In the flesh: 145 inches of 8K Super Hi-Vision
August 29, 2012
Panasonic and NHK's 145-inch 8K display
Image Gallery (5 images)I see your 84-inch 4K TV, and raise you one 145-inch 8K Super Hi-Vision monster of a display. First seeing light of day back in April, this collaborative effort from Panasonic and Japanese national broadcaster NHK has a resolution of 7680 x 4320 (more than 33 million pixels), and, being a plasma screen, is the first 8K display without need of a backlight. Naturally, Gizmag jumped at the chance to see it in the flesh at IFA 2012.
It has to be said that as fair as banquet table-sized televisions go, this is a good one. Showing a rotating loop of blossoming trees, strutting peacocks, captive lions and shiny clocks with elaborate mechanisms, the epic TV is hiding in a dark, isolated corner of Panasonic's hall at IFA 2012.
The display is mounted behind a bed of pebbles (emanating unmistakable "keep off" vibes) calculated to be comfortably deeper than the reach of a leaning technology journalist holding a camera on maximum zoom at arm's length (determined to find evidence that the thing actually has pixels. Needless to say, photos don't do it justice. The colors of the plasma display are vibrant, too.
Still, there's one thing to be said for more sensibly-sized (relatively, that is) 4K televisions. They're at least hitting the market soon ... though the availability of 4K content is still likely to be a chain dragger.
James is a graduate of the Open University, with a B.Sc. in Technology and a Diploma in Design and Innovation. After a decade in building design engineering, he side-stepped into writing about green tech and the environment. When not clattering about the web, he listens to early 90s hip hop, writes bad haiku and ponders the merits of an English three-man seam attack. All articles by James Holloway
No doubt awesome, but it will be a long time before the rest of the video pipeline (cameras, NLE suites, broadcast capabilities) will catch up. In fact, one wonders how long a video could be recorded on a dual-side, double layer Blu-Ray disk - the files will be, what, 16X the size of today's 1078 HD? And Google would have to buy the state of Rhode Island and cover it with server farms to accommodate You Tube videos at this resolution.
Bob Fately30th August, 2012 @ 09:13 am PDT
Get up to speed, Bob. Though I've been a DirecTV subscriber since their 3rd month on the street in 1994, the 1080p content I presently watch from them is either streamed or downloaded directly - as I do with iTunes and my AppleTV. Via broadband not satellite.
But, my DVR [an HR24] has sufficient hard drive space dedicated to DirecTV's use that a couple dozen of the latest films are always on hand in 1080p to watch as instant PPV.
Point being that those are downloaded via broadband connection at night when there ain't much happening in the living room anyway. That's a process which can provide 4K cinema to my next TV - if and when I buy one with that capability. And there are beaucoup films available that can be downloaded at that resolution without resorting to optical media.
Sharp should have a set on the market this autumn - and I have my fingers crossed for the Apple TV set when it becomes available. I'd love to have that level of movie-watching in the home.
8K? Yeah - you're right. Long-time coming; but, that's what we all said when NHK started processing HDTV.
Eideard30th August, 2012 @ 12:00 pm PDT
The power consumption of such a unit might be worse than a mortgage. Current plasma displays are power hogs and i wonder if anything has been considered in that regard.
Jim Sadler30th August, 2012 @ 12:49 pm PDT
Not gonna improve the content of TV shows though...
Captain Obvious30th August, 2012 @ 04:47 pm PDT
bob...have u heard of dish network..?better service and no b.s. about the price
Steven Murphy1st September, 2012 @ 12:50 am PDT
The application i see for this is as a virtual window. I wouldn't pay 30 grand (at a guess), or the electricity bills, but i might pay a premium on a meal or a drink, if my table was beside a 'window' in Bangkok, or Fiji, or Antarctica. Then the supplier only needs a few cameras and regularly updated feeds of at least a couple of hours each. Any takers on that biz idea?
Kim Holder1st September, 2012 @ 12:36 pm PDT
Getting closer to having real time displays instead of windows.
Intellcity2nd September, 2012 @ 03:00 pm PDT
Tablet and also PC monitor need higher resolutions.
and plasma is comfortable compared to LED to the eyes.
i hope they look at this market
Utomo Prawiro7th September, 2012 @ 04:53 pm PDT
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Yawn. 1080i is good enough for me. Wifey woudn't let me get a 145 inch TV anyway, and where would I put it?
Clay Jones30th August, 2012 @ 09:11 am PDT