• The first 8K 120Hz monitor recently shown off at Display Week event
• Real-world use for 8K monitors still feels far out of reach though
• Display makers keep building while the market remains unconvinced

At the recent Display Week 2025 event, Chinese firm BOE showed off the first-ever 31.5-inch 8K monitor capable of running at 120Hz.

The CR3000 offers a contrast ratio of 8000:1, a color gamut of 99% DCI-P3, and also supports 240Hz in 4K mode.

BOE, which is the largest panel maker in the world and was also a sponsor of the show, told 8K Association it expects to begin mass production later in 2025, although details on pricing and final product integration are still unknown.

Other 8K panels on show

Display Week often serves as a glimpse into where display tech may be headed rather than where it currently is. That pattern continued this year with a number of other 8K panels on show.

TCL/CSOT brought an inkjet-printed OLED 8K TV panel, a project built partly from its acquisition of JOLED, and SEL surprised attendees with an 8.3-inch 8K LCD panel that offered over 1,000ppi, making it the sharpest full-color LCD shown to date.

As well as its 8K 120Hz beast, BOE had a number of other products on show. These included the latest version of its miniLED UB Cell 4.0 ADS Pro TVs, which aim to challenge OLED with deeper contrast and better efficiency, and an 85-inch 4K panel with an RGB backlight system running in a filterless mode that could one day reduce power usage and complexity, especially in 8K applications.

It also had a 3D display prototype with eye-tracking based on a 16K development. Although still early-stage, the image quality and parallax control impressed those who got to see it in action.

Still ahead of its time

BOE's CR3000 panel arrives at a time when the broader market is still catching up to high refresh 4K gaming, let alone 8K.

While PC gamers have begun to see mainstream GPUs offer stable 4K60 gameplay, pushing that four times over in resolution and double in refresh raises some difficult questions. Upscaling and frame generation may be more of a necessity than a feature if such a panel is to be usable for gaming or creative work.

While I can't help but be impressed by BOE's 8K 120Hz monitor, it feels like it’s ahead of its time. The hardware to drive it effectively doesn’t exist at scale, and most buyers likely aren’t ready for what would surely be a high-cost niche product.

8K monitors were expected to hit the mainstream a few years ago, but that didn’t happen. This latest panel might be technically impressive, but I for one am not convinced the world is ready for it.

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After DOOM: The Dark Ages launched earlier this year, I've been desperate to whack it on our 8K test PC and see how the beastly Nvidia RTX 5090 graphics card handles the latest installment of maybe the most iconic PC gaming franchise in history.

For various reasons, I've not been able to do that... until now. That's because the game has just been updated with some big graphical improvements and better support for Nvidia's RTX 5000 series of GPUs and their exclusive features.

These include path tracing for much more accurate and immersive lighting, shadows and reflections, plus the addition of in-built support for Multi Frame Generation. The latter is an AI-powered feature which I've found to be a game-changer when it comes to hitting high frame rates at the same time as having all the graphics settings turned up to 11.

So, this is the perfect time to load the game up to see what these new graphical features add – and to see if the RTX 5090 is up to the challenge of demon slaying at a resolution of 7680 × 4320.

What's path tracing?

DOOM: The Dark Ages is a game that prioritises both speedy gameplay and stunning graphics, so when you throw in super-high resolutions and complex lighting effects, even the most powerful gaming GPU in the world (which is what we have in our 8K test system) is going to struggle.

Before I get to the raw numbers, it's worth mentioning what's new in the game, especially path tracing.

Like an increasing number of games, DOOM: The Dark Ages launched with ray tracing effects which can't be turned off, so if your GPU doesn't support the advanced lighting effects (or struggles with how demanding they are), then you're out of luck.

By enforcing ray tracing, it does mean the entire esthetic of the game has been designed to make use of it. The new update, meanwhile, adds path tracing, which takes the (already impressive) lighting effects of the game and makes them even more realistic.

While normal ray tracing is great at showing realistic lighting effects when the light from a source hits a surface, path tracing goes further by continuing to render the light after it has bounced or reflected off the first surface, allowing multiple surfaces to be affected in real-time.

It can result in some incredibly impressive and realistic shadows and reflections, especially in indoor areas of games where light sources from signs, lamps, and candles can bounce off floors walls and objects while also being reflected in pools of water.

As you might expect, this complex recreation of how natural light behaves can be extremely taxing on your hardware, which is why the addition of Nvidia's Ray Reconstruction to DOOM: The Dark Ages is essential.

This is a part of Nvidia's suite of DLSS tools that use AI to generate pixels alongside the pixels your GPU renders (and with Frame Generation, entire frames). In the past, these tools have dramatically improved the performance of some games, and Ray Reconstruction does a similar job, using AI to generate additional rays (as in rays of light) alongside those that the GPU is rendering.

This takes the load off the graphics card with the aim of improving performance, while not impacting image quality too much.

DLSS stress test

As these features have been designed by Nvidia, it means they are exclusive to Team Green's graphics cards. While AMD RDNA 4 GPUs can support path tracing, AMD has yet to release a tool like Ray Reconstruction that takes the load off the graphics card – and that could mean while the game will look great, it won't run well.

Even with the power of the Nvidia RTX 5090, it's clear that DLSS and AI generation is required to allow the game to have both Path Tracing effects and a remotely playable frame rate.

At 8K resolution with graphical settings at their highest and with DLSS set to 'Quality' (which prioritzes graphic fidelity over performance, meaning the image is upscaled by AI from a larger initial resolution), I was only getting 16fps (frames per second) – a far cry from the 60fps I aim for at a minimum.

So, even with the help of DLSS, which has enabled many modern games to hit 60fps at 8K in the past, this level of lighting effects combined with the ultra-high resolution simply proved too much.

Before giving up in despair, there were a few more tricks to try.

As part of the new update, support for Multi Frame Generation has also been added to DOOM: The Dark Ages.

I've found Multi Frame Generation to make a drastic impact on frame rates in the titles, but the feature has proven to be controversial. It uses AI to generate and insert frames (essentially still images) between each frame generated by the GPU.

With Multi Frame Generation this can mean an additional three frames generated per each frame rendered by the GPU, which in turn boosts the frame rate. However, as the number of AI-generated frames increase, so too does the likelihood that image artefacts and other issues appear.

I've been impressed with how the recent Multi Frame Generation works; in the games I've tested it in, the generated frames aren't as noticable as they were in the earlier Frame Generation (which generated a single frame). That said, there can be a softness and slight blurriness to the overall look of certain games when used extensively.

I won't get into the debate a lot of gamers seem to be having about 'real' and 'fake' frames, but I'm of the opinion that if these frames make games run better without compromising image quality (or replacing anyone's job), then there's no reason why I wouldn't use the feature.

Turning on Multi Frame Generation at its highest setting, 4x (which refers to the one rendered frame and three generated frames), the frame rates immediately jumped to 54fps on average (I was playing in a mix of indoor and outdoor game locations with lots of enemies).

However, despite the leap in frame rates, the game felt like it was playing in slow motion. It was quite an odd experience, as it wasn't like when graphics cards struggle with games, leading to drops in frame rates. Here, gameplay was still smooth, but it just felt like the slow motion effect the game employs during some attacks was permanently on.

I changed the DLSS setting to 'Performance', which renders the game at a lower resolution, then uses AI to generate more pixels to upscale the resolution, and the frame rate jumped to 83fps on average. Crucially, the game once again felt fast, frantic and responsive.

Turning off Path Tracing saw the frame rates leap to 143fps, which at 8K is incredibly impressive and also shows how much of a performance impact Path Tracing can have, even with Ray Reconstruction turned on.

Turning Path Tracing back on and setting DLSS to Ultra Performance got me 145fps at 8K, and while there was a bit of a hit to image quality, it was an excellent overall experience.

It's also worth noting that the 8K TV I use to test these games, the LG 55NANO966PA, maxes out 8K resolution at 60Hz, which means the benefits of frame rates above 60fps become less pronounced, though it can help reduce latency.

Because of that, having DLSS set back to 'Performance' is the sweet spot here, as it boosts image quality without a noticeable impact to how the game runs.

Is Path Tracing worth the performance hit?

With Path Tracing making such a big impact, is it worth enabling, even if you're not playing at 8K?

It's an interesting question, especially with a game such as DOOM: The Dark Ages, which already looks fantastic and prioritizes speed and reflexes in its fast-paced action.

However, I found it was definitely worth it – the lighting effects really make a huge difference to how the game looks, and how immersive it is. In the moody setting of the medieval-inspired planet of Argent D'Nur, where the game takes place, having lamps and candles flicker and throw shadows and illuminate objects and surfaces adds a huge amount of atmosphere.

Projectiles thrown at you by enemies also benefit from the effect, lighting up the surroundings as they hurtle towards you.

For people who have GPUs that will struggle to hit high frame rates alongside Path Tracing effects, then this trade off isn't worth it, as the game really relies on fast and smooth violence against the demonic hordes.

However, if you have one of the best graphics cards that's up to the task, then I really recommend turning it on and enjoy playing a game that while inexorably tied to PC gaming's past also hints at what the future holds.

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Bethesda's Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is an iconic RPG game that I always regretted not playing.

When it first launched in 2006 on PC and Xbox 360, I was fresh out of college, broke and living in a flatshare with just my trusty PS2 for entertainment.

By the time its sequel, Skyrim, came out I had a gaming PC capable of playing modern games and quickly fell in love with the latest installment.

I spent countless hours in Skyrim – yet despite hearing nothing but praise for Oblivion, I never got round to playing it. I was left feeling like I was missing out on an essential bit of gaming lore, especially given the many memes that emerged from the game.

So, when Bethesda surpised us all by announcing – and releasing – Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, with new graphics and quality-of-life improvements, I was excited to finally give it a spin.

With overhauled graphics courtesy of Unreal Engine 5 and advanced ray-tracing lighting, I was also keen to see how well this remake of a nearly 20-year-old game could run on the world's most powerful gaming GPU (and one of the best graphics cards ever), the Nvidia RTX 5090 at 8K.

Can it even run at 8K?

After first loading Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, I headed to the graphical options and was a bit concerned, as it looked like the maximum resolution I could pick was 4K (3840 x 2160), despite the screen I was using having a native resolution of 7680 x 4320.

However, I soon discovered that if I set the game to Borderless mode, the game runs at the resolution you've set in Windows. It's a bit confusing, as the resolution box is grayed out when using Borderless mode, yet says 3840 x 2160; this initially led me to believe the resolution was locked at 4K, but I confirmed it was indeed running at 8K.

With all the graphical settings set to 'Ultra', but with upscaling tech such as DLSS turned off, I ran about the open world fields, getting into a few fights with flying monsters.

Or at least, I tried to, as running Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered at native 8K with no upscaling help made even the mighty RTX 5090 struggle, with an average frame rate of 21fps (frames per second).

This led to the game feeling sluggish and jittery – and it was particularly painful trying to attack Imps, which hover above ground and throw spells at you.

However, I do have to give the RTX 5090 credit for even managing 21fps. While the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is based on an almost 20-year-old game, visually it looks very good, so even getting a remotely playable experience at full 7680 x 4320 resolution shows the kind of raw performance the RTX 5090 is capable of.

That said, it's becoming increasingly obvious that PC gamers are using upscaling tools like DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) to improve performance, even with flagship GPUs like the RTX 5090.

In previous articles I've found that these tools can make a huge impact to making games playable at 8K without having to sacrifice too much image quality, and that was again the case here.

Keeping the graphics setting at Ultra, I turned on DLSS and set it to 'Balanced', which (as the name suggests) strikes a balance between increasing performance and maintaining graphical fidelity.

The way these upscaling tools work is by rendering the game at a lower resolution and then using artificial intelligence to add pixels to increase the resolution. The lower the starting resolution, the better the performance will be, but because the AI will need to generate more pixels to upscale the game to the required resolution, more errors and artefacts can be introduced, impacting graphics quality.

The impact to performance was immediate, with the RTX 5090 now running Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered at 47fps. Instantly, the game felt much smoother and more fun to play.

I did notice a few small visual artefacts – however, the most noticeable was a giant reflection of my weapon when looking at water. This is a result of screen space reflections and is a pretty common complaint with Oblivion – and thankfully, it's easy to 'fix' by turning off screen space reflections in the graphics settings of the game.

Making sacrifices

While 47fps at 8K is a lot better than the 21fps I was getting playing natively, it's still far from the 60fps I consider the minimum for having an enjoyable gaming experience in 2025.

So, I changed DLSS to 'Performance' mode, which emphasizes performance increases over visual quality. I was then able to play Oblivion at 59fps on average, and again the game felt a lot smoother and more responsive. On the flip side, visual glitches, such as slight ghosting around moving plants, were more noticeable.

While certainly not game-breaking, it was enough to make me actually prefer to play with DLSS set to 'balanced', even with the drop in frame rate.

Thankfully, there were still a few tricks I could perform to try to get both good graphics and good frame rates at 8K without having to sacrifice too much.

Frame gen – why the hate?

By using an Nvidia-capable GPU with DLSS, I could also enable the Frame Generation feature in Oblivion's settings.

This feature again uses AI – this time to generate an image and insert it between two frames rendered by the GPU. If implemented well, this can give a boost to the framerate, as more frames are being shown per second, without any noticeable drops in quality.

I say 'if implemented well', because when the feature first started appearing in games a few years ago, the generated frames were sometimes all-too obvious, leading to a blurring effect that put me off from using the tool for a few years.

Since then, Nvidia has worked with game developers to improve Frame Generation, and I've found recent implementations to work a lot better. It's still a controversial feature among some PC gamers, however, who argue that these are not 'real' frames, and by relying on Frame Generation game developers are not bothering to optimize their games for PC.

I'm more of the opinion that if a feature works well, makes playing games more enjoyable and there's no noticeable downside, then I don't care that much if a frame is real or not.

Having said that, when the results are disappointing, I'm not going to be a fan – and I do share concerns that a reliance on tech such as DLSS and Frame Generation to smooth over poor performance and optimization would be a worrying trend.

With Frame Generation on, DLSS on Balanced and graphics preset to Ultra, I was able to get Oblivion running at 82fps at 8K. This big leap again improved the overall feel of the game, and running through fields and fighting Imps was a joy.

Those small graphical imperfections kept on nagging at me, however. When a game is blown up to 8K on a large (for a monitor) 55-inch screen, any imperfection also gets magnified.

So, with the fps overhead that Frame Generation gave me, I set DLSS to Quality, minimising the amount of upscaling needed to reach 8K and hopefully removing those graphical issues.

The result was indeed a cleaner picture, but with a drop in frame rate to 70fps. Still impressive and well above the 60fps I aim for (and with almost all 8K TVs maxing out at 8K at 60Hz, any benefit of going over 60fps is limited).

Finally, I decided to try out Oblivion with Nvidia's latest feature, which is exclusive to RTX 5000 series GPUs such as the RTX 5090: Multi Frame Generation (MFG).

This is the next evolution of Frame Generation, with the GPU using AI to generate up to three extra frames for every 'real' rendered frame. I've been very impressed with this feature in previous tests, and wanted to see how well it worked with Oblivion.

There's no built-in support for MFG in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered at the moment, but you can enable it via the Nvidia app for Windows 11.

With MFG enabled, I loaded Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and was treated to frame rates of 117fps on average. Seriously impressive stuff, especially as although the RTX 5090 was now generating three times as many frames, there was no noticeable impact to graphic fidelity compared to when I was playing with standard Frame Generation enabled.

Conclusion: Impressive, but back to 4K I go

Once again, I found that Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is another game that the Nvidia RTX 5090 can play at 8K – but with a lot of help from DLSS and Multi Frame Generation.

However, maybe because of underlying technology or the fact that the game hasn't been out (in remastered form) long enough for major patches or drivers, the visual artefacts that are introduced using these features were particularly obvious – and distracting.

Going back to 4K, and not having to be so reliant on those features, due to the RTX 5090 doing a very good job of running the game at native 4K, eliminated those artefacts.

So, this is further proof that 4K remains the best way to play, and that despite people's concerns, DLSS, MFG and similar technologies from AMD and Intel aren't sticking plaster fixes to improve performance without too much cost to visual quality... yet.

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• Real-time 8K 120fps gaming was shown from an AMD-powered gaming PC
• Horizon Forbidden West was the demo game
• The Samsung TV was a customized unit

Here's some exciting news that comes with an odd caveat that will maybe temper your excitement: a (seemingly) world-first demo was shown of 8K 120fps real-time gaming on a Samsung 8K TV over HDMI.

That's impressive, but there are some odd questions about it, because even though all the tech involved appears to be available imminently in consumer products, the 8K Association said that the TV was custom modified (via FlatpanelsHD).

The game itself was playing on a beefy AMD gaming PC – don't expect this performance on a PS5 Pro – and was rendered at 5K and upscaled to 8K.

What did Samsung just show off?

So, the real 'world-first' element here appears to be the demo of 8K 120fps gaming over HDMI. HDMI 2.1 can't actually handle the full bandwidth of 8K at 120Hz, so a tech called DSC is used to compress the video – in the future, HDMI 2.2 should overcome this.

In the meantime, however, it's necessary. And you might assume that this tech is what needed to be customized in the TV, since it hasn't generally been a feature of the best 8K TVs in the past – but actually the latest Samsung TVs, such as the Samsung QN900F, are rated to support DSC already. So it's unclear why the TV needed to be modified, leaving a bit of a question mark over the demo.

The Samsung TV was connected to a Maingear PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU (the same as the one in our new 8K gaming PC) and an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU, with the 5K picture it generated turned into 8K using AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution 3.

So there were a few fudges needed to get to 8K 120fps gaming, but that might be fine. There's already lots of upscaling going on in gaming anyway, so we can forgive that. And it may be that the latest Samsung 8K TVs do have the correct HDMI support for compressed 8K 120Hz transmission, and there was another reason for it to be customized.

Perhaps this level of gaming clarity is coming to our front rooms soon… as long as you have the cash. That's $3,300 for the 65-inch 8K TV, $800 for the GPU, and $500 for the CPU – plus the rest of the PC. Although that's much cheaper than doing it with an Nvidia RTX 5090, at least.

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The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is now out, having launched on January 30... and very swiftly sold out. If you were lucky enough to get one - congratulations! If you missed out, make sure you check our where to buy the Nvidia RTX 5090 guide, as we'll continue to update it as stock comes in.

Even if you're not planning to get an RTX 5090 any time soon (that $1,999 / £1,939 / AU$4,039 starting price is no joke, after all), you're probably keen to see if Nvidia's new flagship gaming GPU can deliver on the 8K promises Team Green has made leading up to its launch. It can also give us a clue about what kind of performance more affordable RTX 50-series GPUs will be capable of.

As I mentioned in my initial 8K tests of the RTX 5090, early signs are very promising for the 5090 when it comes to 8K performance, mainly thanks to DLSS 4. That is Nvidia's new and improved upscaling technology, which can help games hit higher frame rates while minimizing the impact on graphic quality. DLSS 4, alongside Multi Frame Generation, really feels like it will be the tech to watch this generation and has the potential to make gaming at 8K a reality.

Best of all, it's not exclusive to the 5090, so all RTX 50-series cards will get it. And, while the more affordable end of the series will likely still struggle at 8K, it has exciting implications for people gaming at 4K - you may not need to spend a fortune on a premium GPU.

The launch of the RTX 5090 also gave me the opportunity to overhaul our 8K test rig, so I've built a new one from scratch with some of the latest components to ensure there are no bottlenecks and to get the most out of the RTX 5090's potential.

For an extra challenge, I built this super-powerful PC inside a small form factor chassis - and I'll be detailing my experience building the compact 8K powerhouse in an upcoming article.

Now that the PC is built, I wanted to give it a run for its money by seeing how well (or not) it could run Assassin's Creed Shadows, which has just been released after several delays, at the ultra-demanding 8K resolution. Could this be the start of a brand new generation of gaming?

0 fps?!?

As is usually the way when testing games at 8K, I first wanted to see how the RTX 5090 handled Assassin's Creed Shadows at the native 8K resolution of 7680 x 4320. As I was feeling confident, I kept all the graphical settings on the Ultra High preset.

That was a mistake; it quickly dawned on me as I went to launch the built-in benchmark. As part of the Assassin's Creed heritage, loading screens feature a playable character you can make run around until the level loads. It's been a feature since the first game in 2007, and back then, loading times were loooooong, so it was a nice way to keep players from getting bored while waiting.

These days, load times are thankfully much faster, so you don't really need this distraction, but as it's part of the franchise's DNA, it seems to always be included anyway.

The problem is, at native 8K resolution, the player character in the loading screen becomes ridiculously slow (and it takes a while for it to load), which ends up prolonging the load times. The screen was completely black for a few seconds, and at first, I thought the game had crashed. But slowly - very slowly - the loading screen loaded, and after some more agonizing minutes, the benchmark appeared.

My relief was short-lived, however, as it was clear the 5090 was struggling to run Assassin's Creed Shadows at 7680 x 4320 with no upscaling. This isn't surprising, as the game is very graphically ambitious, especially with its use of ray tracing and other lighting effects. However, with frame rates of between 0 and 1fps (frames per second), it was clear that I would not get it running natively.

While not entirely surprising, I have recently played other games at native 8K with both the RTX 5090 and older RTX 4090 that have at least reached double digits, even if they were still a long way off the 60fps I consider a baseline for modern PC games.

Leaving the benchmark was again quite frustraiting, as the whole interface ground to a halt, but I was eventually able to quit, then change the graphic settings to 'Low' and turn on DLSS upscaling to 'Performance'. I was done taking chances.

Odd results

By adjusting things to their lowest settings while making the DLSS upscaling tech use a lower starting resolution to maximize performance, I was convinced I'd see a massive performance boost.

Unfortunately, while the game's performance did increase, and I was able to load up the benchmark more easily, the game still chugged along, often hitting single-figure fps scores and an average fps of just 24, which took me back to the bad old days of when I first started this series of 8K tests with the RTX Titan, when getting a playable 8K experience was a far off dream.

The frame rate was also very erratic, as it sometimes spiked to a playable 80fps with limited lighting effects, then plunging as low as 0fps, all while the RTX 5090 was using 100% of its power, according to the in-game benchmark.

Turning on frame generation, which uses AI to generate and insert a frame between two rendered frames, did nothing to improve the performance.

With the in-game settings making little difference, I quit the game and loaded up the Nvidia app. From here, you can force the new Multi Frame Gen (MFG) feature of the latest RTX 5000 series GPUs, allowing you to use it even with games that don't support it.

MFG can generate up to three frames and insert them between rendered (some would say 'real') frames, and in games like Cyberpunk 2077, which implements it natively (so you can turn it on in the game's settings, rather than doing it via the Nvidia app) I've seen huge performance boosts.

Could it do the same for Assassin's Creed Shadows? I set it to its highest '4x' setting, then relaunched the game.

MFG to the rescue!

I'm pleased to say it did indeed make a huge difference. With all the settings kept at their lowest and DLSS on 'Performance,' the RTX 5090 was suddenly able to hit 83fps on average - a massive difference and well beyond the 60fps I aim for.

This meant I now had scope to start upping the graphics quality - after all, no one would buy an RTX 5090 for $1,999 / £1,939 / AU$4,039 to then play a game on 'Low' settings.

So, I upped the graphics preset to 'Medium' and reran the benchmark. And that's when the results got weird. According to the benchmark, the game again ran at 83fps on average. Increasing the graphic quality seemed to have no impact on performance, while it was clearly visible that the game looked better.

Changing the settings to 'High,' which also increased the quality of ray tracing effects, again upped the quality but didn't impact the performance, hitting 82fps on average. Very strange, as you'd expect the frames per second to decrease as the graphic settings get more taxing.

The same thing happened when upping the settings to 'Very High' and then 'Ultra High,', with both getting 81fps on average. This was with ray tracing set to only appear in certain indoor locations. With ray tracing setting to 'Diffuse Everywhere', which means the effect is used throughout the game world, performance dipped (still using 'Ultra High' graphics preset) to 74fps. This was almost a relief because it was behaving more how I expected (an increase in graphical fidelity leading to a drop in performance).

The game looked stunning, with the ray tracing effects making a massive difference to the game's overall look.

Keeping the settings but changing ray tracing to 'Diffuse + Specular Everywhere,' which adds further effects to objects and terrain, reduced the frame rate to 39fps. Playable, sure, but the image quality increase wasn't worth the performance tradeoff.

I went back to 'Diffuse Everywhere' and changed DLSS to 'Balanced', so the initial resolution is higher for better graphics but offers limited performance gains. I was hoping to find a sweet spot between performance and graphical fidelity. However, this relatively minor (in my view) tweak made GPU usage spike to 100% again, and fps came to a standstill.

Conclusion: A stunning game that's playable at 8K - but some very odd results

So, in conclusion, the Nvidia RTX 5090 can indeed play Assassin's Creed Shadows at 8K and a very playable frame rate, but something about the performance just doesn't add up.

To start, you'll need to force MFG on and keep DLSS on 'Performance.' It looks like any other setting will make the GPU usage hit 100% and slow the game to a crawl.

Looking online, it seems like other people are finding similar results at 4K, with some pointing out that it could be how the game implements ray tracing via rasterization. This means you can, on paper, get ray tracing effects without needing a GPU designed for ray tracing (such as the recent generations of Nvidia GPUs). This, along with the fact that Ubisoft has switched to a new engine for Assassin's Creed Shadows that doesn't seem to be all that well optimized, seems to have led to some very strange performance results on PC (we had the latest game ready drivers from Nvidia installed).

Because the game doesn't natively support MFG, nor does it offer Ray Reconstruction, another new RTX 5000 feature that can help improve ray tracing performance, it feels to me that while you can get Assassin's Creed Shadows running at 8K, you're not getting the best possible results yet. Just look at Cyberpunk 2077, which is arguably just as graphically impressive, despite its older age. It supports Nvidia's new features natively, and the results are incredible (I was hitting 300fps on maxium settings using the same PC).

If Ubisoft and Nvidia continue to work on Assassin's Creed Shadows to bring those features, we PC gamers should hopefully get a much better gaming experience, be it at 8K or at more modest resolutions.

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• HaLowLink 1 combines Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi HaLow
• Speed peaks at 32Mbps over 10 miles on the 8 Mhz band, but 300Mbps is possible on 40 Mhz
• Two HaLowLink 1 routers can replace Ethernet cabling

Morse Micro has introduced the MM-HL1-EXT, a Wi-Fi HaLow router with an external antenna designed for long-range, low-power communication.

The MM-HL1-EXT leverages the IEEE 802.11ah Wi-Fi HaLow standard, enabling connections over distances of 10 miles (16km) in rural areas and 3km in urban environments.

Unlike conventional Wi-Fi routers, HaLow operates in the 900MHz band in the US and also supports 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n). It can function as a standalone access point or as an extender, improving connectivity in difficult-to-reach areas.

A game-changing long-range router

The MM-HL1-EXT is part of the HaLowLink 1 series — optimized for IoT and industrial applications.

It's been certified for use in North America (FCC), Canada (IC), and Australia (RCM) but the company is working to secure certifications for EMEA (868MHz) and Asia.

“The certification of the HaLowLink 1 reinforces the growing importance of reliable, interoperable Wi-Fi HaLow products in the connectivity ecosystem,” said Maureen Gallagher, VP of Marketing at Wi-Fi Alliance.

“With its extended range and low-power capabilities, Wi-Fi HaLow is a powerful solution for IoT applications, and Morse Micro is committed to accelerating adoption by delivering high-quality products through the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED program.”

At the core of the HaLowLink 1 is the MediaTek MT7621A dual-core CPU, paired with 256MB of DRAM and 32MB of NAND flash storage. The radio module features Morse Micro’s MM6108 chipset alongside AzureWave AW-HM593, delivering a transmission power of up to 23 dBm for stable, long-range performance.

For wired connections, the router includes two Gigabit Ethernet ports and supports Ethernet-over-USB for enhanced networking flexibility. A USB-C port provides power and Ethernet data transmission.

It runs on OpenWrt 23.05, an open source, customizable networking platform that supports online firmware updates.

The HaLowLink 1 speed maxes out at 32Mbps when using an 8MHz bandwidth. In contrast, its Wi-Fi 4 capability supports speeds of up to 300Mbps at 40MHz bandwidth.

In harsh industrial settings, two HaLowLink 1 units can be deployed together to replace Ethernet cabling, providing a wireless alternative to outdoor and remote installations.

“With the launch of the world’s first Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi HaLow CERTIFIED gateway, we’re equipping developers with a powerful tool to explore the extended-range, low-power connectivity benefits of Wi-Fi HaLow, paving the way for widespread adoption,” said Michael De Nil, co-founder and CEO of Morse Micro.

The MM-HL1-EXT is now available on Mouser for €97.81 (about $99). At press time, eight units are in stock, with 56 more expected by April 14, 2025. Larger bulk orders have an estimated factory lead time of eight weeks.

Morse Micro has been developing Wi-Fi HaLow tech for nearly a decade, but its breakthroughs only began gaining widespread attention in 2024. Back in February of that year, it demonstrated router hardware that provided 2-mile coverage for months while running on coin batteries.

By September, that range had extended to 10 miles. Most recently, at CES 2025 in January, Morse Micro showcased Wi-Fi routers capable of delivering 250Mbps over a 10-mile radius.

Via EENewsEurope

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As soon as Nvidia announced the RTX 5090 at CES 2025, I couldn't wait to get hold of the premium GPU and install it in our 8K test rig - and that's exactly what I've done.

Since the unveiling, Nvidia has talked up how powerful the 5090 is, claiming that it offers around twice the performance of the RTX 4090, its predecessor, in certain games. If you've read any of my recent 8K gaming features, you'll know how impressive the 4090 was (and to be fair, still is), and with help from DLSS 3 and Frame Generation, it was the first GPU that made gaming at 8K a real possibility.

Our full Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 review dives into the overall performance (and more) of the new GPU, so here we'll look at how it performs when gaming at the incredibly demanding resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 - and (spoiler alert) it's incredibly impressive and could be the start of 8K gaming finally becoming mainstream.

Of course, selling at $1,999 / £1,939 / AU$4,039 for the Nvidia Founders Edition I've tested here means this GPU is far from being a mainstream card, and is aimed at enthusiasts and even professionals, but many of the features that the RTX 5090 comes with that makes 8K gaming possible, especially DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation, will be coming to other RTX 50-series cards, including the much more affordable RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 GPUs.

For this article, I installed the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 into our existing 8K test rig, directly swapping out the RTX 4090 so I could compare the two GPUs running games at 8K fairly. In the coming month, I aim to build a new 8K setup that will take full advantage of the RTX 5090 (it's the first GPU to use PCI 5.0, for example), but this should give us a good head-to-head comparison between the two cards.

Because I wanted to test out the difference DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation makes at 8K, I've stuck to three games that will support those new technologies at launch (or close to) with the RTX 5090: Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy and Star Wars Outlaws.

Cyberpunk 2077

Since its rather disastrous launch back in 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 has turned into one of the best games I've ever played, as well as a graphical showcase, with developer CD Projekt Red updating the game over the years to take advantage of new graphical effects and technology - including support for DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation.

Running the game on the RTX 4090 with graphics set to RT Over Drive - essentially the highest possible graphics settings which makes liberal use of advanced ray tracing for realistic lighting and reflection - and DLSS set to 'Ultra Performance', I got 39.57fps (frames per second) on average. This setting renders the game at a lower resolution, then uses DLSS to upscale it via AI to 8K, and while around 40fps is certainly impressive considering the graphical splendor on show, as always I'm looking to get as close to 60fps as possible, as all 8K-capable displays max out at 60Hz for the moment.

Turning on Frame Generation, which adds an AI-generated frame in between 'real' generated frames, gave me a decent boost to 53.19fps, showing the RTX 4090, with a bit of tweaking, is still a supremely capable GPU.

