If a fashion for some of the functionality of a modern TV appears and disappears without a trace, image clarity is constantly in the field of view of consumers.
High-resolution devices blew up the market, which disgusted the old receivers with a low-quality picture, and now they were replaced by equipment with a sharpness of 4K. This is four times more than Full HD TVs.
It’s not entirely true, however, it is clear why the focus is on resolution, because there are other image parameters that can have at least the same value as the number of pixels used. But sales figures speak for themselves.
8K Generation
Knowing this, you can be sure that a huge number of employees of research and development and research departments of all major television brands are engaged in the development of receivers with even more screen pixels than 3840x2160 in 4K.
What really came as a surprise was the start of sales of devices with a resolution of 8K, albeit targeted at the super-elite segment of the market.
8K TVs deliver incredible picture quality, as evidenced by products from manufacturers such as LG, Samsung and Sharp. And in each case, the picture is so good that it is almost impossible to describe. Mainly due to the fact that even on huge demonstration screens of 80 inches and more than 33 million dots, they simply do not allow you to see any traces of the visible pixel structure of the image.
This means, in essence, that the viewer is looking through a large window into a world that the retina perceives as real.
So why is it not certain that 8K is now? Firstly, to take advantage of such a high resolution, you need a really big screen. Today’s 4K is enough for any display up to 65 inches, maybe even 75 inches.
Secondly, video content in such a huge quality is almost impossible to get. Even four years after the advent of 4K, the need to provide sufficient bandwidth continues to cause headaches for telecoms due to the huge amount of data that is required to watch UHD video. It is easy to imagine what the video industry expects when it encounters a truly colossal amount of data associated with the use of 8K.
Ultra High Definition Olympiad
In Japan, NHK is working on 8K broadcasts for the 2020 Olympics. Already in August, 130 hours of ultra-high-resolution video will be shot at the Rio Olympics and broadcasts of opening and closing ceremonies will take place.
It is impossible to imagine such an experiment elsewhere in such a short time. Therefore, most people can watch only scaled 4K video or HD content. The calculations required for this will be truly a challenge even for the most powerful video processors.
CES 2016
Samsung and LG introduced 8K TVs at CES 2016, held in Las Vegas in early March. Sharp, however, has already started selling in Asia for $ 16,000.
Sharp 8K-LED-TV Aquos LC-80XU930X was presented at CES 2015. The device is manufactured using Quattron technology, which allows you to divide the pixels into 4 parts. Thanks to this, 8K resolution is achieved. At the moment, however, the device is not yet capable of broadcasting full-fledged 8K content, but only pictures with ultra-high definition images. In addition, increasing the resolution only works when the audience is very close to the screen.
Pseudo 8K
In terms of specification, 8K TVs have LED backlighting and the N-Black anti-glare panel. They work on Android, are equipped with Netflix and are compatible with HDR technology for transmitting video with an extended range of brightness, which allows you to increase contrast and transmit more shades of color and detail in dark areas.
Receiver sales are currently underway in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan with the prospect of expanding to all Asian countries in the near future. The price of the device is 16,000 US dollars.
Last September, the 85-inch Sharp 8K-TV LV-85001 appeared. The LCD display consists of 7680 x 4320 pixels, and the price of the device amounted to 133 thousand US dollars. This means that only the rich and famous, plus large enterprises, at least initially, will be able to acquire it.
The Super Hi Vision 8K LV-85001 TV uses Indium Oxide, Galium and Zinc Oxide (IGZO) technology, which allows for low energy consumption to emit over a wide wavelength range.
98-inch from LG
Along with an 18-inch collapsible display and paper-thin OLED devices, LG presented a 98-inch 8K TV with a resolution of 7,680 4,320 UH9800, which boasts Samsung's new Super MHL interface, first demonstrated by Samsung in its own prototype 8K-TV at CES 2015. In addition, Sharp also previously presented prototypes of ultra-high-definition displays at CES in 2012 and 2014.
Although the final specifications of the 98UH9800 are still unknown, its main features in addition to resolution and SuperMHL include:
- IPS LCD panel for a wider viewing angle.
- HDR that enhances the brightness and contrast of HDR content.
- Color Prime Plus for wider color gamut.
- WebOS 3.0, the latest version of the LG Smart TV platform, which provides easy navigation and quick access to streaming network broadcasts and media content.
WebOS 3.0 Features
In addition, it became possible to split the screen into two different channels, or into one channel and another source, for example, a Blue-ray disc player. You can also launch a music player with the TV turned off and control household appliances through the IoTV application for the Internet of things.
Magic Zoom enlarges any area of the screen without losing image quality, the “magic remote” allows you to control the set-top box, and using the “magic cellular” function, like Apple's AirPlay, you can stream applications from your smartphone to your TV.
Supermhl
A key element in creating a user-friendly user interface has been the integration of SuperMHL technology. It provides a single connection of an 8K signal source (for example, set-top boxes, disk players, media streamers) with a TV. Previous prototypes required as many as four HDMI connections to provide sufficient bandwidth to carry video and audio.
In addition, SuperMHL provides ultra-high-definition video speeds of 120 fps (HDMI 2.0 allows only 24 fps) at 48-bit color depth with wide coverage according to the BT.2020 specification, power up to 40 watts.
Speaking of audio, the standard promoted by NHK supports 22.2 audio channels. This is more than enough to support all existing surround formats, as well as those that will appear in the future. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether this potential will be realized at the consumer level.
The price of LG's 8K TVs is still unknown, but the company promises to start selling it by the end of 2016 and, most likely, by special order.
Perhaps LG is risking at 8K. But it should be borne in mind that doubts about the company's ability to support OLED technology were dispelled after the success of the latest generation of OLED TVs, also presented at CES 2016.
8K from Samsung
During the event, Samsung also introduced the world's first 98K UN98S9 8K TV with a size of 98 inches, equipped with 10-bit quantum dots and Ultra Black technology to achieve clear images and minimize glare. The device features a lack of framing, a curved design and support for the Internet of things IoT.
Quantum dots
A quantum dot is an artificial nanocrystal with semiconductor properties that are used to improve the brightness and color reproduction of static images and video on LCD screens. When photons from an external light source (blue LED) get into it, light is emitted whose wavelength and, accordingly, color, depend on the size of the crystal. Larger nanocrystals emit red, while smaller ones emit green light. In combination with the main blue, a full-color image is formed, the characteristics of which exceed the capabilities of modern displays.
Downsampling master copies
Although 8K resolution still has a long way to go to mainstream, its use in film restoration and master-copying in movie studios specializing in preserving classic 8K digital films for recording on Blu-ray discs is already growing. , and other super high definition copies.
Despite the fact that the main high-definition formats currently in use are 1080p and 4K, recording with a master copy of 8K resolution provides better quality. In addition, this means that there is no need to constantly improve the clarity of the master copy every time a new image format appears.
Too early?
It is believed that 8K-TVs will only harm the nascent 4K-TV market. In the end, nothing is stopping people from buying new technology than the realization that the next generation of television sets is just around the corner.
In fairness, it should be noted that the sheer cost of the first commercially available ultra-high definition televisions means that buyers will be forced to purchase 4K. And selling 8K devices seems like an even crazier venture, as manufacturers cut the branch they sit on.