ask, "What do you do for TV?" says Mrs. Rollins. That's when she hits the power button, and the canvas rolls up on cue. " 'Oh, there it is!' "

Plasma-screen TV's are one of the fastest-growing electronics products in the country, with sales expected to double this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. But just as more people start spending $3,000 to $10,000 to proudly hang their new flat-screen, another group of buyers is spending about the same amount to make sure no one sees it -- helped by a small group of new companies that are making the screen-covering contraptions.

Karen Sturm, for example, a Huntington Beach, Calif., homemaker, was dead set against a huge TV overwhelming her living room -- so she bought a gizmo to roll down a scene of Lake Como, Italy, over the set. Now, she says she "loves it and guests think it's the coolest thing."

Most of the products work the same basic way, using a motorized rolling device housed in the top of the picture frame. When the TV's power goes on, the device rolls the canvas into the top of the frame. Solar Shading Systems, of Newport Beach, Calif., offers signed, limited-edition prints as cover-ups, while Vutec, of Pompano Beach, Fla., and BEI Automation in Newport News, Va., have less-pricey options. The idea dates back at least to the old television show, "The Munsters," says Marty Ackerman, who oversees new products for BEI: "Grandpa Munster had something similar in his lab."

Interior decorators who now routinely incorporate plasma screens into new homes are a main target for the companies' marketing. Designers say that now some homeowners are also showing interest, especially since plasma TV prices have come down so much and they're no longer the status symbol they were just a few years ago.

That doesn't include Juliana Catlin of Jacksonville, Fla. The interior designer says she has installed as many as eight flat screens in new homes she has designed, often trying to hide them -- but never with roll-up canvas covers. "A fine piece of art should have a permanent home and not be mucked with," she says, "You just wouldn't do that" to real art.

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