4K Vs 8K

Wasn’t it just sometime back that 4K TV was introduced? Well, in present scenario time and tide may wait but the world of technology certainly waits for none. It was in the year 2018 that the idea of 8K TV was shared and in today’s date you can find almost all the top selling brands displaying at least one model of an 8K TV of its own.

So, what exactly is all the fuss about? Does it really matter?

Let’s find out!

Taking forward the HD resolution of 1080 pixels to four times more pixels is 4k resolution. It has 8 million pixels which makes the viewing experience much finer than its older generation.

But the resolution alone does not decide how good the picture quality shall be. A number of factors come into the force to make up for the same, like: High Dynamic Range that we know as HRD, the contrast ratio etc. hence its not just the resolution that matters.

8K basically denotes the pixel strength. In 8K TVs one can expect a resolution of 7680 pixels horizontally and 4320 pixels vertically, which is four times the number of pixels available in 4K TVs, and 16 times more that you find in full HD. So, the total number of pixels comes down to 33 million.

Is there a need for moving from 4K to 8K at all?

Remember the time when you upgraded your TV set form full HD to 4K? The display quality of full HD is quite good, but once you upgrade it to 4K you see the difference!

The shift from 4K to 8K is a similar move.

In reality the difference between looking at an 8-megapixel picture and a 33-megapixel picture is huge. When you look closely into 4K television, you will find a mesh-like finish on the screen. When the same is done with 8k, this “Screen door” effect is barely visible unless looked too closely. For those who doubt if the extra pixels will be of any worth to the naked eye then, you must see it up close and see for yourself how dramatic difference it makes to the picture quality.

Content available on 4K TV sets Vs 8K TV sets

Initially the availability of 4k content was very little. But now there are multiple sources that produce 4k content, like:

Netflix

Manufacturers like Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sony, Vizio, Philips, TCL, and Hisense or a TV compatible with 4K Ultra HD can stream 4kcontent ion Netflix. It now produces most of its content in 4k resolution!

Amazon instant video/prime

The above-mentioned brands can be used here to watch 4k content and a minimum of internet speed of 25Mbps is required to play the content.

Hulu

To access content here, you’ll need a Apple TV 4K or Google Chromecast Ultra. It has content that can air both on demand that can be converted from a lower resolution to 4k and now it has 4k Hulu original content for the complete 4k experience.

YouTube

Having YouTube app does not mean that you can access 4k content there, ensure that your brand of TV supports YouTube’s brand of 4k to enjoy 4k content!

For gaming

Both PlayStation 4 Pro and the Xbox One X can give you visible difference that gives 4k level of visuals. Although it must be noted that PS4 Pro does not support 4k resolution

The content availability in 8K TVs now is very poor. It is going to take a while before we get 8K TV content. The only exception here at this moment is YouTube which provides very little content in 8k resolution. And that’s why you’re seeing all these recommendations for 4k instead of 8k. As it’s quite better at the moment and also cost effective as well. Vsbytes.com published a great guide on 4k televisions that you can consider as a better investment. Just the recent development here shows that now three are content that can be displayed in a 4k TV that does justice to 4k. Only Japan’s NHK TV network has started to experiment with 8K content for broadcasting with its “Super Hi-Vision channel” that present events in both 4K and 8K, but till date they have only been shown in a couple of theaters around Japan. It has been announced that the 2020 Olympics being hosted by Japan shall be displayed in 8k. Hence, expecting 8k content to be readily available at this point of time would only deject you. And just like how 4K TVs consume a lot of bandwidth, 8K will probably consume more. Since 8k content is almost nil in the market right now, it is going to take a super processor for the TV to process all the 720p,1080p,4k content into 8k content.

Viewing Distance

4k displays intricate details because of its high resolution. Having said that it is to be noted that if you are seated far too away, a human eye will miss the little details that this technology has to offer to dazzle our eyes with details that we don’t see on a routine basis. Therefore, it becomes important that the viewing distance is right so that you neither miss out on the details nor are you too close that you miss the whole picture!

Television Size	Distance
20”	1.8’
40”	2.4’
50”	3’
70”	4.2’
90”	5.6’
100”	6’

You could get the best of the paintings in the world and still not enjoy them if your eyes can’t gauge it entirely. Similarly, in order to enjoy 8k to its actual advantage, the TV is to be placed at a relatively larger distance.

The following illustrates the optimal seating distance from the screen of 8K TV:

Television Size	Distance
55”	1.7’
65”	2.0’
75”	2.3’
85”	2.6’
120”	3.7’
150”	4.6’

Does 8k need specific devices to be able to function?

Yes, 8k does require new equipment to function at it best, and most importantly new cables. The brand new HDMI 2.1 best supports 8K resolution which runs at up to 60 frames per second, and 8k needs almost three times the bandwidth of 4K-capable HDMI 2.0! This means that the existent Blu-ray players, media streamers, and game systems can only do justice till the level of 4k and not 8k. For 8k the basic need is that one will need new HDMI 2.1- devices that are well equipped and able to process 8K video and display the output through an 8K TV, but they don’t exist yet and neither do the cables, and the HDMI Forum will be releasing its testing specifications for HDMI 2.1 products only until later this year.

8k TV- for gaming

Refresh Rate

It shows the number of times the image being displayed refreshes. The new chipsets increase the refresh rate and makes gaming much smoother.

