While the benefits and demand for 4K continue to be assessed and discussed, Sharp have added a wild card to the mix by announcing that it is to release an 85-in 8K display. The technology was first shown at the CES show in Las Vegas earlier this year and the company is to begin taking orders in Japan next month. The screen will boast a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 and a contrast ratio of 100,000:1 with a 176 degree viewing angle.
Sales of the display are likely to be limited to companies testing the format given the product’s initial price tag of around €120,000. A consumer targeted display is unlikely to be released until sometime next year, and IHS Technology have disclosed that they would not expect 8K displays to sell more than one million units a year until 2019.
The 8K format is said to provide 16 times as many pixels as 1080p HD, and each frame contains the same level of detail as a 33.2 megapixel photograph.
NHK is the largest broadcaster in the Japan and is the only broadcasting organisation to make plans to create and broadcast 8K content. The company streamed live 8K footage from the World Cup in Brazil last year and the company has announced plans to show all of Tokyo's 2020 Olympic Games in 8K. The indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) panels will not actually be able to receive broadcasts in 8K; due to the amount of data involved the video will be fed in by four separate HDMI cables.