This Jaw-Dropping, Foldable 137-Incher Is the Best TV You Can't Afford
It's $200,000, and only a handful have been produced around the world.
- Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
The C Seed N1, unfolded.
In my two decades as CNET's TV reviewer, I have seen a lot of TVs -- but nothing like this. C Seed makes incredibly expensive custom-built televisions for the ultra-wealthy, and the N1 is its latest offering. The 137-inch version I saw at CES 2024 is one of two N1 models in existence.
The most incredible thing about the N1 is the way it folds into a compact rectangular chunk when not in use. Press a button and the screen divides into parts that slowly butterfly together, then descend into the rectangle, hiding the screen entirely -- a process that takes about 2 and a half minutes. The folded N1 looks more like a solid metal bench than a TV.
The N1, that silver rectangle in front of the window, looks nothing like a TV when it's folded up.
Unfolded, the N1 has a stunning, bright, seamless picture, and the screen can rotate 180 degrees. The divisions between the different sections of the screen were invisible to my eye. That's because the company uses a proprietary system it calls Adaptive Gap Calibration. It automatically measures the distance between the edges, uses sensors to detect offsets and calibrates the brightness of adjacent LEDs. I couldn't detect any seams in the image.
The TV uses micro-LED technology, the same display tech found on Samsung's The Wall -- another massive, super-expensive TV that happens to be C Seed's major competitor. C Seed says the gigantic 4K resolution screen can achieve 4,000 nits peak brightness, with HDR and wide color gamut. In my brief viewing time with C Seed's demo material, the picture quality looked great. As with The Wall, I could discern individual pixels when I was very close to the screen, but from any normal seating distance, the image looked smooth and sharp.
C Seed makes other huge folding TVs. The company rep told me C Seed has sold around 200 units in the 10 years it has been in business, each one custom-built. Clients typically wait six months between ordering and delivery. The 137-inch indoor N1 costs $200,000, a price that includes installation and setup, and the outdoor version is $240,000. If you're so inclined, you can order a 165-inch ($300,000) or a 103-inch ($110,000) version instead.
Normally, this is the part when I say I look forward to reviewing a TV in CNET's lab -- but in this case, that's not gonna happen.