Response Time

Depending upon the inputs, the time the pixels take to adapt themselves to display is the response time. So better the response time, smoother is the transition.

The picture quality in 8k is undoubtedly great and so is the refresh rate which can sometimes be the winning factor. The new 8k TV sets will come with new chipsets too making the screen process faster and eliminate lag.

Brands that manufacture 8k television sets:

Samsung Q900FN QLED 85-inch 8K TV:

This is one among the very few 8k TVs that are ready for the customer to buy from the market. This TV set uses OLED technology for its screen which gives great picture quality and makes the set less bulky and stylish. The TV has a super-fast refresh rate of 120 GHz that reduces the motion blur. But the biggest winner among all its features is that the TV also has upscaling feature. This means that it can take a normal 4K definition and to upscale to 8K! Hence having less content out in the market for 8k will not be too big an issue. So, if you are really planning to get 8K TV as early as now, this feature enables us to get a much finer picture quality.

LG 8k OLED TV

This is the first 8k variant made by LG. It is a whopping 88-inch TV set! The size of it is an added advantage because 8k can be enjoyed the best on large screen and when placed at a distance. So, it simply means that having an 8K definition on a smaller screen can hardly be noticed. Hence, consider the size of your room and the viewing distance before purchasing an 8k TV. Just like its competitor’s version, LGs 8k OLED TV as the name suggests has OLED screen. It has its own backlighting making the set slim.

Sony X1 HDR 8K TV

It uses the brand new X1 chip set that’s been developed by the brand. It has a very high refresh rate thereby almost eliminating motion blur. HDR content can be viewed on the screen.

Samsung Q900FN QLED 85-inch 8K TV

As mentioned before, this is the only 8k TV available in the market that can be readily purchased by the public. Some of its notable features are:

The TV comes with Artificial Intelligence that used for ‘upscaling’. It means that the content that was originally produced for less than 8k can be turned into 8k content.

It gives 4000 units of brightness with HDR support and 120 GHz of refresh rate

The company has kept the designing of the product minimal which is great given that the users would want the immersive viewing experience.

The TV has two little stands at the end either ends that sits the slim panel on itself.

The recent model has 4 HDMI 2.0 ports, 3 USBs, Bluetooth connectivity which your only has headphone option, and supports both wired and wireless network.
The upcoming models are expected to have a new ‘One Connect Box’ for Q900Rs with HDMI of 2.1 standard which carries much more data than the usual 2.0 HDMI. It also supports 60 frames in a second unlike HDMI 2.0’s 30 frames.

The software even on the new 85Q900R is the one used in almost all the Samsung smart TVs- ‘Eden 2.0’. Although its not a new addition, the software has a host of apps that can conveniently provide the user with a wide range of viewing content like Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube etc.

The sound system of 85Q900R does not match up to the picture quality it has to offer. Although one can use Samsung’s Smart Sound system to make up for the lack of proper sound system in the TV.

Pros	Cons
First ever producer of 8k TV and hence has an edge over the competitors	Sound system not up to the mark
Unbelievably good picture quality	No Dolby Vision Support

LG 8k OLED TV

Like any other 8k TV, LG 8k TV has all the features of an 8k TV. It has recently launched its 8k TV which has the following features:

The TV works on LG’s second generation ‘Alpha 9′ processing chip for enhancing the whole visual experience.

This 8k OLED TV has a massive 88-inch screen which is just 10mm thick. The base on which it stands is however thick to about 10 cms. Its finishing is in silver colour.

In comparison to LG 8k OLED TV’s rivals, the sound system provided by this TV is great! It has multiple outputs to redirect the sound to the audience. Moreover, it also has subwoofers which are 4.2-channel sound system.

This TV supports up to 120Hz of frame rate dynamic metadata for HDR, eARC (enhanced audio return channel), variable refresh rates (VRR), and auto low-latency mode (ALLM).
The TV has webOS 4.5 with ThinQ AI Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

The TV offers a plethora of options to pick the choice of content from Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Now TV etc. It comes with a smart feature that edits the list of the apps as per the frequency of their usage.

This TV has an updated version of noise reduction which is of 6 steps unlike its older counterpart which was of 4 steps.

Pros	Cons
Dolby vision and HDR atmos enabled	Wall mounting option not available
Low input lag	Limited peak brightness for HDR
Good sound quality

Sony X1 ZG9 HDR 8K TV

This TV in all its glory is of a whopping 85 inches to 98 inches in size that comes with all the good things of an 8k TV.

The frame of the TV is quite chunky and large. One may argue that it makes the entire look of the TV a little less sophisticated. But what comes with the chunky frames is the sound system which does justice to the audio-visual experience. Although the Dolby Atmos which was promised has not been made available yet.

It works on Android Oreo and shall get updated to Android Pie as and when it releases.

There is no native 8k content on this TV yet but supports Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube.

Pros	Cons
Wide viewing angles	Only one HDMI 2.1 port available
Amazing picture quality
Upscaleable to 8k

Verdict

In the present day the only two drawbacks that you can find in 8k TV sets are the price and the unavailability of content. That being said, 8k shall be the torchbearer of wondrous viewing experience! Maybe its not the right time to buy an 8k TV just yet but definitely so in the near future!