persuasion : It ’s around this time of the year when AV journalists do the rounds and get invited to manufacturer ’s TV events to see what ’s new for the approaching year . I ’ve picture whatPhilips has in the bag , as well as Samsung ’s represent toincrease its market laterality , and the next few weeks will see more details spill out from other TV brand .

But one thing you wo n’t be hearing too much about is8 K TV . Suffice to say that it is suffering from some ramification . moot this clause as 8 K ’s annual check - up , just likeI did in 2021,2022 , andlast yr .

For whatever and however many reason , 8 K has never particularly had the unlimited confidence of the TV marketplace . A report from 2023mentioned that 8 thou idiot box were afflict by the “ gamy prices of panels ” and high inflation “ thin consumers ’ disposable income ” . That same report advert that of the “ global annual shipments of about 200 million unit , 8 K boob tube only have a scale of 300,000 units , and the food market share is only 0.15 % . ”

Considering 8 kB TVshave been athing since about 2016and that we review theSamsung Q900Rin 2018 , that is a small piece of the pie .

The secrecy from manufacturers about 8 KB is reaching deaf horizontal surface . I check an OLED from Philips at an event many years ago , but it was a trial impression of concept and there was never any interest group to bring it to securities industry .

Samsung is flying the flag

Sony has n’t produced a unexampled 8 K model since 2022 ( the Z9 K ) . Chinese sword such as Hisense and TCL produce 8 jet TVs but there is n’t the same tier of vehemence as there is with 4 K models , while it ’s count distinctly likely that LG wo n’t be launching a Z4 OLED , with the Z3 model transmit over to 2024 ( which is n’t useable in the US either ) .

Only Samsung is still fly the 8 kilobyte flag and it has the market almost to itself . Under other circumstances that ’d be outstanding .

The focal point for TV manufacturers look to have moved towards great and brighter 4 super acid screen . Despite the vantage 8 K bring in with its sharper , clearer video , and the need for more advanced processing to give life to those 33 million pixels ; the substructure for 8 K contentedness has n’t materialise .

It ’s expensive , the handiness of aboriginal 8 K subject in mainstream terms has n’t happened , and more to the point , the means of distributing 8 K programming to the pile has n’t open up up either .

I was invited to a discussion about 8 K with Samsung and the 8 K Association a few years back and there was optimism about it following the same growing line as 4 K did . There was even the thought it ’d be quick than 4 honey oil adoption and that 8 chiliad substance would be pronto available with the 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020 Olympics spud at the resolution .

This discussion was in October 2019 , and suffice to say no one was expecting what was going to chance in the following months .

Nevertheless , we ’re still struggle to get 4 K readily available into menage ( willITVXand Channel 4 ever declare oneself 4 K content ? ) . There is programming that ’s been shot and mastered in 4 potassium but has appeared on screens in HD , so what chance did 8Kreallyhave ?

The various trials fromBT Sport(now TNT Sports ) or the Roland Garros tennis visitation from 2019 remain exactly that – trials , tests , and nothing more . Despite thedevelopment of 200 TB optical discs , physical media was never an option for 8 K with the bulk of consumers moving towards streaming for their content fix over disk , despite the issues that entails .

And yet only Japanese land spreader NHK is doing 8 thousand broadcasts . No streamer has offered an 8 K tier up ( Rakuten advert they would and then there was no word from them again about it ) . 8 K plainly has not progressed in the fashion many ( perhaps overconfidently ) look it would .

Call me a believer

And yet , despite 8 K being tag by naysayer since its origination , I remain something of a believer .

Of the two 8 kilobyte TVs I ’ve test in the last twelvemonth – theSamsung QN800CandLG Z3 OLED – I ’ve been affect by both . Of all the goggle box Samsung makes , I believe the 8 K exemplar are its dear TVs in full term of performance . They are an betterment on theMini - LEDsand organic light-emitting diode I ’ve image .

The perception is that 8 K may slow down in 2024 before ramping ( slightly ) up but without a quartz glass ball I ’m hesitating to say as to whether sure 8 K can ever unfeignedly recover its impulse .

Perhaps the most damming aspect about 8 super acid idiot box is that the office remains the same , that development appears to stall , and as severely as some try , there remains a want of enthusiasm . A data format too far ? Perhaps , and while we can give 8 K the class off for 2024 and check back in 12 calendar month , will anything have commute or will 8 K before long go the fashion of 3D video into the AV graveyard ?

It ’ll be a shame if it does .