$100k 8K as Samsung lands its 98-incher

8K TV resolution is all about larger screen sizes, so we’ve been unusually unexcited over Samsung’s release of 55-inch, even 65-inch 8K TVs, given you’d need to be sitting with your nose on the screen to get much of the benefit of the increased resolution over 4K.

But now really monster-sized TVs are arriving, in sizes that can not only leverage 8K’s resolution but rival projection systems with resolution and brightness beyond anything the canvas screen can yet deliver.

Samsung officially launched its 98-inch QLED 8K TV on June 7 in Australia. The Series 9 Q900R has hitherto been available in 65-inch, 75-inch and 82-inch models at $9999, $12,999 and $17,499. We expected the 98-inch (actually 97.5 inches of screen on the diagonal) to be pricey, and it is —$99,999! The huge jump indicates various problems as you increase screen size beyond 80 inches, from the extra bulk required for the rigidity of the TV panel itself, to the subsequent transport and delivery issues, and also the exponential difficulty in fabricating a glitchfree slab of QLED LCD at this size.

Mind you, the US price is US$99,999, which makes the Australian pricing seem quite the bargain, although the US site is currently offering a 30% discount, bringing the markets back in line.

We like that Samsung is very honest about 8K material, noting online that “Although there is very limited native 8K resolution content currently available, QLED 8K’s AI Upscaling allows your favourite content to be upscaled to help you see depth and detail like never before.” An oft-repeated asterisked comment goes even further: “Native 8K content availability is very limited. Picture quality of upscaled content will vary depending on the quality and resolution of source content.”

This correctly states the position at this early juncture for 8K. With no source players and almost no streaming 8K either (and a high speed connection required if you even try), these TVs are currently for cashed-up early adopters only.

More 8K on the way

Meanwhile LG’s 88-inch OLED 8K TV has been made available on pre-order in South Korea, and is promised for Australia later this year. LG had this 88-inch OLED 8Ker at IFA 2018 in Berlin, but back then it was saying that it was still “considering the market” and wouldn’t necessarily be releasing such an extravagant thing soon, if ever.

That changed at CES when a promise was made to release the TV during 2019, and now LG has done so, though so far only in its native Korean market. It began taking pre-orders for the LG 88Z9 88-inch OLED from June 5 in South Korea, but is promising availability in “key markets of North America, Europe and Australia” in the third quarter of the year. The price of this one: 40 million KRW, which is something just below $50,000.

We saw TCL’s 8K QLED TVs at IFA 2018 in Berlin also (introduced above by TCL’s Senior Designer Tiago Abreu, and pictured on TCL’s IFA stand, top), and on the same day as Samsung’s launch, trade title Appliance Retailer revealed that TCL’s 8K 75-inch X10 QLED is promised for an Australian release in September. The X10 won the 8K TV Gold Award of the Year at CES in January, and includes an Onkyo soundbar built in — although local models can vary from both US and European models.

Hisense is also promising 8K here this year, though as with TCL, prices in Australia are yet to be confirmed. Watch this space...