With the RTX 5090 FE installed and DLSS 4 set to 'Auto', we got 54.56fps - a big leap over the 39.57fps the RTX 4090 managed with the same settings. While you might be disappointed that it didn't hit 60fps, remember this is at 8K - an extremely demanding resolution.

I also hadn't turned on the RTX 5090's Multi-Frame Generation feature, and this is where things get very fun. Doing so boosted the frame rates to an incredible 86.48fps, and there was a noticeable improvement in image quality between the 5090 and 4090 thanks to the new Transformer-based AI upscaling tech and improved Frame Generation techniques. This meant that some of the visual oddities DLSS and Frame Generation can sometimes cause were essentially eliminated.

But that's not all - as the name 'Multi-Frame Generation' suggests, this feature isn't just capable of generating one frame between rendered frames, but up to three frames. So, turning up Multi-Frame Generation to its '3X' setting, which is two generated frames per rendered frame, the RTX 5090 FE hit an incredible 121.05 fps.

Best of all, I couldn't distinguish between real and generated frames while playing. Previous versions of Frame Generation could sometimes introduce a bit of blurring. That appears to be fixed here. Even though the RTX 5090 FE was now putting out 8K content at a frame rate that we just can't see at the moment (due to the 8K@60Hz limitation of current 8K TVs), I cranked up Multi-Frame Generation to 4X, so it was now generating three frames for every one rendered frame, allowing the RTX 5090 FE to hit 148.89fps, and without any noticeable reduction in image quality.

That's one of the best-looking games in the world right now with the maximum graphics settings outputting at 7,680 x 4,320 (with upscaling) and managing 148.89fps. That's a remarkable achievement, and something that's extremely exciting for the future of PC gaming.

Hogwarts Legacy

I've not played Hogwarts Legacy, but it is one of the first games to support DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation, and it's another graphically-ambitious game with open world elements and support for some of the latest graphical effects.

First, I loaded it up with the RTX 4090 installed, and with DLSS set to Ultra Performance but Frame Generation left off, the RTX 4090 hit 77fps on average. That's pretty great, and the grounds around the iconic Hogwarts school (as well as the school itself) looked excellent - with interiors looking especially impressive thanks to shadow and lighting effects. Turning on Frame Generation and DLSS to Auto, we hit 81.90fps, again highlighting just how good the RTX 4090 remains.

Still using DLSS, but set to Quality, which upscales from a higher initial resolution to preserve graphical fidelity as much as possible, the RTX 5090 hit 92fps - while the RTX 4090 managed 52fps with the same settings (but with the older version of Frame Generation). Turning on Multi-Frame Generation to 4X boosted frame rates to an impressive 156fps.

Changing DLSS to Auto with the RTX 5090, I managed to get 150fps without Multi-Frame Generation. Turning it back on to 4X got the 5090 hitting a frankly ridiculous 235fps.

Star Wars Outlaws

Star Wars Outlaws is another game I've yet to sit down and play, mainly due to a mix of Star Wars fatigue and a well-publicized rocky launch. It's also one of the first games to support RTX 50-series features, so I loaded it up and got testing.

With DLSS set to 'Performance', the RTX 4090 hit 63fps with Frame Generation on, while the RTX 5090 with same settings hit 79fps.

While Star Wars Outlaws didn't offer the same level of graphical options as the other games I tried, it's a good looking game, and hitting around 80fps at 8K is, again, very, very impressive.

One thing I noticed, however, is that there were quite a few graphical artifacts around characters and objects on both cards. I was playing using an early beta version of Star Wars Outlaws so I could test the new features before the RTX 5090 launched, so these glitches will hopefully be ironed out quickly, but I found that turning off Ray Reconstruction eliminated the problem - though at a slight cost to performance.

Conclusion: 8K gaming is finally here - and Multi-Frame Generation is incredible

I had high hopes for the Nvidia RTX 5090's 8K performance based on the hype we'd been hearing from Team Green, especially when it came to hardware improvements over the RTX 4090, such as including more, faster, memory (32GB of GDDR7 with 1,790GB/s bandwidth, versus 24GB of GDDR6X and a 1,010GB/s bandwidth), and it's safe to say the Nvidia RTX 5090 surpassed those hopes - by a big margin.

Seeing Cyberpunk 2077 hit 148fps at 8K with graphical settings set to max was an incredible moment that really did make me feel like I was witnessing the future of gaming.

And, while the hardware side of RTX 5090 was extremely impressive, what I learned from this was just how much potential Multi-Frame Generation has. In this early showing it boosted frame rates beyond what I had thought possible - and it also addressed many of the issues I've previously had with Frame Generation.

When the original Frame Generation feature launched, I was a bit disappointed. Using it in Cyberpunk 2077 led to a blurry experience where the hit to graphical fidelity was too much to justify the better performance. Since then, Frame Generation has improved, but I did notice in Hogwarts Legacy that there was still some graphical issues when using Frame Generation, especially when it came to running up and down stairs, and rendering backgrounds when partially obscured by fast-moving objects in the foreground.

With Multi-Frame Generation, I was extremely happy to see these issues seemingly fixed. Cyberpunk 2077 looked crisp and clear, and those graphical artifacts in Hogwarts Legacy did not appear. By boosting the performance so much while minimizing the impact on graphic performance so well, it looks like Nvidia has got its hands on the holy grail of gaming. I should also point out that during my time pushing the RTX 5090 FE to the extremes with 8K gaming, it remained impressively quiet. Sure, there's fan noise as there's to be expected when using a powerful gaming rig, but I can safely say that there's none of the distracting extreme noise that some rumors were suggesting.

The fact that we'll be seeing Multi-Frame Generation come to more and more games, and more affordable GPUs from Nvidia make use of this feature, is extremely exciting - especially if Nvidia continues to improve and refine Multi-Frame Generation as it has done with Frame Generation. The future of PC gaming at 8K is extremely exciting.

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• Plugable's UD-7400PD can handle five 4K monitors and up to 100 million pixels
• The docking station has 11 ports, including a 2.5 Gigabit port
• Can push up to 140W, enough to power a MacBook Pro

Plugable chose CES 2025 to unveil the launch of its latest docking station with some powerful capabilities - and it might just be a gamechanger.

The Plugable USB-C 5-Display Docking Station (UD-7400PD) can, you guessed it, support up to five monitors.

The firm itself has touted a range of variations here, including the use of up to three 8K monitors alongside an additional two 4K screens. Alternatively, users could opt for a single 8K and four 4K monitors or just a full house of 4K devices - either way, it makes for an appealing setup for your IT professional or casual user alike and is a powerful bit of kit capable of driving up to 100 million pixels.

What you need to know about the new Pluggable docking station

But there’s more to the docking station than just the visual appeal - the new docking station from Plugable offers up to 140W power delivery via a USB-C port, making it a highly capable piece of equipment for users.

In terms of what’s powering the variety of screens, it boasts two HDMI ports alongside three DisplayLink USB-C ports, meaning users could run up to four screens at an impressive 120Hz.

The rear-placed HDMI 2.1 port can also run a single 8K screen at a rate of up to 30Hz.

Elsewhere, the UD-7400PD also features a DockTag On Screen Display (OSD), which allows users to swiftly check the dock’s status or asset details, as well as access to a QR code to source setup instructions.

It’s this feature makes it an easy-to-use bit of equipment for IT professionals and hotdesking staff, and managed IT environments, the company says.

“This USB-C and DisplayLink Docking Station has been designed with reliability at its core and was built to meet the deployment demands of IT departments and the ease of use necessary for home offices,” Pluggable's promotional materials said.

Other key features include:

• A front-facing 10Gpbs USC-C port offering up to 30W accessory charging
• Two front-facing 10Gbps USC-A ports
• 2.5Gbps Ethernet port
• A headset jack

Among the biggest appeals of the docking station is its compatibility with a range of operating systems and devices.

The UD-7400PD works with Windows 10 or later, or macOS 11 and upward. This means users working with Mac devices ranging from the M1 up to the M4 can connect displays.

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So, it's official: with Nvidia announcing the RTX 5090 at CES 2025, the RTX 4090's reign as the most powerful consumer graphics card in the world is drawing to a close. Team Green's new flagship GPU could get us tantalizingly close to native 8K gaming, if Nvidia's boasts are to be believed. The 5090's 32GB of GDDR7 memory, compared to the 4090's 24GB of GDDR6X could have a huge impact when pushing extreme resolutions (and not only is there more memory, it's much faster as well).

However, until the RTX 5090 goes on sale on January 30, the RTX 4090 remains the top GPU when it comes to pure performance – which means that it's still your best chance of doing justice to the lofty ambitions of modern, graphically intensive, games.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is exactly that; a graphically demanding game that could either prove to be either a great showcase for the aging card, or a sign that the RTX 5090's time has indeed come.

The new Indy is one of those all-too-rare licensed games that completely nails the vibes of the thing it's based on – an especially impressive feat considering just how iconic the first three Indiana Jones films are.

Much of its charm likes in the way that the story, acting and music all combine to make you really feel like you're Dr Jones. The fact that it's also one of the most graphically impressive games of all time certainly helps up the immersion as you walk around photo-realistic locations around the globe.

A recent patch added full ray tracing (also known as Path Tracing) to the game, which ups the realism of the graphics even further with stunning lighting effects and reflections. As a graphical showpiece, then, I was keen to see just how well it plays on our RTX 4090-equipped testing rig at 8K. However, before the game even launched I was struck with a fear that I've never had before when playing on an RTX 4090 PC: will Nvidia's (currently) most powerful gaming GPU be enough?

Rough specs

This fear was ignited when Bethesda released the PC requirements for the game ahead of its release; these stated that an Nvidia RTX 4090 is required to run the game at full ray tracing at ultra settings.

Sure, this is for a level of graphical fidelity that many people might not feel the need to achieve, but most of us PC gamers want our rigs to be able to offer the highest possible graphical options. And for the past few years, I can't think of a time the RTX 4090 was ever mentioned in any game's recommended specifications – it was simply that overpowered. When playing at 4K, I was always able to whack up settings to the max with abandon.

However, with the RTX 4090 now appearing in a game's recommended specs, albeit for the absolute highest possible settings, it looks like the ambitions of game makers is catching up to the hardware. And, while the RTX 4090 certainly doesn't belong in a museum just yet, it might also be a sign that the arrival of the RTX 5090 is timely.

So, for possibly the last time, let's really put the RTX 4090 through its paces and see how well it handles playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle at the incredibly demanding resolution of 7680 × 4320.

I understand its power now

My initial tests were certainly impressive. Running at a native 8K resolution with graphical settings set to 'Super Ultra' (surely a sign that developers MachineGames really had fun pushing its visuals), our RTX 4090-powered test rig managed 53fps (frames per second) on average.

Considering just how good this game looks, that's very impressive. The PC version of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle uses ray tracing (an advanced way of calculating lighting and shadows for greater realism), but in a rather unique move (which again shows MachineGames' commitment to visual excellence), ray tracing is turned on by default – and can't be turned off.

Considering the game (like the movies it's based on) takes you on a tour of exotic locations, including (slight spoiler alert) jungles, deserts and iconic historical monuments, having realistic lighting really heightens the immersion and helps make you feel like Indiana Jones.

It also explains why the required specifications for the game are so high, as you need a modern GPU capable of ray tracing. Ray tracing is a very intensive effect, and in the past I've seen how turning it on can lead to big drops in frame rates. The fact that the RTX 4090 can play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle with ray tracing enabled (albeit at its lowest setting), and at just a bit below the golden 60fps benchmark I aim for when gaming at 8K, is pretty awesome. It's proof that even if its successor is about to go on sale, the RTX 4090 is still an incredible graphics card.

But what happens when 'full' ray tracing is turned on?

Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory

Arriving after the game launched, 'full ray tracing', which is also known as 'full path tracing', ups the realism of lighting, shadows and reflections even further.

It enables GPUs to simulate real-world lighting by tracing the paths of light sources as they reflect and scatter over objects in a scene, and it applies to both direct and indirect lighting. So, things like shadows, shades and colors through transparent surfaces are all replicated realistically. These seemingly small details all add up to an incredible level of realism and immersion, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a great example of this.

Moving under the dense foliage of a forest, you can see shafts of light break through between the leaves, while the leaves that block the light are themselves illuminated in an incredibly lifelike way. The same is true when sunlight shines through a stained glass window in another location in the game, with the colors scattered across the ground in a genuinely realistic manner.

Shadows cast by the sun shining through clouds, vegetation and other objects, and light reflecting off water or glossy surfaces are also present – and as you might expect, all of this is extremely demanding on your graphics card. Turning 'Full RT' on to even its lowest 'Medium' setting absolutely tanks the frame rates at 8K, with the RTX 4090 hitting just 14fps on average. Pretty, sure, but absolutely unplayable.

This is where DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) comes in. Arguably one of the most important bits of gaming tech of recent times, DLSS was created by Nvidia and utilizes AI to upscale images from a lower resolution to a much higher one. This means there's less pressure on the GPU to render games at resolutions such as 4K, as they can render it at the more manageable 1080p, then DLSS upscales it to 4K.

The idea is that this drastically improves performance without negatively impacting image quality, and we've seen in past 8K tests that it can really make a difference, especially when targeting high resolutions without having to lower graphic settings. Over the years, DLSS has matured – we're currently on DLSS 3, with DLSS 4 having been announced alongside the new RTX 5000 series GPUs, and the results have been steadily improving.

Turning on DLSS to its 'Quality' setting, which as the name suggests prioritizes quality over performance, so the starting resolution is higher and minimizing the use of upscaling, gives us an instant boost. With full ray tracing still on and set to medium, our test rig hit 40fps on average – a big leap that makes the game much more playable.

Changing DLSS to 'Balanced' allowed the RTX 4090 to hit 59fps without full ray tracing on. This offered a great combination of visual fidelity and fluid movement, with the game essentially running at that golden 60fps, whilst also showing off some of the advanced graphical bells and whistles, including limited ray tracing.

Turning full ray tracing back on, the frame rate again plunged to 41fps, showing just how intensive those extra effects are. Full ray tracing is still set to its lowest setting – I dread to think what putting it any higher would do (and I'd only be able to think, as when I did try out of morbid curiosity, the game crashed).

With DLSS set to 'Performance', which lowers the rendered resolution – meaning DLSS upscaling has to do more of the heavy lifting – I managed to get 50fps with full ray tracing on medium. As I was getting closer to 60fps with full ray tracing, I used another tool in Nvidia's arsenal: frame generation.

This feature uses AI to generate frames based on the game you're playing and insert them between real frames. As games show multiple frames every second, the idea is that these generated frames are indistinguishable from the real ones – and using this, you can then increase the fps of the game you're playing, leading to a much smoother experience.

However, the reason why I left it so long to turn on frame generation is that my previous experiences of it haven't been that impressive. When it first came out, I tried it on Cyberpunk 2077, and found the generated frames led to a general fuzziness of images.

But, like DLSS, Nvidia has been working on improving frame generation (and we're set to get a more advanced version alongside DLSS 4), and using it in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was a much better experience. There wasn't a major impact to graphical quality, and with a bump to frame rates (54fps), the game did indeed feel smoother and more responsive to play.

Finally, I set DLSS to 'Ultra Performance', which renders the game at 1440p and then upscales to 8K. This did the trick and our 8K test rig hit 60fps with full ray tracing on medium. However, the strain on upscaling from such a comparatively low resolution (plus generating frames) was clearly taking its toll, as there was noticeable pop-in and some other visual artifacts that while not game-breaking, were distracting enough to take away from the overall immersion.

Conclusion: The Nvidia RTX 4090 does not belong in a museum... yet

So, when all is said and done, is this one last hurrah for the RTX 4090 as the sun sets on its time as the most powerful gaming GPU in the world? Or is it a sign that the RTX 5090's arrival is just on time?

In a way, it's a little bit of both. The fact that out of the box, the RTX 4090 was able to run such a graphically intensive game at a perfectly playable 53fps, while at its highest graphical settings at 8K, and even with some limited ray tracing effects, proves that regardless of what comes next, the RTX 4090 will remain an absolute beast of a graphics card. If you're lucky enough to own one, it'll continue to give you years of excellent gaming performance, especially if you're gaming at 4K.

I've been running these 8K tests for three generations now, starting with the RTX Titan, then the RTX 3090 and finally the RTX 4090. Throughout my time with the 4090, I've been constantly impressed by the card's performance, with the GPU getting well over 30fps at native 8K resolution in many modern games – something I once thought would be impossible due, to the demands of running a game at 7680 x 4320 pixels. The RTX 4090 has been the closest we've come to 8K gaming, and the advancements with DLSS and frame generation have helped 8K become more achievable than ever. It certainly leaves an impressive legacy that the RTX 5090 will struggle to live up to.

However, the advanced graphical effects used in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle also really put the RTX 4090 through its paces, and highlighted the limitations of the current generation of DLSS and frame generation.

While Nvidia has revealed that DLSS 4 will be coming to RTX 4000 series GPUs as well as RTX 5000 cards, the new Multi Frame Generation feature, which will generate up to three additional frames per real frame, will be exclusive to RTX 5000 cards.

This, combined with the technical leaps that the RTX 5090 is claimed to come with, means that if you really want to enjoy the future of gaming that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle hints at, it looks like the RTX 5090 will be the GPU to get.

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• Samsung demoes an 8K, RGB micro-LED LCD TV at CES 2025
• It follows on from Hisense's RGB mini-LED LCD TV, the 116UX
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Samsung has unveiled an 8K LCD TV that uses an RGB micro-LED backlight at CES 2025. The TV has no official name or model number, but Samsung hopes to release it in 2025.

Only days after Hisense revealed a TV that uses an RGB mini-LED backlight, the Hisense 116-inch UX, which it said will drastically improve brightness and color accuracy over standard mini-LED TVs, Samsung has demonstrated an 8K set with a possibly even more advanced RGB micro-LED backlight.

The prototype was actually shown one day before CES at the 'Samsung First Look' event. The model on display was an 8K, 98-inch set, though Samsung says this isn't necessarily what it will release – the company told TechRadar that it hopes to launch a 4K version in the second half of 2025, and it may come in smaller sizes.

An 8K RGB micro-LED TV, if released, would serve as the flagship 8K TV for Samsung, sitting above the already announced Samsung QN990F (pictured above) and Samsung QN900F, revealed earlier at CES as part of Samsung's 2025 mini-LED lineup.

Samsung says that opting for micro-LED over mini-LED in the RGB backlight will allow for "three times more LEDs", meaning bolder colors and improved brightness. The even smaller micro-LED backlight will most likely allow for more dimming zones than the mini-LED backlight as well.

The set is currently a 'prototype' as there's no name, model number, price or full spec list available, but it's likely to be at the premium end of the market.

Micro-LED for less?

While this 8K RGB micro-LED TV is likely to carry a very hefty price tag, it does bring about an interesting opportunity: access to micro-LED tech for less. Though the TV is still likely to be price in the high thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, it'll be a significant drop on a fully-fledged micro-LED TV.

Samsung released a 98-inch 8K model in 2023 (carried over into 2024), the Samsung QN990C, which costs $40,000 / £34,999 (roughly AU$64,545). So the 98-inch RBG micro-LED that was on show is going to be pricier than this, and will still be a premium product.

However, this is still less than the eye-watering prices we see for purely micro-LED TVs, albeit with larger screen sizes. Samsung's own 110-inch micro-LED from 2022 retails for $149,999 (roughly £121,860 / AU$242,000). LG's 118-inch MAGNIT micro-LED , which is priced at $237,000, (roughly £129,550 AU$382,436) is something most people will never afford. Yet, micro-LED was said to be the future of TVs, even beating the best OLED TVs. But these prices just aren't feasible for 99% of people.

This new Samsung model won't have the full benefits of a purely micro-LED TV, such as Hisense's own staggering 163-inch micro-LED TV revealed at CES, but using micro-LEDs in the TV's backlight would still be an upgrade over mini-LED backlights, as micro-LEDs may allow for better black levels, contrast, higher brightness and more vibrant colors. Is the tech still likely to be expensive? Yes, but you'd expect it to be significantly less than the going rate for a MicroLED TV.

We'll eagerly await more details on this RGB micro-LED from Samsung, with a very close eye on the price. Could this finally be the start of micro-LED's integration into TVs at a reduced cost? Fingers crossed!

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We’re covering all of the latest CES news from the show as it happens. Stick with us for the big stories on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok for the latest from the CES show floor!

2024 was another great year if you love TVs. Both QLED QLED and mini-LED sets have continued to improve at pace, while OLED continues to dominate our picks of the best TVs thanks to the brightness-boosting excellence of both quantum dot and MLA tech. There’s simply never been a better time to own a quality smart TV.

Over the past 12 months, Samsung’s sterling output has impressed us more than any other manufacturer, while we’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the resurgence of the best 4K projectors. It’s not all been sunshine and roses, though. With another 365 days in the book, 8K has yet to impact the market.

Thankfully, the biggest TV winners of 2024 easily outnumber the losers of the year just gone.

Winner: Samsung dominates our best TVs picks

The stranglehold on the high-end TV space that Samsung has developed over the last few years is pretty remarkable. The South Korean firm wasn’t content with regularly churning out the best mini-LED TVs, oh no. Instead, it went and stole the crown in the OLED market thanks to its QD-OLED panel tech.

A third of our top 9 best TV list is currently dominated by Samsung – more than any other manufacturer. Not only does the Big S continue to body the opposition with QLEDs, but it’s amazingly stolen the mantle from LG in the OLED space – quite the shocker, seeing as LG is wholly responsible for putting the premium TV tech on the map.

There’s simply no denying the dominance of Samsung. From the unbeatable value of the Samsung S90C to the high-end dream performance of the Samsung S95D (our TV of the Year), the current king of TV manufacturing is the iconic South Korean brand. Over to you, LG.

Winner: Projectors rise again

The best projectors of 2024 were no longer only for obsessive cinephiles with gargantuan walls. With an increased focus on affordability and less intimidating form factors, projectors feel like a genuinely viable alternative to high-end TVs for the first time in years.

New high-end models from Epson, Sony, and Samsung dominated TechRadar’s Best of CEDIA Expo 2024 awards, with the Epson QL7000, a model capable of 10,000 ANSI lumens brightness, offering a projector alternative to massive 100-inch-plus TVs and micro-LED video walls for those who don’t want to watch in a dark theater room.

On the affordable and portable side of the spectrum, new projectors like the LG CineBeam Q offered up design sophistication and 4K resolution in an under-$1,000 model, while the Anker Nebula Mars 3 combined high brightness and 2.5-hour battery life in a rugged, roadworthy case.

Companies are taking note, too. A recent tvOS beta for the exceptional Apple TV 4K included support for a wider range of projector-friendly aspect ratios, including 21:9 and 32:9.

Projectors are having a moment. Here’s hoping it lasts through 2025 and beyond.

Winner: OLEDs continue to astound

Traditional W-OLEDs have long been our favorite TV type, and the gap between LCD and the best OLED TVs has only become more cavernous over the last year with brighter forms of ‘organic light-emitting diode’ tech.

The sensational Samsung S95D shows that quantum dot tech is now firmly established as the OLED technology to beat. Thanks to its effective anti-glare coating and a hugely impressive peak HDR brightness of 1,868 nits, it’s capable of showcasing pictures that are almost as bright as the best mini-LED TVs while also delivering better contrast through its perfect black levels.

Not that QD-OLEDs don’t still face stiff competition. The LG G4 floored us with its dazzlingly vivid images that get incredibly bright thanks to the set’s second-gen MLA (Micro Lens Array) technology. The Panasonic Z95A with its ‘Master OLED Ultimate’ MLA panel is also a stunner.

This trio of sets leaves us in no doubt about OLED’s vice-like grip on the high-end TV market, though Sony’s new flagship Bravia 9 with its innovative XR Backlight Master Drive with High Peak Luminance tech gave a strong indication that mini-LED tech is making inroads in the premium TV space.

You don’t necessarily have to blow your life savings to own a terrific OLED TV. The LG B4 is one of the best budget OLEDs we’ve ever reviewed, and thanks to its quartet of HDMI 2.1 ports and new Dolby Vision Filmmaker mode, it’s fantastic for both gamers and movie lovers.

2024 was the year of OLED. We’d be surprised if every year until 2034 wasn’t, too.

Loser: 8K… again

Until we’re all forced to have Minority Report-mandated cornea upgrades, the long-touted 8K future of TVs should probably be shelved for the time being.

Though the recently released PS5 Pro is trying to make 8K console gaming a thing, the likelihood of Sony's expensive new machine moving the needle in terms of 7,680 x 4,320 gaming (if you’re down with your pixel count lingo) is extremely unlikely.

The Samsung QN900D is our current choice for the best 8K TV, and it’s unquestionably a fantastic television. Yet at the time of writing, it’s also an unessential one, because the best streaming services, Blu-rays and video games aren’t yet at the level to deliver 8K at the price point people are interested in or demand.

Until the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Sony with its PS5 Pro take 8K seriously, even the most fanatical of TV fans should keep hold of their 4K sets.

Winner: You still can’t beat 4K Blu-ray

Despite the best efforts of Disney and Best Buy to either reduce or flat-out stop support for 4K Blu-rays, our beloved Ultra HD discs aren’t going anywhere quite yet.

2024 was another strong year for 4K Blu-rays. When a movie transfer is done correctly on the format, it still looks comfortably crisper than on streaming services and also has superior audio quality.

This year spoiled us with some incredible 4K transfers, even if the movies themselves couldn’t quite match up with the image quality. Despite not being great films, the likes of Alien: Romulus and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes look absolutely pristine on one of the best 4K Blu-ray players. As for Dune: Part 2, the sweeping sci-fi epic continues Denis Villeneuve’s incredible run of drool-worthy 4K transfers.

When it comes to 4K Blu-ray vs streaming, the scoreline continues to read ‘Discs 1- Internet 0’.

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• Samsung's The Premiere 8K projector is the first to get 8K certification
• But you still can't actually buy it
• We're expecting it to finally launch at CES 2025

Samsung's The Premiere 8K projector has just achieved a world-first: it's the very first 8K certified projector.

It's not the only 8K projector; far from it. But it's the first one to get a gold star from the 8K Association, aka 8KA.

The 8KA is the industry association for, you've guessed it, 8K technology. It previously set the performance spec for 8K TVs at the beginning of the decade, and Samsung was one of the first firms whose TVs were certified as meeting that spec. And now it's happening again with projectors.

So what does that actually mean?

Why you should care about Samsung's specs appeal

The 8KA specifications have been agreed by the organisation's technical committees, and those committees feature representatives from across the TV and projector industry: Samsung, of course, but also TCL, Panasonic, Intel, MediaTek, Hisense and others.

The specifications are set out in six categories. As you'd expect, display resolution is at the top: an 8K projector needs to deliver 8K, which is 7,680 x 4,320 pixels.

The standards also require 8K upscaling for lower-res media, set out requirements for brightness, contrast and color gamut, include HDR and also mandate certain sound standards. We don't yet know the detail of these specifications but they'll apply to any product that requires certification.

Although The Premiere was unveiled at CES last year, you still can't actually buy it. We're expecting it to become available at CES 2025, which is in January, with a price tab believed to be around five figures.

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• Minisforum's customizable MS-A1 has AM5 socket for Ryzen CPUs
• Compact design with up to 16TB storage, includes OCuLink port
• Wi-Fi 6E, USB4, and advanced cooling for high performance

The Minisforum MS-A1 is the latest addition to the company's line of powerful mini PCs, and is the spiritual successor to the MS-01 model.

Unlike its predecessor, the MS-A1 introduces the option of swapping CPUs, utilizing an AM5 socket to take various AMD Ryzen processors, including AMD's 7000 series, 8000 PHX architecture (8700G/8600G), and potentially the AMD 9000 series following a BIOS update. It supports up to AMD 8700G APU for graphics.

The Minisforum MS-A1 is available as a barebone system (without a CPU or OS) starting at $259 or as a pre-configured model. At the moment, there’s an offer to save $20, bringing the barebone price down to $239. You can add the Minisforum Deg1 OCuLink graphics docking station when purchasing the workstation for an additional $99, which allows the system to drive up to four 8K screens simultaneously.

Staying cool

The mini PC supports up to 16TB of storage via four SSDs using PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots. There are five USB Type-A ports, a USB4 port capable of 40Gbps, the OCuLink interface, and dual Ethernet RJ45 ports supporting up to 2.5Gbps each.

For display outputs, the device includes HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.0 connections, with the USB4 interface also supporting screen output. Without an eGPU, it can still drive three 8K displays. For wireless connectivity, the Minisforum MS-A1 offers WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.

The mini PC's housing is compact and constructed from a mix of metal and plastic. The Cold Wave cooling system, featuring dual fans and quad heat pipes, prevents overheating even when under load.

With customizable CPU options and affordable eGPU support, the Minisforum MS-A1 offers a flexible, mini PC solution that is ideal for users seeking a compact yet powerful workstation for content creation, multitasking, gaming, or general productivity.

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• New Chinese mini PC debuts with enhanced connectivity options
• GEM12 Pro Max can drive four 8K monitors; offers OCuLink port
• Powered by Ryzen 7 8845HS, supports upto 64GB DDR5 RAM

Chinese mini PC manufacturer Aoostar has launched its latest device, the GEM12 Pro Max.

Building on the Pro variant introduced earlier in 2024, the new device sports a couple of noteworthy improvements including a DC power port, which provides an alternative to USB-C-based power delivery used in previous models. While the Pro featured a single front-facing USB4 port, the upgraded Pro Max adds another at the rear, a welcome addition.

Like its predecessor, the Pro Max is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor, offering a base clock speed of 3.8GHz, a boost clock of up to 5.1GHz, and 16MB of L3 cache. This is backed by the integrated Radeon 780M GPU. Users can adjust the TDP to a maximum of 75W, tailoring performance to specific needs.

Drives up to four 8K screens

The GEM12 Pro Max supports up to 64GB of DDR5-5600MHz memory in a single slot and features two M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 slots for high-speed storage. For users needing more hardcore graphics performance, the GEM12 Pro Max retains the OCuLink port from the Pro model, located on the front panel. This allows connection to an external GPU, like the DEG1 eGpu, for tasks such as video editing and 3D rendering without using the M.2 slots reserved for storage.

As with its predecessor, the GEM12 Pro Max features a built-in screen and fingerprint reader. Connectivity includes WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and dual 2.5G Ethernet ports located on the back. The rear panel also houses two USB2.0 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a DisplayPort 1.4. On the front, there are two USB3.2 Gen2 ports, an audio jack, and the power button. The system can drive up to four 8K monitors simultaneously.

The compact device measures 13cm x 13cm x 6cm and weighs 0.66kg. It uses the Glacier 3.0 cooling system with a vapor chamber to maintain stable performance during intensive workloads.

The barebones GEM12 Pro Max is priced from CNY 2299 (approximately $317) and is currently available only in China. Given Aoostar’s history, a global release seems unlikely for now, which is a shame.

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• No Man’s Sky PS5 Pro enhancements are available now
• This includes PSSR support and improved visuals
• An 8K 30fps mode has also been added

Developer Hello Games has revealed some new details about the PlayStation 5 Pro enhancements available for No Man’s Sky. The patch was secretly shipped as part of the recent 'The Cursed' update, meaning that those who placed a PS5 Pro pre-order will be able to play it right away if the console arrives today.

First and foremost, the implementation of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) now allows the game to run at a 4K resolution at 60 fps with much smoother performance than on the base PS5 console. No Man’s Sky will also be one of the few titles to support an 8K resolution, though the frame rate will understandably be capped at 30fps in this display mode.

The PS5 Pro version of the game will also feature dramatically improved visual quality across the board, including improved lighting, ultra quality reflections, and better ambient occlusion. The developer says that this will allow players to “explore the most beautiful and detailed alien worlds No Man's Sky has to offer, for the first time on console”.

