An 8K Ultra High Definition (UHD) resolution display offers twice the resolution of 4K - meaning a display can be four times as large without losing any clarity. Photo / Getty Images
An 8K Ultra High Definition (UHD) resolution display offers twice the resolution of 4K - meaning a display can be four times as large without losing any clarity. Photo / Getty Images
Samsung’s 2023 range of TVs, launched last week, includes the Neo QLED in 8K and 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD).
Where 4K - now supported by almost every new TV - offers four times the resolution of standard high definition, 8K offers four times the resolution again - or 16times the quality of standard HD.
8K is no fad, like 3D or curved screens. It’s inevitable that one day, all content will be shot and broadcast (or streamed) in 8K.
But for mainstream content, that day is still a long time away, but there’s still a rationale to consider it (which we’ll get to shortly).
The global streaming services have supported 4K for some time - and Netflix has released technical specifications to production companies indicating that it wants to phase in 8K streaming between 2024 and 2026 (it’s anticipated that 8K content will chew through 45 gigabytes per hour so an unlimited UFB fibre plan will be must.)
A number of movies have already been shot in raw 8K, ready for the time when 8K streaming arrives - including the likes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Moonfall, but Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ were vague on when they would introduce support for the higher resolution, even before the current round of belt-tightening.
And in terms of local content, the likes of TVNZ, Discovery (Three) and Sky still broadcast and scream in standard HD. It’s not clear when they’ll step up to 4K, let alone 8K quality (the new Sky Box supports 4K, but Sky itself to offer any 4K channels, or support 4K for its Neon or Sky Sport Now apps).
An 8K Ultra High Definition (UHD) resolution display offers twice the resolution of 4K - meaning a display can be four times as large without losing any clarity. Photo / Getty Images
Samsung did partner with Amazon Prime Video to produce an 8K trailer for Rings of Power. But the company is open about it being a show-pony outlier.
And it’s hard to make a case for future-proofing when an 8K model costs between $11,000 ( for a 65-inch model) and $18,000 (85-inch). Prices will be somewhere well south of that if you wait a couple of years.
Nevermind. Samsung has fashioned an 8K pitch that’s independent of content availability: “TVs are getting bigger, but your living room isn’t.”
The idea is that as screens have got larger, you’ve had to push your couch further back to get the best picture. But unless you’re remodelling, there’s a limit to that strategy.
But with 4K or 8K, you don’t need to place your recliner X number of metres away from a 65-inch, 75-inch, 85-inch or larger display. You can stand with your snout right against an 8K screen and still not see any pixelation.
Why plump for OLED?
Samsung was first to 8K and has featured the technology for a few years now. Perhaps more interesting, in terms of its 2023 lineup, is its more recent move to embrace OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays. On its top-shelf TVs, it’s been coupled with the firm’s Quantum Dot technology, for what it calls QD-OLED. OLED has formerly only featured on Samsung’s higher-end phones.
One of the toughest critics around, the New York Times’ Wirecutter, is firmly in Camp OLED.
“If you want the best-looking TV image that money can buy, choose an OLED TV,” Wirecutter wrote last month.
“Thanks to a panel design that’s fundamentally different from LCD [liquid crystal display] TVs, OLED TVs naturally produce perfectly inky black levels, highly saturated colors, smooth motion, and superior viewing angles. In short, OLED TVs provide the best picture quality around - but they’re priced accordingly.”
Wirecutter gave Samsung’s S95B as the best OLED TV, saying it “has the best bright-room performance we’ve found from an OLED, which makes this TV viable to use in almost any viewing environment, not just a darkened room. The quantum dot color can make games and sports look deliciously vivid, while the Filmmaker Mode delivers a satisfyingly accurate, filmlike picture for movies.”
One of the only criticisms was that the S95B range tops out at 65 inches. The S95C launched in NZ this week adds a 77-inch model (the full lineup is a 55-inch model for $6099, 65 inches for $7499 and that new 77-inch option for $10,999).
What’s better than one Bluetooth? Bluetooths
Or should that be Blueteeth? A multi-output audio feature on Samsung’s 2023 range lets your TV connect to two pairs of Bluetooth headphones, buds or speakers at once (or a mix and match), with each listener able to independently adjust their volume. It sounds like a boon if one listener is hearing impaired, or if you’re both watching a football game in the middle of the night and don’t want to wake up the rest of the household.
What is the most popular streaming content?
All of Samung’s TVs feature a Smart Hub home screen where apps like Netflix, and YouTube rub shoulders with broadcast channels - the sort of Smart TV setup that’s been around for a few years now, making Sky’s new app-supporting Sky Box look a bit un-revolutionary.
There are a couple of interesting points here. One is that Samsung cheerfully touts Smart Hub’s support for Apple’s Apple TV+ app (where, if you shell out for a monthly subscription, you can watch the likes of Ted Lasso and Shrinking. It’s a change of pace from the Samsung-Apple rivalry in smartphones.
Apps displaying on a Samsung Neo QLED 8K's Smart Hub screen. Photo / File
The other is the growing amount available via Samsung TV Plus - a free streaming service for Samsung TV owners that draws on a quirky collection of 60 content services, from the high-brow (Bloomberg Television and the Smithsonian Channel) to the monobrow (Baywatch and various channels where Paris Hilton and 80s music videos feature large). There’s also The Rugby Network, which features games from the North American Major League Rugby competition (where New York United features several ex-All Blacks).
No update to The Frame TV this year. But they did have one on a remote-controlled swivel - the better to view art (or a TikTok) in portrait pic.twitter.com/gtptrp99kX
Samsung NZ says Baywatch is the most popular show on Samsung TV Plus. That’s rather ironic, given its 1990s production values are not exactly the best showcase for a 2020s big-screen TV, even with upscaling smarts. While 4K content streamed from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+ looks stunning on a large screen, the flip side is that a larger display also cruelly exposes the limitations of older, lower-resolution channels. Some Sky TV channels look downright bad; it’s a shame the broadcaster won’t offer 4K content through its “4K-ready” new Sky Box.
With its eclectic range of content, Samsung TV Plus is good knockabout fun in an age of constant price increases for commercial streaming services.
But as the way we consume our TV shifts more and more from broadcast channels, the positioning of apps on smart TV home screens is going to become more and more political. Across the Tasman, the Australian Government is already pushing smart TV makers to prioritise the positioning of local services.
