It seems that 4K is just beginning and 8K is already surpassing itself.
In this year’s fully virtual version of CES, most of the biggest names in TV manufacturing, such as Sony and LG, presented their next products. While most of the TVs shown peaked at 4K resolution (which is still beautiful and is supported by more movies and video games than 8K), some sets went further. Companies like Samsung and TCL have proven that 8K is real and is here – just in time, go along with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which will support you as soon as 8K games start to exist.
If you are not familiar with the distinction between 4K and 8K, you can update yourself with our explainer, but the main thing you need to know is that 16 times the number of pixels as a 1080p screen. If that sounds appealing to you, here are some of the coolest 8K TVs presented at CES this year.
Sony Z9J Bravia XR
Sony’s Bravia XR line includes support for 8K.
The first is the newest 8K entry on Sony’s Bravia TV line, the Z9J. It is listed at 75 inches and 85 inches on the Sony website, promising an 8K LED screen with HDR, 120 Hz support and a smart TV interface powered by Google technology. The good thing about it is that it won’t be the Android TV UI; instead, it will be the latest Google TV user interface introduced in last year’s excellent Chromecast with Google TV.
Sony is also promoting a “cognitive intelligence” processor within the Z9J line. This is supposed to use AI to analyze individual elements on the screen and make them “just as our eyes perceive the world”, according to Sony. We will have to wait and see if that promise will be kept. And the same goes for price and availability, which Sony did not specify at CES.
Samsung Q900A Neo QLED
No frame here
If, for some reason, you absolutely hate having a frame of any kind around the TV screen, the Samsung Q900A 8K TV that was shown at CES may be for you. It has all the features you would expect from a high-end TV, such as HDR, 120 Hz support and variable refresh rate, with the latter two being especially attractive to those with high-end consoles. As you can see, there is almost no frame around the screen.
Samsung says the new Q900A uses “Neo QLED”, a new screen technology that uses extremely small LEDs to give more nuances to the image. They are apparently 1/40 the size of normal LEDs, to give you an idea of how small they are. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly what sizes it will come in, nor do we know how much each model will cost yet. Samsung’s previous 8K QLED sets cost at least $ 2,000, so don’t expect it to be cheap.
LG QNED Mini LED 8K
These LEDs are so small.
Speaking of small LEDs, LG’s QNED Mini-LED 8K set was announced in late December and exhibited at CES. Like the Samsung model, it uses a large number of small lights to theoretically produce more realistic images with richer colors and deeper blacks than you would find on older TVs. It comes in models of 75 and 86 inches and includes Google Assistant and support for Alexa.
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: We don’t know exactly how much it will cost or when it will be released yet. It is probably safe to assume that the price will not be small.
TCL 6 Series 8K
TCL could make 8K accessible.
Finally, TCL jumped into the 8K movement this year by announcing that its Series 6 would have 8K models in 2021. For those who don’t know, Series 6 is where TCL puts premium features like 4K, Mini-LED, 120 Hz and VRR on TVs that cost less than $ 1,000.
Unfortunately, TCL’s announcement didn’t have much to say about sizes, prices or availability for the 8K 6 series models other than “later this year”. An 8K TV that costs less than $ 1,000 will almost certainly not happen in 2021, but don’t be surprised if TCL’s entry into the 8K world is more affordable than most.