It's coming to PSVR 2, too

Judging by some early 8K screenshots, the game does look pretty impressive overall. Surprisingly, these improvements will also be coming to PSVR 2 - which has been rather neglected by a lot of developers of late. This could be a huge bonus for owners of the pricey VR hardware who otherwise might not have too much to play.

No Man’s Sky first launched for PS4 back in 2016 to a lukewarm reception. It has since received a series of content-rich free updates that have helped turn it into one of the most expansive and detailed space exploration games on the market.

It is one of 50 games that have been confirmed to be PS5 Pro enhanced at launch. Other supported titles include Alan Wake 2, Demon’s Souls, Dead Island 2, and Lies of P.

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Minisforum has launched a new lightweight mini ITX PC packed with powerful features and a sleek design.

The 790S7 is a seriously powerful bit of hardware - and what it boasts in features it more than matches in its compact design.

The latest mini PC from the company comes in at just 7 liters, boasting a very small footprint that makes it an ideal, lightweight option for enterprise users aiming to maximize desk space. Better still, the 790S7 comes complete with an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX CPU and can be configured with a powerful GeForce RTX 4060 GPU for an additional cost.

Under the hood of the Minisforum 790S7

While it’s bulkier than other mini PCs offered by Minisforum, it nonetheless makes up for this with key capabilities.

These include support for up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM, as well as two PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs capable of up to 4TB in storage. Similarly, the inclusion of a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot to support the RTX 4060 GPU merely adds to the appeal.

“With up to 64GB of memory, typically found in high-end workstations, this ultra-fast 5200 MHz RAM makes multitasking and multimedia rendering a breeze,” the company claims. “Effortlessly switch between tasks like gaming, streaming, and web browsing, all with smooth, high-speed performance.”

What could set the 790S7 apart from the pack is its multi-functional display options. With this device, users are able to attach up to three 8K monitors.

Given its compact design, the 790S7 can sit comfortably on a desk alongside these monitors without absorbing too much space.

Notably, the 790S7 could prove to be a cost effective option for enterprise users, coming in at around $1,000. Minisforum currently has a sale on, meaning users can get their hands on the device for around $939.

A barebones version of this device is also available, normally retailing at $569 - but this will come without an operating system, RAM, or SSD built-in. The sale price for this version comes in at $459.

Not keen on AMD? There’s an Intel option available

While the 790S7 comes complete with an AMD CPU, there are alternative options available with this device. Its sister model, the 129i7, comes with an Intel Core i9-12900 HK processor.

This option is significantly cheaper than its AMD-powered counterpart, normally retailing at $489 but comes with certain limitations. This version can only be configured in a barebones capacity.

Minisforum also has a sale on the 129i7, with this option available for £399 at present.

“The 790S7 is a content creator’s dream machine, powered by the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX,” Minisforum says.

“With 16 cores and 32 threads, it delivers lightning-fast speeds up to 5.2GHz, giving you all the performance you need to unlock your full potential for tasks like video editing and seamless multitasking.”

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The Insta360 Ace Pro from November 2023 remains the most powerful action camera we've tested, but that looks likely to change soon – according to some leaked marketing materials that spill the beans on a new Ace Pro 2.

As always, the source of these leaks is the reliable @Quadro_News on X (formerly Twitter, below), who's posted some useful slides that give us an idea of what to expect from Insta360's flagship GoPro rival.

Previous leaks had already told us that the Ace Pro 2 is likely to have a 1/1.3-inch main sensor (this time with a 50MP resolution, rather than 48MP). But it seems that the new action cam will pair its 5nm AI chip with some new silicon called the 'Pro Imaging Chip'.

Exactly what the latter does isn't clear, but from the other slides it will seemingly boost software features like PureVideo, which primarily handles low-light performance. From a slide of leaked specs, it seems the Ace Pro 2 will now be able to shoot Active HDR footage at 4K/60p (rather than maxing out at 4K/30p), while PureVideo will now be available for 4:3 clips alongside the usual 16:9 aspect ratio.

Another slide shows Insta360's 'Memories Album', which will seemingly use AI to help organize and potentially edit your clips (a bit like GoPro's Quik app). The PR material separately adds that the action cam "delivers high image quality in conditions unavailable to other action cameras" (no prizes for guessing who Insta360 is referring to).

There's still no news on a release date sadly, but these leaks suggest it'll be worth waiting a week or two if you're about to pull the trigger on a GoPro Hero 13 Black or DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro.

Room for improvement?

So far, it looks like the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 will be a relatively minor upgrade of the Ace Pro – and there's no news yet on if it'll support 10-bit color depth, which Insta360 previously confirmed isn't possible on the current model due to hardware limitations.

That would certainly be a benefit to pro shooters who want to edit their footage or shoot in a 'flat' log profile. But given our Insta360 Ace Pro review called that camera "an absolute monster" without 10-bit video, the feature may not prove to be a deal-breaker for many either way.

The Ace Pro currently sits third in our guide to the best action cameras, with its lofty $449.99 / £429 / AU$729 price tag being one of the few things holding it back from eclipsing GoPro and DJI.

If it could add features like 'log' recording and develop its AI-powered features beyond low-light noise reduction, then it may yet grab that top spot when it launches – hopefully very soon, if these leaks are any sign.

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The blazing-fast speeds, extremely low latency, and massive connectivity achieved with 5G technology are changing how mobile media is being perceived. As such, storage solutions need to keep up with the growing demands of the content supply chain. In 2009, 4G introduced the concept of mobile data as an object that is downloaded to a device and is then played back. This innovation led to an increase in the amount of data processed on mobile devices.

For example, more than 500 hours of video content are uploaded in a single minute just on YouTube alone, and 5G is only going to increase how much media can and will be consumed worldwide. In this article, we’ll provide insights on how the 5G innovation will change storage requirements and the way media is consumed on mobile devices.

Impact of 5G on Media Consumption

The performance of 5G far surpasses standard wired Ethernet ports on desktop computers, with speeds up to 20 Gbps in theory. This is compared with the typical 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps of wired Ethernet. In practice, 5G is more than a match for most wired connections, capable of download speeds from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps, which is on par with your desktop computer. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile own the 5G infrastructure and are able to create private 5G cells, where a higher performance can be achieved and may even reach 20 Gbps as you don’t have to share the bandwidth with many devices.

UHD Streaming

5G's higher speed and lower latency allow high-resolution videos such as 4K and 8K to be streamed easily with minimal buffering on mobile devices. For reference, a 4K stream requires about 25 Mbps of bandwidth, while an 8K stream calls for 100 Mbps, both of which are demanding, but easily achievable with 5G. As a consequence, consumers can seamlessly stream UHD videos from their phones in almost any setting.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR): AR and VR apps, with their full immersion, rely extensively on high bandwidth and low latency. Although 5G's 1ms latency is significantly higher than Ethernet's 10-30 microseconds latency, it is still suitable for these applications. To meet these fast requirements, storage systems must be capable of real-time data retrieval and processing.

Interactive Live Streaming: High-data volume and speed for 5G empower new interactive live streaming possibilities, such as multiple angles and instant replays. To achieve this, the underlying system and storage infrastructure need to be efficient and quick enough to handle countless requests while maintaining sub-second video latency.

Storage Challenges and Solutions

As more advanced and data-driven media technologies become possible through 5G, older, conventional storage infrastructures face various technical limitations:

1) Scalability: The surge in high-resolution and interactive content calls for storage solutions that are capable of handling increased amounts of data. Conventional storage systems might be unable to keep up with the amount of information created by innovative, 5G-enabled applications due to their sheer size and rapid expansion. Distributed storage systems, such as those using software-defined storage (SDS) architectures, offer the scalability needed to handle these demands efficiently.

2) Bandwidth Management: Compression technologies are used to effectively manage the greater data bandwidth offered by 5G networks, with many of them leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for more efficient algorithms. These algorithms help reduce the size of the data being stored or transferred, making sure that bandwidth is not wasted while preserving media quality.

3) Security: Given the massive amount of data pushed through 5G networks, security is growing even more important and challenging. With massive amounts of data being sent around at an unprecedented rate, traditional encryption methods may fall short. Improving encryption techniques and incorporating blockchain for data integrity and Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) into storage solutions can improve security.

Future Trends

Edge Storage: As 5G becomes more widely available, it will be critical to make better use of "edge storage,” which is a type of decentralized storage that keeps data close to where it's needed. This approach has the potential to reduce latency while improving performance and overall user experience in real-time applications such as AR/VR and streaming for Apple Vision Pro and similar devices.

AI-Driven Storage Optimization: The use of AI in storage management is likely to become more widespread in the 5G era. AI tools can analyze usage patterns and dynamically optimize storage allocation, making sure that resources are used to their fullest potential. For example, AI can predict which content will be accessed frequently and then cache it in high-performance storage tiers, while less frequently accessed data is moved to lower-cost storage.

5G as Backbone for Broadcasting: Mobile broadcasting and network infrastructure, including cables, are not particularly suited to sudden changes in mobility. 5G technology reduces the need for extensive infrastructure, making it an ideal solution for dynamic, live broadcasting environments such as breaking news or outdoor events. When combined with edge computing, 5G enables local processing of video feeds, reducing latency and boosting broadcast efficiency. This seamless integration improves the efficiency and speed of live content delivery, representing an important shift forward in the media industry.

5G as Backbone for Mobile Broadcasting: Leveraging 5G has the potential to transform how cameras and other devices connect with the Outside Broadcasting (OB) trucks. With technically up to 20 Gbit, private 5G cells and an acceptable latency of 1ms, the setup becomes considerably more flexible. Inside the OB truck, data storage receives the recorded data and may send it out via 5G and allows for real-time editing and graphic overlays directly from that storage. 5G technology can also greatly improve mobile broadcasting workflows by delivering rapid speeds of up to 10 Gbps. This allows for the seamless transmission of uncompressed 4K or 8K video directly from cameras to production facilities without sacrificing video quality.

5G as Backbone for Live Broadcasting: For live sports broadcasts, 5G enables near-instantaneous synchronization of multiple camera feeds with an ultra-low latency of only 1 millisecond. Thanks to these precise positioning and angles, viewers get to enjoy an immersive, “live-like” experience from any screen. Furthermore, 5G’s impressive speeds easily support real-time editing and graphics overlay right from the field, allowing editors to integrate live feeds and make quick edits with minimal delay.

Conclusion

Innovative storage solutions and 5G completely transform the way media is consumed on mobile devices, and the latter will continue to change the way digital media is consumed on every screen. Storage technologies must meet security standards and continue evolving to keep pace with 5G’s increased bandwidth management and scalability requirements to ensure viewers enjoy always-on seamless experiences. Luckily, 5G higher speeds and lower latency makes it easy to transmit live 4K content over the internet from anywhere possible. 5G and advanced storage solutions can not only facilitate great viewing experiences; they can vastly improve upon them. Who knows what’s next?

We've rated the best cloud storage.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K is the second generation of the Hue entertainment product, following on from the 4K Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box. It’s designed to synchronize your Hue smart lighting system with the on-screen action in movies, games and with music, and it works with a wide range of different lights and lamps: simply create an entertainment area in your Hue app, add the bulbs or lights you want to sync, and the Sync Box 8K does its thing. It works very well and has an excellent app, but as ever with Hue it’s quite expensive.

The 4K version is still for sale and works fine, but if you’re using games consoles or just want to get the most future-proof option this is the one to go for even if an 8K TV is not currently in your home or on the horizon.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: price and availability

• List price $349.99 / £299.99 (about AU$520)
• More expensive than 4K Sync Box

The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K launched in September 2024. The UK price is £299.99 and the US price is $349.99. That’s about AU$520.

That's a slight price increase over the previous model, the Sync Box 4K, which is £229.99 / $229.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: specifications

• Very similar design to previous version
• Supports 8K at 60Hz, and 4K at 120Hz

While the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K looks almost identical to its predecessor bar its slightly larger dimensions, there are some key differences.

The first and most important difference is that the four HMDI ports are HDMI 2.1b with HDCP 2.3. The previous version has HDMI 2.0b with HDCP 2.2. Both versions support HDR10+, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos and CEC for device control.

The 4K version delivered resolutions of up to 4K at 60Hz and 1080p and 1440p at 120Hz. The new 8K model has 8K at 60Hz, a gaming console-friendly 4K at 120Hz, plus 4K/60Hz and 1080p/120Hz.

The 8K version has Bluetooth 5 compared to the Bluetooth 4.2 of the 4K box.

There are some minor changes to the power consumption too: standby power is down from 1.5W to 0.8W and maximum power consumption is down from 7.3W to 7.0W. The USB connector is now USB-C rather than micro-USB.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: setup

• Requires Philips Hue Bridge
• User-friendly app makes setup straightforward

As before, the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K requires a Hue Bridge to connect to your lights. It can only sync with audio-visual devices that are connected to its HDMI ports, which rules out the apps already installed on your TV. However, it will happily sync with apps on HDMI-connected devices such as an Apple TV 4K.

If you have a Samsung TV, you can sync your lights with your TV's apps via the Hue Sync TV app on compatible TVs. That doesn't require this sync box; your TV connects to your Hue Bridge via the app. The app is $2.99 per month in the US or £2.68 in the UK, and requires a Q60 QLED TV or a later QLED model.

You can connect your various devices directly via the HDMI ports. If you have them connected to an AV receiver, that connects to HDMI 4: that’s the HDMI port where you can enable CEC pass through so that your devices can control your TV. Whichever connection option you choose, you can set the Sync Box to detect a video signal and turn itself on automatically.

The original Sync Box required a separate Hue app, but the sync functionality is now in the core app to keep things simpler. It’s more user-friendly than before, but gives you the same options: game, movie or music modes, four levels of intensity and a brightness control. Pairing the sync box, adding it to your Wi-Fi network and checking for software updates are all handled by the app and work efficiently.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: performance

• Effectively 'expands' your TV screen when connected to smart lights
• Much better than previous version for gaming
• No noticeable lag between images on TV and lights changing

With the best smart lights, the Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K works exceptionally well: it’s very fast and very accurate, so for example my gradient lightstrip didn’t just blast the wall with one or two colors but a mix that followed the on-screen visuals very well. It’s best suited to lights that are in the immediate vicinity of your TV; you can have the whole room synced if you wish, but I felt it distracted from the effectiveness.

For me, the lighting was at its best when it seemed to expand my TV to the entire wall behind it and the objects and furniture on either side. It really does make your TV feel much bigger and immersive, and the response speed means it looks very natural.

I noticed a big difference in gaming, especially on PS5: the glitch that would frequently give me a black screen for a moment at the worst possible time in intense games such as Helldivers is gone, and input switching issues that previously confused my TV were absent too. If you have a PS5 or Xbox X, that alone is a big reason to go for the 8K model rather than the older one.

For me, this is one of those products that you tend to take for granted almost immediately: the effect it produces is great but you soon stop noticing it, in part because the response rate is so fast that there isn’t a lag between what you see on screen and how your lights respond. That means after a short time you only really notice it when you turn it off: the room seems awfully bare and the TV awfully small without it.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: verdict

There's no doubt that the Sync Box is expensive, even more so than its predecessor, and functionally it's not very different from the 4K box. If you're not a gamer, that's the one to go for here unless of course you have an 8K TV.

For gaming, though, this is a vast improvement: HDMI 2.1 is a must-have for modern consoles, and the upgrade addressed issues that have been annoying me for years – so while an 8K TV is not in my foreseeable future, this is still the box I'd recommend for Hue gamers.

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K: how I tested

I’m a long-time Hue Sync Box 4K user, so I swapped the new model with my existing one. It’s connected to a Sony AV receiver, which in turn is connected to a PS5, an Xbox Series X, an Apple TV 4K and a Sony Blu-Ray player. I used the Sync Box to control a Hue Gradient Lightstrip on the back of my Samsung TV, and also added other Hue bulbs around my living room to check the syncing worked with multiple Hue products. Read more about how we test.

First reviewed October 2024

It appears that the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 could soon be in our hands if leaked pictures of the product's packaging (see below), as well as an open box with the action camera inside, are anything to go by.

An upcoming Ace Pro 2 would come hot off the heels of the GoPro Hero 13 Black and DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro and upgrade Insta360's 8K Ace Pro, which is still only a year old. And those leaked Ace Pro 2 pictures reveal more details about the would-be GoPro and DJI rival.

Chief among the details revealed is that the Ace Pro 2 will be an '8K AI-Powered Action Cam'. That video resolution is nothing new – the Ace Pro is already capable of shooting 8K 30fps video, specs that are also pictured on the packaging. However, what's new is the added emphasis on computational smarts this time around.

Battery life has also seemingly been revealed, with the screen on the camera showing up to 3 hours of record time. That would be a serious step up from the 100-minute record time of the Ace Pro and sits somewhere between the improved performance of the Hero 13 Black (2.5 hours) and the Osmo Action 5 Pro (4 hours), the current leading action cameras.

We can also see an obvious design tweak with a pronounced microphone underneath the camera's lens – meaning there could be improved in-camera audio quality.

A previous Ace Pro 2 leak seemingly showed the camera in the hand with slightly different markings, including 'dual AI chip'. This marking is not on the newer photos; though the second-gen model could still have dual AI chips. We don't know what purpose they would serve, but with that AI-Powered tagline it seems like a fair bet that the Ace Pro 2 will heavily rely on AI-smarts.

There also appears to be complete markings on the lens now, which suggests it'll be the same Leica Super Summarit-A lens with maximum f/2.6 aperture as before.

However, the same source that leaked the product packaging has shared a video on Youtube (see below) and in it suggests the Ace Pro 2 will have closer minimum focusing – a boon for vloggers – though of course we can't verify this. The leaker also shares the Ace Pro 2 will have a built-in wind muff and better low light image quality.

Three's company

The action camera market, once dominated by GoPro, now has two other serious players; DJI and Insta360, meaning competition has never been hotter.

What's even better for consumer choice is that each brand is forging its own unique path; GoPro with its interchangeable Lens Mods and enhanced 5.3K video, DJI with its leading low light performance and tougher build, and now Insta360 appears to be doubling down on its high resolution 8K video and AI-smarts.

The Ace Pro series is also the only one of the three leading models to feature a flip-up selfie screen, though that does also mean it is the biggest and heaviest of the three.

Insta360 already has an excellent track record in the action camera space, with its industry-leading 360-degree camera, the X4, plus its tiny and versatile Go 3S. There's no word on a potential Ace Pro 2 release date, but it looks set to complete Insta360's lineup nicely and has colored us excited.

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God of War Ragnarok is now available on PC, and with other PlayStation 5 games that have made the leap to the best gaming laptops and gaming desktop PCs, the latest installment in Kratos' epic adventure comes with some excellent PC-exclusive features.

Unlike the previous game, which I played on the PS4 Pro before going through it again on PC, I've not had a chance to play God of War Ragnarok ahead of its PC release, as I've been holding off buying a PS5 in the hope that the almost-inevitable PS5 Pro announcement would get me to jump back into console gaming.

So, with God of War Ragnarok now in my Steam library, I was keen to see if it could live up to its excellent predecessor, while also seeing how well it could run at 8K on our Stormforce Gaming test system.

Considering that the PC is a few years old, the results were extremely impressive - so much so that it's killed any interest I had in a PS5 Pro - or even the rumored Nvidia RTX 5090, which will likely be announced soon.

Instead, it reminded me just how much of a beast the RTX 4090 graphics card remains, two years on from its announcement. 

Coupled with software improvements, thanks to Sony Interactive Entertainment and Santa Monica Studio teams behind the game getting more adept at developing the title for PS4 and PS5 hardware, along with Jetpack Interactive, the team that ported God of War Ragnarok to PC (they also ported the previous game) getting more experienced, and the constant evolution of upscaling tech like Nvidia DLSS and AMD FSR, it really feels like there's little need to upgrade, especially if you have a high-end rig.

Playable 8K out of the box

Back when I started testing the possibilities of 8K gaming in 2019, it felt like we might never see games at  7680 × 4320 resolution running at remotely playable frame rates. Any kind of 8K future certainly seemed a long way off as I struggled to get Red Dead Redemption 2 running at ultra-ultra high resolutions with a $2,499 Nvidia Titan RTX graphics card and a $3,000 Dell UltraSharp UP3218K monitor.

Back then, artificial intelligence still felt like a sci-fi concept, and DLSS was just a twinkle in Jensen Huang's eye.

In the five years since, we've come a heck of a long way, with hardware getting more powerful - and even more affordable. 

While the RTX 4090 will never be considered a cheap GPU, its launch price of $1,599 (about £1,359, AU$2,300) was still a lot less than its RTX Titan grandparent. Meanwhile, 8K TVs may still be far from mainstream, but they do exist, and can cost a lot less than the specialist Dell monitor we used to rely on.

Perhaps the biggest sign of how far technology has come is that right out of the box, at native 8K resolution and graphics settings set to 'Ultra', God of War Ragnarok averaged 35fps (frames per second). Even a few years ago, with the advent of DLSS and armed with an RTX 3090, getting to a playable minimum of 30fps felt like a distant goal.

So, to have such a graphically-impressive and ambitious game such as God of War Ragnarok running at above 30fps at 8K (which is four times the resolution of 4K) without any tweaking is very impressive.

Still, 35fps isn't ideal, and the game comes with a lot of tools to help bump that up, so I was keen to see how much tweaking would be required to hit 60fps.

AMD FSR 3.1

When turning on upscaling, the first tech option is for AMD's FSR 3.1 technology. This is the latest version, with AMD putting a lot of effort into improving image quality through this release, with particular focus on reducing shimmering and blurry ghosting graphical artifacts that had been a distracting presence in previous versions.

Unlike Nvidia's rival DLSS technology, FSR 3.1 doesn't use AI (though there's rumors that's coming in FSR 4), and while that means I've found it doesn't quite match DLSS when it comes to results, it also means that it's less stringent on the kind of hardware it runs on. FSR doesn't need an AMD graphics card to run - Intel and Nvidia cards can make use of it as well.

This is particularly good news for people with older Nvidia cards that have missed out on DLSS goodness.

Even better news is that with God of War Ragnarok, AMD FSR 3.1 offers up some excellent results. Setting the FSR preset to 'Quality', which minimizes the amount of upscaling performed (in this case, a native resolution of 5120 x 2880 gets upscaled to  7680 × 4320) to preserve image quality, the game hit 55fps on average - tantalizingly close to the 60fps goal. Image quality was indeed very good - and there certainly was less noticeable artifacts.

Switching to 'Balanced' dropped the native resolution to 4512 x 2536, which means the hardware has to do more work upscaling the image to 8K, and it was here that I hit 59fps - essentially the 60fps I was after (at the moment 8K screens and HDMI 2.1 can only do 8K at 60fps maximum, and that sometimes results in 59fps being recorded as the average frame rate by the benchmarking software we use).

The game still looked great (graphical presets remained on 'Ultra'), and the leap from 35fps to 60fps meant the game felt much smoother and more responsive - which is particularly important in a game like this, where quick reactions are essential.

By already hitting the 60fps milestone, I was ready to try out the other upscaling options, but out of curiosity, I gave the 'Ultra Performance' mode a go. Again, this maxed out the framerate at 59fps, but image quality was noticeably impacted, with a very washed out look. It's not too surprising, as the native resolution the game is rendering at is 2560 x 1440. These days, the 1440p resolution is considered quite low, and with FSR working hard to upscale that to 7680 × 4320, it's inevitable that image quality will be impacted.

Still, it shows that with a mid-range graphics card, you could feasibly play God of War Ragnarok at 8K and 60fps. I'd suggest you don't try it, but it's nevertheless impressive.

Intel XeSS

Next up was Intel's XeSS. While this is designed to run with Intel Arc graphics cards, it is not exclusive to Intel hardware, which like FSR is a big plus for people who don't have the latest Nvidia GPUs.

Since its launch, I've been impressed with XeSS, and it once again did a great job with God of War Ragnarok. It offers 'Ultra Quality+' as a preset, which renders the image at 5904 x 3320 before upscaling it to 8K. This is higher than the Quality preset of AMD FSR 3.1 and that means less upscaling is needed.

Image quality was excellent, but the performance boost was more muted, with the game hitting an average of 45fps. That's a decent 10fps bump over native 8K gaming, but when set to 'Ultra Quality', which lowers the native resolution to 5120 x 2880, the same as FSR's 'Quality' preset, the game managed 57fps on average. Basically the same as FSR 'Quality', if a tiny bit faster.

Going down to 'Quality' on XeSS got me to that magic 60fps (well, 59fps) average. Image quality still looked very good, with a native resolution of 4512 x 2536. Interestingly, this is essentially the 'Balanced' setting on AMD FSR with the same resolution and performance. One could argue that Intel is overselling XeSS by having three levels of 'Quality', but I do like having the option of the additional Ultra Quality+ preset that AMD lacks. However, I do think AMD is being more honest when it describes this resolution and level of upscaling as being balanced between image quality and performance.

DLSS

Finally, we get to Nvidia's DLSS 3. This is the most mature of the upscaling options, and traditionally it's the one I've found to offer the best results. However, unlike AMD and Intel's offerings, DLSS is only compatible with Nvidia's recent RTX graphics cards (and DLSS 3 is exclusive to the very latest RTX 4000 series of GPUs).

While this isn't a problem for RTX 4090-toting PCs like our test rig, it does limit the availability of this exciting tech.

As if to prove DLSS' supremacy, I only had to turn on its first preset, 'Quality', to hit 59fps on average. It uses the same native resolution of 5120 x 2880 that XeSS and AMD FSR's 'Quality' settings use, but offers a higher and more stable frame rate.

Conclusion: DLSS works its magic again

As with previous recent 8K tests, DLSS has come out on top, offering excellent performance and image quality, effectively doubling the frame rate the RTX 4090 is capable of when running God of War Ragnarok at a demanding resolution of 7680 × 4320.

I didn't even need to touch the lower DLSS presets, nor drop the graphics setting below 'Ultra', or enable frame generation (another bit of AI-powered goodness that can help smooth out frame rates).

That said, if you can't get DLSS 3, both XeSS and AMD FSR 3.1 both did really well, with Intel's tech just edging out AMD's thanks to slightly more resolution options.

With any of the three upscaling technologies turned on, God of War Ragnarok looked incredible at 8K.

The game's impressive performance at such high resolutions does have a few caveats. For a start, God of War Ragnarok was a cross generation game, launching on both the PS5 and the PS4 - which is now 11 years old.

It also doesn't feature advanced lighting effects such as ray tracing. But don't get me wrong: this is still a gorgeous-looking game. And, when you play it on PC at the more achievable 4K resolution, it runs even better at a native resolution that means image quality isn't compromised.

Still, the power of these upscaling tools leaves me - and many other gamers - with a bit of a quandary when new hardware comes out. Is it worth upgrading? It's clear that backed by DLSS, the RTX 4090 remains an astounding GPU that will continue to handle new games at high resolutions for years to come.

It also means that if I want the very best experience when playing PlayStation games, I don't need to buy a PS5 Pro, all I need to do is be patient as Sony's exclusives finally make their way to PC.

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Thunderbolt 5 (TB5), Intel's latest leap in high-speed connectivity, is set to improve how we handle data transfer, display output, and device charging.

With up to 80 Gbps of bandwidth - and a boost option up to 120 Gbps - it effectively doubles the speed of Thunderbolt 4. This extra power is perfect for handling dual 8K displays, transferring large video files, and running real-time applications like gaming and virtual reality.

A standout feature of Thunderbolt 5 is its ability to deliver 240W of power, which means faster charging for laptops and enough juice to power even more demanding devices through a single cable. Plus, it's backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and 4, so integrating it into your current setup should be straightforward. The extra bandwidth and power are also future-proofed for technologies like 16K displays and more powerful external GPUs.

Where are the laptops?

At IFA 2024, UGREEN unveiled its new Revodok Thunderbolt 5 docking station, one of the first devices to make use of the technology.

It comes equipped with three Thunderbolt 5 ports that offer up to 80 Gbps of data transfer and can boost up to 120 Gbps when needed. It’s versatile too, supporting a single 8K display for Windows users and triple-display setups for Mac. With 13 ports, including USB-C, USB-A, and HDMI, it’s built to cater to users with a serious need for connectivity.

The Revodok docking station really shows off what Thunderbolt 5 can do in terms of data transfer, display output, and power delivery. It’s a handy solution for professionals managing loads of data and running multiple displays and devices. We previously reviewed the UGREEN Revodok Max 208 8-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 docking station, and you can read our four star review here.

However, while it, like other TB5 docking stations (e.g. J5 Create) offers a glimpse into the future, laptops with built-in Thunderbolt 5 ports are still on the horizon. For users to get the full benefit of Thunderbolt 5, we’ll need to see more widespread adoption from laptop makers. It will happen, but when is the big as yet unanswered question.

Aside from the docking station, UGREEN also revealed a number of other products at IFA, like the Nexode Power Bank, a 20,000mAh charger capable of delivering up to 145W, and the NASync series, a new line of network-attached storage for personal and business use. It also showcased its Uno Series chargers and power banks.

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GoPro didn't deliver a new sensor or up video resolution to 8K in its latest flagship Hero 13 Black – improvements many fans were hoping for and without which seemingly gives rivals DJI and Insta360 the upper hand. In fact, you could say very little has changed from GoPro's previous flagship, the Hero 12 Black, at all – here are 5 headline Hero 13 Black vs Hero 12 Black differences, in case you're interested. 

However, I think GoPro has blazed a most compelling trail for action cameras, more so than pixels and better low light performance, and that's swappable lenses. 

With one seemingly insignificant hardware tweak, and introducing a new 'HB-series' of lenses and ND filters, GoPro has shown us what the future of the best action cameras could be, and it's a rosy outlook. 

Alongside the Hero 13 Black, GoPro announced new Macro, Ultra Wide and Anamorphic lenses – what the action-camera king calls Lens Mods – plus a 4-set of ND filters. Even better, the camera can auto-detect which Lens Mod is attached and auto-adjust its settings accordingly. This could and should be just the beginning.

• GoPro Hero 13 Black hands-on review

These first HB-series auto-detected lenses open up the Hero 13 Black to a raft of new users, from serious filmmakers to vloggers, bolstering what the humble action camera can do. (The Hero 12 Black debuted the Max Lens Mod, which is essentially the same as the new Ultra Wide Lens Mod but isn't auto-detected.)

Lens Mods are an optional extra – Macro Lens Mod ($129.99 / £129.99 / AU$249.95), Ultra Wide Lens Mod ($99.99 / £99.99 / AU$169.95), ND Filter 4-pack ($69.99 / £69.99 / AU$119.95), Anamorphic Lens Mod ($129.99 / £129.99 / AU$219.95 but isn't available until 2025) – meaning the cost stacks up, especially if you're interested in the lot. Even so, GoPro's flagship is fairly priced, and considering what you're building with the camera and lens, I think it's a price worth paying. Here's why.

New lenses means new looks and new possibilities

I've already used the Ultra Wide and Macro Lens Mods, utilizing the Ultra Wide lens when go-karting and mountain biking to fit more in the frame, and the Macro Lens to capture details. 

Macro Lens Mod in particular is a revelation. It reduces the Hero 13 Black's close-focusing distance to 4.3 inches / 11cm – that’s 4x closer than the built-in lens. When testing the Hero 13 Black and rivals like DJI Osmo Action 4, I've found close focusing limitations an issue – you can't easily hold the camera as close as you'd like for selfies. With this one accessory, GoPro has opened the Hero 13 Black to a huge slice of potential new users, especially vloggers.

I had a quick hands-on with the Anamorphic Lens Mod, though it was a pre-production version as the lens isn't due to be launched until 2025. GoPro has shared some clips taken with the lens that look great.

