Samsung and LG showed off their 8K – that's four times the pixels of 4K – televisions during the 2016 CES in Las Vegas earlier this month. Sharp, however, is already selling one for a hefty $16,000, initially in Asia.
Sharp debuted its Aquos LC-80XU930X at the 2015 CES. This is an 80-inch 4K TV sporting Sharp's Quattron technology, which has the capacity to split the pixels into four. This then enables the television to display 8K resolution.
At the moment, though, the TV cannot play native 8K content yet. Nevertheless, it has the capacity to show off photos at a near-8K resolution. In a demonstration, Sharp showed how to beef up the content's resolution from 4K to 8K content. Additionally, the upscaling works if the viewers are very close to the TV's display.
Specs And Price
In terms of specs, the TV rocks LED backlighting and an N-Black Panel, enabling the device to reduce reflections. This Android TV is equipped with Netflix, which signifies that users can stream content from Netflix upscaled to 8K. In addition, the Sharp TV is HDR compatible.
The TV is currently being marketed in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. It will also be rolled out to other countries across Asia in the near future.
Price-wise, the 8K TV has a price tag of S$23,000 (or $16,000).
Sharp's 85-inch 8K TV
In September last year, we also delved on a report about Sharp's LV-85001, the company's 85-inch 8K TV. The television's liquid crystal display features a pixel count of 7,680 x 4,320.
With regard to its price, this Sharp TV has a whopping $133,000 price tag, which means that the 8K TV will only get in the hands of the rich and famous plus big enterprises, at least initially.
What's more, the LV-85001 is fitted with the Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) technology of Sharp, which uses a low-power method for generating a broad pixel bandwidth.
"IGZO opens the door to countless breakthroughs, from crystal clear displays to lower energy and even life-changing technology of the future," said Sharp.
LG's 8K TV
Alongside the 18-inch TV with rollable display and paper-thin OLED TVs, LG's 98-inch TV, which boasts an 8K display (the UH9800 model), was also unveiled during the 2016 CES.
Samsung's 8K TV
During the event, Samsung also presented its lineup of SUHD TVs fitted with 10-bit Quantum dot implementations plus Ultra Black technology, which make the devices capable of producing clear images and minimizing glare. They come in an assortment of sizes, from 49 inches to 88 inches. They also feature curved designs without bezels.
