Latest news with #8KTV
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
8K TVs Are Stunning Engineering Feats. You Shouldn't Buy One.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." TVs with stunningly high 8K display panels were initially very niche and mind-blowingly expensive. When it arrived on the market in 2015, the first 8K TV by Sharp cost a cool $133,000, as much as a luxury car. And the screens didn't become available to mainstream consumers until the turn of this decade. It was in 2020 when big-name manufacturers like LG, Samsung, and Sony began offering them. By that time, 8K TVs were much more reasonably priced, but still in high-end territory. You needed to drop around $4,000 (and way up) to get the sharpest TV screen in your living room. I got my initial glimpse of the first mainstream 8K TVs a little before that, in late 2019. With a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels, these products had four times the pixel density of 4K (3,840 x 2,160) TVs, resulting in sharper and more detail-rich visuals. It was clear to me then that 8K is the future of video entertainment. And it still is—as in, maybe I'll be able to recommend buying an 8K TV at some point in the future. But I can't right now. Today, six years later and several generations of TVs behind us, I still can't find a reason why you should switch to 8K TV, even if it fits in your budget. Here's why. The almost complete lack of native content is the primary reason why you should avoid buying an 8K TV. None of the leading streaming services offer movies and shows in this resolution. YouTube and Vimeo are the only options for 8K content, but there isn't much to choose from there either. A quick search for 8K video on YouTube led me to short clips of beautiful vistas around the world and a few movie trailers, but nothing else. This isn't enough to warrant spending big to get an 8K TV. To make up for the lack of content in their original resolution, 8K TVs will upscale lower-resolution footage to match theirs. Since an 8K TV has four times the pixels, upscaling fills the missing pixels in when displaying 4K content. But there's no actual data with which to do that. And I can't imagine the oomph necessary to fill in approximately 25 million blank pixels. I've witnessed this upscaling multiple times, and its benefits are limited and not worth overspending on. While undeniably sophisticated, it can't bring lower-resolution video on par with content captured by an 8K camera. The footage looks less natural than native content. It's not uncommon to encounter blurry artifacts, which, depending on the content, can compromise an otherwise perfect scene. Speaking of cameras, there are more 8K options on the market than TVs, ranging from Android phones by Samsung and Google to action cameras, all the way to pro-grade tools for filmmakers. I'd suggest an 8K TV to only those who are obsessed with viewing memories recorded in such high resolution—but you'll need an expensive camera or a high-end phone with ample storage to capture those memories in the first place. Even if you have one, the data requirements are massive. Despite being on the market for half a decade, 8K TVs still cost significantly more than 4K units. The most affordable option I found is the Samsung QN800D, which costs a couple of dollars below $2,000 for a device with a 65-inch screen. The tech giant's latest QN900F 8K TV, with a 65-inch panel, on the other hand, comes with a hefty $3,298 price tag. That's a lot of coin, especially considering the lack of native 8K content I mentioned above. For comparison, a 65-inch LG C4 4K OLED TV with stunning picture quality runs below $1,500, while an 85-inch TCL QM7K Series 4K TV goes for $1,700. You can even order the latter with a truly cinematic 98-inch panel for less than $2,500. In addition to a bigger variety of screen sizes and price points, the above 4K TVs will get you superior picture quality and more onboard features (e.g., OLED screens, support for Dolby Vision across all prices, etc.) than today's 8K TVs. Additionally, the products I mentioned are just a small fraction of the high-quality 4K TV options available today. On that note, if you are hellbent on making the jump to an 8K TV today, I have bad news for you: There aren't many choose from. Alongside the Samsung TVs I already mentioned, you can consider Sony's Z9K Series, though this one is expensive and dated, as it has been on the market since 2022. The 2024 LG 99 Series QNED 8K TV is still available at some retailers for around $2,000, offering another reasonably priced option in this product category. However, you can't find it on its maker's official online store, so it's probably getting phased out. Given the lower price of entry into the 8K realm than before, overly eager upgraders can order one today and bide their time until native content becomes widely available. I strongly advise against this strategy, because the 8K TV you bought now will inevitably be due for an upgrade by the time its native resolution goes mainstream.$1997.99 at at at at Between the crucial lack of compatible content, the high price to upgrade, and the limited choice (not to mention that we don't have a clue what minimum internet speed it needs and how much it will cost to stream video from subscription services on it), I don't recommend buying an 8K TV in 2025. The ultra-high resolution these products have is years away from going mainstream, so don't waste your money on one, despite the mesmerizing picture quality it could deliver one day. Rather than spending so much money on one 8K TV, consider investing in an excellent 4K TV and a soundbar, or a full surround sound system. I'd take a similarly (or lower) priced 4K TV over an 8K set any day. And with other review experts sharing the same view and TV manufacturers launching the latest and greatest products with 4K panels, it certainly looks like this trend won't be changing anytime soon.$1498.00 at at at at You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Digital Trends
3 days ago
- Business
- Digital Trends
You can save thousands on our favorite 8K TV right now, but there aren't many left
If you've ever wanted an 8K TV, now is the time. At the very top of our list of the best 8K TVs sits the Samsung QN900D 8K QLED. It's an expensive TV, but right now we're seeing both its 75-inch and 85-inch variations have a huge sale. The 75-inch version is $1,700 off, bringing it to $4,298 from $5,998, and the 85-inch version is $2,200 off, bringing it from $7,498 to $5,298. Unfortunately, the stock is actually dwindling quite quickly, and I'm seeing fewer TVs available now compared to when I first found the deal last night. As I write there are only 7 of the 75-inch and 13 of the 85-inch TVs remaining on sale. So, if you want this TV, you should legitimately hurry up and get it now — this 8K TV deal probably won't last the weekend. Why you should buy the Samsung QN900D 8K QLED TV The TV is considered great for more than just its outstanding 8K upscaling (it's still hard to find natively 8K content these days) but also for its full range of features. Gaming on a Samsung QN900D is a fantastic experience due to quality ports, letting you game with a 4K resolution at 240Hz. Sports fans will love the TV's AI processor that recognizes balls and clarifies them for a clear view of where they're at — this isn't just motion rate, it's actual AI enhancement. When our editorial team published their QN900D initial impressions, they were 'mighty impressed' by the upscaling. This TV makes low-resolution and low-bit-rate streaming look legitimately good. This QLED TV deal is very hot at the moment and the TVs are selling out quickly. The $5,998 75-inch version is $1,100 off, bringing it down to $4,298, while the $7,498 version is $2,200 off, bringing it down to $5,298. Altogether there are only 20 TVs left between these two. Though I'm now seeing that there are 'more on the way' for the 75-inch version of the TV (and not the 85-inch version) there is no indication of how many or when they will arrive. The best way to lock this deal in is to get it now.