DJI's Osmo Action 4 has a bigger sensor and better low light performance than the Hero 13 Black, while Insta360's Ace Pro boasts higher resolution 8K video to the Hero 13 Black's 5.3K video. And successors to both of those cameras are rumored to be on the way very soon; the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro and the Insta360 Ace Pro 2. 

However, I don't think we need 8K video in an action camera. GoPro's flagship already has enough detail in its 5.3K video and 27MP photos and, with its latest model's new accessories, it now offers the best user experience – you can read my hands-on review for more info about the camera.

You don't need a big imagination to think up where GoPro could go with its new line of accessories – it's the most exciting development in action cameras for some time. GoPro's tiny and waterproof flagship Hero products could become the go-to gear for shooting cinematic footage that's otherwise impossible or too costly with full-size gear. 

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It's been a long time coming, but the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box has finally received a much-needed upgrade with support for 8K resolution TVs and HDMI 2.1. That's great news if you want to make movies more immersive. It means the system will finally play nicely with 4K and 8K content at refresh rates up to 120Hz. It also makes the box a better option for gaming — something we've long wished for.

The only downside is the price — the new Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 8K is listed at $349.99 (about £270 / AU$520). Considering many people found the previous box's $300 price tag hard to justify, that might make it an even harder sell.

If you're not familiar with the Philips Hue Sync Box, it's a device that connects to up to four HDMI devices, and syncs up to 10 Philips Hue smart lights with the content displayed on your screen. This could be light strips stuck behind your TV, and lamps and bulbs elsewhere in the room.

The idea is to 'soften' the edge of the screen, making the experience more immersive. It's the same concept as the Philips Ambilight system, but doesn't require you to buy a whole new TV.

Other bright ideas

If you want to try making your home cinema or gaming setup more immersive with ambient lighting, Philips Hue and Ambilight aren't your only option. There are also various systems from rival brands that use cameras to monitor the content of your TV or monitor, and then project matching lights behind it. Our roundup of the best Ambilight alternatives includes some good options, and the Nanoleaf 4D Screen Mirror system is particularly worth investigating.

These setups are much more affordable ways to pull you into the action, but using a camera means they may suffer some latency compared to devices that connect via HDMI, and the colors can be affected by reflections on the screen. According to The Verge, Philips claims that the new Sync Box will have no latency at all.

Do those drawbacks justify the expense of the new Hue Sync Box 8K? It's up to you, but it's well worth considering all the options before splashing out. It's also worth noting that Philips offers the Hue Sync app for Windows and Mac PCs, which does pretty much the same job as the Sync Box, but for free. If you're only going to be using it for a single PC plugged into your TV, that's a much better option. We'll soon be putting the new box through its paces and bringing you a full review, so you might want to wait until then to make a decision.

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Buying a new action camera this year is going to be a tricky decision, judging by the latest leaks. Not only have we just seen the launch of two new GoPro cameras, a DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is also en route – and a new leak has suggested that Insta360 could even overshadow them both.

Thanks to PhotoRumors, we now have our first image of what appears to be the Insta360 Ace Pro 2, a successor to the already very powerful Insta360 Ace Pro. Considering we described the latter as an "absolute monster" and one of the best action cameras so far, it could be worth the wait.

The leak doesn't reveal a huge amount about the new Ace Pro 2's specs. Like before, it'll seemingly shoot 8K video (possibly at a higher 30fps frame-rate than the previous 24fps maximum), but this time will get a "dual AI chip" rather than the current model's single one.

The Ace Pro 2 will also apparently continue Insta360 and Leica's partnership with a Super Summarit-A lens, although there are no markings on the casing in the leaked image – so we can't tell if this still has an f/2.6 aperture, or is a brighter lens for better low-light performance.

We'll have to wait for the official launch for more details, but we can expect the Ace Pro 2 to again be weighty (both physically and in price). The original model was 17% heavier than the Hero 12 Black and cost $449.99 / £429 / AU$729 at launch. 

We should find out how the new GoPro Hero 13 Black and base Hero models compare to Insta360's incoming rival during GoPro's launch today at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm BST / 11pm AEST. 

Refined power?

Our Insta360 Ace Pro review was pretty complementary about the action cam – so much so that it currently sits third in our list of the best action cameras.

While that unique 8K resolution is more of a party trick than truly useful for most people, we still rate the Ace Pro as the best premium action camera around. It has tons of magnetic mounting options, and its handy 2.4-inch flip screen is great for vlogging and reviewing footage.

It isn't perfect, though, with no option to shoot in log format (for color grading afterward), while the 'AI' chip was mainly used for noise reduction, rather than clever computational tricks.

Still, if Insta360 manages to fine-tune the original version, it could again be a tempting option if you don't mind its size and price – and might put a downer on GoPro and DJI's imminent launch parties.

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Kandao has fully unveiled the QooCam 3 Ultra, its latest and greatest 360-degree camera, which it hopes will dethrone the Insta360 X4 – and it looks like it could do just that, on paper at least. 

The QooCam 3 Ultra is stacked with industry-leading features, including 8K HDR video with 10-bit color depth, plus twin f/1.6 aperture lenses and larger dual 1/1.7-inch sensors, which combined should produce a cleaner image than the X4, especially in low light. 

Users can shoot 360-degree video in 8K resolution up to 30fps, 5.7K video up to 60fps, and 4K video up to 120fps, and easily switch to a single-lens mode, meaning the QooCam 3 Ultra essentially doubles up as a regular action camera, especially given that it's waterproof up to 33ft / 10m. 

Video capture utilizes Kandao's SuperSteady electronic image stabilization to smooth out on-the-go clips, plus four directional mics for spatial audio capture. Got a Bluetooth mic like the DJI Mic 2 for better audio? There's support for that, though we'll need to confirm exactly which Bluetooth mics are compatible. 

The quality of 360-degree videos and photos benefits from 'dynamic stitching' in the QooCam Studio editor, plus there's an invisible selfie stick feature that's pretty much the norm for this type of total-coverage video camera. 

There's a wealth of shooting modes too, including long exposure, timelapse and interval shooting, while built-in GPS can tag location data to your content.

The QooCam 3 Ultra isn't just for video. Photographers can capture 360-degree photos up to 96MP in both 14-bit DNG RAW format and JPEG.

Build-wise, the QooCam 3 Ultra is chunkier than the X4, and with its 2,280mAh battery inserted it weighs 11.8oz / 336g. It sports a 2.19-inch touchscreen and comes with 128GB of built-in memory, plus it supports additional microSD storage – and you'll probably need to pick up a memory card given the large 8K video file sizes. 

Price-wise, we're told that Kandao's QooCam 3 Ultra will cost $599 / £579 / AU$699 – that's a bit pricier in the US and UK markets than our current favorite 360-degree camera, the Insta360 X4.

All hail the new 360-degree camera king?

We highly rated 2019's QooCam 3, although we felt the editing experience needed refining. Since then, Insta360 has upped the bar with the X4, while GoPro is working on its long-awaited Max 2, meaning the competition is heating up. 

Four years after the QooCam 3, Kandao says its latest flagship is refined in every regard, including the editing process. Kandao is also at pains to point out the quality of the QooCam 3 Ultra's 8K capture, saying it's the best around. The sample footage supplied to us by Kandao, some of which we've compiled above, is certainly impressive.

We're currently conducting an in-depth review of the QooCam 3 Ultra to see if these impressive specs translate into real-world performance, so if you're in the market for a pocketable 360-degree camera do look out for that, to find out if the QooCam 3 Ultra is indeed an X4-killer. 

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Ask anyone to name the most luxurious car they can think of and I'll bet good money they say Rolls-Royce. But having spent some time with the BMW i7's new Theater Mode, which includes a 31.3-inch 8K screen that gracefully slides down from the roof, they may have to revise that opinion.  

There's no real RRP when it comes to a Rolls, while customers can specify pretty much any conceivable option they can dream up, so long as the budget stretches. But dig a little deeper and you’ll notice BMW has a big part to play in the story.

Ever since the German giant acquired the British brand in 1998, it has been providing parts and know-how in order to streamline the manufacturing process. Whisper it, but the latest Rolls-Royce Spectre, the brand’s first EV, has a lot in common with the BMW 7 Series – in particular, the all-electric i7. 

However, in a bold move, BMW has reserved arguably its most impressive tech for its own vehicles, rather than letting its altogether more opulent sibling bask in all the touchscreen glory.

Armed with the keys to one of the more 'entry-level' UK-specific i7s, which start at £106,000 (around $105,000 / AU$320,00) but rise to over £160,000 (about $168,500 / AU$364,00), I spent a few days prodding buttons and having my lower back pummeled in the name of journalism.

Screen burn

Before we get to that incredible Theater Mode, let's take a short tour around the rest of the i7's interior. The modern approach to automotive interiors appears to be throwing touchscreens at every surface possible, and while BMW shows some restraint in the front, it has gone completely loco in the rear.

Drivers are presented with a curved 12.3-inch dial display, as well as a 14.9-inch infotainment screen that takes care of pretty much everything. The dash area is deliberately bereft of physical buttons, which its equally beautiful and frustrating.

In addition to this, there’s a crystalline iDrive controller, which looks like it has been lifted directly from a Premier League soccer player's dining room, as well as backlit glass trim throughout the interior. 

Paired with the beautifully soft (and very white) leather optioned on the ludicrously large and plush seats this press demonstrator, it felt like a genuinely luxurious place to while away the miles for all riding onboard.

The 12.3-inch driver display boasts a number of very cool innovations, including Augmented Reality navigation, which neatly layers digital directions and arrows onto live camera feeds when approaching junctions.

What’s more, BMW has ploughed on with its camera-based gesture control technology, updating it so it is now more responsive than ever. A twirl of the index finger just in front of the main infotainment system will turn up the volume, for example.

If that’s not your bag, you can also use a variety of natural voice commands to have the vehicle do exactly what you want. 

Everything is highly customizable, too, from the screen layouts to the information you want in both the digital driver display and the heads-up display that’s projected onto the windscreen. It makes driving the thing a doddle.

Without getting too bogged down with specs, the model I drove boasted 450-odd bhp, a 127mph electronically-limited top speed, a 0-62mph sprint time of just 5.5 seconds and an all-electric range of 357 – 380 miles.

These are big numbers for the supposed entry-level model and those figures feel more impressive when behind the wheel. 

Progress is swift but effortless, lumps in the road are smoothed over and the gargantuan 5,391mm (17ft) length is neatly disguised thanks in part to rear-wheel steering that somehow makes the i7 feel as agile around town as a Fiat 500.

A movie theater on wheels

Driving the i7 is one thing, but experiencing it from the cosseting rear seats is the proper way to approach things. All four doors open automatically, but locating the button is a bit fiddly.

Rear passengers press a small button that sits flush to the surface of the metallic door panel to close the massive apertures and once inside, the chaos of modern life is pleasantly sealed away thanks to masses of sound deadening and insulation.

Each rear occupant is presented with a small and fantastically crisp touchscreen next to the door handles. This takes care of all creature comforts, including massaging seats, climate control and even the ambience of the hundreds of hidden LEDs beautifully installed throughout the cabin.

Several pre-set modes are on offer, from Digital Art, which displays striking colors and numerous pieces of digital artwork on the various displays, to a Relax mode, which plays a sort of chilled-out ambient soundtrack through the powerful Bowers & Wilkins surround sound system.

At night, even the sunroof glass lights up thanks to integrated LED threads that create a sort of hatched effect, similar to those systems that protect priceless jewels in Mission Impossible movies.

However, it is Theater mode that really brings the i7 to life, as it sees the 31.3-inch 8K display gracefully slide from its stowed position in the roof panel to its viewing angle. Blinds then majestically appear to cover the side and rear windows for darkest ambience possible.

The screen starts up with Dolby-esque grandeur, with deep notes rumbling through seat 'exciters', and BMW graphics scroll across the digital real estate. All you need is a popcorn scent pumped through the HVAC system and it would be perfect.

The display itself runs Amazon Fire TV software and relies on a BMW eSIM to get its data feed. Annoyingly, this press car didn’t come with one and I tried to create hotspot from various devices to get it work, but it didn’t.

One solution I found was plugging a traditional Amazon Fire Stick into the HDMI input at the back of the screen and creating a hotspot with my phone. It’s not suitable for daily use, given the number of trailing wires, but it helped me at least get a feel for the theater on wheels.

An immersive experience

Without being able to verify the 8K figure, images certainly looked sharp and the sound was excellent from the Bowers & Wilkins system – it positively boomed through the seats during action sequences. 

Clearly, the user interface is much better without my janky Fire Stick set-up, as it’s just a case of tapping on the screen to select movies and TV shows via the built-in Amazon Fire TV OS.

However, there are a few mild quirks to BMW’s system, chiefly that certain apps within the Amazon ecosystem, such as YouTube, can’t be navigated via touchscreen and require use of those little displays built into the door handles to act as remote controls.

Those with the Amazon Fire TV app on their smartphones can use the phone as a controller, which comes in very handy when playing games on the big screen.

Secondly, not all of the Theater Screen's width is used for entertainment purposes by default, as the flanks typically house some generic informational widgets, such as the date and the ambient temperature or weather updates. 

Thankfully, the main media block can be shifted left or right, if certain rear passengers want to opt out of movie night, while the aspect ratio can be adjusted and the display can be set to a full-screen mode to get rid of those irksome widgets. 

The screen itself can also be adjusted back and forth, as well as adjustments for the tilt angle, but the display is so big, it does feel a bit close for comfort and requires a bit of neck craning. 

It's easily forgiven, seeing as that 2000W surround sound is so impressively huge, although passengers can connect headphones via Bluetooth (the only devices the system will currently allow) if the driver starts getting annoyed.

It’s also worth noting that the Theater Screen also houses a front-facing camera, which could be used for web conference calls should the Amazon Fire TV OS offer those apps in the future.

I guess an Alexa two-way video call would be achievable, although I didn’t test it out.

Tech is the new luxury

Comparing a BMW to a Rolls-Royce is akin to comparing apples and oranges, simply because the prestige British brand has always been about 'shy tech' - minimizing the amount of gadgetry at play inside its cabin in the quest of pure opulence and relaxation.

However, times are changing and the next generation of the ultra-wealthy are increasingly looking towards clever use of technology as a status symbol. The BMW i7, alongside the latest 7 Series in general, fulfills this brief with distinction.

Sure, some might view the addition of a whopping TV in the back of the car as distasteful, but it never failed to make an impact – it was almost always met with "oooohs" and "ahhhs" from anyone I showed it to and my kids went absolutely bananas over the prospect of enjoying a full-blown movie session during a long drive.

But above all, the i7 is an excellent car, bristling with technology but also a smooth, quiet and powerful machine to drive... if you ever want to sit in the driver's seat, that is.

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Endgame Gear OP1 8k review

The Endgame Gear OP1 8k is the German gaming peripheral specialist’s enhanced version of its OP1 wired mouse, which is capable of polling rates of up to 8,000Hz, hence the '8k' appendage to the model name. Users can also open it up and swap out the switches, which will appeal to the subset of gamers who are very particular about their clicks.

However, what might divide that group is the form factor of the OP1 8k. The small size, combined with the pronounced hump, might make it difficult for some to achieve a secure grip – although Endgame Gear does specify that the mouse only supports a claw grip, making it a suitable option for those who prefer this style. The super-lightweight, which Endgame Gear approximates to be about 50.5g, also helps rapid movement. 

Everyone will welcome the lack of drag, though. The USB cable is light and flexible, and the cable base stress-relief is angled upwards – a smart design choice that helps to further reduce surface contact, acting like an ersatz mouse bungee. However, the cloth material surrounding the cable is very thin; during my time with the OP1 8k, it already began to fray slightly, spelling trouble for its long-term durability.

Although the lack of cable drag helps the mouse to perform at its best, the same can’t be said for the PTFE skates. They cover a small surface area, so glides aren’t as smooth as they are with the best gaming mouse options. Thankfully, larger PTFE skates are included in the box, which helps to reduce friction. What’s worse, though, is that using the OP1 8k on hard surfaces can cause the middle to grate unbearably, and even the optional skate that goes around the optical sensor doesn’t fix the problem. But if you’re using the OP1 8k exclusively on padded surfaces, this will be a moot point.

Another disappointing aspect of the OP1 8k is the button quality. The mouse clicks aren’t as snappy as I would have liked, taking too long to rebound. Endgame Gear claims that its Kailh GX switches that come preinstalled have a short internal travel and good “spamability”; I found they couldn’t be actuated quickly enough to make them suitable for such quickfire pressing.

The side buttons also feel harsh since they aren’t dampened at all, while the scroll wheel is a little too notchy for my preferences, and the middle button doesn’t feel as solid or as secure as it should be. I didn’t have enough confidence to use it in the heat of battle, worrying that I’d trigger the scroll function by mistake. Admittedly, this is an issue I tend to find with many gaming mice.

On the surface, the free configuration tool is as basic as it gets; it wouldn’t look out of place on a Windows 95 machine. The argument could be made that the barebones interface makes it an extremely lightweight application, therefore saving precious computing power. However, during my time with it, it did crash on one occasion, when I was switching back and forth between it and a game window to change settings on the fly. On other occasions when switching, the “Apply” button for confirming adjustments failed to appear. It could well be the case that such problems may not be experienced on setups beyond my own, but it’s an issue worth noting all the same.

There are various settings that can be adjusted using the tool – but, unfortunately, none of them is explained, so unless you’re au fait with the terminology, you’ll likely have some googling to do.

First, it measures sensitivity in the less common unit of counts per inch (CPI) rather than dots per inch (DPI), but essentially they amount to the same thing. Between one and four quick settings are available, which can be cycled through using the mode button on the underside of the OP1 8k. There’s also the ability to adjust the sensitivities of the X and Y axes independently.

The lift-off distance (LOD) can be altered to between 1mm and 2mm, which are increments so small that I could barely discern the difference during gameplay. Of course, I’m far from being an esports pro. For most gamers, though, this won’t be a setting worth adjusting given its limited range. 

There are also toggle boxes for angle snapping and ripple control, which aren’t settings you always see in peripheral software. There’s no explanation as to what these settings do within the app. So, for those who aren’t familiar with the terms, angle snapping is an aid to help keep your cursor movements along a straight path, whereas ripple control is meant to help smooth mouse movements.

Angle snapping does indeed work as intended; however, I also found that it increases the acceleration of cursor movements, which is jarring. As for ripple control, its aim of reducing mouse jitter comes at the expense of “a few frames of added motion delay,” as Endgame Gear explains on its website, which is anathema to competitive gamers and not worth the cost of activating. Regardless, in practice, I found it made little difference to the smoothing of my movements. 

Under the advanced settings tab, you’ll find adjustments for the polling rate, with options between 1,000Hz and 8,000Hz. The aforementioned mode button can cycle through four different poll rates within this range. 

There’s a Motion Sync checkbox as well; but yet again, there’s no explanation on what this does. Endgame Gear explains on a Reddit post that the polling events and sensor data become synchronized when enabled, in order to make data more consistent, but at the cost of adding a 1ms input lag. Again, this is something that will probably make some players wince, and during my tests I failed to notice any real difference with this setting turned on.

One feature that certainly is noticeable is the slam click filter, which prevents accidental mouse button activation when vigorously swiping, as you might when using low DPI/ CPI settings in FPS games, for instance. This is a setting that definitely works as intended, and will likely be one you’ll want to have enabled permanently.

Another set of adjustable (and not always seen) parameters are the multiclick filters. These determine how many button presses can be registered in quick succession – more commonly known as debouncing. Those who play Minecraft PvP will be among those most interested in these settings, as rapid-fire clicks are a core part of that game.

There are multi-click filter adjustments for every button on the OP1 8k (barring the underside mode switcher), ranging from 0-25. Lower values increase the number of clicks registered when spamming the given button; but misclicks are more likely, too, so you’ll want to find the setting that works best for you.

The right and left mouse buttons also have an optional dropdown box next to their respective multi-click filter settings, labeled SPDT (single pole, double throw). This refers to the type of switches the mouse buttons use, which allow for greater debouncing adjustments. You’re given three modes to choose between: GX Speed Mode, GX Safe Mode, or off. 

The former lowers click latency, while the latter increases it. If off is selected, then you can use the standard 0-25 multi-click filter sliding scale instead. I noticed no real difference between these GX modes and the sliding scale, so it ultimately seems like a wasted addition.

Aside from these tweaks, the software also allows you to remap the buttons on the OP1 8k. This doesn’t merely involve swapping them around: you can also assign them to trigger a keyboard key, cycle the CPI, or perform certain media-based functions, such as play, pause, open Windows Explorer or even a web browser – although the latter didn’t work on my PC.

It isn’t just the software that’s customizable; one of the biggest draws of the OP1 8k is that the hardware is customizable, too. A small screwdriver is included, so you can open up the base and swap out the main button switches (and the USB cable) if you so choose. 

Endgame Gear offers a variety of different switches, which can be installed without soldering; it’s merely a case of inserting terminals. Endgame Gear even has a universal switch set, so you can use the OP1 8k with any mechanical switches you like, again without soldering. You can also take out the side button switches, although Endgame Gear offers no replacements for these.

I wasn’t able to test out these various switch options for myself, but having opened up the OP1 8k and removed the switches, I can say that it’s a fairly straightforward process. However, I did find that the right mouse button terminal wasn’t as easy to detach as the left. Also, make sure you have the terminal the correct way around when inserting it into the right mouse button slot – I found this was easy to get wrong.

While the OP1 8k aims high in its pursuit of being a high-end gaming mouse, featuring some useful software and hardware customization options, ultimately, it’s let down by its build quality and overall feel, failing to live up to its relatively high asking price.

Endgame Gear OP1 8k: Price and availability

• $74 / £69 / AU$125
• Available now
• Black and white colorways

The OP1 8k is priced at $74 / £69 / AU$125 and is available in the US, UK, and parts of Europe. Despite it having an Australian list price on Endgame Gear’s website, it isn’t currently available in the territory.

Compared to other wired gaming mice on the market, the OP1 8k doesn’t fare well against the competition. Razer is currently offering its DeathAdder V3 wired mouse for less than the current price of the OP1 8k, and although it’s a few years old at this point, it offers a similar spec, including an 8kHz poll rate and an only slightly heavier weight of 59g. 

However, the click filtering and movement smoothing parameters that the OP1 8k’s configuration tool offers stand in its favor. Razer’s equivalent software, Synapse, doesn’t provide these same tweaks; but it does offer a whole host of other customizable options with which you can experiment. 

Unlike many other gaming mice, you can open up the OP1 8k and change out the switches. However, buying new switches is of course an extra expense, and there’s no option to spec the OP1 8k with the switches of your choice from the outset. 

Endgame Gear OP1 8k: Specs

Should you buy the Endgame Gear OP1 8k?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Endgame Gear OP1 8k: Also consider

How I tested the Endgame Gear OP1 8k

• Tested for two weeks
• Used for FPS titles and general PC use
• Over a decade of PC gaming experience

To test out the OP1 8k, I played FPS titles Ultrakill and Day of Infamy, which cover both the fast-paced and tactical ends of the genre. I also played strategy, action and adventure games, as well as using it for general PC use, such as web browsing. 

I have a decade of PC gaming experience, and my mouse of choice for most of that time has been the evergreen Logitech G502 Lightspeed wireless mouse, which was my main point of comparison alongside the Razer Viper V3 Pro.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed: June 2024

JVC DLA-NZ800 projector: one-minute review

The JVC DLA-NZ800 is the latest high-end projector from the brand, combining its existing BLU-Escent laser light source with a redesigned D-ILA 4K chipset that delivers deeper blacks, brighter images, and improved uniformity. As a result, this excellent beamer builds on JVC’s established strengths, maintaining the company’s position as a preeminent maker of the best 4K projectors.

The JVC DLA-NZ800's native 4K images are crisply detailed, while the upgraded 8K/e-shiftX processing makes great content look even better. The overall picture accuracy is superb, the SDR images impressive, and the HDR performance state-of-the-art thanks to JVC's proprietary dynamic tone mapping and Theatre Optimiser features, along with support for HDR10, hybrid log-gamma and HDR10+.

Key improvements for this newly evolved model include an increased claimed brightness of 2,700 lumens and native contrast ratio of up to 100,000:1. The 8K/e-shiftX upscaling is now more sophisticated, and quieter, while the laser power setting offers greater control. The new features include a Deep Black function, a Balanced dynamic laser mode, and a Vivid picture setting.

The NZ800 supports 3D, with pictures that are bright, punchy and free of any crosstalk, and it has two HDMI 2.1 inputs with support for 8K/60p and 4K/120p. There’s an effective remote, intuitive menu system, and flexible installation – although whether stand or ceiling mounting, bear in mind that this beamer is very big and heavy.

The NZ800 is also rather expensive, although the pricing remains unchanged from the previous generation. As with the earlier NZ8 it also has no direct competitor, so if you want exceptional cinematic performance, peerless HDR tone mapping, comprehensive features and a high degree of future-proofing, this remarkable high-end projector is in a literal class of its own.

JVC DLA-NZ800 projector review: price and release date

• MSRP: $15,999 / £15,999 / AU$24,999
• Release date: May 2024
  

 The JVC DLA-NZ800 (DLA-RS3200) is the mid-range model in the brand’s 4K laser-powered line-up.  It’s available now and retails for £15,999  /$15,999 / AU$24,999. The NZ800 replaces the outgoing DLA-NZ8 (DLA-RS3100) and sits below the flagship DLA-NZ900 (DLA-RS4200), which has also been given an upgrade and replaces the discontinued DLA-NZ9 (DLA-RS4100). The entry point remains the DLA-NZ7 (DLA-RS2100), which is retained from the previous generation. 

JVC DLA-NZ800 projector review: Specs

JVC DLA-NZ800 projector review: design and features

• Gen3 0.69in 4K D-ILA device
• Gen2 8K/e-shiftX
• Gen2 Frame Adapt HDR

The JVC DLA-NZ800’s big new feature is the third generation of the brand’s proprietary D-ILA 4K chipset, which has been redesigned to be more efficient. These refinements allow for brighter images, deeper blacks, and improved uniformity. It’s also the reason why the NZ800 has an increased claimed brightness of 2,700 lumens and an improved contrast ratio of up to 100,000:1.

The NZ800 includes JVC’s second generation 8K/e-shiftX device, which physically shifts each pixel by half a pixel in four directions (up, down, left and right), thus allowing the projector to deliver a full 8K (8,192 x 4,320 resolution) image. This updated version of the proprietary feature uses sophisticated 8K upscaling for improved sharpness and detail across a wide range of content.

In addition to the improved black levels offered by the upgraded D-ILA chipset, JVC has added a new Deep Black function that employs a revised algorithm to further enhance the contrast without crushing shadows. In addition, the dynamic laser control adds a new Balanced setting for even punchier pictures without introducing the annoying brightness fluctuations seen on earlier models.

Speaking of brightness, JVC has improved the sliding scale setting on the laser power control, and while it still goes from 1 to 100 it’s now more granular, which means you can gradually boost the brightness without a sudden increase in fan noise, thus making it more useful. JVC has also added a “Vivid” mode for watching SDR sports or gaming in a room with some ambient light.

The NZ800 retains JVC's BLU-Escent laser diode light source with its claimed 20,000-hour lifespan and greater consistency. Other features include motorised focus, zoom and shift controls to simplify installation, plus lens memories for different screen aspect ratios. There’s also a Filmmaker Mode, along with extensive ISF-certified calibration controls.

JVC’s tone mapping is state-of-the-art, with the latest proprietary Gen3 Frame Adapt HDR dynamically analysing HDR10 content on a frame-by-frame basis to optimise the image, while 18-bit gamma processing results in smoother and finer gradations. JVC also includes the Theatre Optimiser which enhances tone mapping by taking into account the size, shape and gain of your projection screen.

In addition to the existing analysis of an incoming HDR signal, the NZ800 now reads the Display Mastering Luminance (DML) metadata. This tells the projector’s tone mapping function the peak brightness of the display on which the content was originally mastered and is useful because the more metadata the tone mapping has to work with, the better the results in terms of the displayed HDR images.

• Design and features score: 5/5

JVC DLA-NZ800 projector review: picture quality

• Detailed and cinematic 4K delivery
• Bright and punchy HDR images
• Exceptional image processing

The JVC DLA-NZ800 impresses right out of the gate, with the redesigned D-ILA chipset delivering images that are sharp, well defined and free of any uniformity issues. On the review sample I was testing there were also no signs of the dreaded ‘bright corners’ that have been apparent on some JVC projectors in the past, even when staring at a black screen in my dedicated home cinema.

The perceived black levels also appear slightly better when compared to my NZ8, the NZ800’s predecessor, and this was borne out by actual testing, with the NZ800 delivering contrast measurements of up to 100,000:1. The peak brightness approaches the claimed 2,700 lumens, although this was in the Vivid mode, and in the Filmmaker mode or calibrated Natural mode this is closer to around 2,000 lumens.

Out-of-the-box SDR accuracy is excellent with the white point close to the industry standard of D65, an even greyscale, and colours hitting close to their saturation targets for BT.709. This can be improved through calibration, and I was able to get a reference level accuracy, so if you’re spending this kind of money you really should get your NZ800 professionally calibrated.

This accuracy also extends to HDR, and the NZ800 covers 100% of DCI-P3 with its colour filter in place. This filter reduces the brightness by about 20% – so those extra lumens come in handy – but if you’d rather not use the filter (and with HDR10+ you don’t have a choice) then the brightness increases but the gamut coverage drops to around 90% of DCI-P3 instead.

Where JVC projectors are streets ahead of the competition is in terms of HDR tone mapping with the NZ800 not only accurately tracking the PQ curve standard, but also using dynamic tone mapping to get the best out of content based on the available metadata and real-time analysis of the HDR signal. The ability to read the Display Mastering Luminance also helps in this regard.

The new Deep Black feature certainly adds value, teasing a touch more detail out of shadows while keeping the blacks suitably inky. A Balanced dynamic laser setting also helps, creating more depth at the lower end while also boosting the brightness at the other without any ‘pumping’ in the image itself. The NZ800’s superior tone mapping ensures the highlights are also free of clipping.

Processing is also superb, taking lower resolution content and flawlessly upscaling it to the 4K panel, while the 2nd generation 8K/e-shiftX device is a revelation, shifting pixels to create images with the perceived resolution and detail of 8K. While I like the effect of e-shift I don’t use it on my NZ8 because I can hear it in operation, so I was delighted to discover it’s nearly silent on the NZ800. In addition, the 65mm all-glass lens delivers all these pixels with perfect geometry.

The NZ800 is equally impressive with motion handling, producing smooth pictures that are free of blurring and unwanted artefacts. An ability to handle frame rates up 120p adds to the beamer’s motion prowess, and its 36ms input lag – low for a projector that’s not specifically designed for gaming – and longer-life laser light source make the JVC a great choice for the well-heeled big screen gamer.

JVC’s NZ800 is a cracking performer with SDR content, producing detailed and natural images that enjoy added depth thanks to the awesome contrast ratios. Watching Gravity on Blu-ray revealed a remarkable image, where the whites of the space suits are juxtaposed against the black backgrounds, and every pixel of the computer-generated effects is rendered with precision.

Moving on to HDR, the NZ800 proves to be a stellar performer, delivering all the specular highlights of the sun-bleached desert landscapes of Dune Part Two, pulling out every detail in shadows during the nighttime action of The Crow, and reproducing the rich and saturated colours of La La Land, helping to replicate the Technicolor musicals to which it pays homage.

The projector’s dynamic tone mapping is very adept at optimising the performance of the NZ800, and the resulting HDR is often comparable to high-end video processors that cost more than the projector itself. When able to use the dynamic metadata of HDR10+, the results are equally impressive, and the bright flares in the nighttime scenes of 1917 are precisely rendered against the dark sky.

