4K to 8K? Not Happening Yet!
8K TVs are big at CES 2018. However, there is really no 8K content available. Heck, OTA broadcast TV doesn't even support 4K yet, granted ATSC 3.0 just got officially announced at the same CES event.
If history is any indication, getting 4K out to mainstream OTA broadcast can be a 20 to 25 years endeavor. Upgrading today's FHD broadcasts to UHD is an expensive effort. To embrace 4K can seem like a waste if 8K would pick up too soon. Thus, we cannot really hurry up to 8K until 4K has passed its true peak. Today's technologies can readily support business cases for 4K. As for 8K? Not yet really.
Supposedly, 8K is the maximum resolution that could still make economic sense on screens, likely even as far out through the turn of the next century, or perhaps even forever after that. In fact, experts think that there is no reason to have 16K screens. At the moment, the best earliest use case for 16K, which I think AMD hits spot on, is in immersive experiences like AR and/or VR contents.
If 8K is the ultimate resolution, it makes more business sense to let 4K last for as long as it could. FHD TV reigned for around 5 years before UHD TV trends started going up. At this rate, it would seem like 8K should start trending in 2020. After that, there's really not much to look forward to. If we should go crazy to even make 16K flats mainstream by 2025, that should be about it. It would be insanity to even fool people to think that 32K would still have more to offer our biologically limited eyes and brains.
So what's my guess here? 8K will be intentionally held to give 4K its maximum business value. Resolution upgrades would have to slow down. 8K in 2025? Likely, but businesses can choose to push it further. There is no need to rush 8K. Industries still need to earn from 4K. Let that happen first.
If history is any indication, getting 4K out to mainstream OTA broadcast can be a 20 to 25 years endeavor. Upgrading today's FHD broadcasts to UHD is an expensive effort. To embrace 4K can seem like a waste if 8K would pick up too soon. Thus, we cannot really hurry up to 8K until 4K has passed its true peak. Today's technologies can readily support business cases for 4K. As for 8K? Not yet really.
Supposedly, 8K is the maximum resolution that could still make economic sense on screens, likely even as far out through the turn of the next century, or perhaps even forever after that. In fact, experts think that there is no reason to have 16K screens. At the moment, the best earliest use case for 16K, which I think AMD hits spot on, is in immersive experiences like AR and/or VR contents.
If 8K is the ultimate resolution, it makes more business sense to let 4K last for as long as it could. FHD TV reigned for around 5 years before UHD TV trends started going up. At this rate, it would seem like 8K should start trending in 2020. After that, there's really not much to look forward to. If we should go crazy to even make 16K flats mainstream by 2025, that should be about it. It would be insanity to even fool people to think that 32K would still have more to offer our biologically limited eyes and brains.
So what's my guess here? 8K will be intentionally held to give 4K its maximum business value. Resolution upgrades would have to slow down. 8K in 2025? Likely, but businesses can choose to push it further. There is no need to rush 8K. Industries still need to earn from 4K. Let that happen first.
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