Samsung 8K TVs: The next-gen TV for those with a big appetite for luxury

Japanese broadcaster NHK will probably broadcast the Tokyo world cup in 8K. You can wait for it or order a Samsung 8K TV today. The decision depends on the size of your home wall, the weight of your wallet and how invested you are in the Indian cricket team.

While Netflix or Amazon will not not let you stream in 8K anytime soon (Rakuen in Japan might), Samsung’s unique value proposition is that it’s new range of 8K TVs can upscale any content to 8K. 

So, if you are going to watch India take on South Africa on a 55-inch TV and it already fills up your heart and your living room, the Samsung QLED 8K is probably not for you. It's for the people with those luxurious houses that you envy.

And in case you are one of the enviable ones, Samsung has launched a range of 8K TVs just for you. It is 65 inches at its smallest and matures up to a phenomenal 98 inches. It is nothing like the 100-inch 4K TV that American display manufacturer VU recently launched in India. Because there is nothing economical about it. You can pick up a Jaguar XE or an Audi Q3 instead of a full-size Samsung 8K TV and still have money to spare for a couple of 55-inch 4K TVs. The larger than life 98-inch home entertainment from Samsung costs a staggering ₹59,99,900. The price of the 65-inch option will be announced when it starts selling in July. 

Then there are more realistic 8K options from Samsung that fall in the middle. The 82-inch is priced at ₹16,99,900 and 75-inch at ₹10,99,900. The range minus the 65-inch model will be available at Samsung stores and its online and offline partners soon.

In comparison, Samsung’s 2019 QLED range of TVs are priced between ₹94,500 for 43-inch and ₹7,49,900 for 82-inch options.

In the absence of a competitor, Samsung’s 8K reigns supreme

So why go big with 8K?

Our obsession with bigger screens is well-documented. A 32-inch screen was a big TV a few years ago and almost nothing smaller than that sells today. Apart from the 8K TVs that starts at 65 inches, Samsung’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2018) lineup also promises to commercially roll-out The Wall — the micro-LED, 4K TVs in mind-numbingly large 146 and 219 inches. Then there’s the little brother, The Window, another 4K TV from Samsung at 75 inches. LG also showcased its 77-inch, ultra-thin (0.2 inch) 4K TV called Wallpaper series and a first-of-its-kind 65-inch rollable TV. Sony and LG are also expected to launch their 8K series in India soon, which will reportedly start at 65 inches, too. But both companies are tight-lipped on more details as of yet.

In the absence of a competitor, Samsung’s 8K reigns supreme. About the TV screens that continue to grow larger, Raju Pullan, Senior Vice President, Consumer Electronics, Samsung India, says that 65-inch and above has become the new standard in home entertainment. “While 32-inch is among are top selling TVs, people have started to see great value in bigger TVs. We are targeting a 70 per cent market share in 75-inch and above category by this Diwali.”

It also makes visual sense. When your screen at a resolution of 7680 x 4320 -- four times the resolution of a 4K TV -- fits 33 million pixels with a high pixel density of 136 pixels per inch (PPI), it is better utilised in large screens.

The Samsung 8K TVs can be installed with no gap between the back panel and the wall

4X the resolution, but what else?

Apart from upscaling lower resolution video and audio content to 8K using AI machine learning powered by a new Quantum Processor 8K, Samsung has added a few eccenteries that makes its new range more aspirational.

The Samsung 8K TVs can be installed with no gap between the back panel and the wall. A 5m long, single fibre optic cable connects to a hub, called the One Connect Box, that can be tucked away in a cabinet to minimise the clutter around the TV and elevate its aesthetically pleasing thin frame design. Everything from an Xbox to a set-top box that you connect to the hub can be controlled with a tiny, lightweight universal remote. You can also speak to the TV and Bixby 2.0, which seemed more responsive in the demo than its previous alterations, can be used to search and stream content. The new 8K TVs also support other, more popular voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant.

The screen mirroring has also gone two-way. You can mirror what’s playing TV to your phone and vice-versa. Just in case you have to step away from the live TV and you would rather not miss a moment. You can also use add a wireless keyboard and mouse and use the TV as your personal computer. Office 360 suite comes pre-installed that saves all the data on One Drive for easy access on all your devices. The TV can also sync and store pictures from your phone wirelessly. 

The 8K TV range comes with 60W speakers that should be enough to fill a large room and audio clarity is automatically synchronised with the content on display. Better vocals for news and more thump in action sequences. Samsung is also very confident about the its pixel life and the QLED 8K TVs come with a 10-year burn-in warranty, which means that “ghosts” or “watermarks” of previous images are not likely to have a bearing on you visuals once you have moved on to watching something else. 

The idle screen may be of some use to you as well. The Ambient Mode prompts the TV to provide a wallpaper that syncs with its surroundings, closely matching your wall aesthetics in colour, tone and pattern.

While we’ll be out with a full review of the 8K TV soon, the upscaled videos of a Sharpie strolling about in a park, a snail emerging out of its sand borrow and a sudden close-up of a woman’s face looked more real than I have ever seen on a TV or in a cinema projector. The peak brightness at 4,000 nits with HDR 10+ and local dimming zones optimise the picture quality to add precise detail to dark shots without meddling with its rich black background.

Samsung 8K QLED is the first real indicator of how TVs of the future will be giant and thin, blend in with the aesthetics and closely emulate reality in picture and sound. But even in the absence of 8K content, its design and AI upscaling capability makes it relevant to the present for people with a big appetite for luxury.