The now mainstream 4K provides dazzling clarity brought to you by way of 3840 x 2160 resolution. The up and coming 8K far surpasses that with 7680 x 4320 resolution, four times that of 4K. While you might speculate that 8K would be a long way off, it’s not as far off as you might think.
8K TV’s have been making an appearance at CES since 2013 when Sharp revealed an 85-inch 8K TV. The 2018 CES raised the bar with many major TV manufacturers, including LG, Samsung and Sony, displaying 8K TVs, with promises of at least two models being available for sale this year. Sharp was the first to start selling 8K TVs in Europe and Asia last August and has stated that they will begin both manufacturing and sales in the United States this year.
While you might ask what’s the point if there’s currently no 8K content available, manufacturers have taken this into consideration. Future 8K TV’s will upscale 4K to 8K resulting in markedly improved image quality. Samsung demonstrated this at CES 2018 with two 85-inch TVs placed side by side, one with 4K content in 4K, the other upscaling 4K content to 8K with visibly superior results. Samsung’s soon to be released Q9S TV will even upscale SD content to 8K.
For the moment, we can expect to see some 8K TVs on the market this year, but they will be pricey. However, the next couple of years will be another story as more manufacturers get into the game and consumers begin to demand the newest technology.
