Examples of a lighting and display type luminaire use relatively transparent lighting devices. In such a luminaire, a light transmissive element of the lighting device is coupled to an output of a display device. For example, an edge lit lighting device includes an optical waveguide and one or more illumination light sources coupled to supply light to/through a surface along an edge or periphery of the waveguide. The waveguide allows emission of illumination light through a front surface. A display is coupled to a back surface of the waveguide. During display operations, the waveguide is sufficiently transparent to allow image display light to pass through the waveguide for emission through the front surface of the waveguide. Another example utilizes a light transmissive OLED (organic light emitting diode) panel as the relatively transparent lighting device.