Sharp reveals TVs that go beyond 4K, and an 8K set from the future

Sharp
You mean there's a BEYOND 4K?

Sharp has outed its 2015 TV line-up at CES 2015, and right at the top is its 'Beyond 4K' TV.

While the native resolution of Sharp's Beyond 4K TVs are still the UHD standard, Sharp's Quattron tech splits pixels into more subpixels than the 3-subpixel standard.

Sharp says this gets you 66 million sub pixels instead of the usual 42 million when dealing with a 4K-resolution set. It claims this gets you higher-resolution images than other 4K TVs. How big is it? Sharp hasn't told us yet.

8K all the way

If that all sounds like a bit of a gimmick to you, Sharp is also showing off the real deal: an 8K resolution LCD TV.

Sharp says it's the first 8K TV to offer compliance with the standards of 8K test broadcasts, due to hit Japan in 2016. So, yes, it'll be a while before we see 8K hit BBC iPlayer.

The Sharp 8K TV is 85 inches across and, for the numbers fans, boasts a native resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels. It also offers 120Hz refresh rate and 12-bit colour.

And for the normal people...

For those with normal-size wallets and bank accounts that don't resemble Scrooge McDuck's gold swimming pool, Sharp also offers a bunch of normal 4K TVs for 2015.

The company says it is quadrupling the number of 4K TVs it produces, with models all the way from 43 inches all the way up to 80 inches. 4K is quickly becoming the standard for new TVs.

The higher-end models in Sharp's 2015 line-up all use Google's Android TV platform, which should get you some of the most advanced smart TV features available right now.

Sharp hasn't announced exact release date info for any of these TVs. But if you're hankering after an 8K LCD, you may have to wait a while.

Andrew Williams

Andrew is a freelance journalist and has been writing and editing for some of the UK's top tech and lifestyle publications including TrustedReviews, Stuff, T3, TechRadar, Lifehacker and others.