Should I buy an 8K TV? What you need to know about 8K TV
Choosing an 8K TV is not an easy task as there are many brands and models available. However, in this guide you will be able to learn some tips to be able to choose the one that best suits your needs and some recommended models to always make the right purchase.
Here you will see 10 things to consider when buying an 8K TV to avoid making mistakes with your purchase:
1. Price range
The more money you spend, the better features you get on your 8K TV, but this isn’t always the case as some brands offer a great deal at affordable prices. However, it is important to keep in mind that a cheap TV should always be inferior in quality or performance.
2. TV size
Bigger is better. Better. Although you should know that the size of the screen depends on the distance from which you will look at the screen in question. For this reason, it would be appropriate for you to calculate how far the distance between the sofa or armchairs and the screen is.
3. Display panel or technology type
As you know, you have several options on the market right now, but two of the most popular are LCD LED and OLED. It has both benefits and harms.
| Specs | QLED | OLED | LED |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | Good | Perfect | Good |
| Motion Blur | Very good | Perfect | Good |
| Viewing angle | Poor | Good | Good |
| Color | Very good | Good | Good |
| Uniformity of gray | Medium | Good | Medium |
| Luminosity | Very good | Good | Very good |
| Image retention | Very good | Poor | Very good |
| Price | High | Medium | Low |
Price
LED TVs are cheaper than OLED TVs, but OLED prices are falling a lot as the technology matures.
Image
LED TVs are backlit, meaning a light shines through a crystal panel to create the image. OLED TVs have no backlight. Instead, each pixel in an OLED TV turns on, off, and adjusts on its own. The result is a much better and more realistic image, especially in terms of blacks.
Brightness
Both LEDs and OLEDs work well in brightly lit environments, but LEDs will always outperform OLEDs in this regard, as OLEDs may be better for rooms where the lighting is dimmer.
Contrast
Shadow detail is worse because LED TVs cannot be completely dimmed thanks to the backlit panel. With OLED, colors pop, black is true black, and contrast and shadow detail are lifelike.
Black levels
The deeper the blacks, the better the contrast. And the better the contrast, the better the image. Additionally, it’s not just the depth of the blacks that make a great image, it’s the detail in the blacks. Bottom line: no competition here, OLED nails blacks. However, the colors will not be as vibrant as before.
Size
Both LED and OLED TVs are thin, but OLED is thinner so may be better for integrating in places where there isn’t much space or aesthetics. For example, to hang it on the wall as a painting. However, the differences aren’t so egregious that we’ll ditch the LEDs just for that.
Viewpoints
Both LEDs and OLEDs have good viewing angles. The LEDs are even a little better, so if you want to sit sideways to see the screen you’ll be fine. You don’t have to be right in front of it to see it well and the image is not distorted.
Refresh rate
Nowadays, technology has advanced and matured in all types of panels and they can be used to display almost anything on the screen. Images are also fast, as the refresh and replacement rates are quite good.
4. Display technologies
LED-LCD
LED display is a type of display technology that uses small LEDs or light-emitting diodes to backlight the screen. LED displays have advantages such as their superior brightness, vivid colors, good viewing angles and features, as well as their efficiency compared to other technologies. However, gradually some alternatives emerged that pushed LCD LED technology into the background.
OLED
OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) is a type of panel technology mainly developed by LG and Sony. It uses a type of organic LED to display the image. These organic LEDs produce their own light instead of using an array of white LEDs for backlighting like traditional LED displays.
This way, the illumination of the image can be better controlled and each pixel that makes up the screen can be turned off or on independently, creating better contrasts between light and dark areas as well as a purer black color. If you look at a traditional LED screen, you will see that when displaying a black image it is not true black, but a kind of shiny dark gray because the backlight is on and not turned off.
There’s another advantage to managing its pixels this way, and that’s that it consumes less energy than displays that need an always-on backlight matrix.
Although OLED technology has become very popular in high-end televisions, it also has its drawbacks. One of the weak points is its durability, which deteriorates more quickly because it has organic materials. However, the reliability of these displays is slowly improving, allowing them to last 5 years or more. There are also negative effects such as ghost images or image burn-in.
QLED
They are also based on LED technology, but these QLED (Quantum Dot LED) displays developed by Samsung are an alternative to OLED. In this case, an LED illumination matrix with blue light is used instead of white, that is, the same as a conventional LED, but changes the illumination color to blue. On the other hand, it is similar to OLED in that the quantum dots can be controlled independently.
In other words, it’s a panel similar to traditional LED, but with OLED’s advantages of being able to better control lighting and display more realistic blacks. However, it is not without its disadvantages. One of them is that it contains carcinogenic and environmentally hazardous substances such as cadmium. Another problem is that it has lower contrast level than OLED, poorer viewing angle, worse response time, less energy efficiency, less blue tone purity, etc.
