Sharp announced it will release the first commercially available 8K TV, an 85-inch set for $130,000, beginning Oct. 30. It will be like watching television in high definition on steroids.
CNBC reported that the new format packs four times as many pixels as the ultra-HD 4K format, and 16 times the resolution of 1080p HD.
The big price tag and relative unavailability of 8K broadcasts thus far have critics saying the television set is way ahead of its time.
"We're not expecting 8K TVs targeted at consumers to be released until at least 2016, and we don't expect they will cross one million units until after 2019," Abhi Mallick, from IHS Technology,
told the BBC. "Japan's NHK is the only broadcaster so far to announce plans to create and broadcast 8K content."
He added that in Japan, "the average size of TVs sold tends to be smaller, and we think the minimum size 8K TVs would be sold at would be 65in."
"I saw a test 8K broadcast in Washington DC during the 2012 Olympics, and while it was amazing and immediately well-beyond anything else I've ever seen before, it required nearly an entire room of equipment and a connection via Internet2 just to handle all the data,"
said a writer at Engadget.com.
Japan's public broadcaster has said, however, that it has been testing the format, and plans to deploy 8K video for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The new TV comes as many broadcasters and cable companies are just beginning to offer content in ultra-HD 4K
Online streaming companies like Netflix and Amazon have minimal content in 4K, and Samsung just this month unveiled its first 4K Blu-ray player.
Sharp first showed off the 8K technology at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early 2014.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.