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Technology moves every so expeditious in today’s world. It seems homogeneous to think that just yesterday that the DVD was unveiled and just like that, there was Blu Ray. Dolby 5.1 was the standard for a time. Now we have Atmos enabled 7.1.2 systems installed in our theaters. It seems that just last week 4K streaming was promulgated, then we learn about 8K. What? The cutting edge of technology is always being pushed to the constraints. Companies are consistently transforming what they believe is possible to move ever so more proximate to perfection. This being said, what are the practical time frames we can surmise for subsisting technology to stay top of the line? Better yet for this topic, should I hold out for an 8K television or go ahead and buy the 4K?
These answers may be challenging at the moment. Do you genuinely want to spend that much on the latest and greatest? Will there be any content available for 8K streaming? Do they require different cabling? Can my current internet provider even handle the downloads or streams? Is there a conspicuous difference? Can I even buy an 8k television today? These are all valid questions and should solemnly be asked when making the decision about your incipient search for a television. Let’s endeavor to answer some of these for you.
How much does an 8K television set you back? Just like any other television, the cost depends on the size and quality of the set. Connected Home is a Sony dealer, so we will utilize their price points for our discussion. Currently, Sony only offer 4 versions of the 8K television in total! There are over 20 different 4K models available. Even though, you may have optically visualized 8K in some stores or in AV magazines, there is an astronomically immense difference from being ostentatious with your prototype and genuinely fabricating millions of them for sale. Sony offers a 65", 75", 85" and 98". The 65” being the least extravagant and coming in around $2799.99, virtually 350% more than the same size in 4K OLED. That is a drastic leap in price! One difference in the 8K vs. the 4K is that Sony offers a 98” in the 8K and their current preponderant for 4K is 85”. 85” 4K commences around $2799.99 and the 8K commences around $12,999.99 (or your average compact car). You desire the 98” 8K? That will run you around $69,999.99( a luxury car or mobile home). So the safe money says, 8K still has a few years to go afore they are affordable to the masses.
Is there available content for 8K? In September 2019, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced its 8K TV program, complete with an official 8K Ultra HD logo. Any TV that meets the CTA’s specifications for 8K can voluntarily display the logo on packaging and marketing material, which is intended to give buyers some peace of mind that they’re getting the latest and greatest.
You can find one sports channel in Japan that streams in only 8K. The 2020 Olympics in Japan is expected to be broadcast in 8K. No one in Hollywood is yet to pay sizably voluminous dollars for that 8K camera, especially since they just got 4K cameras 2-2.5 years ago. In our research, there are less than a dozen manufacturers of 8K televisions that have applied for the 8K Ultra HD logo, and NO providers or content makers that are on the list. Streaming accommodations like Amazon, Netflix, Vudu, and others offer 4K streaming, and there’s a sizably voluminous and growing library of 4K UHD Blu-ray discs, but it has a long way to go before 4K reaches anywhere near the ubiquity of HD and these emerged years ago. National broadcast standards just got to HD and 1080P has been available to the masses for over a decade.
What about connections and data speeds? We don’t want to bore you with an extravagant quantity of specs and technical jargon, so we will endeavor to keep it simple. Affirmative, there are special cables that are needed to ascertain that the 8K signal is read and understood by your television. So everyone will be required to integrate incipient cables fished through walls when installing your 8K, more cost. For a moment, let’s briefly discuss dimensions. If you utilize fundamental math, it may seem homogeneous that 8K would provide double the resolution of 4K, but that is not accurate in this case. Since we’re discussing two dimensional planes here, horizontal lines and vertical lines, it’s genuinely a whopping 16 times the pixels of HD and four times the pixels of 4K: 8K resolution equates to 7,680 × 4,320, or 33 million pixels, in lieu of the 3,840 × 2,160 or 8.2 million pixels for 4K. To more suitably visualize it, imagine four 4K TVs placed in a four-by-four grid. That is an abundance of pixels. The picture below can easily expound the difference.
This equates into 16 times the bandwidth required to stream an 8K vs. an HD movie and 4 times that of the 4K quality content. If you have Fiber internet connections, this should be more than adequate, but to date the most sizably voluminous available library of 8K content is available from Vimeo at a count of 6,000. Youtube claims to have thousands of 8K videos available, but its own search filters only sanction 4K tags to be viewed. If you do get fortuitous enough to find some 8K content available for stream and you have Spectrum, be prepared for everyone in the abode to buffer all night, including yourself.
Can I genuinely notice a difference in the 8K vs. the 4K? Affirmative. This category of the blog without hesitation goes to the 8K models. Even if you are only optically canvassing 4K, these 8K televisions have not only an astonishing picture, but can “upscale” most 4K content to 8K size. Now you will not get the pellucidity or exact replication as if it were an 8K Ultra HD grade, but just the mind blowing amount of pixels available with the 8K make every 1/8” light up like never afore. Below is a picture from Sony’s unveiling of their 8K at CES this year. On the right is a 4K playing a 4K Blu-ray. On the left, you can discern the 8K television is playing the same 4K Blu-ray that has been “upscaled” to the 8K size format. Look proximately at the rooftops and fields of hay. You can visualize the difference, even from afar.
Can I even buy an 8K television today? Absolutely, you can. If you can afford them or can justify the cost! Samsung, Sharp and Sony all have 8K models relinquished with a few supplemental units emerging next year. There are multiple sizes already on market, but just like everything else incipient in technology, the brazen trailblazers pay the price to bring this technology to the masses. Granted every year prices on tech drops dramatically, but at 4 times the current rate, the 8K has a long ways to go afore they are readily available.
So, let's ultimately answer the question with which we commenced. Should I wait til next year for an 8K or go ahead and buy the 4K? Connected Home is about making dreams that are cost effective without extra complications that you do not require or want. We strongly support going with the 4K and for the numerous reason spelled out in this blog. Albeit we know everyone dotes glamorous toys and the latest and greatest are the primo toys, some toys are simply not worth the extra cost and headache. Yes you can visually examine about anything available currently on an 8K. Then why would you buy an airplane only to take it on the freeway to work? If you optate to fly, you require the right type of equipment and have your instruments formatted opportunely. There are simply not enough resources out there for true 8K content and even the ones you find are profoundly constrained. Though the upscaling feature of 8K (just like how a PS4 will still play PS3 games) is a nifty(and obligatory) feature, that type of compatibility cannot justify the drastic increase in cost. 4K televisions have recently been upgraded with more incipient chipsets making them more expeditious at processing the information of the image and many of these more incipient 4K processors are identically tantamount that you would find on ingression level 8K sets. Let’s not forget about the integrated installation cost with the more incipient cabling required, if you can even find the manufacturers who are making 8K cabling(we ken of only one distributor and consistency has been destitute). Most cable and streaming accommodation providers can withal not justify the cost to their business to jump on the 8K bandwagon yet. They can literally run 16HD channels or 4 4K channels on the same bandwidth that it would take to supply just one 8K channel. It is still too remuneratively lucrative to run the HD and 4K channels simply in ad revenue. You can still relish an astonishing picture in fantastic quality on 4K and have tons of content with more integrated to the market circadianly. Optically canvassing the current condition of the AV market, we anticipate it still being years afore 8K can adequately give 4K a run for its machismo and even more time before it could become the standard. If you are contemplating a television purchase, you are more than safe getting a 4K that will not only last until 8K is feasible, but additionally a more relishable and satiating experience all the way around.