Sharp now has an 8K TV in its line-up

If you have a 4K TV and are feeling great about it, Sharp has something to prick your ego — an 8K TV.

The 70-inch TV with 7680x4320 pixels hit the European markets at €11,999. But isn’t a 70-inch TV a little too big for your living room?

Sascha Lange, Sharp’s Vice-President, Marketing and Sales, had a valid reason for bringing the giant into our homes.

An 8K TV has approximately 33.18 million pixels, which means that even if the TV is huge, Lange says you can sit close enough and still view the content without pixellation. And he also quoted a survey that said sales of 60 to 69-inch TVs were growing the fastest at 37 per cent, followed by 70-plus-inch TVs at 35 per cent. Lange also said that the pictures look much sharper — almost like 3D without glasses.

Multiple ports

The LV-70X500E from Sharp has eight HDMI ports. Four of the ports support 4K and 2K content, while the other four support 8K content. Though at present, the HDMI 2.0 supports only 4K, the 8K ports will have to wait for HDMI 2.1 cables that are just beginning to hit the market.

Lange said 4K videos can be converted to 8K resolution and pictures above 4K can be displayed at the same resolution.

The LV-70X500E is not a smart TV. You will have to connect a Chromecast or Apple TV to make it ‘smart’. Naturally, Sharp calls it an ‘8K Monitor’.

Yes, with most content providers just beginning to generate 4K content, 8K content is rare. But Sharp is helping in generating it initially. A sports event is likely to be filmed in 8K and Sharp is supplying 8K cameras.

With not much content going around and with the high price tag, the 8K TV is likely to find its place in the medical field, for now (high-resolution images and scans).

Given the pricing and content scarcity, it is unlikely that consumers will rush to bring this into their living rooms; at least not at present.

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