Finally, the 3D performance is excellent with plenty of depth and pictures that are bright, accurate, and free of any ghosting. You’ll need to purchase the optional RF transmitter and glasses, but if you’re a fan of 3D you’ll be rewarded with wonderfully layered images such as when you’re down in the streets of Iron City in Alita: Battle Angel, or floating inside the ISS in Gravity.

• Picture quality score: 5/5

JVC DLA-NZ800 projector review: value

• It’s a significant investment
• There’s no direct competitor

The JVC DLA-NZ800 represents significant value for money, which might sound like a mad statement to make when you consider its price, but I’ll explain. The range-topper in JVC’s range is the DLA-NZ900, which costs $25,999 / £25,999, but in terms of features and performance, the NZ800 is very similar with the only real difference being the NZ900’s larger 100mm lens.

The NZ800 also doesn’t have a direct competitor, and the closest is the Sony VPL-XW7000ES in the UK (£12,999) or VPL-XW6000ES in the US ($11,999). While the XW7000ES is rated at 3,200 lumens, the XW6000ES only hits 2,500 lumens, and neither has support for 8K, 4K/120p or HDR10+, nor do they have HDMI 2.1 inputs. In addition, the NZ800 has better black levels and superior HDR tone mapping, making it the ideal choice for any discerning film fan.

• Value score: 5/5

Should I buy the JVC DLA-NZ800 projector?

Buy it if...

Don’t buy it if… 

Also consider...

How I tested the JVC DLA-NZ800 projector

• Reviewed in a dedicated home cinema
• Used Calman calibration software for measurements
• Evaluated using SDR, HDR and 3D content

As with all my TV and projector reviews I use a combination of subjective viewing and objective measurements against the industry standards. For projectors, I also do all my testing in a dedicated home cinema with a completely blacked-out environment and high-quality screen.

The subjective testing is based on watching a variety of familiar scenes, primarily sourced from 4K, 3D and 1080p Blu-rays, plus the Spears & Munsil UHD Benchmark 4K disc. These scenes have been specifically chosen to evaluate a display’s black levels, contrast performance, colour accuracy, upscaling, image processing, motion handling, and HDR tone mapping.

For the objective testing, I measured the NZ800’s brightness, greyscale and colour gamut in SDR, before doing the same in HDR. I also evaluated the accuracy of the HDR tone mapping, along with the colour gamut coverage for DCI-P3 and BT.2020. To do this I used a pattern generator and colour meter combined with Portrait Displays’ Calman calibration software.

I measured the NZ800’s input lag in milliseconds using a Leo Bodnar tester with the low latency mode switch on.

Finally, because I currently use the JVC DLA-NZ8 as my reference projector, I was able to directly compare the NZ800 to its predecessor.

First reviewed: July 2024

The topic of 8K TVs has become complicated over the past few years. At one stage, many brands including LG, Samsung, Sony, TCL, and Hisense jumped on the 8K TV bandwagon, embracing the new technology in an attempt to future-proof their TVs. So, if 8K TVs were meant to be the next big thing, what happened?

The main factor is price. You’re often paying double for one of the best 8K TVs compared to a 4K equivalent, For example, Samsung’s 2024 flagship 8K TV, the Samsung QN900D, is roughly $4,999 / £4,999 / AU$6,499 for the 65-inch model. The Samsung QN95D, its 4K equivalent, is £2,899. (The QN95D is a UK-only model, and its US/Australia price would roughly be $2,699 / AU$4,099). Also, there’s the ongoing lack of available 8K content, with a limited number of YouTube videos being the exception. As a result of these factors, 8K TVs lost popularity amongst consumers and companies began to move away from the tech. 

I never really bought into the 8K TV hype when I used to work in AV retail, mainly for the reasons stated above. However, after testing the Samsung QN800D, a fantastic mid-range 8K TV, that skepticism turned into belief – I’m starting to get 8K TVs. Still, there’s no getting over the fact that 8K TVs are expensive. 

Recent developments suggest that this could change in the future. Hisense, maker of some of the best TVs including the Hisense U7N and the Hisense U8K, have joined the 8K association, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to future investment and development of 8K technologies. But, why is this such a big deal?

Could affordable 8K TVs be on the way? 

Hisense TVs are popular amongst consumers and critics alike for offering solid picture quality and features at a fraction of the price of some competitors. I tested a budget and premium mini-LED TV side-by-side, with the budget model represented by the Hisense U6N, and the premium represented by the Sony X95L. Although the X95L was clearly the superior TV thanks to its richer contrast, deeper blacks, and more natural textures, the U6N offered solid performance across the board at a $1,200 / £700 cheaper price than the X95L (X93L in the US). 

If Hisense can achieve this in the world of 4K TVs, why not 8K TVs? The company joining the 8K association could signal the arrival of more affordable 8K TVs, ones with similar features to more premium options from major rivals such as Samsung. 

In a statement, David Gold, president of Hisense USA and Hisense Americas, said: “We are eager to contribute to the 8K ecosystem and collaborate with other industry leaders to accelerate the integration of 8K technology into the home entertainment experience.” So it appears that Hisense is keen to get 8K TVs into more homes – hopefully by selling them at lower prices. 

8K TVs – should they stay premium? 

My excitement for cheaper 8K TVs does come with reservations. 8K TVs, particularly those from Samsung, are designed with not just 8K in mind, but also 4K. The aforementioned Samsung QN900D and QN800D both use AI upscaling on 4K sources, and this processing gives an incredible boost to textures, detail, color and high dynamic range in pictures. 

Samsung’s AI technology is strengthened by the quality of the mini-LED backlighting used in its TVs. Part of this is the number of local dimming zones used – the more zones the better, as I discovered during a mini-LED backlight demo. 

Hisense sometimes makes performance sacrifices, such as the number of local dimming zones used in the TV, to achieve low price tags. But can this be done at the 8K level, where there isn’t as much room for picture quality compromise? This isn’t Hisense’s first foray into 8K TVs, with the U80G from 2021 and the recent ULED X 8K displayed at IFA 2023, among its contributions. But both those sets were premium models, which begs the question: Does Hisense believe 8K should remain premium? 

Final thoughts 

Ultimately, Hisense’s commitment to the 8K association signals that it is looking to an 8K future for both TVs and projectors. Hisense has provided budget alternatives to higher-end 4K models that offer unbeatable bang for your buck, so if there’s a chance the company can do the same with 8K TVs, then sign me up.  

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LG Z3 OLED TV: Two-minute review

The first thing to know about the LG Z3 OLED TV is its price: £7,999/$9,999 for a 77-inch screen size. While such a cost puts LG’s 8K OLED TV beyond the reach of most households, it doesn’t stop the Z3 from being not just one of the best OLED TVs, but stellar enough with its performance to make real inroads into the tough job of justifying such a 4K TV-busting price.

For starters, looking at the LG Z3 OLED TV, it's hard to overstate the jaw-dropping precision, detail and clarity you get when over 33 million self-emissive pixels produce their own light and color completely independently of their neighbours. Many people who have spent time with the best 8K TVs compare it to looking through a window rather than watching TV, but that experience is particularly acute when the pixels are combined with the pixel-level light control that only OLED technology can currently deliver (without spending six figures on a monster micro-LED display).

Unlike its 88-inch sibling, the 77-inch Z3 uses LG’s brightness-boosting Micro Lens Array technology, which adds more intensity to OLED’s light control advantage and, in conjunction with a much-improved new picture processor, opens up a wider but still beautifully natural and nuanced colour range. LG’s 8K monster delivers extraordinary big-screen gaming performance, too.

Its audio isn’t as potent as its pictures, and nothing – except a massive discount – gets around that hefty price. But the AV world would undoubtedly be a sadder, duller place without LG’s no-compromise, envelope-pushing 8K beast. 

LG Z3 OLED TV review: Price and release date

• Release date: March 10, 2024
• 77-inch: £7,999 / $9,999 (around AU$15,000)
• 88-inch: £24,999 / $24,999 (around AU$37,600)

When the 77-inch version of the Z3, the LG OLED77Z3, first launched, LG told us it wasn’t scheduled to go on sale in the US, while a search of UK and Australian retailers found it selling for a life savings-draining £14,999 in the UK and $15,999 in Australia. As we were in the process of writing and publishing this review, though, things changed pretty radically. First, the 77-inch Z3 suddenly appeared for sale in the US – priced at a relatively reasonable $9,999. Then it started showing up on many UK retailer sites costing just £7,999 – an overnight cut of almost 50% – while disappearing from Australian retailers.

All of this is a bit confusing, but the happy upshot is that for UK and US buyers the 77-inch Z3 is now a lot more approachable than it used to be. That’s not to say, of course, that it’s suddenly a mass market proposition. It still costs £3,500/$5,500 more than the 77-inch version of LG’s current flagship LG G4 4K OLED TV. It’s also the case that Samsung’s flagship 75-inch 8K TV, the Samsung QN900D, costs £1,500 less than the OLED77Z3. So it remains the case that going 8K costs more than sticking with 4K – especially in the OLED world.  As I’ll discuss in the Value section later, though, the Z3 is just about unique enough to make its price at least feel appropriate.

LG Z3 OLED TV review: Specs

LG Z3 OLED TV review: Features

• 8K OLED screen
• MLA brightness-boosting technology
• Comprehensive gaming support

As you’d hope for a 77-inch TV that costs £7,999 / $9,999, the OLED77Z3 is packed with cutting-edge features. Starting, of course, with that all-important 8K (7680x4320) resolution. 

Some may question its importance, I guess, given that genuine 8K content remains extremely hard to find. However, one or two 8K green shoots are forming out there –including the ability to film your own 8K content on some of the latest smartphones, and hints of potential 8K gaming developments. 

Some also argue that 8K doesn’t actually deliver a perceptible picture quality difference over the 4K resolution of the best TVs. 

However, fitting so many pixels into a 77-inch screen delivers a much smaller pixel pitch than you get with a 4K resolution – and I’ve witnessed before how much this can improve your viewing experience, albeit more in areas such as depth of field, object three-dimensionality and noiseless immediacy than mere sharpness and detail.

Even better for the LG Z3’s usefulness in today’s limited 8K content world, 4K sources can look amazing on it too thanks to the power of the TV’s AI-infused Alpha 9 Gen 6 picture processor. Anyone who thinks upscaling is still the ugly mess it was when the first HDTVs rocked up a couple of decades ago is in for a shock if they get a chance to see how effectively the Z3 can add millions of extra pixels to 4K sources in real time.

Not all 8K TVs boast processing as potent as the LG Z3's, of course. But in this case, the idea that 8K TVs have no current purpose just doesn’t hold up. I’ll come back to this more in the picture performance section.

The 8K resolution gets extra weight in the Z3’s case, too, because it’s delivered by an OLED TV, where every single pixel creates its own light, contributing that bit more potential precision to the 8K experience. The difficulties associated with fitting so many self-illuminating pixels into a 77-inch screen likely impact production yield rates – hence the high price. But the fact that the screen’s lighting is as refined as its pixel count is a key attraction for well-heeled videophiles to ponder.

Happily, the challenges associated with fitting so many OLED pixels into the Z3’s screen hasn’t stopped LG from also fitting this flagship TV with its new Micro Lens Array technology (though not its 88-inch sibling, which has a standard OLED panel). Part of LG’s so-called ‘Brightness Booster Max’ functionality, MLA tech places thousands of tiny mirrors behind the screen to focus the light forward more directly, improving the TV’s brightness without putting more strain on OLED’s organic components.

My measurements revealed a peak brightness from the 77-inch Z3 on a 10% HDR window of almost 1,000 nits and just over 1,000 nits on a 2% HDR window. These numbers are up on LG’s previous Z2 8K OLED range, as I’d expect with MLA in play. They’re only up by between 10 and 15%, though, whereas using MLA technology has increased the peak brightness of the LG G3 and G4 4K TVs to more than 1,400 nits – more like a 25-30% increase over their non-MLA predecessors.

I can’t say for sure why MLA hasn’t had such a dazzling effect on the 77-inch Z3 I tested, but I suspect it has something to do with the EU’s latest round of TV energy consumption regulations.

As ever with a premium LG TV, the Z3’s HDR support encompasses the HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision formats, but not the HDR10+ format developed as a rival for Dolby Vision. Its connections are headed up by four full 48Gbps bandwidth HDMI ports capable of handling 8K signals at 60Hz and 4K signals at 120Hz.

• Features Score: 5/5

LG Z3 OLED TV review: Picture quality

• Stunning detail and sharpness
• Awesome contrast
• Almost unbelievably good upscaling

To make it absolutely clear just how much the Z3 should be considered a TV of today rather than some potentially distant 8K tomorrow, let’s first focus on its remarkably good 8K upscaling.

The addition of AI to the picture processing world has transformed how well high-resolution TVs can upgrade lower-resolution sources in real time, and this transformation is no more obvious than in the way the LG Z3 converts 4K to its screen’s native 8K pixel count.

The results are pretty much flawless, in fact, resulting in pictures that look sharper, denser and more immediate than they do in their 4K original form. Even more amazingly, the Alpha 9 AI 8K Gen6 processor manages to add the literally millions of pixels required to turn 4K into 8K without exaggerating any noise or grain a source image may contain. It’s arguably this ability to distinguish between noise and ‘real’ picture information when deciding which pixels to add to the image that LG’s latest processor that most goes beyond anything we’ve seen before from the legendary OLED brand.

There’s no obvious lag, over-enthusiastic object edge enhancement or general softness to the 8K upscale, either. On the contrary, it achieves just the sort of three-dimensional, depth-enhanced look associated with a true 8K experience. So to reiterate this point for anyone nodding off at the back, the LG Z3 can make a difference to your AV life right now.

This is not to say that the Z3’s pictures aren’t even better with native 8K, of course. My trusty 8K demo reel of splendid creatures and amazing landscapes by the video gurus at Spears & Munsil looks nothing short of mesmerisingly real. It’s as if the TV has disappeared and a hole has opened up in your wall through which you can literally look directly out on the majesty of nature in all its ‘unpixellated’ glory.

This feels especially true in the Z3’s case because of OLED’s self-emissive nature. Having pixel-level light control working with so many pixels at such a fine pitch delivers a peerless degree of local contrast that feeds into an unprecedented sense of precision and sharpness. that I haven’t seen before. And this peerless local light control feeds into a supremely balanced, ultra-refined and seemingly more expansive colour palette courtesy of LG’s latest panel and processor.

So while the LG Z3’s 4K upscaler makes it relevant as a truly premium performer today, its native 8K performance confirms its arguably peerless readiness for the potential video format of tomorrow.

On top of its resolution joys, the Z3 delivers the other picture strengths OLED is renowned for, such as the ability to combine inkily deep and neutral black tones with peak white picture details even just a pixel apart without any compromise. This results in neither any light ‘blooming’ around stand-out bright objects nor any obvious reduction in the brightness of those same stand-out bright objects to avoid blooming.

The resulting intensity with HDR images makes the 77-inch LG Z3 appear brighter than its measured luminance values would lead you to expect.

You can also watch the Z3 from almost any angle without any loss of contrast or colour saturation unlike most LCD TVs. And LG’s latest 8K motion processor does an excellent job in its ‘Cinematic Movement’ mode of gently massaging away the harsh, resolution-reducing look that judder can otherwise cause during 24 frames a second film presentations.

There are only a couple of negative points I can muster about the LG Z3’s picture. First, while it copes extremely well with good quality HD sources, heavily compressed HD and really all standard definition sources can end up looking a bit soft and artificial despite the stellar efforts of the new processor. Second, while its use of light is insanely precise, it isn’t as outright bright as either premium LCD TVs or some premium 4K OLEDs – especially when it comes to HDR images that flood the whole screen with brightness.

This latter issue is a surprise given that the 77-inch Z3 uses MLA technology – though to reiterate this point, the extra light precision and local contrast control the 8K array of self-emissive pixels delivers does make the screen appear brighter than it actually is.

• Picture quality score: 5/5

LG Z3 OLED TV review: Sound quality

• Virtual 9.1.2-channel upmixer
• 60W 4.2-channel speaker system
• Wireless Dolby Atmos and WOW Orchestra support

Tucked away behind the 77-inch LG Z3’s epic screen is a 4.2-channel speaker set up powered by a promising 60W of claimed power. LG’s latest Alpha 9 Gen 6 processor is able to up-mix any source to a virtual 9.1.2 presentation, and to top things off the TV supports both lossless transmission of Dolby Atmos sound to compatible LG soundbars and LG’s Wow Orchestra feature, where the speakers in the TV join forces with the soundbar to create a wider soundstage.

All these audio features only add up to a mixed bag of sound performance, though. On the upside, the AI upmixer option does a startlingly good job of taking limited-channel audio tracks, even plain stereo, and remixing their details into a much larger soundstage. Details are cast far and wide and are spaced around so artfully – including being given a sense of verticality – that it’s sometimes hard to believe you’re not listening to a native Dolby Atmos mix.

The remix helps the soundstage appear even bigger than the king-sized screen, making it more immersive – a feeling enhanced by the speakers being sensitive enough to pick out lots of detail without making anything sound harsh or exaggerated. Bass impact is diminished by LG Z3’s upmixer, though, leaving soundtracks feeling a bit thin – so much so that action movie fans might prefer to turn the upmixer off, despite its other strengths.

There also isn’t enough power available to the audio system to deliver the sort of volumes and raw impact with action movie soundtracks that pictures as big and resplendent as those the 77-inch Z3’s screen delivers deserve to be partnered by. Finally, while the sound can spread beyond the TV’s sides, it doesn’t enjoy much forward impact, typically seeming more like it’s happening behind the screen rather than around your seating position.

• Sound quality score: 3.5/5

LG Z3 OLED TV review: Design

• Distinctive and attractive ‘strata’ rear design
• Ships with feet this year
• Designed for wall mounting

As with LG’s previous 8K TVs, the Z3 features a so-called Gallery design that’s intended to look particularly good when hung on a wall. So its bezel is slim and enjoys a premium finish, build quality is excellent throughout, and the rear angles in steeply from the screen’s edges so the TV looks unusually thin from all but the most extreme viewing angles.

That doesn’t mean, though, that the LG Z3 doesn’t also cater to people who’d rather place the TV on a stand. It ships with a pair of feet and features a very distinctive high gloss, almost mirrored rear finish together with comprehensive cable management features. In other words, LG is happy for its flagship TV to be admired from any angle.

While it’s nice to now find feet included rather than them being an optional extra, they are a bit spindly and basic for a TV that looks so premium in other ways. Also, while the 77-inch LG Z3 tries to create the illusion of being very slim around the back, in reality, it sticks out quite a long way when it’s hung on your wall.

• Design score: 4/5

LG Z3 OLED TV review: Smart TV and menus

• webOS 23 smart system
• Voice control support
• Support for multiple user profiles

Smart features on the Z3 are provided by LG’s 2023 WebOS platform. This delivers a rich landscape of apps covering all the most important global streaming services – including in the UK all of the main terrestrial broadcaster catch-up apps, as well as the Freeview Play app that brings all these terrestrial broadcaster services together in an easy to browse ‘umbrella’ interface. 

The webOS interface can be upgraded to the latest webOS version, too, and while I still have fond memories of the old webOS system that used to superimpose its content over the picture rather than the interface taking over the whole screen as it does now, LG has continued to refine the home screen’s layout and content options to a point where the new approach is finally starting to win me over.

LG's extensive and effective voice control support also means you don’t even have to engage with the menus that much if you’d rather not. Plus, there’s now support for multiple user profiles so that different members of your household can establish their own personal OS ‘space’, complete with personal content recommendations and even personal preference picture settings.

• Smart TV & menus score: 4.5/5

LG Z3 OLED TV review: Gaming

• 4K 120Hz support on all HDMIs
• AMD Freesync and Nvidia G-Sync support
• 13.5ms input lag in Game mode

The LG Z3 is as spectacular a gaming display as I’ve seen. Its sheer size, for starters, lets you become immersed in gaming worlds more than any small monitor ever could.

This is especially true as the Z3’s upscaler arguably works even more effectively with 4K and HD games than it does with video, making the likes of Viking-era England in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and modern-day Mexico in Forza Horizon 5 even more irresistibly beautiful places to hang out. Here again, you get an 8K boost without necessarily needing an 8K source.

The TV’s ultra-high resolution, extreme contrast and peerlessly precise lighting really help to enhance the sense of depth and three-dimensionality of first and third-person games too, while colours look gorgeously vivid and clean, but also subtly shaded and refined.

The HDR gaming support extends to a dedicated Dolby Vision game mode, meaning you can enjoy the most dynamic HDR gaming format without having to put up with high input lag. Talking of input lag, in its fastest Game mode the LG Z3 takes just 13.5ms to render images received at its inputs.

The Z3 is capable of taking in 4K 120Hz signals across all four of its HDMI ports, too, meaning dedicated gamers can attach a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and gaming PC simultaneously with no compromise to performance. If you manage to find a PC capable of outputting 8K resolution games at 60Hz, the Z3 will support those too.

The comprehensive approach to gaming extends to support for variable refresh rates that takes in official support for both the AMD Freesync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync formats as well as the standard HDMI-based system. There’s support for HDMI 2.1’s Auto Low Latency Mode switching as well, and gamers can call up a dedicated Game Dashboard menu that provides access to a range of gaming features plus information on the incoming gaming signals.

I guess ultra-competitive gamers might prefer a much smaller screen than the LG Z3’s so they can take the whole image in at a glance more swiftly. Anyone who prefers games not totally built on reaction times, though, or who prefers immersion to milliseconds of responsiveness won’t be able to tear their eyes away from the Z3’s gaming glories. 

• Gaming score: 5/5

LG Z3 OLED TV review: Value

• Retails for £7,999 / $9,999
• Offers a unique set of features
• Dazzling performance – but you may still need a soundbar

This is the trickiest part of the review for the 77-inch LG Z3. Dropping essentially £8K/$10K on a TV is clearly not something most households will be able to do. Plus, you can buy 75 and 77-inch 4K OLED and 8K LCD TVs for far less. Even Samsung’s flagship 75-inch 8K LCD TV, the excellent QN900D, only costs £6,499.

If you do happen to have the requisite pile of cash lying around, though, it is worth pointing out that the LG Z3, which combines 8K resolution with an OLED display that enables every single one of its pixels to be illuminated by its own light independent of its neighbours, is a unique proposition. One, moreover, that results in unprecedentedly precise and immersive pictures.

• Value score: 3.5/5

Should I buy the LG Z3 OLED TV?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if…

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How I tested the LG Z3 OLED TV

• Tested over 10 days
• Tested with 4K Blu-rays, streams from multiple platforms, Freeview HD broadcasts, and HD Blu-rays
• Reviewed in light and dark room conditions, from multiple viewing angles and distances

The 77-inch LG Z3 was tested in a dark dedicated test room, as well as being used for multiple days as a regular living room TV, with all the varied light conditions and sources regular day to day TV use brings.

The dark test room sessions involved feeding the TV our 8K showreel from Spears & Munsil, and a series of 4K Blu-ray and 4K HDR stream sequences that we’ve learned are particularly good at highlighting any strengths and weaknesses a screen may display.

The native 8K demo reel mostly features HDR images of lovely vistas and animal close-ups, while the 4K discs most used for this ‘stress testing’ phase of the review are the first of Andy Muschietti’s recent It films (which features a tricky mix of deliberately exaggerated extremely dark and extremely bright, colourful sequences) and the stunning looking (and sounding) Top Gun: Maverick.

During its living room life, the LG Z3 was presented with everything from grubby standard-definition digital broadcasts from both the TV’s own tuner and a Sky Q box, HD feeds from those same sources, as well as 4K HDR Sky Sports feeds and 4K streams from multiple streaming platforms including Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+.

Gaming plays a big part in the LG Z3’s appeal, meanwhile, so I made sure I spent far too long checking it out while playing Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Forza Horizon 5. 

You can read an in-depth overview of how we test TVs at TechRadar at that link.

• First reviewed: June, 2024
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Samsung QN800D review: Two minute review

The Samsung QN800D is the entry-level set in the company’s 8K Neo QLED range, offering  8K resolution at a slightly more affordable price than the flagship Samsung QN900D. It’s still a pricey TV, however, with the 65-inch model I tested currently selling for $3,499 / £3,499 / AU$4,799 – a higher price than most premium 4K TVs. 

Samsung makes some of the best TVs and consistently flies the 8K flag as other brands move away from the technology. Based on the performance of the QN800D, it may be justified to fly that flag. 

The QN800D’s picture quality is nothing short of impressive, mainly due to the exceptional 8K AI upscaling and Real Depth Enhancer Pro features of the TV’s NQ8 AI Gen2 Processor. These add incredible depth and refined detail to any textures, and the picture also has rich contrast and impressive black levels for a mini-LED TV. There is some minor backlight blooming and reflections can occur in harsh lighting conditions, but those are the only drawbacks of an otherwise phenomenal picture. 

Gaming features are plentiful with the QN800D, with its four HDMI 2.1 ports kitted out with all the bells and whistles we look for in the best gaming TVs. The QN800D supports 4K up to 165Hz,8K up to 60Hz, VRR including AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and comes with Samsung’s useful Gaming Hub. Gaming performance is excellent, feeling smooth and seamless even in the most intense of FPS games, and with the TV’s 8K AI upscaling, graphically beautiful as well. 

Sound quality is an area where the QN800D stumbles compared to the rest of its performance. A 4.2.2-channel speaker array provides exceptional tracking of on-screen action and dialogue is crisp and clear, but the QN800D’s lean bass means it can’t compete with some of the best TVs for sound such as the Sony A80L and Panasonic MZ2000. As such, it will be worth pairing the QN800D with one of the best soundbars to compliment its picture quality. 

The QN800D uses Samsung’s ‘Infinity One’ design for a sleek, slim appearance with a near bezel-less look that allows the impeccable picture to be the star of the show. It also comes with Samsung’s One Connect Box to house all external source connections, making the QN800D perfect for wall mounting. It does come with a premium metal stand, but be warned, it can be a little fiddly to fit on. 

There’s no getting around the fact that the QN800D is a premium-priced TV, with many flagship 4K models, including some of the best OLED TVs, selling for significantly less while still offering many of the same great features. There’s also a lack of 8K media to make full use of the QN800D’s high resolution. But the QN800D’s impressive 8K upscaling breathes extra life into every source it’s given, especially 4K movies with HDR. If you can stretch your budget for it you won’t be let down. I may have been skeptical about 8K TVs before, but the QN800D has made me a believer. 

Samsung QN800D review: Prices & release date

• Release date: April 2024  
• 65-inch: $3,499 / £3,499 / AU$4,799 
• 75-inch: $4,499 / £4,499 / AU$6,499 
• 85-inch: $5,999 / £6,999 / AU$8.999 

The Samsung QN800D is the entry-level 8K Neo QLED model for 2024 and sits below the flagship Samsung QN900D. It is available in 65-, 75- and 85-inch sizes and was released in April 2024. 

Since its release, we have seen some offers and reductions on the QN800D in its various sizes. The 65-inch model I tested has seen roughly $200 off, with as much as £500 off in the UK for the 85-inch model, though it still carries a high price tag across the board. 

Samsung QN800D review: Specs

Samsung QN800D review: Benchmark results

Samsung QN800D review: Features

• NQ8 AI Gen2 Processor with 8K AI Upscaling Pro
• 4.2.2-channel speaker array
• One Connect Box    

The Samsung QN800D uses the  NQ8 AI Gen2 Processor, which boasts features such as 8K AI Upscaling Pro to upscale 4K images with up to 84% of the resolution of native 8K (according to Samsung). It also has Real Depth Enhancer Pro and Adaptive Picture, both of which use AI technology to analyze the picture and the surrounding environment to enhance images. The QN800D can display native 8K video, but there are no broadcast or home video 8K options outside of YouTube. 

Like all Samsung TVs, the QN800D supports the HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG HDR formats, but not Dolby Vision. 

For gaming, the QN800D is equipped with four HDMI 2.1 ports that support up to 165Hz refresh rate at 4K, 60Hz at 8K, VRR (including AMD FreeSync Premium Pro), ALLM and HGiG. It also features Samsung’s Gaming Hub that locates everything gaming-related in one handy location, including cloud-based gaming apps from Xbox, Luna, Nvidia GeForce Now and more. 

The QN800D comes with the One Connect Box Slim, which houses all connections and links to the TV with a One Connect cable. This design keeps cables tidy, especially for wall-mount installations. Along with its four HDMI 2.1 ports, connections include optical digital audio out, an ATSC 3.0 tuner (US-only) and aerial and satellite connections for the UK, and three USB ports including USB-C. 

For audio, the QN800D has a built-in 4.2.2 channel speaker array with 70W of power and support for Dolby Atmos. It also supports AI features such as Adaptive Sound Pro and Active Voice Amplifier Pro, which analyze the scene and viewing environment to optimize sound. The QN800D supports Q Symphony, which combines the TV’s audio output with compatible Samsung soundbars when connected. 

The QN800D uses Samsung’s own Tizen smart TV platform, which appears largely unchanged for 2024 except for a new ‘recommended for you’ section that recommends movies and TV shows based on your past viewing. There is also a new 'Recent' window that lets you easily jump back into a movie or TV show you were recently watching. 

• Features score: 5 / 5

Samsung QN800D review: Picture quality

• Exceptional picture detail  
• Effective 8K upscaling
• Minor reflections and backlight blooming   

With he 65-inch QN800D’s picture presets in their default settings, peak brightness measured 1,045 nits measured on a 10% HDR window in Standard mode, and 1,126 nits in Filmmaker Mode. 

Those results don't match up to the flagship Samsung QN900D, which clocked in at 1,979 nits on a 10% window in Filmmaker Mode when we tested it. It also isn’t as bright as the Samsung S95D QD-OLED, which gave a result of 1,868 nits peak brightness in Standard mode. But the QN800D did have excellent full-screen brightness results, measuring 626 and 528 nits in Standard and Filmmaker Mode respectively, and such high full-screen brightness makes it ideal for daytime viewing and sports. 

When tested in our lab in varying lighting conditions, including harsh overhead lights, there were some mirror-like reflections on the QN800D’s screen, but they weren’t too distracting, and brighter images weren't an issue at all. 

After cycling through picture presets, Filmmaker Mode was the most accurate. Standard will suit people looking for a brighter image, although textures don’t look as natural in that mode as in Filmmaker. 

Upscaling on the QN800D is incredibly effective. Starting with broadcast TV viewing, in both standard (SD) and high-definition (HD), images looked crisp and clean. Even SD TV shows didn’t have the common fuzzy texture issue that regular LED TVs suffer from. 

Moving onto a 4K stream of Star Wars: The Last Jedi on Disney Plus, the characters’ facial features were incredibly detailed, with Real Depth Enhancer Pro adding even greater refinement for a lifelike appearance. The throne room fight scene features lots of red tones and the QN800D displayed them in a bold, vibrant fashion, with lightsabers in particular taking on a shimmering brightness. When I measured the BT.2020 and UHDA-P3 color gamut coverage using Portrait Displays’ Calman software, it gave results of 69% and 94% respectively. Those numbers were lower than expected, but didn’t take away from the QN800D’s impressive color rendition. 

Demo footage from the Spears & Munsil UHD Benchmark 4K Blu-ray disc revealed all the QN800D’s strengths. The outstanding level of detail demonstrated itself once again, with forest landscapes and sunsets on sea horizons looking incredibly realistic and animals appearing true to life. The 8K upscaling added an extra layer to these images that I’d seen so many times on 4K sets but importantly didn’t over-sharpen the textures for a fake-looking style. 

Close-up studio images with fully black backgrounds demonstrated the QN800D’s superb contrast and black levels, with the bright objects well-balanced against the dark backgrounds. Some backlight blooming was visible, but it was minor. Scenes of a Ferris wheel and city skyscape at night also showcased the QN800D’s excellent local dimming, revealing only the slightest hint of backlight blooming once again. 