Nanocell
Nanocell or nanocell is a type of LCD technology like QLED and LED. However, they have some differences, such as a layer of cells sandwiched between two layers of electrodes. While the electrodes are in direct contact with the cells, the cells are not in direct contact with each other. Thus, the cells are less sensitive to image retention and their lifespan is much longer. Additionally, the cells have a higher contrast ratio than traditional LED LCD TVs. Slowly this LG technology is getting cheaper and cheaper and soon they will reach the values current OLEDs have, so it is another technology to consider.
5. Resolution
While 4K is a good resolution for most users, in this article we’re focusing on 8K TVs, which can be beneficial when choosing a widescreen display to see with higher image quality even when you get closer. Pixels will have a higher density.
However, regardless of the resolution, it is important that it is compatible with HDR (High Dynamic Range). This technology significantly improves image quality, so it is important that it or one of its new versions supports it.
With HDR, color on a TV stays true to form. Without HDR, a TV cannot realistically reproduce certain colors. Really, what HDR does for a TV is so stunningly amazing that it’s worth digging deeper.
6. Refresh rate
Refresh rate is measured in Hz, and the faster or higher the rate, the smoother the image, meaning it’s ideal for sports, gaming, and movies. However, most current upper mid-range TVs have a good refresh rate, so this is something you shouldn’t worry about too much.
7. Response Time
On the other hand, there is response time, which should not be confused with refresh rate. In this case, it is measured in milliseconds (ms) and is the speed at which pixels change or change color. The faster, that is, the less ms, the better.
8. Contrast Ratio
Contrast ratios are something that every brand rates differently (there is no standard), and some don’t even mention contrast ratios. It’s an underrated feature when comparing TVs, so you shouldn’t pay too much attention to this value when comparing 8K TVs either.
9. Smart TV operating system
Smart televisions or Smart TVs are quite common nowadays. In fact, high-end ones like 8K rarely will, as will traditional TVs. In addition, having a Smart TV is always a guarantee of having an Internet connection to expand the capabilities of your television, installing additional applications and video games such as Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and others.
There are currently several operating systems for Smart TVs. These smart TVs come with operating systems such as:
- webOS: It is a Linux-based operating system currently developed by LG. All LG smart TVs are equipped with some version of webOS. It also has very easy-to-use menus, is intuitive, and has a great app and games store that you can use to easily install everything you need. And as if that wasn’t enough, since it’s such a popular operating system, you have plenty of help tutorials on the Internet if you need it.
- Android TV: It is an Android (from Google with Linux kernel) specifically for televisions and also has a simple interface. The most interesting thing about this operating system is that you can have a large number of compatible applications and games. However, they will not be the same as on Google Play on a smartphone or tablet, as some applications will not work, which would make no sense on a smart TV. This operating system is usually available from Philips, Sony, Panasonic, etc. Available on 8K TVs not from LG or Samsung.
- Tizen OS: This operating system is also Linux-based, but its main developer is Samsung. It also equips this company’s smart televisions. While it’s a little less user-friendly than its predecessors, it’s a pretty good operating system with a decent amount of help on the net.
10. Connection and ports
The right TV cables and ports really make a difference. It’s important that your Smart TV has plenty of ports and connectivity options, as this will depend on the number of peripheral devices you can connect and how you can connect to the network.
You should note that they must have at least a few USB ports so that they can connect external storage such as flash drives, hard drives with multimedia content and more. Game controllers, RF receivers, etc. You will also find other USB devices compatible with Smart TVs, such as
Look for models with multiple HDMI ports on your TV. This is important because Apple TV, Android TV Box, Fire TV, etc. many devices, audio equipment, external displays, PCs, etc. It connects to your television through this type of port, among other things like. You should also ask about HDCP support (for high bandwidth digital content). The next generation is called HDCP 2.2, and not only is it backwards compatible, but many new devices don’t even support it.
Bluetooth connectivity might also be an option, but it’s not that important. This type of connection may be used for certain controls or control peripherals and some external audio devices connected this way. But it’s also not the most important connection there is. It is better to have USB and HDMI.
The important thing is that it has an Ethernet port over RJ45 and WiFi. This way, you can choose how to connect the TV to the Internet, either through the stability provided by the cable or the wireless connection provided by WiFi.
11. Voice
Sound bars, Home Theater etc. Although devices are available, it is important that the 8K TV has a good built-in sound system. If you don’t plan on purchasing any of these extra elements, you should enjoy quality sound every day. For this, it is important to pay close attention to the speakers, their power, and the types of sound and technologies your future TV will have.
12. remote control
Don’t buy a TV just because you like its remote control. You can upgrade your remote at any time, and some of the new third-party remotes are truly impressive. However, if you use this other parameter to choose between two TVs that are very similar in terms of the above, it may be a good idea.