8K - Is it worth it?

As if it wasn’t stressful enough getting everything sorted and looking through spec sheets to work out what the best 4K TV is that we now have to think about 8K! But…the future is here and it’s looking pretty good.

What do we we mean by 8K?

Basically you’re talking about resolution and this means the number of pixels which should, in theory, give you more information on the screen so a better image. 8K has 4 times as many pixels as 4K and 16 times as many as full HD.

If you use basic math, it may seem like 8K would provide double the resolution of 4K, but that isn’t the case. Since we’re talking two dimensions here — horizontal lines and vertical lines — it’s actually 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 (33,117,600, to be exact), instead of 3,840 × 2,160 (8,294,400 pixels).

Samsung have now launched their new 8K TV the Q900R 8K screen available in 65”, 75” and 85” in the UK and it looks and sounds great. It combines intelligent AI to give you real 8K resolution so you really can immerse yourself in the latest movies. The design of the set is fairly minimalist although it does have a huge set up “feet” if you’re freestanding it so probably best to install on the wall. As it uses a one connect box to hold all it’s connections, best to give us a call if you’re thinking of getting one installed and we’ll pop out and work out the nicest and most aesthetically pleasing way to get it set up.

The price isn’t too unbearable either with a 65” selling for £4999, 75” for £6999 and an 85” for £14,999, it’s actually not as bad as you’d think. If you’re going for a large screen like the 85”, then the extra pixels will work wonders.

The audio is actually pretty good too with an increased speaker size. That being said, a surround sound or sound bar is not going to be a bad idea. Give us a call to discuss audio options and we'll pop out and check the size of the room, and see what would work best.

Content?

With all the original hassle with 4K you’d think it was maybe a waste of time going for an 8K TV but Netflix and various content providers have already started to film in 8K so you’ll see the content increase fairly quickly. To be honest though, even if you’re not looking at something filmed in 8K, the image is so good, you’ll be amazed at how good it already come across.

So is it worth it? Yes - it's the way forward and you'll see more and more content coming out. Samsung has had a raft of orders in and has plans to expand the range so we see more manufacturers doing the same soon. We would say if you're going for something so impressive, then think about how it's getting set up to really create that maximise that fantastic image and also improve the audio as it should be on your wall for quite some time. Give us a call if you'd like to get one fitted - we'll come out before you buy anything and go over your ideas and get it looking and sounding the best it can be.