Samsung has unveiled its first 8K LCD TVs, ranging from 65 to 85 inches in size, under the Q900R model name. They can also hit 4000 nits peak brightness.
Samsung 8K LCD TVs
At IFA 2018, Samsung has announced that it is entering the 8K TV segment this year. In Europe with 85, 75 and 65-inch sized TVs, and in the US only with a 85-inch model – for now.
The TVs will be sold under the ”QLED 8K” monikor but these are LCD TVs. Yesterday, Samsung’s hometome rival LG announced the first 8K OLED TV for the consumer market.
- “At Samsung, we’ve worked tirelessly over the years to move the industry forward when it comes to premium picture quality, and the introduction of our QLED 8K with 8K AI Upscaling is an integral component as we look to the future of displays,” said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We’re thrilled to introduce the Q900R to consumers and are confident that they will experience nothing short of brilliance in color, clarity and sound on our new 8K-capable models.”
The company says that Q900R is also capable of 4000 nits peak brightness, which is about double of the current Samsung TVs and more than quadruple compared to OLED TVs. How the TVs control all of that brightness, is not yet clear. At CES earlier this year, Samsung unveiled a prototype with a MFA (Micro Full Array) backlight behind the LCD panel but there is no mention of MFA in the press announcement at IFA. Samsung instead refers to it as ”Direct Full Array Elite”. We are chasing details at IFA.
Samsung used the opportunity to point out that 8K resolution – 7680x4320 pixels – holds 16 times as many pixels as Full HD resolution and 4 times as many as 4K resolution, allowing for more detailed pictures. The TVs can also hit ”100% color volume” of the DCI-P3 color space.
Of course, Samsung’s 8K TVs support High Dynamic Range (HDR) but the company continues to ignore the premium Dolby Vision format. Together with Panasonic and 20th Century Fox, Samsung has formed an alliance to push the competing HDR10+ format.
What Samsung did not announce was any initiative to load up the TVs with 8K content. Besides a few user-generated videos on YouTube, there is not much to see here. Samsung claims that its ”8K AI” upscaling technology can improve non-8K sources but of course you will need actual 8K content to enjoy the benefits. The company did not comment on HDMI 2.1 either but we are chasing details.
To be clear, these are real products – not showpieces. We still do not how much they will cost but we expect them to be significantly cheaper than LG’s 8K OLED TV. Samsung also emphasized that they offer the latest smart functionality such as the Tizen operating system, the ’One Remote’, and the ’One Invisible Cable’ to an external box via a 5 meter optical cable.
Samsung Q900R will be available in 85, 75, and 65-inch sizes in Europe starting in October. The company has confirmed only a 85-inch size for the US at this point. It will be available in late September.
Update:
In Germany, the TVs will be priced at 5000, 7000 and 15000 Euro.
