Sharp has unveiled its first commercially-available 8K TV set is going on sale on October 30. Of course that's commercially-available not commercially-viable.
This enorm-o-TV is some 85-inches across the diagonal and is reportedly going on sale for 16million Yen.
By way of a straight conversion that clocks it in around $132,000 or £86,000.
The Sharp LV-85001 has a 16:9 IGZO IPS panel, with a the 8K resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 and a potential frame rate of up to 120Hz.
In order to hit that super resolution though the panel needs four HDMI 2.0 inputs, each bringing in a full 4K signal. The TV then brings the images together as one coherent picture tiled on the screen.
Much like the initial 4K monitors did, taking in a pair of HDMI inputs to create the full 4K resolution.
The Sharpo LV-85001 is also designed to display HDR content as well as making use of wider colour gamut technologies too. If you thought there wasn't enough 4K content around, try tracking down some 8K HDR video…
Oh so niche
The initial market for the screen is admittedly small, but with the likes of Vestel and TCL both showing off 8K screens at this year's IFA show, it will be a growing market. To begin with Sharp is aiming the new panel at digital signage guys, the content producers and those editing 4K video.
At this price it's a little beyond the realm of the general home cinema enthusiast.
Of course it's going on sale in the home of 8K first, Japan.
National broadcaster, NHK, has been trialling 8K broadcasts as far back as the 2012 London Olympics, showed selected games from the Women's World Cup in 8K with practical broadcasting set to occur in 2018.
It's aim is to hit widespread 8K broadcasting by 2020.
