The first salvos were fired this weekend at IFA 2018 in Berlin, and later this week the battle between South
Korean MegaGiants LG and Samsung will resume on American shores as both of the world two largest manufacturers of TVs by sales volume, #1 Samsung (22.2%) and #2 LG Electronics
(14.5%), will once again meet head-to-head here in Southern California at the
28th annual CEIDA Expo; and the topic here at Video & Audio Center’s (and on
everyone else who’s here for the Expo event’s) tongues…8K TVs!
At the end of last week, on August 30th,
LG Electronics released this press release:
“Already a leader in advancing TV
innovation with its OLED TVs, LG Electronics (LG) is introducing the world’s
first 8K (7680 x 4320) OLED TV at IFA 2018. The 88-inch 8K LG OLED TV features
over 33 million self-emitting pixels to produce the unmatched contrast ratio
and true blacks that define OLED TV’s iconic picture quality.”
Coincidentally enough, at the end of last
week, on August 30th, Samsung Electronics released this press
release:
“During its press conference at the IFA
2018, Samsung Electronics is to announce its foray into 8K with the unveil of
the Q900R QLED 8K complete with 8K AI Upscaling. Available in four ultra-large
screen sizes (65”, 75”, 82” and 85”), Samsung QLED 8K TV will feature several
8K-ready enhancements, including Real 8K Resolution, Q HDR 8K and Quantum
Processor 8K, all created to bring 8K-quality images to life.”
According to Samsung developer Hyunseung Lee,
“the TV’s added resolution allows detailed in images to be expressed more
clearly, and creates a sense of reality and depth that keeps you immersed in
your content. With conventional SD (standard definition) or HD (high
definition) displays, when people look closely at depicted images, they can
recognize them as a cluster of pixels, however, with QLED 8K, the level of
resolution is so high that pixels become invisible to the human eye, and
viewers become incapable of distinguishing depicted objects from the real
thing.
According
to Brian Kwon, president of LG’s home entertainment business, “LG’s first 8K
OLED TV is the pinnacle of technological achievement and the next evolutionary
step in display technology…4K OLED played a major role in reshaping the TV
industry, and LG is confident that 8K OLED will do the same.”
According to the most-recent estimates, at
the current rate of adoption, it is estimated that by the end of 2019, “only”
49% of all US households will even have a 4K UHD TV in their home. I say “only”
because at Video & Audio Center, we’ve seen a far greater than average
acceptance of this new technology than even the most optimistic of projections
even dared to estimate.
So why the quick move to 8K? It may seem a
little quick, but 8K has been in works as early as 2012 in terms of
development, and while some people may criticize the move as a case of
“one-upmanship” or simply trying get more money out of consumers, the opposite
is actually closer to the truth; as the demands for larger and larger screens
increases, the NEED for an 8K image also increases to be able to project those
images on screen sizes above the 80’-85” screen sizes!
According to HDGuru, “In addition to having
four times greater pixel resolution (7680×4320 pixels) than 4K displays, the
new resolution screens will be able to pack those extra pixels with more
visible color and brightness attributes, compared to today’s 3840x2160p
systems. This should deliver images with greater dimensionality, textures,
wider shades of color and sharper gray scale detail for things like text and
digital image enlargements when viewed up close. Importantly, it will also enable sharp and
vibrant images on screen sizes 65-inches and larger, something both companies
clearly had in mind by releasing premiere models exceeding 80 inches.”
While pricing is certainly going to be “up
there,” for this new line of “Ultra Premium” televisions, as the market has
begun to call them, imagine a state-of-the-art, 100” 8K Ultra High Definition
HDR Artificial Intelligence-enhanced Smart TV for the same price as a 42”
plasma TV twenty years ago! Not such a bad deal, now is it?
Of course there will be content issues at the
start, I mean we’re still working on developing and standardizing 4K broadcast
and streaming content, but technology is moving at a much faster pace, and with
advancements in AI that pace will only quicken. In a CNBC interview last week, Neil Shah, research director at
Counterpoint Research, said his firm estimates that “close to 250,000 8K TV
panels will be shipped THIS YEAR, rising to close to 7 million by 2022.”
In the final analysis, if what we as
consumers are looking for is the most realistic viewing experience possible,
the most cinematic, the one that truly inspires and engages, then all I can say
is, when is 16K coming out?
Video & Audio Center will be back from
CEDIA and starting next week, we will take a far more in-depth look at LG’s and
Samsung’s initial forays into the 8K consumer, Ultra Premium market, and report back what we were able to observe.
As an added
bonus, here’s a link to what I was told was the first 8K video ever uploaded to YouTube: VIEW "GHOST TOWN"
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