Moving onto a 4K Blu-ray of The Batman, the QN800D displayed deep blacks and excellent shadow detail. In a scene where Batman walks down a gloomy hallway lit only by bright wall lamps, the QN800D kept the gloomy, grainy tone of the film while maintaining superb backlight control for spectacular contrast with only minor blooming. Once again, detail was impeccable with a close-up shot of Batman showing stubble I hadn’t noticed before on a 4K screen. 

Motion handling on the QN800D was effective. Viewing the opening test flight sequence in Top Gun: Maverick, the long, panning shot that follows the Darkstar jet showed minimal judder even with motion controls turned off, although motion smoothing controls can be adjusted if you wish.  

I decided to test the QN800D’s intelligence mode settings (its Adaptive Picture) which adjust brightness and color based on lighting conditions. In Optimized mode, I found that textures in Top Gun: Maverick were too sharp, taking away their natural look. An Eye Comfort mode adapts the color temperature based on the scene (cooler for bright, warmer for dark) to reduce eye strain, but unfortunately, this once again made textures too sharp. Thankfully these settings are switched off by default, allowing the more effective AI features to do their work. 

Despite some backlight blooming and occasional screen reflections, the QN800D has an impressive picture overall, with outstanding detail, incredible 8K upscaling and spectacular color and contrast. 

• Picture quality score: 5 / 5

Samsung QN800D review: Sound quality

• 4.2.2 channel speaker configuration 
• OTS+ (Object Tracking Sound Plus)  
• AI Adaptive Sound Pro 

The QN800D has a 70W, 4.2.2 channel speaker system that supports Dolby Atmos. I found dialog to be clear across all sources, whether it was broadcast TV news or action-filled movie sequences. The TV’s Object Tracking Sound Plus feature is incredibly effective, with the sound closely following the action on screen. During the batmobile chase in The Batman, each screeching tire, explosion or crunch was naturally placed, and in Top Gun: Maverick, jets soaring in all directions were easy to follow. 

Bass on the QN800D was solid enough, though it sounded thinner than the surround effects and dialog. Compared with other sets, there were only two sound presets: Standard and Amplify. Amplify provided the most accurate sound profile and was the mode I used for testing. In some instances, Atmos reproduction wasn’t the most effective, with the rain in the batmobile chase scene from The Batman being barely noticeable. In Top Gun: Maverick, however, there was a sense of spaciousness during any flight sequences.  

The QN800D’s Adaptive Sound mode was more trebly and surround-focused, sacrificing the already lean bass. Adaptive Voice Pro as expected prioritized speech above all else and although effective in some scenarios, it wasn’t the best for movies. 

Sound on the QN800D will be perfectly fine for most and is impressive in some areas, but this TV could benefit from one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars to complement its fantastic picture quality. 

• Sound quality score: 4 / 5

Samsung QN800D review: Design

• Slim One Connect Box  
• Infinity slim design  
• Fiddly stand installation 

The QN800D has a premium ‘Infinity One’ design, with a solid, silver, metal frame and a trim bezel that allows the picture to become the main focus without any borders. It also measures a razor-thin 0.7 inches (17.2mm) without its stand. 

An external One Connect Box houses all inputs, with a single cable connecting to the QN800D. It's a good design that keeps cables from sources tidy and is especially useful for people looking to wall-mount.

The QN800D also comes with a weighty, black metal stand that feels suitably sturdy and gives the TV a floating appearance when viewed front on. However, it’s worth noting that the stand was very fiddly to install, with me and a colleague needing to hold the stand in place while trying to line up and tighten the screws. Make sure you have another person with you when installing this TV. 

Samsung’s SolarCell remote draws power from surrounding light and can also be charged using USB-C, making it significantly more eco-friendly than remotes with disposable batteries. Although on the minimal side, with settings, volume and app shortcut buttons for Netflix, Disney Plus and Prime Video making up the majority of buttons, it should suit most people. 

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

Samsung QN800D review: Smart TV & menus

• Tizen smart TV platform
• Different portals for Gaming, Daily and more   
• Customization options 

The QN800D uses Samsung’s Tizen system as a smart TV platform. Although its overall design remains largely unchanged from 2023, there have been updates for 2024. 

The home menu is now split into three categories: For You, which bases recommendations on apps and viewing history; Live, showing live TV; and Apps, which displays your installed apps. Navigation is easy enough across any of these menus, but For You is likely to be the most used. 

There are also several ‘portals’ that can be accessed, with each housing a different category. Daily+ aims to be a day-to-day portal, encompassing apps such as Samsung Health, workout tracking and a video calling app. There is also Ambient, for displaying artworks and images, and Gaming Hub for everything gaming. 

There are plenty of picture settings to play with for those who like to tweak and experiment and these are all easily accessible, allowing for high levels of customization. A fair amount of sound settings are provided as well, but as stated above, Standard and Amplify are the only sound presets. 

• Smart TV & menus score: 4 / 5

Samsung QN800D review: Gaming

• Four HDMI 2.1 ports
• Gaming Hub  
• Low 9.8ms input lag   

The QN800D is equipped with all the gaming features you would need, including 4K 165Hz and 8K 60Hz refresh rate, VRR with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and ALLM across all four HDMI 2.1 ports. The Gaming Hub portal houses everything gaming in one handy location, including links to popular live Twitch streams and cloud-based gaming apps including Xbox, Luna, Nvidia GeForce Now and more. 

With Battlefield V on Xbox Series X, the gameplay felt incredibly smooth and free of any screen judder or tearing, and switching between targets in a vast landscape on a desert mission was seamless and easy. This is probably due in part to the QN800D’s ultra-low input lag, which I measured at 9.8ms using the Leo Bodnar HDMI 4K input lag tester – a number that rivals many of the best 120Hz TVs. 

Graphically, the QN800D is extremely impressive. Using the same phenomenal 8K upscaling it does for movies, every detail in Battlefield V was amplified – the large desert landscapes took on a realistic look and the intricate details of the various weapons were more pronounced. The QN800D added depth to every aspect of the game, and I could adjust its game-related settings on the fly to enhance things even further by calling up the onscreen game menu. 

• Gaming score: 5 / 5

Samsung QN800D review: Value

• Very pricey compared to 4K models 
• Unique 8K features 
• Limited 8K content  

With the QN800D being an 8K TV (even a mid-range one by 8K standards) it unfortunately carries a high price tag. For the 65-inch model I tested, you’ll pay $3,499 / £3,499 / AU$4,799. To put that in perspective, you can buy the Samsung QN90D (Samsung’s upper mid-range 4K Neo QLED), which has many  of the same gaming and smart features as the QN800D, in a 65-inch size for $2,699 / £2,399 / AU$3,995. 

The QN800D does offer unique features compared to 4K models, most notably the 8K AI upscaling and the NQ8 Gen2 AI Processor. However, there are no real 8K sources outside of YouTube to make use of the QN800D’s native 8K display But if you can stretch your budget to make use of the 8K upscaling and processing chops the QN800D provides, I’d recommend it. Just keep in mind that you can buy a mid-range 4K OLED TV such as Samsung’s own S90C and one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars for a good deal less.

• Value score: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Samsung QN800D?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

How I tested the Samsung QN800D

• Tested in lab with varying light conditions
• Tested using a variety of SDR and HDR sources
• Measurements made using Portrait Displays' Calman software

I tested the Samsung QN800D in our lab, which allows me to view in conditions including harsh overhead lighting, dimmed lighting, and pitch black to test a TV's handling of reflections and the effectiveness of its backlight. 

After an initial run-in period with some casual viewing to determine the most accurate picture mode, I then tested the QN800D using standard and high-definition broadcast TV, 4K Blu-ray, and 4K streaming apps such as Disney Plus and Prime Video, using reference scenes from TV shows and movies that I regularly use fo testing.

To test the QN800D's picture, I looked at contrast, color, brightness, backlight control, and motion. I also evaluated its sound quality, checking for object placement, speech clarity, bass levels and virtual surround sound delivery. 

For objective testing, I used specialized equipment including a test pattern generator, colorimeter and Portrait Displays' Calman calibration software. I tested the QN800D (like all TVs) for SDR and HDR brightness, grayscale and color accuracy, and color gamut coverage. 

For gaming performance, I used an Xbox Series X to test gaming features, graphics and overall quality. I also measured the QN800D's input lag using the Leo Bodnar HDMI 4K Input lag tester. 

For a more detailed breakdown, check how we test TVs at TechRadar at the link. 

• First reviewed: June 12, 2024
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

It seems that Sony has started making alterations to the PlayStation 5 packaging by removing the 8K label.

This comes from a recent Reddit post (via Flatpanelshd) where user 'Roklobster1' shared a photo of the updated box art for the console, saying "Sony removed the claims of PS5 being able to do '8k' from their packaging."

When compared to the launch version, which features 8K, 4K 120, and HDR, the latest iteration is notably the "8K" logo. It's also worth mentioning that the PS5 Slim, which was released in late 2023, also feature the 8K label. You can check out the images below.

In the console's original FAQ posted in November 2020, it was stated that the "PS5 is compatible with 8K displays at launch". 

Sony also promised that "after a future system software update" the PS5 would be able to "output resolutions up to 8K when content is available, with supported software."

Sony removed the claims of PS5 being able to do "8k" from their packaging from r/gamingnews

Although the console does support 8K rendering for certain games, it downscales to 4K resolution at 60fps for output over HDMI 2.1. 

Almost four years since the PS5's release, the promise of 8K output resolutions hasn't been realised, which suggests the reasoning behind the latest box art update.

Sony hasn't commented on the recent changes.

Over the past few months, we've been hearing rumors about the PlayStation 5 Pro. Although Sony hasn't announced its next major console, recent reports suggest that the Pro will arrive soon, as well as see a substantial mid-generation jump that will be "45% faster" than the original PS5.

At the moment, it's unclear if Sony is planning on featuring 8K for the PS5 Pro.

Elsewhere, Sony has revealed that the PS5 is officially its most profitable console generation to date, but that after more than a decade of its life cycle, the PlayStation 4 still dominates, and now makes up for half of its player base.

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8K TVs have been slow to gain traction due to the lack of 8K media (barring a few compressed 8K videos on YouTube, there isn’t much available) and their high price points. It’s fair to say you’ll be paying thousands more for an 8K TV than a 4K TV of the same screen size and type. 

Some brands that have flown the 8K flag – LG, Sony, TCL, Hisense – have pulled back on releasing 8K TVs or abandoned them entirely after finding that sales didn’t match the investment. We asked at the end of 2023 just what happened to 8K TVs, as they were supposed to be the next big thing. 

One brand that continues to fly the 8K flag is Samsung, which makes the best 8K TVs available. And while still pricey, they are less expensive than the competition. As an example, LG’s flagship 8K OLED for 2023, the Z3, was launched for $9,999 / £14,999 / AU$15,999, whereas Samsung’s flagship 8K mini-LED, the Samsung QN900C, launched for $6,299 / £6,299 / AU$8,999. Those prices have since dropped, but there is still a gap of thousands between them.

I have recently been testing Samsung’s mid-range 8K mini-LED TV, the QN800D, a model that sits below the Samsung QN900D, a model we rate as one of the best mini-LED TVs. I went into testing with skepticism about 8K TVs. However, after spending some time with the QN800D, 8K is starting to win me over.

Detail, accuracy and upscaling  

Watching with the QN800D, the picture detail is front and center. Any source has a crisp, clean look with exceptional textures – even intricate details such as stitching on clothes and blemishes on skin can be clearly seen. When watching The Batman, on a close-up shot of Batman’s face, I noticed a faint trace of stubble that I’d not seen on any other TV. 

A lot of this comes down to AI. The QN800D is equipped with Samsung’s NQ8 Gen 2 AI Processor, which amongst a wealth of AI enhancements comes with two critical AI features: Real Depth Enhancer Pro and 8K AI upscaling. 

Real Depth Enhancer Pro is also featured in the NQ4 Gen 2 AI processor found in the Samsung S95D OLED. That TV also blew me away with its impeccable detail, so it's no surprise that this feature is working magic on the QN800D as well. 

But it’s 8K AI upscaling that really sets the QN800D apart. The 4K Blu-ray discs I viewed were taken to an entirely new level, not only with enhanced textures but also bold, bright colors and rich contrast that added depth and sharpness to any 4K image.

Demo footage on the Spears & Munsil UHD Benchmark 4K Blu-ray, a staple for TV testing, showcased the QN800D’s exceptional range. Potentially blinding whites in snowy landscapes were expertly handled, a field of red flowers was vibrant without being overwhelming, and close-up shots of animals including owls and lizards looked so realistic you would want to reach out and touch them. This was all due to Samsung’s 8K upscaling.

It wasn’t just with 4K media. Watching HD and lower-resolution broadcast TV, the often soft textures were vastly improved and given a much cleaner appearance – something not easy to do on a 65-inch screen.

The QN800D seemed to add that little extra to the picture even with games, which often look good across TVs thanks to the power of today’s consoles and PCs. Playing Battlefield V on Xbox Series X, every detail from the surrounding rocky terrain to the rifle’s scope had an almost 3D-like quality in the graphically intense conflicts.

Final thoughts

Am I saying that 8K TVs are a must-have for anyone? No. Despite an exceptional picture, there is still a matter of price, with Samsung’s 8K TVs costing significantly more than both its 4K mini-LED and OLED models and its rivals’ flagship 4K OLED TVs. Even giant 98-inch mini-LED TVs from TCL and Hisense can be a better deal. 

But, whereas before I thought 8K TVs were all but dead in the water, with Samsung seemingly alone in flying the 8K flag, now I understand. The QN800D has shown me that there is something to be said for 8K upscaling when it’s done right – it adds an entirely new layer to 4K, providing a new perspective on movies I’ve seen countless times. 

An 8K TV will always be more expensive than a 4K TV due to manufacturing costs. But if prices can be reduced, 8K TVs may still have a bright future. I for one have become an 8K believer. 

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Mini LEDs are typically found in gaming monitors. Unlike LCD backlights, they offer a broad contrast range, with deeper, near-OLED quality levels of black, that enrich and enhance the dynamism of both SDR and HDR content.

Asus has brought Mini LED technology to the ultra-high-end business monitor market for the first time with its new 32-inch ProArt Display PA32KCX. The 8K screen (that's a whopping 7,680 x 4,320 pixels - 275 PPI), is aimed at professional photographers, video editors and graphics artists.

The panel covers over 97% of the cinema-grade DCI-P3 color gamut and is equipped with 10-bit color capabilities and a 4096-zone Mini LED backlight that tops a brilliant 1200 nits, with a sustained brightness of 1000 nits. It supports multiple HDR metadata formats, including HLG and HDR10.

Plenty of connectivity options

The monitor comes with a motorized flip colorimeter, so you can check and preserve the display’s color accuracy, and screen calibration can be done manually or automatically.

The monitor offers LuxPixel Technology, which includes Anti-Glare, Low-Reflection (AGLR) tech, and Eye Care+, ensuring  that light disturbances won't degrade image quality, while also preventing eye fatigue and strain.

As you’d expect of a screen of this quality, the ProArt Display PA32KCX comes with a welcome range of connectivity options. In addition to HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.1 ports and a USB hub, it offers dual Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports with up to 96 W USB Power Delivery.

It certainly looks like a winner for Asus, and ticks all the boxes for any creatives looking for a Mini LED  monitor that isn’t specifically aimed at gamers. There’s no word on availability at the moment, or pricing, but for an 8K screen with Mini LED technology, you’re easily looking at a few thousand dollars.

More from TechRadar Pro

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• Dell's new business displays eschew 4K resolutions

Following news that Meta’s Quest 3’s getting some big mixed reality upgrades including an AI that can recognize furniture and improved passthrough quality, there’s yet another improvement on the way this time for one of my favorite Quest apps: YouTube.

That’s because the VR version of the video-sharing platform now supports 8K video playback on Quest 3 – up from the previous max of 4K.

To turn it on make sure you’re running YouTube VR app version 1.54 or later, then boot up a video that supports 8K, tap on the gear icon, and where it says Quality you want to change the resolution to 4320p – or 4320p60 if you want 8K at 60fps instead of the usual 30fps. If 4320p isn’t an option in this list unfortunately the video you want to watch isn’t streaming in 8K.

There are a few extra caveats. First, you’ll want a strong internet connection, because even if the video supports 8K playback you’ll struggle to stream it over weak WiFi – unless you like waiting for it to buffer. Oh, and one other important detail; the Quest 3 doesn’t have 8K displays. But that's not as big a problem as it might seem.

Method in the 8K madness

The Quest 3 has two displays (one for each eye) that boast 2,064 x 2,208 pixels each; 8K resolution is 7,680 × 4,320 pixels. Even if we combine the two displays they still boast only just over 25% as many pixels as an 8K display.

So is 8K streaming pointless? Well, not entirely. 

For flat YouTube videos, playing them in 8K probably is worthless on Quest hardware. The only advantage you might find is that you’ll be seeing a downscaled video – the opposite of upscaled, where a higher resolution source is played at a lower resolution – which can sometimes lead to a more detailed image than simply streaming a video at the lower resolution.

The real improvement can be found instead with immersive 360-degree videos. 

To explain things simply: when you see a flat video you see the whole resolution in that 16:9 frame. In 360 videos the resolution is spread across a much larger image, and you only see portions of that image based on where you’re looking. That’s why – if you’ve watched 360 videos in VR – 4K content can look more like HD, and HD content can look like blurry messes.

By bumping things up to 8K you’ll find that immersive 3D video should look a lot more crisp – as the sections you’re looking at are now effectively 4K. So while you're not seeing 8K, you're still getting a higher resolution.

This update may also be a good future-proofing update for the next Meta hardware. With rumors that a Meta Quest Pro 2 could up the display game for Quest hardware, there’s a chance that it'll get closer to having actual 8K displays, though we’ll have to wait and see.

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Tech company Western Digital breaks new ground as they have created the world’s first 4TB microSD card for laptops and cameras, the SanDisk Extreme PRO SDUC UHS-1 memory card. The company says the upcoming SanDisk model is set to release next year “and will be showcased at NAB 2024” in Las Vegas.

We can infer much about the upcoming card's performance by looking at its name. UHS-1 refers to the Ultra High Speed-1 interface, which boasts a maximum data transfer rate of 104 MB/s, according to AnandTech. High transfer speeds don’t really matter to the average person, as slower cards can meet most people's needs, but speed matters greatly to photographers. 

Photographers who take a ton of pictures in rapid succession using a camera’s burst mode need SD cards that can keep up with them. Plus, the SanDisk 4TB card reportedly meets Video Speed Class V30, allowing it to support write speeds of 30MB/s. AnandTech states that level of speed is “good enough for 8K video recording.” If you’re going to shoot footage in 8K, you’ll need all the space you can get.

Speculation

Besides that, very little is known about the SanDisk 4TB card, but its name does offer more interesting tidbits. SDUC, for example, stands for Secure Digital Ultra Capacity, which is a storage standard enabling drives of up to a theoretical maximum of 128TB.

AnandTech speculates the device could “support the off-spec DDR200/DDR208 mode” to push transfer rates beyond what UHS-1 can do normally. Speeds can get as high as 170 MB/s, as seen with the SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC 1TB card. We wouldn’t be surprised if this new card has the same level of performance, if not a better. Of course, that’s assuming Western Digital decides to implement it in the first place.

For what it’s worth, the 1TB Extreme Pro card retails for $140 on Amazon at the time of this writing.  The 4TB SanDisk card will likely retail for several hundred dollars more.

Be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best SD cards for 2024. Spoiler alert: SanDisk shows up three times.

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The best 360 cameras can help you capture unique shots that aren't possible with any other camera, including your phone – and now some Insta360 leaks (plus an official launch event) suggest we could soon get an 8K successor to our favorite all-rounder, the Insta360 One X3.

Insta360 has announced on its blog that it's hosting an event in New York City on April 16 at 9am EDT (2pm BST / 11pm AEST). The event's tagline is 'The 8K era is here – our next camera' and you can watch the trailer below.

The announcement doesn't give much else away, but some new leaks from the ever-reliable @Quadro_News on X (formerly Twitter) have filled in some of the gaps. The images suggest an Insta360 One X4 is en route with a slightly bigger design and some useful spec upgrades.

According to @Quadro_News, the One X4 will be able to shoot 360-degree video in 8K/30p or 5.7K/60p resolution. That would be a very helpful upgrade on the One X3, which topped out at 5.7K/30p, as it'd give you more resolution for punching into the best part of the frame.

If the leaks are accurate, the One X4 could also get a larger capacity battery (2,290mAh, up from 1,800mAh) and retain the handy tripod mount on the base of the camera. One other detail from the leaks is that the One X4 should have a similar price to its predecessor, apparently around $530 (around £425 / AU$820). 

The One X3 landed for $449/ £459 / AU$799 in September 2022, but is now available for much less than that. If the Insta360 One X3 continues to be available for those lower prices, the question for many could be whether the current model offers better value than its successor – that's something we'll be able to answer for sure if the One X4 does indeed launch in a few days.

Should you wait for the GoPro Max 2?

Insta360 has dominated 360 cameras for the past few years, but last year GoPro said that a GoPro Max 2 (or at least a successor to the Max) was finally "in the works". It's been tumbleweed since then, so we still don't know when GoPro's rival to the One X3 (or rumored X4) might land.

Insta360 has been steadily refining its 360-degree cameras and software since the original One landed back in 2017, so that could give it an advantage. The One X4's rumored 8K resolution would also be a big bonus, as one of the disadvantages of cropping into the footage of 360 cameras is a drop in image quality.

But while Insta360's Studio desktop and mobile software has improved a lot and now serves up a pretty user-friendly experience, editing your 360-degree videos can still be time-consuming. The benefit of 360 cameras is capturing everything around you so you don't miss the action, but the flipside is having to then direct the camera in post-production towards those highlights.

It yet isn't clear if GoPro has made any strides towards fixing this for the Max 2 (if that's what it'll be called), but some GoPro patent applications in 2022 described a processor that has a "context component" that's capable of analyzing a scene and automatically adjust the "viewing window" and final framing of the video accordingly.

Patents applications don't give us any real conclusions, but it'll certainly be interesting to see what 360 camera innovations GoPro can produce given it's been almost five years since the original Max. As it stands, Insta360 remains the king of 360 cameras, and the rumored One X4 is an exciting new option, so we'll definitely be tuning into Insta360's launch on April 16.

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Horizon Forbidden West has come to PC, and it's given me another reason not to buy a PS5. I've bought every generation of PlayStation console since the OG model, but with Sony's shift to (belatedly) porting most of its exclusives to PC, it just doesn't seem worth splashing out on a new console when I can just wait for the games I want to play to come to me.

So, I was very happy to hear that Horizon Forbidden West was going to be ported to PC. As a big fan of the original game, which I played on PS4, I'd been looking forward to playing it.

Of course, as a visually-impressive first-party game from Sony, I was also keen to see how it performed on our 8K rig. As you can see in the specs box on the right, our rig has remained largely unchanged for over a year. This is because it remains a formidable machine - and, crucially, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card that does the bulk of the work when gaming has yet to be beaten. It remains the best graphics card money can buy.

With rumors swirling that Sony is planning on releasing a more powerful PS5 Pro console in the near future that could target 8K resolutions through a mix of more powerful hardware and upscaling technology, Horizon Forbidden West at 8K on PC may give us an idea of the kind of visuals future PlayStation games may offer.

It also suggests what obstacles Sony will face if the PS5 Pro will indeed target 8K resolutions. Despite being almost two years old, the RTX 4090 GPU still costs more than its original launch price, hovering around $2,000/£2,000. While the PS5 Pro will likely be more expensive than the standard PS5, there's no way it'll be even half the price of Nvidia's GPU - and that's before you add in the cost of the other PC components required. Basically, you can't currently buy an affordable 8K gaming machine that is priced for mainstream success. That's the scale of the challenge Sony faces.

Spoilt for choice

One of the best things about Sony's initiative to bring its games to PC, apart from giving me an excuse not to spend money I don't have on a PS5, is that they usually come with an excellent choice of PC-centric options, including support for upscaling technology from Nvidia and support for ultrawide monitors.

Horizon Forbidden West continues this streak, and the PC port has been handled by Nixxes Software, which has handled many previous PlayStation to PC ports.

This latest release is particularly noteworthy as not only does it support DLSS 3 for Nvidia RTX graphics, but it also supports competing upscaling tech in the form of AMD FSR 2.2 and Intel XeSS.

All three of these features allow the game to run at a lower resolution, with the images upscaled so that the game appears at a higher resolution, but without the additional strain on your PC's graphics card.

This mainly allows less powerful GPUs to hit resolutions with graphical effects enabled that they usually wouldn't be able to handle. It also allows the mighty RTX 4090 to reach the demanding 8K resolution (7680 × 4320) in certain games while maintaining a playable framerate.

By supporting the three major upscaling tools, Horizon Forbidden West gives users much more choice (both FSR and XeSS work for a range of GPUs, while DLSS is exclusive to recent Nvidia GPUs) - and it also gives me a chance to see which upscaling tech performs the best.

First up: DLSS

First, I played Horizon Forbidden West at the 8K resolution of 7680 × 4320 and the graphics preset at 'Very High' - which is the highest quality on offer. With DLSS turned off (so the game is running at native 8K), my 8K test rig managed to run Horizon Forbidden West at an average of 32 frames per second (fps).

Considering that this is a graphically-intensive game and running at the highest graphics and at a resolution that's pushing around 33 million pixels, this is very impressive, and is a testament to the raw power of the RTX 4090, the rest of the components inside the rig built by Stormforce Gaming, and the talents of Guerrilla Games (developers of the game) and Nixxes Software.

I feel that 30fps is the minimum frame rate for a playable game, so if you wanted to play Horizon Forbidden West at a native 8K resolution, that's certainly possible. If you drop the graphics preset, then the frame rate will go up - though at the cost of graphical fidelity.

Of course, you don't spend around $2,000 on a GPU to get 32fps in a game, so I turned on DLSS and set it to 'Quality', which minimizes the amount of upscaling performed to preserve image quality as much as possible. This led the average framerate to jump to 45fps, with a maximum frames per second of 60.7fps.

One thing to note with my results, which you can view in the chart above, is that because Horizon Forbidden West doesn't have a built-in benchmark tool, I had to play the same section over and over again, using MSI Afterburner to record my framerate. I chose a section of the game with large open spaces, water effects and a combat encounter, and I tried to make each playthrough, lasting around eight minutes, as similar as possible. However, my playthroughs weren't identical, as some things, such as enemy attacks, would change, and this explains why there are some discrepancies between results. Still, it should give you a good idea of the difference each setting makes.

Next, I turned 'Frame Generation' on. This is a new feature exclusive to DLSS 3 and Nvidia's RTX 4000 series of cards. It uses AI to generate and insert frames between normal frames rendered by the GPU. The goal is to make games feel even smoother with higher, more consistent framerates while maintaining image quality.

As the chart shows, this gave the game another bump in frames per second. I then tested the other DLSS settings with Frame Generation left on. 

With DLSS set to Ultra Performance, I hit 59.3fps at 8K - basically the 60fps goal I aim for in these tests, which offers a balance of image quality and performance. With Ultra Performance, the RTX 4090 is rendering the game at a much lower resolution, then using DLSS to upscale to 8K, and this reliance on upscaling can lead to an image quality that can suffer from a lack of sharpness and detail, and graphical artifacts. The good news is that DLSS 3 is a big improvement over previous versions, and the hit to graphic quality is far less noticeable these days.

So, thanks to DLSS, you can indeed play Horizon Forbidden West at 8K. But how does AMD and Intel's rival technologies cope?

AMD FSR 2.2 tested

AMD's FSR 2.2 technology isn't as mature as Nvidia's DLSS 3, but it has a noteworthy feature that DLSS lacks: it's open source and doesn't just work with AMD graphics cards - Nvidia and Intel GPUs can make use of it as well.

This makes it far more accessible than DLSS, which is exclusive to new and expensive Nvidia GPUs, and for many people this flexibility makes up for any shortfall in performance.

As you can see from my results above, FSR 2.2 provides a decent jump in frame rates compared to running Horizon Forbidden West natively at 8K, though at each quality setting, it doesn't quite keep up with DLSS 3's results.

The best results I managed was with FSR set to 'Ultra Performance', where it hit 55.2fps on average. Below DLSS 3's best results, but certainly not bad, and close to doubling the performance of the game compared with playing it natively.

As well as being unable to hit the same highs as DLSS 3, AMD FSR 2.2's image quality at Ultra Performance isn't quite as good as DLSS 3 at similar settings, with a few instances of shimmering and ghosting becoming noticeable during my playthrough.

Intel XeSS results

Finally, I tested out Intel's XeSS technology. While there is a version of XeSS designed to run with Intel Arc graphics cards, as with FSR you can use XeSS with various GPU brands, so there is yet another upscaling tool that gamers can try out. As with most things, the more choice there is for consumers, the better.

XeSS hasn't been around for as long as DLSS or FSR, and as you can see from the results above, it wasn't able to match either of Nvidia or AMD's solutions. There's no 'Ultra Performance' mode either, so XeSS hits its highest framerates with XeSS set to 'Performance', with an average of 50.6fps. This leads to a perfectly playable experience at 8K, but it's noticeably more sluggish than when playing with DLSS at Ultra Performance.

However, it still gives you a decent fps bump over native 8K, and with Intel being one of the biggest proponents of artificial intelligence, I'm pretty confident that XeSS performance will improve as the technology matures. The fact that you can use it with GPUs from Intel's rivals is also a big plus.

Conclusion: DLSS for the win (again)

Once again, DLSS 3 has proved to be the best way of getting a game to run at 8K and 60fps with minimal compromises.

Not only did it allow the RTX 4090 to hit 59.3fps on average while playing Horizon Forbidden West, but it also looked the best with minimal impact to image quality.

This may not come as too much of a surprise - DLSS has been around for quite a while now, and Nvidia has been putting a lot of work into improving the technology with each release.

Also, while Nvidia's preference for proprietary tech means you need the latest RTX 4000 series of GPUs to get the most out of it, this does at least mean Team Green can make use of exclusive features of its GPUs such as Tensor Cores. With AMD and Intel's more open implementations, they are unable to target specific hardware as easily - though FSR and XeSS are available to a much wider range of PC gamers.

And, while FSR doesn't quite match DLSS performance with Horizon Forbidden West, it comes close, and if you don't have an Nvidia GPU, this is a fine alternative. As for XeSS, it shows plenty of promise.

So, upscaling tech has made gaming at 8K on PC achievable, and it's great to see increased choices for users. So, if Sony is indeed working on a PS5 Pro that aims to run games like Horizon Forbidden West at 8K, it's going to have to come up with its own upscaling tech (or adapt FSR or XeSS) if it wants to compete.

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Samsung QN900D: Two-minute review

The Samsung QN900D is the company’s flagship 8K TV for 2024, and it improves on the Samsung QN900C – 2023's best 8K TV – in key areas. Importantly, these improvements don’t come with a cost increase over last year’s flagship, though the 75-inch model I was sent for my Samsung QN900D review is still a very pricey and premium TV at $6,299 / £6,499 / AU$8,999.

Samsung makes some of the best TVs and is a steadfast flag-bearer for 8K. The Samsung QN900D backs that stance up by providing not just 8K support but high-quality upconversion of 4K and lower-resolution programs. It features Samsung’s new NQ8 AI Gen3 Processor, which has eight-times as many AI-smartening neural networks as the one found in the QN900C, and brings AI powers to not just upconversion, but image depth and motion enhancement.

When I tested the QN900C in 2023, I walked away a bit disappointed with the local dimming performance of its mini-LED backlight. There's no such issue with the Samsung QN900D, which suffers from very few instances of backlight “blooming” while delivering high peak brightness levels with HDR movies and shows. Ultimately, the QN900D’s tremendous picture detail grabs you, with fine textures in both 4K and 8K images looking crisp yet fully natural.

