DOES THE WORLD REALLY NEED 8K TV?
It may be the hottest topic in TV tech, but 8K (the latest ultra-ultra high definition TV format) has yet to make an impression on real world consumers.
According to market research outfit IHS Markit, a paltry 18,600 8K TV were sold globally last year, which in the grand scheme things is microscopically small.
Currently only Samsung and Sony have launched 8K TV models, with the Q900R and ZG9 respectively. But rivals are busy prepping panels. LG will shortly sell its first 8K OLED, the 88-inch Z9, and I’m betting Panasonic isn’t going to let the Tokyo Olympics, a test bed for 8K broadcast technologies, come and go without offering its own take.
Upcoming Chinese brands like Hisense and TCL are also entering the fray. Indeed, at the recent IFA GPC, a Global press Conference held to tub-thump the upcoming Berlin technology mega-expo, Hisense was demonstrating a 75inch U9 ULED 8K, which will debut in China before the end of the year.
Perhaps all this activity explains why IHS Markit executive Maria Rua Aguete, speaking at the IFA shindig, optimistically predicted the 8K panel market could take as much as 40 per cent of the business by 2022.
8K TV, for those who haven’t been paying attention, offers four times the pixel resolution of 4K (and 16 times the resolution of Full HD). Some suggest it’s the future of TV. Others disagree, but regardless of your crystal ball, most everyone that sees 8K agrees it looks mighty impressive.
One of the big challenges to 8K is distribution infrastructure. Samsung believes that 8K TV adoption could be solved by next generation 5G networks. It may be right.
Presenting at an 8K summit in New York, Samsung insists it has the best technology for the job, saying Quantum Dot is more than ready for a 7680 × 4320 resolution future.
A transition to new TV resolution happens every 7 years, it suggests, believing that a concerted shift to 8K will begin this year.
Samsung needs to put on a brave face. Its QLED tech is being pummelled at the premium end of the market.
IHS Markit believes that 214 million TVs will be sold globally in 2019, of which 108 million will be 4K
UHD - and the high-end screen business is being totally dominated by OLED. Come Christmas, OLED screens from multiple TV makers will account for just over 50 per cent of the posh TV market in volume, and a massive 70 per cent of the value.
Personally, I’m not yet convinced 8K will find the sort of success that has driven 4K UHD. 4K represented a quantum leap over Full HD, not just because it offered four times the pixel count, but because it came with other more easily appreciable benefits, such as Wide Colour and HDR (High Dynamic Range).
The benefits of 8K are less obvious, not least because you need a really large screen (and a really close seat) to see any discernible difference.
Hollywood studios, always keen to eye up new revenue opportunities, have been experimenting with 8K transfers. I’ve seen some examples, and while impressive, the 8K dividend is less obvious than you might imagine. And there are complications.
An 8K scan of a 65-70mm movie print may hold wondrous detail, but when it rolls at 24fps, motion blur obscures the extra definition. The solution is to view the film at a higher frame rate - the latest 8K TV sets support frame rates up to 120fps.
But movies at high frame rates just look ugly, regardless of the resolution hike. Film fans hate the so-called soap opera effect. Where 8K has real potential is not movies, but sports. One reason why Tokyo 2020 will be so interesting.