As TechRadar’s TV hardware writer, I get to see lots of cool tech, whether it’s innovative OLEDs like the Samsung S95D, colossal 100-inch TVs or Dolby Atmos cinema installations. But the other day, I may have seen one of the most brain-bending bits of tech in my time here at TechRadar.
It was the C SEED 137-inch M1, a self-folding micro-LED TV. That’s right, self-folding. It’s the kind of thing you’ve only ever seen in sci-fi movies and TV shows like Blade Runner, Minority Report, and Star Trek, but I got to see this futuristic TV in the flesh at YDF Interior showroom, which played host to the C SEED N1.
With the simple touch of a button on its remote, the M1 can fold itself into a metal, silver sculpture that wouldn’t look out of place in a modern art gallery. It’s a seriously impressive TV from a design standpoint, but how much does one of these set you back?
Well, the 137-inch model I saw costs a cool $283,000 / £285,000, so it’s at the premium end of the AV price spectrum. This is very much a luxury TV, with the folding design as its most eye-catching feature, but how does it fare in other areas?
Micro-LED: an aspirational TV tech
The C SEED N1 uses micro-LED for its display panel. It’s a tech we don’t test at TechRadar since it’s prohibitively expensive – for example, LG’s 118-inch micro-LED display costs $237,000.
Most of the best TVs I test use OLED, mini-LED, QLED, or standard LED panels. So, just what is micro-LED?
Micro-LED is what it says on the tin: a new type of display that uses even more microscopic LEDs than those used in mini-LED TVs. What this means for the picture, according to C SEED, is higher brightness, bolder colors and the deepest blacks imaginable thanks to micro-LED’s self-emissive nature.
The C SEED N1 is comprised of five micro-LED panels that fit and fold seamlessly together. C SEED said it had been working hard to eliminate obvious lines between the connecting panels using its Adaptive Gab Calibration measures, and I have to say, it worked!
It was undeniable how good the N1’s picture looked, as there was fine detail, excellent brightness and bold colors. It didn’t quite have the black levels of an OLED TV, but the N1’s black levels were nonetheless impressive and its contrast was fantastic.
Under the hood
The C SEED N1 Indoor has a special, matte screen coating to eliminate glare that’s similar to what’s featured in one of the best OLED TVs, the Samsung S95D. In-person, this was highly effective. Reflections from the bright overhead lights of the showroom weren’t visible at all with brighter images on screen and were only a faint haze when it was off or there were large areas of black.
What else can the N1 do? C SEED claims that it can hit 1,000 nits sustained full-screen brightness and 4,000 nits peak brightness. For a TV this size that’s bright, beating even smaller, mini-LED screens such as the TCL QM851G, which had a full-screen brightness of 801 nits and peak brightness of 3,583 nits when we tested it. The N1 Indoor also supports the HDR10+ high dynamic range format, but not Dolby Vision.
For sound, the N1 Indoor has an onboard 2.1-channel speaker array but also has a ‘built-in AV receiver’ that can drive up to 9.2 channels of connected speakers. For sources, the N1 Indoor has HDMI 2.0 but curiously no HDMI 2.1 ports. Gaming wasn’t discussed with the N1 Indoor, so it looks like it won’t compete with the best gaming TVs.
A sight to behold
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Really, though it’s the C SEED N1’s impressive design that stands out. The fact that a TV this size can open and close itself with the push of a button within 90 seconds is extraordinary. But it doesn’t stop there.
When opened, the N1 can swivel 180 degrees and sit comfortably at any angle. For the luxury homeowner with a balcony or outdoor area on the other side of the living room, imagine being able to swivel the TV around using only the remote. Again, in person, it all looked very smooth.
Even when closed, the C SEED N1 was a sight to behold. There are Classic versions of the N1 Indoor that can have different finishes, including Mahogany and Black, and even Bespoke where the skin is customized.
Final thoughts
Okay, so this isn’t a TV that most people will be able to afford, but sometimes it’s exciting to see a product that combines the very best of tech and design. The C SEED N1 Indoor is truly remarkable and ingenious, and although it’s not something I’ll ever own, it was nice to look at it and pretend I was in some far-off future for an hour.