The CSEED M1 Is a $400,000 Folding MicroLED TV

For Netflix binge-watchers who may be concerned that a giant TV would overwhelm their living room’s vibe, fear not: The 165-inch C SEED M1 is a massive folding display that completely disappears into the floor when not in use. Unfortunately, installation looks like a giant pain—and that’s assuming you survive the sticker shock.

Unlike companies like LG, which have used flexible OLED screen technology to deliver giant TVs that can discreetly disappear into an unassuming box when not in use, C SEED instead uses microLEDs. MicroLEDs, which many consider to be the future of screen technology, combine the best features of the current leading screen technologies with self-illuminated RGB pixels that don’t require a backlight, and without the degrading organic compounds that are used to manufacture OLED displays. The new screen tech is also more energy efficient, allows for slimmer screens, and can produce whites and blacks that rival the best TVs currently on the market.

The only downside is that microLED displays can’t fold like OLEDs can—at least yet. So to make a 165-inch TV disappear into the floor, C SEED has instead designed the M1 to first separate into five separate panels that fold into each other like a giant fan. That’s the other advantage of microLED screen technology: It allows much larger TVs to be assembled from smaller panels while perfectly hiding all the seams, so the final result looks like one giant uniform display.

We’ve all seen “jumbotron” screens criss-crossed with black lines where smaller panels didn’t quite align perfectly, but C SEED promises that’s not an issue with the M1 thanks to a feature called Adaptive Gap Calibration, which senses when panels have slight offsets and automatically adjusts the brightness of edge pixels to hide any shadows that create those unsightly seam lines.

The C SEED M1, available in gold, black, or titanium finishes, can be yours for $400,000, but that doesn’t include the renovations needed to make a room ready for its installation. If you want the full effect of a giant TV screen that disappears into your floor, you’re going to have to get a contractor to ensure that it’s even possible for a room—and then there’s the room below it to consider if you live in a multi-floor home. If you live in an apartment or a condo in a tower, you’ll have to instead settle for other installation options, which include a giant box sitting on the floor for the M1 to collapse into, or matching decorative furniture for it to hide inside.

That sounds like a lot of work just to disguise a TV, but watching the C SEED M1 slowly rise up out of the floor and then unfold like the solar panels of a satellite that’s just reached orbit is mesmerizing. It almost makes having to wait a couple of minutes before you can actually watch TV seem not as inconvenient as it really is. Getting there is half the fun with the M1.