The market timing of 8K, I agree, is odd. Never mind "8K content," which is
almost beside the point. People who buy by the numbers will be encouraged to
wait.
But all of this is essentially pointless. The reason 4K is such a success is
obvious: the sets cost no more than 1080p sets that came before, and the 1080p
sets started disappearing from store shelves. Somewhat less compelling than the
previous upgrade, where HDTV, wide screen, flat panel sets soon ended up
costing no more than the hulking ugly CRTs that came before. No surprise that
hulking ugliness lost out in amazingly short order, as soon as price parity was
reached.
If CE vendors want to oblige, with 8K sets that cost no more than the previous
"K," obviously, they'll sell just fine. Cost no more, remove 1080p and 4K sets
from store shelves, it's a no-brainer.
Why should CE vendors bother?
Simple! It gives the consumer an excuse to buy a new set. Otherwise, he will
continue to be perfectly happy with his 1080p set. (A little less cynically,
those OLED video walls probably do need something better than 4K, but hold onto
your stomach if there's any motion going on.)
The other thing is, there are no competing special interests out there, wanting
to pay off the CE manufacturers for NOT selling these 8K sets. As was the case
with ATSC 1.0, and now 3.0.
Bert
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https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/ces-2019-was-the-8k-tv-show-for-8k-tv-vendors
CES 2019 Was The 8K TV Show – For 8K TV Vendors
Like it or not, here it comes
Stewart Wolpin Jan 18, 2019
CES 2019 will be marked as the true debut of 8K television.
In Las Vegas, four TV makers — LG, Samsung, Sony and TCL — announced they'd be
shipping 8K big screen models to North American retailers this year, like it or
not, ready or not. Other brands, including Changhong, Hisense, Sharp and
Skyworth, fronted their LVCC booths with 8K prototypes, likely waiting to gauge
sales by the top tier brands before announcing their own U.S. 8K product plans.
While there was boastful excitement amongst the 8K TV vendors in Las Vegas —
several banded together at CES to form the 8K Alliance — excitement among
retailers, the industry and consumers at large is questionable.
This lack of excitement is reflected by 8K sales forecasts. CTA projects than
200,000 8K TVs would be sold in the U.S. this year compared to projected sales
of 22.2 million 4K sets, growing to a mere 1.5 million 8K units in 2022. But
there are those who believe these and other similar 8K forecasts are
optimistic. A couple of months ago, Samsung forecast North America 8K sales of
just 100,000 units in 2019, and only 759,000 sets in 2022.
"8K [is] just another distraction encouraging customers to second guess that
aspirational 4K purchase," opined Robert Cole, founder and CEO of
Philadelphia-based World Wide Stereo. "My guys on the floor learned quickly not
to lead with the 8K story. The presentation was more about it being
future-proof with the best technology available. As more 8K TVs are released,
the story will evolve."
“Considering there is no content for 8K at the moment and the technology hasn't
been standardized, making the leap isn't for everyone,” agreed Jon Abt,
co-president of Glenview, Ill.-based Abt Electronics, which has sold around a
dozen of the first Samsung 8K model. "It's certainly at a very early adopter
stage at the moment, but the upscaling from 4K is promising for today's buyers.
There will be an influx of sets in 2019 at lower price points, which should
open the market up.”
“We were one of two retailers in Texas to receive Samsung’s first 8K TV," said
Kris Dybdahl, VP of Bjorn’s Audio Video. "We have sold one or two already to
our early adopters. It looks great with the internal 8K demo content, as well
as the up-converted content that we play on it on a daily basis.
"However, in a perfect world I wish the manufacturers would have held off a
little while longer before trotting out 8K," Dybdahl continued. "By bringing 8K
out so quickly after 4K, when most people still don’t have a 4K set yet, I
think causes confusion in the customers mind — even the possibility of should I
wait to see if there will be 16K?”
Here's a rundown of the 8K sets announced at CES and scheduled to go on sale
this year:
LG: Five 8K models are coming from LG in the second half of 2019, with pricing
likely coming in June: the 88-inch Z9 OLED, and four LCD-based NanoCell models
— SM80, SM85, SM90 and SM95. All five LG 8K sets will be imbued with the
company's ThinQ smart home platform and Google Assistant, DolbyVision HDR and
LG's next-gen Alpha 9 processor designed to enhance up-conversion.
Samsung: First to market with 8K last fall, Samsung has already started
pre-sales on four new QLED 8K models, all equipped with HDR10+, adaptive
brightness and sound technologies, as well as Apple AirPlay 2 and iTunes
support: a 65-inch ($4,999), 75-inch ($6,999), 82-inch ($9,999) and 85-inch
($14,999). Samsung also displayed a 98-inch QLED model, but with no word on
when or how much.
Sony: The company silently debuted 85- and 98-inch versions of its XBR Master
Series Z9G 8K Android TV LCD models. While both sets are already listed on the
company's web site, there is no word on when or how much.
TCL: As its CES press event, TCL announced two models — a 75-inch Roku-enabled
8-Series set equipped with QLED and quantum contrast technologies and a Roku
hardware reference design that TCL is the first to license, as well as the Q10
QLED Android TV. Only the Roku 8K model is scheduled to be sold in the U.S.,
however, but in what potential additional sizes, when and at what price TCL
hasn't said.
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