The QN900C’s Infinity Air Design combines a near-invisible bezel with a mirrored pedestal stand to give the TV an elegant “floating” look. Its external One Connect Box eases connections for wall mounting, and has a new more compact design. A built in 6.2.4-channel Dolby Atmos speaker system delivers reasonably potent audio for a slim TV, and it also features Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound Pro and Q Symphony features to enhance the sound presentation.

Samsung’s Tizen smart TV system on the QN900D has received several tweaks for 2024, with new features such as customized recommendations, which now include games as well as movies and TV shows. Gaming performance on the TV is outstanding, with an ultra-low 10.8ms input lag and support for up to 4K 240Hz – a feature unique to the QN900D – on all four of the TV’s HDMI 2.1 ports, plus VRR with FreeSync Premium Pro support. Samsung Gaming Hub, meanwhile provides a one-stop shop for cloud-based games from Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now, Utomik, and more, and it also shows connected gaming consoles for easy access.

The Samsung QN900D’s price tag undoubtedly puts it out of reach for many, and a good argument can be made that the company’s same-size 4K TVs such as the Samsung QN90D mini-LED and Samsung S95D OLED models can provide an equally good experience at a much lower price. But if you’re intrigued by the picture quality benefits that the QN900D’s 8K upconversion of 4K or even lower-resolution sources brings, or simply want that 4K 240Hz support for PC gaming, the QN900D won’t disappoint.

Samsung QN900D review: price and release date

• Release date: March 21, 2024 
• 65-inch: $4,999 / £4,999 / AU$6,499
• 75-inch: $6,299 / £6,499 / AU$8,999
• 85-inch: $7,999 / £9,499 / AU$11,999

The Samsung QN900D was released in late March 2024 and is available in 65-, 75-, and 85-inch screen sizes. Samsung also retains a 98-inch 8K TV in its lineup, the Samsung QN990C, a $40,000 model released in late 2023 that carries over. 

The launch prices for the Samsung QN900D series are the same as for last year’s Samsung QN900C in all screen sizes. Samsung doesn’t have much competition when it comes to new 8K TVs, making it difficult to put its pricing in perspective. The QN900C saw discounts fairly quickly, however, with the 75-inch version – the same size as tested here – eventually dropping to $4,799 in the US.

Samsung QN900D review: specs

Samsung QN900D review: benchmark results

Samsung QN900D review: features

• 8K resolution with AI upscaling
• One Connect Box with four HDMI 2.1 ports
•  6.2.4-channel Dolby Atmos speaker system

The Samsung QN900D series received a processor refresh for 2024. The new NQ8 AI Gen3 Processor features 512 neural networks – eight times as many as last year’s model, according to Samsung – and it brings powerful AI capabilities to the new TVs. A key one is Quantum Super Resolution Pro AI upscaling, which is used to fill the 33 million-plus pixels – four times as many as in a 4K TV – in the QN900D’s 8K display when viewing lower-resolution movies and TV shows. Of course, the QN900D can also display actual 8K video, although such content is mostly limited to YouTube streams at present.

Two additional AI-driven picture-enhancing features on the QN900D are Real Depth Enhancer Pro and AI Motion Enhancer Pro. In Samsung’s words, AI Motion Enhancer Pro "maximizes mini-LED control to enhance contrast even in fast-moving scenes," while AI Motion Enhancer Pro, an exclusive QN900D feature, optimizes sports viewing via a ball-tracking algorithm that uses picture information from an onboard database to fill in any visual gaps of a ball in motion frame-by-frame.

Connections to the TV are made using Samsung’s external One Connect Box, which now has a more compact design that makes it easier to conceal. This features an ATSC 3.0 next-gen TV tuner and four HDMI 2.1 ports with support for up to 4K 240Hz VRR for gaming – a first on a consumer TV. As with other Samsung TVs, the QN900D has Samsung Gaming Hub for playing cloud-based games from Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, and other services, and there’s also a Samsung TV Plus portal that lets you watch more than 250 live TV channels and thousands of movies and TV shows on demand for free.

The QN900D has a built-in 6.2.4-channel Dolby Atmos speaker system powered by 90 watts. Object Tracking Sound Pro links sound effects and dialogue to the onscreen action and there’s also Samsung’s Q Symphony feature that combines the output of the TV's speakers with a compatible Samsung soundbar for an enhanced audio presentation.

The only major feature that isn't supported here is Dolby Vision. But given that Dolby Vision makes the biggest difference for lower-brightness TVs, it's not too much of a miss here, because this set is plenty bright.

• Features Score: 5/5

Samsung QN900D review: picture quality

• Excellent brightness
• Fine local dimming 
• Detailed, natural-looking 8K upconversion

The picture quality on the QN900D is, simply, best-in-class. Not just for 8K TVs, but for mini-LED TVs more generally, delivering stunningly bright and real HDR with deep and convincing black tones, and very strong light control for impressive contrast – and all backed up by incredible texture and detail.

Let's talk numbers. The 77-inch Samsung QN900D’s peak brightness measured on a 10% window in Filmmaker Mode was 1,870 nits. Full-screen brightness was also impressive, with Samsung’s 8K TV measuring 470 nits in the same mode on a 100% white pattern. The QN900D also had great brightness results in its Standard mode with a non-HDR source, measuring 1,256 nits and 570 nits respectively on a 10% and 100% pattern.

UHDA-P3 color space coverage on the QN900D in Filmmaker Mode was 95%, and its BT.2020 coverage was 71%. Grayscale and color accuracy as determined by averaged Delta-E values (see how we test TVs for details) were 5 and 2.5, respectively. We typically look for values below 3, so while colors are great, gray tone accuracy was a little imperfect out of the box. The QN900D’s plentiful advanced picture settings, including a 20-point white balance adjustment, allowed me to calibrate the grayscale, however, yielding a superb post-adjustment Delta-E of 1.6.

Watching demo footage from the Spears & Munsil Ultra HD Benchmark 4K Blu-ray test disc, I was struck by the level of detail, in particular a shot of spindly trees on a rocky beach. The Samsung QN900D conveyed the fine branches and other textures in a natural manner, with no sign of artificial-looking enhancement related to its 8K upconversion.

Other shots from the test disc revealed excellent local dimming control, with the edges between bright objects and black backgrounds showing only the slightest level of backlight “blooming” effects. The QN900D even aced a tough Starfield test pattern consisting of nothing beyond clustered pinpoints of light floating against a black field. Although I did see some instances of blooming with the TV’s Local Dimming adjustment set to High, blacks remained deep for the most part, while the “stars” retained brightness.

Turning to other tried-and-true reference 4K discs and scenes, motion handling proved very good when I watched a scene from the James Bond film No Time to Die where Bond walks across a craggy hillside cemetery. And in an early scene from Dune where Paul Atreides and his mother, Lady Jessica, walk in a gloomy space followed by orbs of light, the TV’s clean processing ensured that the picture was noise-free, while its powerful contrast brought out the highlight detail in the floating light orbs.

Streamed programs also looked excellent on the Samsung QN900D. Watching Episode 8 of Shōgun on Max, the intricate patterns in the characters’ historical costumes could be clearly seen, and the set’s high detail level also revealed some computer-generated imagery, especially in the historical drama’s wide shots of cities and landscapes. Turning to 8K programs available on YouTube, nature docs mainly, aerial shots of jungles and close up shots of lizards also looked incredibly detailed and had rich color, making me want to put my face up close to the screen to fully observe the textures.

As impressive as real 8K images looked on the Samsung QN900D, it was the AI Motion Enhancer Pro feature that really grabbed my attention. I watched several soccer, basketball, and hockey games, and in each case, the ball (or puck) looked clear and solid throughout, even when traveling at a rapid speed. AI Motion Enhancer Pro uses a ball-tracking algorithm and an onboard picture database to fill in any visual gaps of a ball in motion. And while I couldn’t shake the thought that the soccer ball my eyes were following wasn’t a real ball but an AI-created one, it nonetheless looked perfectly authentic.

Is everything perfect with the Samsung QN900D’s picture? Some screen glare was visible when overhead lights were turned on, and picture contrast and colors faded to a degree when I viewed at an off-center seat. But aside from those relatively small issues, all was smooth sailing.

• Picture quality score: 5/5

Samsung QN900D review: sound quality

• 6.2.4-channel Dolby Atmos speaker system
• Somewhat lean bass 
• Bluetooth input and output

Sound on the Samsung QN900D is provided by a 6.2.4-channel speaker system powered by 90 watts. This provides a good sense of spaciousness when watching movies and shows with Dolby Atmos soundtracks. Dialogue is also clear and can be further enhanced by selecting the Amplify sound mode (the only other available mode is Standard). I found it was pretty easy to max out the volume level when watching movies on the QN900D, however, and the bass was somewhat lean, though that’s a typical shortcoming with slim TVs.

Audio features include Object Tracking Sound Pro, which helps to link sound effects to the action happening onscreen for a more natural presentation, and Q Symphony. This feature combines the TV’s built-in speakers with those of a compatible Samsung soundbar system like the Samsung HW-Q990D, for an even bigger soundscape. There’s also Bluetooth input and output, with the latter used to link wireless headphones with the TV for private listening.

• Sound quality score: 4/5

Samsung QN900D review: design

• Infinity Air Design with floating stand
• External One Connect Box used for connections 
• SolarCell remote control doesn’t require batteries

The QN900D has what Samsung calls an 'Infinity Air Design'. This involves a near-invisible bezel that gives the TV an 'all-picture' look. Another part is a pedestal stand with a mirror surface that makes the screen look as if it’s floating. A new, more compact version of Samsung’s One Connect Box is used for connecting external sources, and it can be easily stashed behind the stand for a clean installation when the TV isn’t wall-mounted. 

Samsung’s SolarCell remote control is included with the QN900D. Unlike most other “eco-friendly” efforts made by TV manufacturers, the SolarCell remote, which draws power from available room light and your home’s wireless network, makes a substantial eco-impact by eliminating the need for disposable batteries. Otherwise, it’s a basic, compact remote control that's mainly used for navigating the TV’s Tizen smart interface and onscreen menus and has buttons to access the best streaming services like Netflix and Disney Plus.

• Design score: 5/5

Samsung QN900D review: smart TV & menus

• Revamped Tizen smart TV interface
• Live TV, Gaming, Ambient, and Daily+ hubs
• Extensive Expert settings

Samsung’s Tizen smart TV interface received a few tweaks for 2024. Mainly, recommended content on the home screen is personalized based on your watch history and now includes game selections from Samsung Gaming Hub. Most recommendations are on secondary screens that you scroll down to access. Otherwise, the main home screen features a Recent window that lets you easily return to whatever streamed program or external source you were last watching, along with windows for popular searches and a row of apps at the bottom that can be customized based on your most-used apps.

Other “portals” that can be accessed from the Tizen smart interface include Live TV (free live TV channels and on-demand programs on Samsung TV Plus); Samsung Gaming Hub; Ambient, which offers a wide range of artwork selections to display plus 'Routines' to change up content on a timed schedule; and Daily+, which serves as home base for Samsung SmartThings and Samsung Health apps, along with Workspace PC connection and Philips Hue lighting control apps.

Samsung’s Settings menu provides an easily accessible horizontal row of picture and audio-related settings, with the option to customize the order of items appearing in the list. The Expert settings sub-menu offers a plethora of picture adjustments, including Picture Clarity with custom Blur and Judder settings for motion handling, and Auto HDR Remastering to convert standard dynamic range pictures to high dynamic range.

• Smart TV & menus score: 4.5/5

Samsung QN900D review: gaming

• Four HDMI 2.1 inputs with up to 4K 240Hz support
• Samsung Gaming Hub cloud-based gaming
• Low 10.8ms input lag

Samsung’s 8K TV has all the gaming features found on its 4K models, plus a new feature exclusive to the QN900D: 4K 240Hz support. Samsung Gaming Hub offers a central spot to access cloud-based games from Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now, Utomik, Luna, Boosteroid, and more, and it also automatically shows connected consoles – an Xbox Series X in my case – for quick access. The Gaming Hub layout can be customized, and when you call up the Game Bar on-screen menu, the settings include an AI Auto Mode that can adjust picture and sound settings based on the game genre.

The Xbox games I played had fluid action and looked great upscaled to 8K on the Samsung QN900D’s screen. Along with up to 4K 240Hz support on all four HDMI 2.1 inputs, the set has VRR with FreeSync Premium Pro support, and when in Game Mode its input lag measured with a Bodnar 4K HDMI input lag tester was 10.8ms – an excellent result.

• Gaming score: 5/5

Samsung QN900D review: value

• Expensive
• Can buy premium 4K TVs for half the price
• Offers unique features not found in other TVs

At $6,299 / £6,499 / AU$8,999, the 75-inch Samsung QN900D I tested is about as pricey as a TV at that screen size gets. For comparison’s sake, you can buy a 75-inch Samsung QN90D, the company’s new flagship 4K mini-LED TV in the US, for around half the price, and having conducted a hands-on review of that model, I can say that you’d be very happy with its performance. A Samsung S95D QD-OLED TV in a 77-inch screen size is also $4,599 in the US, which is a significant price difference.

Essentially, what you’re paying for with the Samsung QN900D is 8K support, plus AI-driven processing magic that can make 4K and lower-resolution programs look like they were shot in 8K. Otherwise, the QN900D uniquely offers 4K 240Hz support for gaming, and its picture quality, design, and feature set are everything you’d expect from an expensive high-end TV.

• Value score: 3.5/5 

Should I buy the Samsung QN900D 8K TV?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if…

Also consider...

How I tested the Samsung QN900D 8K TV

• Tested over the course of two weeks
• Measurements were made using Calman color calibration software
• A full calibration was made before proceeding with subjective tests

When I test a TV, I first spend a few days or even weeks using it for casual viewing to assess the out-of-box picture presets and familiarize myself with its smart TV menu and picture adjustments. I then select the most accurate preset (usually Filmmaker Mode, Movie or Cinema) and measure grayscale and color accuracy using Portrait Displays’ Calman color calibration software. The resulting measurements provide Delta-E values (the margin of error between the test pattern source and what’s shown on-screen) for each category and allow for an assessment of the TV’s overall accuracy.

Along with those tests, I make measurements of peak light output (recorded in nits) for both standard high-definition and 4K high dynamic range using 10% and 100% white window patterns. Coverage of DCI-P3 and BT.2020 color space is also measured, with the results providing a sense of how faithfully the TV can render the extended color range in ultra high-definition sources.

For the Samsung QN900D, I used the Calman ISF workflow, along with the TV’s advanced picture menu settings, to calibrate the image for best accuracy. I also watched a range of reference scenes on 4K Blu-ray discs to assess the TV’s performance as well as 4K HDR shows streamed from Max, Hulu, and other services.

You can read in-depth how we test TVs at TechRadar at that link.

• First reviewed: May 12, 2024
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

I can confess that I have been a huge cheerleader for 8K resolution on desktop monitors for years. After all, why not? The geometric progression of resolution that saw the number of pixels - and the average size of screens - increase over the past decade from full HD to 4K has allowed consumers and businesses to benefit from virtual multi-screen displays. Remember that a single 43-inch 4K monitor is the equivalent of four full HD 21.5-inch monitors, without the trouble of getting extra cables and monitor arms.

So when Dell launched its first (and still only) 8K monitor six years ago (yes, six), I was expecting the floodgates to open, especially as it retails for several thousand British pounds/US Dollars/Australian Dollars. The UP3218 remains the only 8K monitor and ironically is already obsolete as it doesn’t support HDMI 2.1. Almost a year ago, I wrote that I don’t believe 8K monitors will ever go mainstream, now I am not even sure there will be many 8K monitors launched. 

And just to reiterate, I’m talking of true 8K monitors available for sale; not dual UHD models like the gorgeous Samsung 57-in Odyssey Neo G9 or paper launched ones like the Asrock PG558KF or Viewsonic VP3286-8K. Businesses have plenty of 8K display products available and while consumers with very deep pockets can certainly afford them, that’s not their primary audience.

Is 8K the new 3D?

My colleague Al Griffin penned an oped last year titled “8K TVs were supposed to be the next big thing – what happened?” where he pointed out that “8K TV started off with a degree of hype that it failed to quickly live up to”. I can’t see that changing for computing and for entertainment. The demand - and yes it’s just about that - is simply not there, regardless of what reports research analysts put out.

Back in 2021, when we were coming out of the lockdown, prices of 8K TV reached an all time low that they never really recovered from. The now-discontinued LG NANO956NA, a 55-inch 8K TV, sold for £679 or (around $940, AU$1,300 back then). At the time of writing, the cheapest 8K TV - and by extension 8K monitor - is a 65-inch LG model from 2021 at just under $1,500. The obvious issues with it for a productivity/consumer use case are (a) it is far bigger for most desks out there and (b) it is an old model and is being cleared out, hence the price.

At the time of writing, LG, one of the 8K pioneers, has barely any 8K TV models listed on its various sites globally (see US, UK), a proof perhaps, of the general sentiment manufacturers have for what was once a promising technology. As for that 10K HDMI cable, well, Amazon sells Snowkids for less than $10.

A small anecdote to conclude: I reached out to a couple of accessory manufacturers that produce 8K-compatible docking stations and USB hubs and asked them what 8K monitor they used when they tested these devices. They couldn’t find any compatible 8K monitors, they told me, so they used 8K TVs instead. I rest my case.

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Like the year before it, the biggest stories and tech innovations in 2024 will likely revolve around artificial intelligence. But that won't be the end of it. Sandwiched in-between the latest large language model updates will be trends that will change everything from how we measure our health and perceive our world to how we compute and consume content. Here's what I'll be watching in 2024.

AI everything

Okay, let's get this out of the way. There will be a lot of AI in 2024. A LOT. A TON. Got it? Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI will continue to lead the Generative AI charge but they'll be joined by newcomers like Samsung with its Galaxy AI, Amazon with its more powerful Alexa, and whatever Apple is secretly working on and that should get a splashy launch at WWDC 2024.

Apple has a lot invested in Siri, so don't expect them to pull a 'Bing' and replace their digital assistant brand with 'Apple AI' (although that does have a nice ring to it). There will be no half-measures here, though. I think 2024 will mark the beginning of Apple's big, consumer-facing AI bet and, if they're doing it smart, it will tie into not only the best iPhone, best iPad, and best Mac, but its fastest-growing sector: services. Who knows, perhaps a subscription to Apple One will give you access to Siri Max, Apple's more powerful and versatile AI. Apple will also blend AI into its creative tools like Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro.

Granted, this is all guesswork on my part but I am certain that Apple knows by now that it can no longer stand on the sidelines in this AI race.

We'll all be using 'AI phones', which will be a lot like the phones you have now but with the added ability of reality manipulation.

In the computing space, many consumers will get their first taste of an AI PC and, to be honest, be underwhelmed. It's not enough to simply have an ultra-smart assistant on your Windows 11 (or Windows 12) PC, you have to know what to do with it. While consumers will struggle to find the value in CoPilot, businesses will quickly discover the highs and lows of AI-generated work.

Along with the rapid pace of AI development across apps, desktop interfaces, devices, computers, and more, I think we'll see our first glimpses of AGI or Artificial General Intelligence. This is AI that appears to use human-like reasoning to solve problems. It thinks like our squishy brains do. I don't know if it will be a new GPT-Mind, Gemini-Overlord, or something else. I do think that whoever is ready to show it off will first purposely trick us into believing we're engaged with a sentient human. When that happens, we've entered uncharted territory.

Put a ring on it

The big trend in wearables will be smart rings. The best smartwatches and bands aren't going anywhere, but we'll come out of CES 2024 having seen a whole bunch of new screen-free, finger-ready health, wellness, and fitness-measuring devices.

There will be more functionality and a lot more fashion. Along with smarter rings will come health-friendly earbuds that track your heart rate, blood pressure, and anxiety, I think there's a lot you can tell by sticking a finger…er…earbud in your ear canal. Again, the over-arching trend in 2024 is low-profile technology that does, for instance, the same thing as your now unbanned Apple Watch Series 9, Google Pixel Watch 2, or even the smartphone in your pocket (though you'll still need that to check your stats).

There's also a decent chance that smart fabric will take another run at the wearable brass ring in 2024. Smaller and smarter sensors that don't feel like wires, metal, or physical buttons might make a smart shirt that can track your vitals more practical. At the very least, 2024 should net us some decent smart socks.

The other area of smart wearable growth will be in smart glasses. We already have a nice collection of Alexa and Meta-enabled smart lenses. Meta's Ray-Ban Smart Glasses are pushing the boundaries of on-face intelligence with the possibilities of the glasses using their onboard vision and AI to identify the world around you and even make suggestions.

That trend, for all its privacy implications, will continue in 2024. The smart glasses we're deeming to wear will get even smarter and, I bet, cheaper. More people will be wearing them and you won't even notice until your friends seem a lot smarter than normal.

The rockstar wearable: Vision Pro 

Appel's Vision Pro, expected to launch sometime in February of 2024 is the polar opposite of low-impact, low-friction wearables. They're goggles you wear on your face to either mix your reality with a computer-generated one or for full immersion in a VR world. The optics and silicon inside these nearly $4,000 headsets are Apple-level impressive.

2024 will mark the first time consumers outside of a very small set of journalists (I'm lucky enough to be among them) will try out Vision Pro in Apple stores around the country. It'll be a make-or-break moment for Apple's big bet. I think people will be bowled over but few will buy. Apple may be using the Vision Pro as a come-on for a far more affordable headset that could arrive mid-year 2024 or early 2025. That will be the Vision Pro (Vision Pro Lite?) most people buy.

What I can't quite determine is what kind of impact Apple's Spatial Computing strategy will have on the computing world at large. I don't see it changing habits in 2024 but it should get people thinking. 2025 should be interesting.

Folding and unfolding

I fully expect the foldable phone and device industry to maintain course in 2024. Samsung, Motorola, and Google are committed to the folding form factor. Samsung will roll out a Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, both of which will be thinner and lighter than their predecessors but that will offer little in the way of major innovation. Google will do the same, while Motorola shows the industry how to price foldables affordably.

I don't see Apple entering the foldable fray this coming year. There is a small chance that Apple will unveil something like 'FoldKit' at WWDC 2024 to help Apple developers prepare for a folding iPhone before the end of the year 2024 (very unlikely) or for the early part of 2025 in the form of a folding iPad mini.

Because folding phones are all based on flexible OLED screens, we might see some more creative uses of that display technology in 2024. Imagine a mashup of wearable technology and a wraparound wrist screen (or even on one of those smart rings I mentioned above). We've seen glimpses of something like this before but it's never been thin or practical. Maybe that changes this year.

Social media reckoning 

The golden age of social media is a speck in our rearview mirrors, but I don't think the age of social media is over. As I write this, Instagram's Threads vaulted to the number one app spot. Now, this has a lot to do with them opening up the service to Europe, but that act reignited interest and has reinvigorated the platform that just a few months ago some wrote off for dead.

Still, we're no longer able to view social media unless it's through the prism of free speech. That's something that, for better or worse, Elon Musk and his X platform have foisted into the actual public square. Threads has not solved the problem of how to allow free speech and ensure that it's not harm speech. It tends to lean hard into stopping a lot of speech. Over at X, anything goes and it's not a fun place to be.

2024 may be the year that regulation forces everyone to truly contend with the issue in a lasting way. I don't, by the way, mean US regulation. Here, where I live, we seem incapable of creating legislation that has any real impact. All the tech regulation is coming from the EU and because tech companies operate globally, they have to start by following those edicts and then, for expediency, apply them to their global markets. You do understand why your iPhone now has a USB-C port, right?

We'll see more of the same in 2024 and that could mean a very different, and maybe safer, if not a little more boring, social media experience.

As for who the players will be: Threads will ascend; X may hang on, but just barely; TikTok will continue its Teflon-like run against possible bans; Facebook will be less relevant than ever; and everyone will still be using Instagram. Tons of other small social media companies will rise and fall, but I will be shocked if any of them stick.

8k is just OK

I include 8K in here because I think prices for the best 8K TVs will plummet in 2024, but we still won't have any 8K content to watch on them aside from what we shoot on some of our best Android smartphones.

EV explosion

2024 should be a big year for new EV models from a lot of different car companies. The competition will help lower prices, but if we lose subsidies here in the US, that may not matter much. The good news is that the charging network is about to undergo a radical standardization which means that you won't have to worry that the EV you just bought might not find a charging station before you make it to Grandma's house.

On the innovation side, more of these EVs will become software-based, meaning they will all get significant over-the-air updates, and on a semi-regular basis. This should be good news, but then think about how your aging uncle feels when Apple updates his iPhone. Right. Not everyone will love this new mode of car ownership.

Also, speaking of EVs, we may in 2024 finally get to have a serious talk about all those cheapo EV scooters that keep catching fire in people's homes and apartments. It feels like the hoverboard battery fiasco all over again, but no one is talking about it. Yet.

Sustainablility FTW

2024 is when sustainability and eco-friendly products fully transform from lip-service into action. We will see a lot of carbon-zero products, recycled materials, old-tech reclamation projects, and many more self-repairable gadgets.

We'll have more battery-sipping hardware and a lot more solar-powered options. It will certainly make us feel good, even if all these efforts represent just a drop in the bucket for the level of societal, cultural, and consumerism change we actually need to reverse the effects of climate change.

What you won't hear in 2024 is any company say: "We're not releasing a new model in 2024 because the one you have right now is good enough and will make you more than happy enough for the next two years."

New connections

WiFi 7 should get fully ratified this year and move from a smattering of mesh network devices and a bunch of Intel Meteor Lake PCs to homes and offices, so everyone can experience 320MHz connectivity. The only thing that will slow down adoption is cost. Companies will not be anxious to upgrade their routers, and consumers who rely on cable companies for their home network connectivity hardware won't get upgrades for years.

You'll also hear a lot more about 6G, but after going through the 5G hyperbole tunnel, it's unlikely any of us will show the same level of enthusiasm. If cell companies and smartphone manufacturers are smart, they'll keep the 6G chatter on the down-low until they have something real to show us.

The Back Seat

In 2024, I don't expect to hear much about:

The Metaverse: It's not dead but as empty as the vacuum of space.

NFTs: My favorite current TikTok is of some rube bringing his NFT to Antiques Roadshow. The NFT owner says he paid $10k for the NFT of a monkey smoking a cigar. 

"Do you know how much this is worth?" asks the auctioneer.

The NFT owner replies excitedly, "No. How much?"

"$14," says the auctioneer. 

Now this is comedy.

Crypto will go through another tough year but not as tough as 2023. I just think there'll be a lot less heat around it. It may finally become respectable.

X: I mentioned the former Twitter above, but in 2024 people will be so over it and Elon Musk that it will cease to matter.

Humane AI Pin: Sorry but I don't get this and a new year will not change that.

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After years of hype and delays, Starfield - the latest game from Bethesda - has launched, and expectations are sky-high. Since Microsoft acquired Bethesda (the company behind hugely popular games like Skyrim and Fallout 3) back in 2021, the pressure has been on Starfield to become a killer app for the latest generation of Xbox consoles, which have been sorely lacking in the must-play exclusives department.

And, while PS5 owners are missing out, the good news is that Starfield is also available on PC. In fact, despite its importance for Microsoft's plans to shift more Xbox Series X, PC appears to be the best platform to play it on, thanks to an uncapped framerate (the Xbox version is capped at 30 frames per second, which is pretty rough for 2023). Hopefully the modding community will embrace Starfield in the same way it did with previous Bethesda games, adding new features, quests, characters and even fixing some parts of the game that people are already complaining about.

I've been playing Starfield for around 30 hours, and while the game is far from perfect (space exploration is a loading screen-filled disappointment, character models and dialogue feel outdated, and its lacking the sense of adventure that Skyrim offered), it's certainly got its hooks into me. So I was keen to see how well it runs at 8K on our powerful test PC, built by Stormforce Gaming.

Consoling myself

In the run up to the release of Starfield, I was keen to find out what kind of performance we'd get on PC - not just at 8K, but at 4K as well - which is the resolution I usually play at.

However, I knew I had to keep my expectations in check. For a start, Bethesda's games are notorious for being rather janky - so I was a little concerned that the PC port might launch with poor performance that could scupper any chances of it being remotely playable at 8K.

Another concern is that while it's launching on PC, via the Windows Store, PC Games Pass and Steam, it's clear that the game has been designed primarily for Xbox.

This means there are few features that take advantage of the PC's unique versatility when it comes to performance, peripherals and features.

This is clear when I opened the settings menu of Starfield and looked at the display options, which were frustratingly limited. You can choose between turning 'Borderless Fullscreen' on or off. To play at 8K I had to leave this on (which I would have done anyway, to be fair), as if you turn it off, the highest resolution Starfield will play at is 4K, regardless of your monitor.

You can also choose graphical presets, and there are individual settings for quite a few graphic options, so you can do some fine tuning to get the best performance out of the game. But it's far less in-depth that many recent games - and there's no visual preview to show you what the settings change. Nor is there a bar that highlights how much video memory your settings will take up, which are nice additions I've seen with an increasing number of modern PC games.

The final thing that concerned me was that because Starfield has a partnership with AMD, it means that it doesn't come with features from rival Nvidia, most noticeably DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), an upscaling technology that runs games at a lower resolution, but uses AI and machine learning to upscale graphics to a higher resolution with minimal impact on image quality - but a big boost to performance.

I've found DLSS to help out a huge amount when getting games to play at the intensely demanding 7,680 × 4,320 resolution of 8K - so the lack of it with Starfield was a big blow to my expectations.

For AMD's part, it has said that there's nothing stopping DLSS coming to Starfield in the future. But for now, the only upscaling tech officially supported in the game is AMD's rival FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), which works in a similar way of rendering the game at a lower resolution, then upscaling it. Unlike DLSS, it doesn't use AI, and while I've not been quite as impressed with FSR, the tech isn't locked to AMD hardware (as DLSS is with Nvidia GPUs), and it's constantly improving. FSR 2 is supported in Starfield, and FSR 3 is coming soon, which promises so nice upgrades. For more information about these technologies, I recommend you check out our guide on DLSS vs FSR.

Interestingly, a modder has already released a mod that adds DLSS support to Starfield. While this is unofficial, it appears to have a big impact - I'll be testing it out for a future article.

$1,599 GPU, Xbox performance

As always, I wanted to see how the game runs natively at 8K, so I turned off FSR, and left everything on 'Ultra', the highest possible graphical settings.

For maximum pain, I decided to load up one of my saves while in Neon (LOCATION SPOILER ALERT), a vibrant cyberpunk-influenced city that features lots of bright neon lights and ambient effects.

At the best of times, a setting like this can take its toll on even the best graphics cards, but playing at native 8K puts even more pressure on the GPU, and I was getting 27.9 fps (frames per second) on average. This then dropped to 23.5fps at its lowest, leading to a sluggish and frustrating experience. Interestingly, the 27.9fps average isn't too far off the 30fps cap that the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X run the game at. While that may seem like something to boast about over console players, it does mean that by playing at native 8K you're using a $1,599 graphics card to get the performance of a $499.99 console.

That's not great value. It also highlights just how nonsensical it was of Microsoft to push the possibility of 8K gaming on the Xbox - there's just no way the hardware will cope.

But what about our 8K monster PC? Next, I turned on FSR, and set the render resolution to 75%. This meant Starfield was running at 5760 x 3240 resolution (still much higher than the 3840 x 2160 resolution of 4K), with FSR then upscaling it to 8K (7680 x 4320).

The improvements were noticeable straight away, with an average frame rate of 38.3fps (dropping to 32.9fps). The game felt far more responsive, though still a far cry from the 60fps goal I was aiming for.

Next, I set the render resolution to 50%, which mean the game was running at 4K, but upscaled to 8K. Because FSR needed to double the rendered resolution, there is a possibility of image quality dropping, but it wasn't noticeable to my eyes - perhaps because I've been playing the game at 4K for 30 hours already.

