Nobody is making 8K content, though.
By Dileep Thekkethil
When it comes to innovation in display technology, Asian countries excel their western counterparts. Now, Japanese electronics giant Sharp is all set to underscore this statement by making available the world’s first 8K television this October for a whopping price of close to $133,000.
Although it’s not affordable for most, it’s likely that in a few years, like what we witnessed with the 4K TV, the price of 8K TV will also come down. According to sources, the Sharp 8K TV will be commercially available for 16 million Yen.
Here is the difference between HD, 4K and 8K, for those who are wondering why it makes such big headlines.
4K TVs have a pixel ratio of 3840 x 2160 which we now call Ultra HD television, or 4096 x 2160 pixels for digital cinema. 4K display has four times more pixel resolution than the standard Full HD display.
8K TVs have a resolution of 7680 x 4320 pixels which makes it 16 times denser than Full HD, and four times of 4K Ultra HD.
Sharp official statement confirmed that the company’s first 8K Ultra HD TV will go on sale on October 30 and will feature an 85-inch display screen.
Ironically, no broadcaster or movie production company has yet introduced 8K standard, which means even though you purchase an 8K TV, it isn’t going to give the optimum display. Japanese broadcasters had announced that it is testing 8K long distance broadcast, but they are not planning to launch it anytime soon. Probably, they are aiming to deploy it during 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
It is interesting to note that Sharp is introducing 8K at a time when most firms are only beginning to talk about 4K. As of now Netflix and Amazon have a very limited 4K content whereas in the UK they have just one Ultra-HD channel that occasionally display soccer matches.
Earlier this month, Samsung launched its first ever ultra-HD Blu Ray player and also announced that its SUHD TVs will start to support high-dynamic-range imaging (HDR) content. Its arch rival LG had unveiled HDR capable 4K TV after sensing that 4K will be the standard for the future.