Sharp is selling an '8K' TV in Asia for $16,000
The Sharp Aquos LC-80XU930X is a 4K Android-powered TV that uses a technology that upscales its resolution to 8K.
This 80-inch TV will have your eyeballs filled up with pixels -- if you can afford one for your living room.
Making its debut at CES 2015, Sharp's Aquos LC-80XU930X is an 80-inch 4K TV that features the company's Quattron technology that splits the TV's pixels into four, allowing it to display 8K resolution. While this sounds gimmicky, the technology actually does work -- though with some caveats.
For one, it's not capable of playing native 8K content, though at this stage finding said native content is difficult. It can, however, display pictures at a near-8K resolution and will upscale 4K content to 8K. Many scoff at upscaling, and we know there's always a limit to how much upscaling can do, but the demo from Sharp proves this works quite well, giving videos a noticeable boost in resolution.
Of course, this only works if you're very close to the screen. We question how much a difference you'll spot when you're at a comfortable viewing distance and not 1 inch away from the TV.
For now, Sharp isn't selling the the LC-80XU930X anywhere outside of Asia. In Singapore, the TV will retail for S$23,000, which converts to $16,000, £11,000 and AU$23,000. It's also already being sold in Japan and Malaysia, and will soon be available in other countries throughout region.
8K is cool, but any other features?
The Sharp TV is powered by Android TV and comes packed with Netflix, which means you'll be able to watch 4K content from Netflix upscaled to 8K. Lastly, the TV panel also uses a new material called "N-Black Panel" which helps minimise reflections.
Check out the key specs below.
- 80-inch 4K display with 8K upscaling
- LED backlight
- Android TV
- N-Black Panel
- HDR compatible