LG just announced that it will stop making 8K TVs, following similar moves from Sony last year and TCL in 2023. Among major manufacturers, Samsung is the only holdout still making super-high-resolution TVs, and it hasn’t exactly been zealous in promoting them. 8K isn’t technically dead, but for anyone seriously shopping for a big screen, it might as well be. And that’s completely fine. It could even be seen as good news, because it means less to worry about in future-proofing your home theater. Let’s examine why 8K is failing, and what that means for you.
From SD to 8K: How the Pixels Shake Out
Before high-definition (HD) was even a term, TVs had a standard resolution of 640 by 480, or about 300,000 pixels. When HDTV formats settled on 1080p (1,920 by 1,080), the pixel count rose to about 2 million. 4K, the current TV standard, is 3,840 by 2,160, or about 8.3 million pixels. Finally, 8K TVs have a resolution of 7,860 by 4,320, or about 34 million total pixels.
In other words, the jump from SD to HD increased the number of pixels on our TVs by more than sixfold, and since then, each step up has quadrupled that number.
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8K Makes No Difference From the Couch
If you remember upgrading from SD to HD, you were probably struck by how much sharper it looked, especially when viewing 1080p content like a Blu-ray to really show it off. And after that, if you upgraded to a 4K TV and watched compatible content on a streaming service or an Ultra HD Blu-ray, you probably noticed the improved detail from 1080p. You’d think the same thing would happen with 8K.
Our eyes don’t work that way, though, and that’s one of the biggest reasons 8K hasn’t caught on. Researchers at the University of Cambridge found that humans, on average, can see 94 pixels per degree (ppd), with some of the best vision reaching 120ppd. They also made an online calculator to figure out your TV’s resolution in ppd. According to that tool, a 65-inch 4K TV viewed from eight feet away has an average of 114ppd. In other words, unless you have the vision of an eagle, your 4K TV might already be just right for what your eyes are capable of.
That research confirms what I’ve seen covering 8K TVs. I’ve tested several, and every time I’ve come to the same conclusion: Yes, it’s sharper if I get really close and squint, but I can’t quite notice the difference from the couch. Even if there are fine details in the picture that can only be seen in 8K, that doesn’t mean I’m going to notice them unless I’m really looking for them. And while I love a good pause-and-zoom to find easter eggs in movies, I’m not going to do that when I’m just casually watching something.
8K TVs Cost More—and Can Actually Look Worse
The most recent 8K TV I tested was Samsung’s QN990F, a high-end QLED model with strong contrast and color. I watched some 8K video that Samsung provided, and also went through my usual collection of 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays, including the Spears & Munsil Ultra HD benchmark disc. Samsung’s 8K demo footage featured colorful scenes loaded with detail to show off the TV’s resolution and color range, similar to the Spears & Munsil disc. Between the two, I could only tell that the 8K footage was any sharper by pausing it and physically getting within a foot or two of the TV. Both looked great on the QN990F, but I didn’t really see any difference with the 8K resolution.
I also tested the QN90F, Samsung’s top-of-the-line 4K QLED TV. Despite being a flagship model, the QN90F is much cheaper than the QN990F. The 4K TV is currently available for $2,299.99 for 85 inches, while the 8K model is $3,799.99 for the same size. That’s a huge premium for extra pixels that you probably won’t notice.
The less expensive QN90F was also significantly brighter in my testing, at 2,257 nits, compared with the QN990F’s 1,608 nits. To be fair, both were preproduction models. That said, both were finalized enough that Samsung was confident in letting me spend a couple of hours testing them with my own equipment. So not only is the 8K TV more expensive, it isn’t as bright. That means the cheaper 4K TV can actually look better, since it has better dynamic range and contrast.
Simply put, 8K TVs are more expensive and might not even look as good as 4K.
There’s Nothing to Watch in 8K
Remember how I said Samsung provided 8K demo footage for testing the QN990F? That’s because there isn’t any real 8K content available to TV watchers. At all. There isn’t even a consistent, user-friendly way to get 8K content. If you want to watch 4K shows or movies, you can use almost any major streaming service or buy a physical Ultra HD Blu-ray (so long as you have a compatible player like a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X). 4K has been a solved problem for several years, so you really don’t have to worry about compatibility or availability.
The Best 4K TVs We’ve Tested
But 8K? For half a decade, I’ve been waiting for some announcement of 8K content on any streaming service, or a single physical media format that supports it. I’ve even kept my ear to the ground for studios or directors optimistic about 8K as a canvas for their work. And so far, there’s nothing available, and nothing on the way. Disney isn’t going to start putting MCU and Star Wars movies out in 8K on Disney+. James Cameron isn’t going to release the fourth Avatar movie on an 8K Blu-ray disc. There isn’t even an 8K Blu-ray disc to put anything on! YouTube supports 8K video, but good luck finding anything that isn’t just demo footage trying to show off the resolution.
8K has four times as many pixels as 4K, so there’s that much more visual data to process, store, and transfer. That means higher speed and consistency requirements if you want to stream 8K, and higher storage density if you want to get 8K in any physical media. The former I’ve only seen in some YouTube experimentation. The latter? I hope you like USB drives, because discs aren’t happening.
There’s simply no way for your favorite shows and movies to reach you in 8K, and there are no plans to make it happen any time soon. In other words, even if you get an 8K TV, you’re going to be watching 4K or even lower-resolution video on it. Every so often, there’s word about a test broadcast or stream in 8K, usually around the Olympics, but it doesn’t really amount to anything (and I haven’t heard anything about the 2026 games being shown in 8K).
But maybe you’re a PC gamer! You have a really powerful gaming PC that can push 8K resolution. First off, congratulations. Second, is that what you want to use that processing power on? The requirements for actually rendering a game in 8K in real time are even higher than for streaming 8K video. Maybe you can play games at 8K on your $6,000 PC and get 30 frames per second. Wouldn’t you rather hit 4K90, or even 1080p240? Details are great, but smooth and consistent frame rates are just as important, if not more so. You’ll have a better time dropping down that resolution for improved performance.
4K Won—and So Did We
Samsung might still be carrying the 8K torch, but not with much enthusiasm. The company debuted a single new 8K model at CES, and it was completely overshadowed by the flagship 4K TVs it showed off, like the S95H, which earned our Best of CES award.
8K TVs are effectively dead, and it’s no great loss. A move to 8K has been looming for several years as the next big step in TVs, but in that time, all we’ve gotten to show for it are too-expensive TVs with no media to take advantage of all those extra pixels, which are going to be wasted on most people’s eyes anyway. So if you’ve been holding out on buying a 4K TV, now’s the time.
About Our Expert
I’m PCMag’s home theater and AR/VR expert, and your go-to source of information and recommendations for game consoles and accessories, smart displays, smart glasses, smart speakers, soundbars, TVs, and VR headsets. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and THX-certified home theater technician, I’ve served as a CES Innovation Awards judge, and while Bandai hasn’t officially certified me, I’m also proficient at building Gundam plastic models up to MG-class. I also enjoy genre fiction writing, and my urban fantasy novel, Alex Norton, Paranormal Technical Support, is currently available on Amazon.
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