Concerning 8K equipment manufacturers, it is difficult to say that which one will win a certain amount of consumers because ultimately they will be involved in technological progress if they equip themselves with equipment that meets the new standard.
This year’s IFA in Berlin is outstanding proof of the conspicuous landfill of 8K devices. The German capital has become an arena in which two producers are the most important.
Samsung presented its 8K resolution Q900R TV with Artificial Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence) upscaling at IFA. HDR10+ is the standard for this manufacturer’s high-end TV. The latest range of the best-equipped household appliances will include 65″, 75″, 82″ and 85″ flat screen TVs. Of course, the manufacturer does not dispense with the familiar functions of Ambient Mode or the automatic recognition of the connected peripheral devices. It is important that these models will soon appear in the shops, and their price is good. It will most likely be an unaffordable one, the first customers looking for an 8K TV will pay a considerable “tax on novelties”.
8K – what about the LG?
At the same time, the LG surprised all. At the beginning of IFA, LG Display, a subsidiary, had an 8K and 88-inch OLED TV. The above display has already been introduced, although it is the first device equipped with it. Of course, the LG show is a relaxation of muscles and no clear statement about an offensive in the home entertainment market. Some people think that Samsung and LG want to tempt service providers and TV providers as well as broadcasters to improve their infrastructure and thus achieve a higher standard. The longer the development of 8K by content providers continues, the longer TV manufacturers wait for the actual harvest – at this point it is basically pointless to equip themselves with such devices.
Interestingly, the LG assumes that the company will be able to sell up to 5 million TV sets with OLED 8K panels by 2022. These are very courageous predictions – if you take them for granted, you can assume that just around the corner there is a revolution that is closely linked to the transition to a higher standard.
8K will not share the fate of 3D on TV. Finally, we will all move to a higher standard
There are voices according to which 8K can share the fate of 3D, which has been so strongly promoted by the largest TV manufacturers in the past. However, the difference between 8K and 3D is that the first standard is an evolution of the previous standard, which is finally accepted by the market (although Full HD is still the most widely used standard), while 3D is, in fact, a variation of the way content is consumed. Consumers simply saw no point in watching films or series in this way, and it was not easy for content providers or authors to implement this standard.
As content providers begin to move to a higher standard, consumers will see the point of buying a new TV that is already equipped with the ability to deliver 8K video to the user. The official opening Samsung and the LG – the muscles are probably the best proof that this revolution will take place – whether consumers are confident or not.
The difference between consumers and producers is that the latter generates the “needs” of the market. The latter, on the other hand, are eagerly adopted by the former. There is a lot of talk about the fact that already 4K is “enough” in terms of image quality and a jump to the next level is no longer necessary; everything above 4K is already a production fader. However, it should not be forgotten that the same was said in games and movies, and there are still differences between content played at a higher and a lower frequency. 8K is above all a higher resolution and therefore better attention to detail (naturally limited by the distance to the screen). The higher standard also means better surround sound, more information about the file, etc. Let us not forget that – these are very important questions.
But the 8K standard is not only a more or less important advantage. They are also challenges – the need to modernize the infrastructure of providers (not only the content but also, for example, the Internet). Video transmission in 8K standard requires very fast transmission channels. So for the revolution not only those who produce images for us but also intermediaries between television/creators on the Internet and us (means ISP) must prepare. This revolution will happen anyway, but we will have to wait a while for it to happen. Right now, however, we are treating 8K as an absolute novelty – if we buy an 8K TV, we are now condemned to spend huge sums of money and….. may not be able to realize its potential.