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Meet the Samsung Q900 8K TV and its 33 million pixels

The first 8K TV to ship in the US is 85 inches huge. Take a closer look.

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David Katzmaier
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1 of 19 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Samsung's 85-inch Q900, unveiled at the IFA trade show in Berlin, will be the first TV with 8K resolution available for sale in the US.

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8K resolution means there are more than 33 million pixels on the screen -- four times as many pixels as conventional 4K TVs, delivering more detail.

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Samsung says the extra resolution is important for extremely large sizes like 85 inches. That claim is debatable, however, since 4K TVs are extremely detailed already. 

For more on that, check out 8K TV: What you need to know.

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This isn't nearly close enough to see individual 8K pixels, even on an 85-inch TV. Since there's basically no 8K content available, the Q900 uses fancy upscaling aided by artificial intelligence, according to Samsung, to improve the look of lower resolution 1080p and 4K video.

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Resolution aside, the Q900 has all of the image quality extras of Samsung's best QLED TVs, the Q9 series, including full-array local dimming.

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The "Q" in QLED stands for quantum dots, designed to improve color and brightness. Don't confuse it with OLED.

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The Q900 will be Samsung's brightest TV yet at 4,000 nits in HDR highlights.

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Like other QLED TVs, the Q900 will have a wide color gamut for more realistic HDR colors.

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Little side feet are standard on modern TVs.

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Like other 2018 QLED TVs the Q900 features hidden wiring, in this case an umbilical to a hidden OneConnect box with all the inputs.

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A wide view of one wide TV.

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The full-array backlight and massive size mean it's not as thin as some other TVs.

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Although the 85-inch Q900 is the only 8K TV announced by Samsung for US market, it will ship other sizes to Europe and elsewhere globally.

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Details on those other sizes are scarce, but we know one will be an 82 incher.

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Bet you can guess another size...

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Globally they'll be available in sizes as small as 65 inches.

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The smaller ones are also QLED.

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We don't know much about their specifications yet, however.

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The 85-inch Q900 will go on sale in the US in October, and the other sizes will hit globally around the same time. Pricing was not announced.

IFA 2018: The key announcements from the summer's biggest tech show.

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