First Look: The Futuristic C SEED HLR MicroLED TV Is a Massive Foldable Outdoor TV for the 1%
In just the past two years, we’ve flexible displays go from science-fiction to fact, and we’ve previously covered rollable OLED TVs and folding smartphones. Now, the outdoor TV market is getting its first foldable design, the futuristic C SEED HLR 201 TV. The outdoor TV appeared this week at the CEDIA Expo 2022, and it’s the latest product from Austrian company C SEED.
The C SEED HLR TV packs quite a few firsts into a single product. The massive 201-inch screen utilizes MicroLED technology, a display technology that offers cutting-edge clarity that’s so good it’s starting to replace green screens in some Hollywood productions. Most notably, the outdoor TV contains seven different display panels that unfold, Transformers style, from a retractable rectangular pillar. To combat the sun’s glare, the MicroLED screen reportedly achieves 4,000 nits of brightness.
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Even the best outdoor TVs available to consumers have brightness levels in the range of 700-1,000 nits, and so the C SEED HLR could represent a major leap forward in display technology.
If that’s not enough, C SEED also claims that its original model, the C SEED HLR 201, achieves a refresh rate of 3,840 Hz and contains a total of 2,963,520 MicroLEDs. If true, this TV would be an order of magnitude more impressive than anything else we’ve covered at SPY. (C SEED originally collaborated with Porsche Design on the company’s first model, the C SEED 201.)
We wrote about LG’s rollable OLED screens back in 2020 when they first debuted at CES, and the company has since debuted a consumer model, the LG Signature OLED R, priced at a cool $50,000. We expect the C SEED HLF TV would have a similarily astronomical price tag if it ever reached a wide release. Basically, this is a home entertainment splurge for the 1% of the 1%, not something you’ll be able to put in your own backyard.
Even so, we think foldable and rollable displays are going to become much more common in the next five years, as will MicroLED displays and super-thin TVs.
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For the C SEED HLR MicroLED TV, the Austrian-company had to ensure exceptional performance, color and image clarity even with direct sunlight hitting the screen. The towering 201-inch television rises from an underground stowage compartment to a height of 4.65 meters, at which point seven enormous MicroLED panels will unfold. The entire process takes about 40 seconds.
According to C SEED: “The unfolding 201 inch HLR TV is featuring the newest outdoor MicroLED technology — a revolutionary leap ahead, providing 4,000 nits brightness, a far wider color gamut and a higher contrast than conventional LED screens.”
As the first of its kind, the C SEED HLR processes image data as many as 100,000 times per second, allowing the screen to show 64 billion brilliant colors. The outdoor TV also has an impressive sound system that was designed to weather the elements. The audio unit comprises of six coaxial speakers for both side audio channels and one subwoofer.
And when you’re not entertaining guests and watching the widescreen TV outdoors, it will effortlessly disappear into the ground.
Be sure to check the brand’s website cseed.tv for updates on when you can splurge on this unique outdoor experience.
Updated on September 27: This article originally stated that the new C SEED HLR TV was a collaboration with Porsche Design; however, while C SEED and Porsche Design did collaborate on the original C SEED 201, that’s not the case with the C SEED HLR TV.
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