LAS VEGAS -- For TVs, 4K is where it’s at right now, but Samsung just gave a peek at the world beyond. It’s called 8K, and Samsung’s just showed one of the world’s first “Real 8K” displays at CES 2016.
If you’re scoring by the pixel, Samsung’s 8K set has 7,680 x 4,320 resolution, for more than 33 million pixels – four times what you get in 4K. Yes, that’s a certifiably insane amount of overkill, but hey, moar pixels, yo.
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The set (model UN98S9) is also equipped with an 8K “interface” so it can receive 8K signals, although Samsung doesn’t specify what the port is exactly. Current HDMI connectors can handle 8K, but only up to 24 frames per second. There’s a new standard called SuperMHL for handling 8K signals up to 120 fps, but so far no products have it.
Of course, this being a Samsung TV, the screen is curved, and it features all the latest tech of its 2016 SUHD lineup -- quantum dots for better color, HDR for more accuracy in scenes with large contrast, and a Smart TV hub for interacting with other devices.
Certainly, 8K resolution in a consumer TV is beyond overkill. Display experts say even 1080p TVs are already "retina" displays (meaning the human eye can't discern individual pixels) at normal viewing distances and sizes. And if we go to 8K, the content and bandwidth-clogging issues that we're still dealing with for 4K will happen all over again.
That said, the success of 4K means we'll probably go to 8K at some point, but the mainstreaming if the format is definitely many years away -- perhaps over a decade.
No price or release date on Samsung's pixel-heavy set, but most likely late in the year, if at all.
