The future of TV just got shown off by LG Display in the form of a massive 88-inch OLED screen with an eye watering 8K resolution.
High-resolution cinema: 4K, 8K and beyond
This is the largest and highest resolution panel yet. That resolution of 8K means a screen with 7680 x 4320, aka 4320p, meaning a hefty 33,177,600 pixels. That resolution has been shown off on a large OLED screen before but that topped out at 77 inches making this new 88-inch model a decent jump up.
You might ask, why 8K? We barely have much 4K UHD content available now. But 8K is the next step with Japan leading the way. The plan is to air the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 8K via the broadcaster NHK who calls this 8K Super Hi-Vision. So expect this to be the start for 8K with TVs beginning to go on sale ready for the future of the high quality content.
So how much will this next level of TV cost? You can already buy 8K screens so that is a good way to judge what to expect. Currently Sharp sells its 85-inch LV-8501 for around £106,960. So it’s clearly not accessible for many people at this stage. Hopefully a whole new wave of screens revealed at CES 2018 will usher in a new price level for these super high resolution TVs.
The next question is where will 8K content come from? There is already a RED Weapon 8K camera which is starting to get used. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has been shot using that camera which means it could be used in the future as an example of the content quality. Since HDMI 2.1 already permits 8K that should mean the upgrade won’t be too difficult. Here’s hoping the future of 8K TVs becomes affordable soon.
