You’ve probably heard of HD TVs, but is your TV 8K Ultra HD? One of the newer TVs on the market, an 8K TV has four times the resolution of a 4K TV and sixteen times the resolution of a full HD TV. While, generally speaking, the higher resolution a TV has, the sharper and clearer it will be, there are other things to consider before upgrading to 8K.
To fully enjoy the advantages of 8K, three key factors are needed: content, transmission, and playback ability. Content needs to be recorded in 8K and transmitted over strong Internet either in broadcast or streaming to a device that can playback 8K format. Television makers covered the playback issue in the market with the creation of 8K TVs, but what about the other two factors? Not so much.
So far, there is very little to watch in 8K because almost no 8K content has been created. Current streaming technology doesn’t have the bandwidth to carry 8K speed even if the content was available. Additionally, no streaming services offer 8K. YouTube and Vimeo do support 8K, but there are very few 8K videos to watch on those services because of the expensive camera needed to film them.
Are the 8K images better than 4K? Yes, an image looks better on an 8K screen. However, the difference between 4K and 8K will not be noticeable in the conditions in which most people watch TV at home. The human eye cannot resolve the level of detail in an 8K image at the distance most people sit, or would want to sit, from their TV. The optimal distances for viewing 8K screens are ridiculously short. Most people sit about nine feet away from their TV. The optimal distance for viewing 8K on a 65” screen is only two feet. In order to sit nine feet away from your television and enjoy 8K optimal viewing distance, you would need a between 275” to 280” 8K screen. If you have a theater in your home, 8K may make sense, but that’s usually not the case for the typical TV buyer. However, many say that even without 8K content, 8K TVs provide better picture clarity when playing 4K content due to the higher resolution of 8K screens. For example, fine details like the individual hairs on a person’s head that might be blurry and indistinct in a low-resolution picture can be sharper and clearer in a picture with a the higher resolution of 8K. The best way to know is to see them side by side and decide for yourself.
The bottom line is: if you are not concerned with the cost and prefer the latest and greatest technology, or if you have a large theater set-up in your home, an 8K TV makes sense. Otherwise, it would be worthwhile to wait until the cost for an 8K screen goes down and the content and transmission of 8K goes up.
Whether you’d like to install the latest 8K TV or simply upgrade your current TV space, our team at Aaron’s Home Tech can create your customized home theater. You can rely on our expertise and experience to give you the exact sound, visual, and seating specifications you desire.