This did the trick - with average frame rates leaping to 59.1fps, with a high of 60.9fps. This was promising, but I did get dips to 52.8fps, which meant the game still didn't feel as smooth as I'd have liked.

So, I dropped the graphical settings from 'Ultra' to 'High', and got a much more consistent framerate, with an average of 59.8. Crucially, my framerate only dropped to 56.7fps at its lowest, so there was less of a stutter.

The move from 'Ultra' to 'High' did diminish some of the vibrancy of Neon, however, and it is once again proof that the sacrifice you have to make for 8K is poorer image quality.

Change of location

Starfield is a vast game with many different locations, some bustling futuristic cities, others desolate planets. So, although I managed to get it to play at 8K at 60fps in one location, that doesn't mean I'd get the same results elsewhere.

So, using the same settings (rendering at 50% with FSR on and 'High' graphical preset), I visited Akila, a sandy Western-like city full of space cowboys, and surprisingly the frame rate dropped to 53.8fps on average, perhaps due to the larger scale of the city.

I also visited New Atlantis, another huge city, and got 57.8fps. Finally, I flew through space, hitting 59.7fps on average (not too surprising, as space in Starfield, like in real life, is mostly empty).

Upscaling for the win

Once again, upscaling has saved the day, and made Starfield playable at 8K - though of course it's not native 8K. You also don't get the benefits of higher resolution textures, as the game, like most others, is aimed at people playing at 4K or below.

Still, I was impressed to see how well FSR fared with improving performance - I just wish I could try out DLSS to see if that offered any further gains. I'll try out the mod - which you currently have to pay for - and will report back. It'd be great if Nvidia does get DLSS support into Starfield as well, as long as AMD was being straight with us when it said it wouldn't mind. The more choices, the better for gamers.

If you're getting as excited about 8K gaming as I am, you can order the same high-end setup I used here from Stormforce Gaming in the UK.

Samsung has launched its flagship QN990C Neo QLED TV in the US, and at 98 inches, it’s the largest 8K TV the company has ever produced. 

At $40,000, the new TV is priced well above other 98-inch TVs on the market from the likes of TCL that use a mini-LED backlight, and it costs five times as much as Samsung’s own 98-inch Q80C QLED model.

Aside from its size, the big draw here is the TV’s 8K resolution Neo QLED display panel. The best 8K TVs from Samsung previously topped out at 85 inches, a size that, in the rapidly expanding world of big-screen sets, is starting to seem on the small side. To put that statement into context, the company will be showing the QN990C at this week’s 2023 CEDIA Expo alongside its The Wall All-In-One, a 4K MicroLED display that’s available pre-assembled in 146- and 110-inch screen sizes.

The new QN990C uses the company’s Neural Quantum Processor to upscale 4K and HD images to 8K using “AI-based formulas.” It also has an 8K AI depth enhancer that boosts highlights in areas of images with a strong visual focus, a process that I found to be effective when I conducted a hands-on test of the Samsung QN900C, another 8K model.

Other picture quality enhancements found on the new QN990C include an anti-glare screen for viewing in high ambient room lighting conditions, and Samsung’s Ultra Viewing Angle technology, which allows for pictures to look uniformly bright from both on-axis and off-center seats. The TV’s four HDMI 2.1 ports support a 4K 120Hz input from next-gen gaming consoles, and it also has Samsung Gaming Hub for playing cloud-based games from Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, and more.

With a 360-degree all-metal design and an included stand, Samsung clearly wants the QN990C to look good from all angles, though the “impossibly slim profile” set also comes with a slim-fit wall mount. Audio, too, gets consideration on the new TV, with a built-in 6.4.4 Dolby Atmos speaker system and a Cinema Object Tracking Sound to enhance the presence of sound effects in movies.

Opinion: 8K TVs need to be enormous to make sense 

8K TVs haven’t really made a dent in the TV market for two key reasons. The first is that there isn’t much in the way of 8K content to fill an 8K TV’s ultra-high resolution screen aside from clips streamed from YouTube. The second, and more compelling reason, is that 4K TVs already look fantastically detailed, even when you’re viewing with a set that has an ultra-large screen.

Despite the market challenges 8K TVs face, Samsung has pushed forward with the technology, releasing new 8K models year after year. The hands-on QN900C test I conducted earlier in 2023 was the first time I had spent quality time with an 8K TV, and I ended up being very impressed with the improvement in detail Samsung’s Neural Quantum Processor brought to 4K sources. My earlier experiences seeing video upscaling using  “AI-based formulas” had been somewhat off-putting, but Samsung had clearly developed its processing to the point where it wasn’t just transparent to the video source, but could actually improve upon it.

Of course, anyone who ends up spending $40,000 on an 8K TV will expect to one day use it to view actual 8K programs, and I’m fairly certain there will be more of that available on streaming services in the future. But to fully appreciate the extremely high resolution that 8K provides, and to do so from a reasonable viewing distance, you’ll need an ultra-large TV, and that’s where Samsung’s new 98-inch QN990C starts to make sense.

Will Samsung end up selling many of its new 98-inch 8K TVs? I can’t help but think that prospect is unlikely given the current high price. But compared with the company’s 110- and 148-inch MicroLEDs that are also on display at this year’s CEDIA Expo, which are so costly that a price isn’t even provided on the Samsung website, the 98-inch QN990C comes across as a relative bargain.

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Apple's tvOS 17 is expected to be the next version of the operating system for its Apple TV streaming box. And while Apple doesn't always make big updates to its tvOS platform, the imminent arrival of WWDC 2023 on June 5 has got us thinking about our hopes and expectations for the next version. 

If you're looking to follow all the tvOS 17 announcements as they happen, our WWDC 2023 live blog is now up and running. We also have a full guide on how to watch the WWDC 2023 keynote. But in this article, we'll be rounding up our wishlist for the upgrades we want to see in the Apple TV's software.

The new Apple TV 4K that the company released in late 2022 mostly introduced incremental changes such as a new A15 Bionic chip for faster navigation and gaming and a Siri remote with a USB-C port for charging. But perhaps the most notable change was the price: starting at $129 / £149 / AU$219, the new Apple TV 4K was notably cheaper than its predecessor.

When tvOS 16 officially launched in September 2022, the new features it brought to Apple’s streamer included HDR10+ high dynamic range support, extended game controller compatibility (including Nintendo Switch controllers), and deeper integration with Apple Fitness Plus.

Since that time, Apple has made further updates to tvOS 16, with the list including a more compact Siri interface with a vertically scrolling window showing personalized program recommendations; the ability to recognize multiple users’ voices and automatically switch user profiles; Matter Smart Home device support; Apple Music Sing; and an accessibility option to dim flashing lights in content. 

But what improvements could tvOS 17 bring? We've whittled down our wishlist to the six things further down this page.

tvOS 17 release date

Apple announced tvOS 16 at WWDC 2022, and we expect the company to follow the same pattern for WWDC 2023, which kicks off on June 5. 

Continuing the trend, Apple should make a public beta version available in July and then officially release tvOS 17 in September – around the same time we expect to see the launch of the iPhone 15.

We haven’t heard any leaks about what’s forthcoming in the tvOS 17 release, but here are a few upgrades we want to see the company bring to its Apple TV streaming box…

tvoS 17: what we'd like to see

1. 8K video support 

8K TVs have struggled to capture public attention, mainly due to the lack of 8K content available on the best streaming services. But even if 8K were to suddenly become more widespread, the Apple TV 4K at present doesn’t support 8K output from streaming services or local files.

While 8K content may be tough to dig up, it is available on YouTube, and there are high-end cameras – and drones! – capable of 8K capture. Amateur and prosumer 8K video production may be a niche activity at present, but it might ramp up over the next few years, and viewers creating their own 8K content and sourcing it from YouTube will want to stream it using their Apple TV box. As the maker of the best streaming device on the market, Apple should give them that capability.

2. Xbox and GeForce Now cloud gaming 

Apple Arcade has come a long way since it first launched, and at $5 / £5 / AU$8 a month, it’s a cheap way to get your gaming fix. The company has also made Apple Arcade gaming on the Apple TV 4K better and more accessible through the extended controller support introduced in tvOS 16.

With Apple Arcade now firmly established, is there any reason why apps for other cloud gaming services like Xbox and GeForce Now aren’t available on Apple TV 4K? Both of those, along with other services like Utomik, are available on Samsung smart TVs, while LG sets like the LG C3 OLED feature GeForce Now and Utomik. 

Is Apple TV Plus the only entertainment app on the Apple TV 4K? Of course it isn’t. Apple could easily open up its walled garden to additional gaming services, and that’s an upgrade we’d like to see in tvOS 17.

3. Smart picture-in-picture 

The Apple TV 4K’s picture-in-picture feature lets you swap between two different streaming sources, and it also allows you to browse for new shows while one is running in an inset box. 

Apple’s just-dropped tvOS 16.5 version expands the Apple TV 4K’s picture-in-picture potential via a multi-view feature that supports four streaming sources. Multi-view is intended mainly for sports viewing – specifically MLB Friday Night Baseball and MLS Season Pass on Apple TV Plus – and it’s a good indication of Apple’s plans to add more live sports options to its TV platform.

But is there any reason Apple should stop its picture-in-picture development with multi-view? How about smart features that, for example, launch a picture-in-picture HomeKit camera feed when it detects a baby crying, or when someone knocks on the front door when you’re watching a movie? Or maybe show a stream of images of a particular actor when asked via Siri so you can see what other roles they’ve played, and what they look like in real life? The possibilities here are vast.

 4. Ability to use HomePod 2 for surround sound

Streaming via the new HomePod 2 is a great way to listen to the best music streaming services, with Dolby Atmos tracks on Apple Music sounding particularly powerful and spacious with two of Apple’s speakers paired for stereo playback. You can also use a HomePod 2 pair for movie playback, with the speakers configured as the default AirPlay 2 audio output from the Apple TV.

As good as that setup can sound, why isn’t it yet possible to use a second HomePod 2 pair as surround sound speakers? Wireless speakers like the Sonos Era 300 can be easily configured as surrounds in a Sonos system, and while that specific setup would be based around a soundbar like the Sonos Arc, it seems entirely possible that an equivalent “HomePod Surround” option could be included in tvOS 17.

 5. Revised on-screen keyboard 

Entering text on the Apple TV 4K is nothing short of a drag. The main reason is that its on-screen keyboard extends across the full width of the TV screen, making you scroll left and right and then back again to search or to enter login credentials in apps. 

If an iPhone is handy, you do get prompted to enter text using a keyboard with a better layout on your phone’s screen, but it’s not always the case that your iPhone is at hand – and there are people who buy Apple TV 4K who don't use iPhones. Yes, Siri can be used for voice searches, but it’s not the answer for all Apple TV 4K text input needs.

Surely Apple can do better here. Other streaming platforms have more compact keyboard layouts that are easier and faster to use – Roku, for example. There's no need to reinvent the wheel here, guys! Just bring things closer together.

6. Apple Music Classical app 

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Apple finally released its Apple Music Classical app in late March 2023. With its clean layout, extensive metadata, and ability to browse using categories like Composers, Conductors, Orchestras, and even Soloists, Apple’s new app is a fantastic resource for both classical fans, and for those looking to discover classical music and learn more about the genre. The app is free to Apple Music subscribers, and like that service it offers tracks and albums in both high-res (up to 24-bit/192kHz) and Spatial Audio formats.

As great as Apple Music Classical is, it has one problem: no availability on the Apple TV 4K. After all the time and work it put into the new app, it seems odd that Apple would neglect to make it available on an entire hardware platform. Apple TV 4K, in fact, seems like the perfect platform for browsing the deep Apple Music Classical library. 

Album artwork would look beautiful on a big-screen 4K TV, and music would sound fantastic played over a Dolby Atmos soundbar setup that's designed for total immersion. When it comes to tvOS 17 upgrades, this one seems like a no-brainer.

Are there further upgrades we want to see on a future Apple TV 4K? Absolutely. Here are 5 (more) upgrades we want to see from the Apple TV 4K.

I'll be honest: after being a fan for decades, I'm a bit burned out on Star Wars. While the low point of the entire franchise remains the woeful Episode II: Attack of the Clones, recent entries have been rather poor, despite a few Andor-shaped highlights.

I haven't even bothered with the third season of The Mandalorian yet, but I've been hearing some very good things about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the latest game set in a galaxy far, far away, and that got me wondering: could playing what's been billed as the best Star Wars game for years in glorious 8K resolution help reignite my love of the franchise? Or, like the 15-year-old me after The Phantom Menace, will I be left confused and disappointed?

So, to put Star Wars Jedi: Survivor through its paces at 8K, I fired up our powerful 8K gaming PC, built by Stormforce Gaming, which comes with an Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU - still the most powerful consumer graphics card in the world with 24GB of GDDR6X memory with a 384-bit interface and 21Gbps memory speed. If you're in the UK, you can order the same high-end setup from Stormforce Gaming.

I have a bad feeling about this...

I try to keep optimistic when loading up games to play in 8K these days, mainly because of just how powerful the RTX 4090 is, and also how well a lot of games I've tested run at 8K, especially if they use DLSS, a form of AI-powered upscaling that can help reduce the workload on a GPU when playing games at high resolutions.

Essentially, it allows games to run much better, even at 8K, and I've seen it make the difference between an unplayable slideshow of a game, and an enjoyable ultra-ultra-high-definition extravaganza.

However, there were a few things that made me slightly worried as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor downloaded (it's an epic 120GB on PC, so gird your internet connections). For a start, there was no mention of DLSS support for the game, which could make playing at 7,680 × 4,320 tricky.

Also, there had been early reports that the PC version of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was suffering from performance issues. This is frustrating, as despite this being one of the best times to be a PC gamer, there's been a recent spate of ports with sub-par performance and other issues. For any PC gamer that's been playing as long as I have (oh god, I'm old), this will undoubtedly bring back memories from the dark days when game publishers seemed to forget about PC gamers, instead concentrating on consoles, leading to rushed and ultimately rather garbage PC versions.

So, when Star Wars Jedi: Survivor had finally downloaded, it was with a fair bit of trepidation that I clicked the icon and loaded the game.

Hello there

The good news is that I was very pleasantly surprised.

With all the graphical settings set to their highest 'Epic' level, including with ray tracing on for realistic lighting effects, the game certainly struggled, hitting 21.6fps (frames per second) on average, and dropping down to just 16fps. However, there were some promising signs. For a start, the game didn't crash or refuse to run as I had feared. Animations were certainly choppy, but the game was kind of playable.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has combat that relies heavily on well-timed attacks and parries, which means you want the game to be as fast and fluid as possible. So, while you wouldn't want to play it at 21.6fps, it wasn't the complete horror show I was expecting. There was, however, a weird side effect where a faint image of the game from before I switched resolutions remained on screen, sort of like a shadow.

Another thing that struck me straight away was how good the game looked (apart from the ghosting). The beginning takes place on a planet (no spoilers, but you can probably guess what it is) that is one large, bustling city. With grimy back alleys, flying cars, and neon lights, it reminded me of the fantastic Cyberpunk 2077 – and a lot of the environmental effects really benefit from ray tracing's realistic lighting and reflections. To really get the most out of the immersive atmosphere of the game, you want ray tracing turned on. The issue is, ray tracing is extremely taxing on hardware, and having it turned on can seriously nuke your performance.

However, there was another ray (trace) of light: while Star Wars Jedi: Survivor does not have DLSS support, it does support AMD's similar FidelityFX Super Resolution 2, which also uses clever upscaling tricks to lessen the burden on your GPU when playing at high resolutions. I was recently very impressed with how it worked with Resident Evil 4 in 8K, so I had high hopes I could increase the performance of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor without sacrificing too much visual splendor.

Another win for AMD

While FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 is AMD tech, it's not limited to AMD GPUs, unlike Nvidia's DLSS, which is exclusive to its own cards.

Switching it on and setting it to 'Quality', which minimizes the amount of upscaling performed to improve graphical fidelity while sacrificing performance gains, the average frame rates leapt to 37.9 fps, peaking at 43fps.

This instantly made the game feel better, passing the 30fps barrier that I believe is the minimum a game needs to hit to be playable. The game looked just as good as at native 8K, especially in scenes with bright neon lighting and lightsaber effects, and best of all, there was no sign of the weird image ghosting I saw at native 8K.

Switching FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 to 'Balanced' saw another leap to 45.8fps on average, with a maximum frame rate of 54.1fps recorded.

Again, the game felt a lot more responsive, and it still looked fantastic. While the image was softer than when the game was running at native 8K, it wasn't that noticeable, especially during scenes where there was a lot of movement. The fluidity of the gameplay more than made up for this.

I then switched FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 to Performance mode, which uses a lower starting resolution to upscale to 8K, so performance improvements are larger, but image quality can take a hit.

With this setting, the game hit 56.3 on average and even exceeded the goal of 60fps, which is the highest frame rate you can currently experience at 8K due to hardware limitations of modern displays.

Edges around the player character and some objects became fuzzier, however, leading to a noticeably less sharp image. However, this didn't drastically impact my enjoyment of the game, and with the atmospheric lighting and reflections still intact, it remained a fantastic-looking game. At this frame rate, it also allowed me to really enjoy exploring the world. It was once again a thrill to be in the Star Wars universe.

Finally, I switched FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 to Ultra Performance mode. There was another slight dip in image quality, but I was now hitting 59.6fps on average. The game felt fast and fluid, even in high-paced fights where timing is essential, and it still looked fantastic – as all graphical settings remained on 'Epic'.

Once again, we've got a visually ambitious game that can play at 8K, an increasingly common scenario that I'm really excited about. Both DLSS and in this case, FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 have really shown how we can now enjoy ground-breaking graphics at incredible resolutions without sacrificing performance.

Perhaps best of all, it reminded me that despite my misgivings about certain entries in the franchise, when the stars align and things turn out well, I still love the Star Wars universe, and I'm looking forward to exploring it more. It's been a while since I was last able to say that.

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The original Resident Evil 4 on Gamecube nearly cost me my university degree. Capcom's masterpiece arrived on Nintendo's little square console during my third year at university – and me and my housemate were instantly hooked.

This incredible mix of horror, action, cheesy dialogue, and over-the-top boss encounters sunk its claws into us, and we'd stay up until the early hours playing through the game, swapping the controller between us after every death. Once the game was completed, we'd start again, straight away.

It was amazing fun, but there came a point when I knew I'd have to put the controller down for good and actually do some work. So, when Capcom announced it was remaking the game, I couldn't wait. While I knew it likely couldn't improve on a masterpiece, I was excited to revisit a game I knew so intimately and see how modern technology could transform the experience.

And, as it's now out for various platforms, including PC, I was able to give it a go at 8K resolution as well.

Both familiar and different

On loading the game, the memories came flooding back, and the familiar setting of an undefined rural Spanish forest looked fantastic. While it's not the most graphically impressive game I've ever played, the updated visuals of the remake brought a level of immersion that I haven't felt on my returns to the original game.

Don't get me wrong; when it first launched, Resident Evil 4 was an impressive graphical showcase, giving the Gamecube a rare chance to show off its graphical chops compared to the PlayStation 2, but like many games from that era, time hasn't been too kind.

The PC version of the remake comes with a huge amount of graphical settings to play around with, including ray tracing, so I set the resolution to 8K (7680 × 4320) and whacked the preset on 'Ultra' to see how our Nvidia RTX 4090-equipped gaming PC would cope.

However, amongst all the options on offer, there was one noticeable absence, and that got me worried about how well the Resident Evil 4 Remake would run at 8K.

Where's the DLSS?

That's right, at the time of writing, there's no option to enable Nvidia's DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) feature. It's a tool that uses the machine learning capabilities of Nvidia's RTX line of graphics cards to intelligently upscale resolutions, allowing for more impressive visuals without the performance cost.

Regular readers of my 8K adventures will know that DLSS has often made the difference between an unplayable slideshow to a 60fps (frames per second) wonder when gaming at 8K.

The lack of DLSS is worrying, but the good news is that Resident Evil 4 Remake does support AMD's alternative: FidelityFX Super Resolution. It does a similar job of upscaling graphics to take the load off the GPU, especially when running at extreme resolutions like 8K, and unlike Nvidia's tech, it's not tied to a set of GPUs, so both AMD and Nvidia hardware can run it - as well as the Xbox Series X, PS5 and Steam Deck.

So, all is not lost. However, I first fired up the game with everything set on maximum, but without FidelityFX Super Resolution turned on.

Playing through the initial town scene, where there are a lot of infected folk (and the odd chainsaw-wielding maniac), our 8K test rig averaged 39.6fps. That's not actually too bad, considering the strain rendering at 7680 × 4320 resolution puts on the GPU, though there were some big drops, hitting just 11.9fps at one point. Those kinds of drops don't make for an enjoyable experience, even if the average frame rate seems high.

When tweaking the graphics settings, you're shown how much video memory you'll need, and at native 8K at the highest settings, Resident Evil 4 Remake requires a huge 17.25GB, putting it out of the reach of all but the most powerful GPUs. The Nvidia RTX 4090 inside our 8K beast has 24GB, so I just got a warning about possible glitches.

AMD has partnered with Capcom for the Resident Evil 4 Remake, possibly explaining the absence of DLSS at launch, so you'd need the AMD Radeon RX7900 XT with 20GB of GDDR6 memory to be able to play at these settings if you wanted to go with Team Red.

Turning FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 on to 'Quality' mode, which tries to preserve image quality as much as possible by upscaling from an already high resolution, the video memory demands dropped to 15.18GB, while average framerate rose to 51.9fps, with a minimum score of 46.6fps.

The game instantly felt a lot smoother (not that Resident Evil 4 was ever really a smooth feeling game, thanks to the Gamecube's tank-like controls), and there was less noticeable stuttering with framerate drops.

I also didn't really notice any difference in image quality between native and with FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 turned on. Sometimes, I've found FidelityFX Super Resolution to add a blurriness around moving objects, but with FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 and the quality setting, I was impressed.

Switching FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 to 'Balanced' knocked the memory use down to 13.23GB - still incredibly high, but could mean slightly more affordable GPUs like the RTX 4080 could at least have a shot at running this game at 8K.  The average frame rate again saw a bump up to 56.9fps, with a low of 50.8fps.

Next, I tried FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 at 'Performance', which as the name suggests prioritises performance over graphical quality, and therefore upscales from a lower resolution image. Memory requirements dropped to 12.86GB, and I got on average 59.8fps - pretty much hitting that golden 60fps at 8K goal. However, the frame rate did drop to 52.6fps. I also began to notice some graphical issues creep in, especially with reflections in puddles, which looked a bit strange from a distance, and which weren't evident with the other modes.

Finally, I tried it with FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 set to 'Ultra Performance', and while average frame rate was around the same (59.9fps), the game only dropped to 56.3fps at the lowest, leading to a much smoother experience.

However, the puddle issue remained, and objects in the distance, especially trees and buildings, were noticeably fuzzier.

No DLSS? No problem

Still, these results show that you don't need DLSS to enjoy gaming at 8K - but some sort of advanced form of upscaling certainly helps. AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 does a fine job as an alternative, and while I found the image quality doesn't quite match DLSS 3 (and it lacks features such as Frame Generation), the fact that AMD has made FidelityFX Super Resolution available to a much wider range of hardware and platforms, and not just its own, is certainly commendable.

If you're getting as excited about 8K gaming as I am, you can order the same high-end setup I used here from Stormforce Gaming in the UK.

Whilst playing Atomic Heart – a new first-person shooter that's heavily inspired by the Bioshock franchise – at 8K, I realized that when it comes to PC gaming, playing at 7680 x 4320 resolution is now achievable as long as you have the hardware that can handle it.

Nvidia's latest flagship GPU, the GeForce RTX 4090, is an absolute beast, and when combined with the company's DLSS 3 upscaling tech, playing games at 8K and 60 frames per second, which a few years ago seemed like an impossibility, is now within reach. There are, however, some pretty major caveats that mean 8K gaming will be out of the reach of many people for a long time to come.

The biggest issue is that one of the key factors in 8K gaming success is the formidable 4090, easily the most powerful consumer graphics card Nvidia has ever made. Having used flagship GPUs such as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti during my mission to game in 8K, Nvidia's latest card offers a drastic increase in performance – but at a price. The RTX 4090 is an extremely expensive GPU, and because its 24GB of GDDR6X is essential for playing games at 8K resolution, it's your only choice from Nvidia's current Ada Lovelace lineup of cards.

DLSS 3 is also exclusive to the Ada Lovelace generation, and while previous versions of DLSS have made a huge difference when it comes to playing games at 8K and at decent framerates, DLSS 3 is the current pinnacle of that technology, leading to even better performance and image quality.

Equipped with TechRadar's super-powerful 8K gaming PC, built by Stormforce Gaming, it's clear that 8K gaming is here... for some of us.

A soviet Bioshock

Atomic Heart is a game that's been on my radar for a while, so as soon as it released, I was keen to see how it'd play at 8K.

The graphics looked incredible, and it was clear that was a strong Bioshock influence to the game; a first-person shooter with an increasingly elaborate range of weapons and powers and a storyline that explores an alternate timeline where the Soviet Union doesn't just still exist, but is an incredibly technologically-advanced society.

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many of these pro-soviet themes became quite uncomfortable, especially as there are questions around the Russian developer, Mundfish Games, and its connections to the Russian government. The Ukrainian government has called for a boycott of the game.

Things are never clear cut, especially when it comes to war, and the influence of the Russian Government on the game and the developers (if any) remains in question, while Mick Gordon, who composed the music for Atomic Heart, donated his fee to a Ukrainian charity.

Still, there's no escaping the geopolitical environment launched in, and with the invasion of Ukraine in my thoughts, especially with the one-year anniversary of the start of the conflict, I can't deny that it impacted my enjoyment of the game.

Putting aside my reservations about the theme and setting of the game, the graphics of Atomic Heart absolutely live up to their hype (though the voice acting and dialogue is less impressive), and the world, especially at the start of the game, is bright, vibrant and immersive.

With the game's graphics set to its highest level (Atomic), and the resolution at 7680 x 4320 (8K, in other words), I got an average of 31fps (frames per second). Considering the graphical quality on offer, the fact that Atomic Heart was playable at 8K with no upscaling tricks applied was incredibly impressive.

Turning DLSS on, and putting it at its 'Performance' level (which prioritizes performance over graphical quality by upscaling from a lower resolution) I hit 59.3fps on average. Essentially, I hit that golden 8K at 60fps milestone instantly thanks to DLSS 3, and the image quality didn't drop drastically, except for some slight fuzziness around moving objects.

Switching to the 'Balanced' DLSS setting, which ups the base resolution that it upscales from, gave me pretty much the same result – 59.8fps. The fact that the number is actually slightly higher is likely due to the fact that Atomic Heart has no built-in benchmark, so I was using MSI Afterburner and playing a section of the game, so some runs were slightly different.

It was only when I set DLSS to 'Quality', which ups the base resolution further, did I see a slight drop in frame rates, but on average I was getting 58.9fps, which is still extremely close to 60fps. The lowest framerate at this setting, however, was 50fps, and when a game drops almost 10fps, you can notice it.

I did have one final trick up my sleeve. Still keeping graphical settings at 'Atomic' and DLSS on 'Quality', I turned on frame generation. This is a new feature that's exclusive to DLSS 3, and it uses the AI capabilities of the GPU to create additional frames that are inserted between the real frames.

Turning this on saw my framerates go back up to 59.5fps on average, only dipping slightly to 55fps.

Image quality remained excellent and at 60fps, the game felt wonderful to play. 

60fps is the limit

One thing you may notice about my results is that with DLSS 3 enabled, it pretty much ran at 60fps at 8K, no matter the graphics level. Even with frame generation, Atomic Heart didn't break the 60fps barrier.

The reason for this is that the 8K TV I am using (the LG 55NANO966PA), like all other 8K TVs, can only display 8K at 60Hz, essentially capping content at 60fps.

Now, when I started trying out 8K gaming a few years ago (armed with the once-high-end RTX Titan), 8K at 60fps felt like a distant goal, but here we are in 2023, and as long as you have an RTX 4090-powered rig, you'll now find yourself butting up against the 60fps wall when playing one of the most graphically-impressive titles of the year at 8K.

That's pretty cool, but what if you want to play at 8K above 60fps? You're out of luck, as the current crop of 8K TVs, which use HDMI 2.1, can only do 8K at 60Hz. It looks like PC gaming hardware has finally overtaken TV tech, so we now need TVs to catch up if we want to play 8K at higher frame rates.

Do we need 8K above 60fps? Well, as any true PC gamer can tell you, higher frame rates are always welcome. And, while playing at 8K at 60fps is certainly impressive, HDMI 2.1 can handle 4K at 120Hz - and playing games at 4K at 120fps is even more impressive, as you're getting fantastic visuals and even smoother gameplay.

With the vast majority of PC gamers playing at 1080p, game developers are understandably not bothering to create art assets that take full advantage of 8K resolutions, so 4K at 120fps remains the best way to play for now. This is also why we're unlike to see 8K at 120hz any time soon as there's just not a market for it.

But, once we see more games aimed at 8K that take full advantage of the resolution and detail, our gaming will be taken to a whole other level, I am sure.

Oh ray tracing, where art thou?

Eagle-eyed readers may notice one big absence from the graphics options with Atomic Heart. Although the game was launched with promises of being a showcase for ray tracing, advanced lighting and reflections tech, the game has launched without support.

This is disappointing, as while Atomic Heart looks fantastic, and there are some nice lighting effects (moving under leaves and even balloons and looking at the sun offers some stunning effects where the materials glow slightly, as in real life), the lack of ray tracing does mean the game misses out on some atmospheric flourishes.

As well as looking great, ray tracing is also incredibly demanding on graphics cards. Hopefully, ray tracing will be included in a future update, and when it does, I'll be sure to try out this game again at 8K, as I bet the RTX 4090 will have more of a struggle to hit 60fps with ray tracing turned on.

If you're getting as excited about 8K gaming as I am, you can order the same high-end setup I used here from Stormforce Gaming in the UK.

• These are the best GPUs of 2022

Just over five years ago, Dell launched the Ultrasharp UP3218 monitor, the only 8K display that appears in our best 5K/8K monitor buying guide. Its US launch price, just under $3,900, has seen little fluctuation since then - but neither has the number of rivals currently on sale, which right now stands at just one. 

Make no mistake, this is a business monitor, one that will appeal to creative professionals, looking to cram as many views on screen, or accountants wanting to see more rows (or columns) per scroll. 

However I am befuddled by the lack of real competition: Viewsonic launched the VP3286-8K back at CES 2021, only to tell me in September 2022 that they no longer have plans to stock it. I’ve never seen it ever go on sale anywhere in the world. Sharp, another display stalwart and early 8K proponent, has one 8K monitor on offer, but the 8M-B32C1 isn’t exactly your average monitor: at around $21,000 (once you include tax and shipping costs).

A vicious circle

Sharp launched its first 8K display in 2017, but the crux of the problem concerns garnering enough quantity to justify producing 8K in volumes that would deliver economies of scale. Adrian Wysocki, Sharp European TV Product Director, told me in 2019 that the “production of small size panels in 8K is extremely difficult and expensive”. 

What’s more, the pixel density in an 8K, 32-inch display is close to 300ppi, and according to Wysocki, “there is no consumer market for such monitors and only consumer markets can increase the market (size) and therefore decrease the price, because the professional market is a bit too small.”

What was true back then is true now. The best mobile workstations, best laptops for video editing and PC for VR have had enough graphical firepower (read powerful GPU) to drive 8K content for a few years now. Even if there’s currently a glut of accessories and cables that will absolutely support 8K content and hardware (Monoprice just released a $40 8K/60Hz HDMI switch while IOgear stocks a $70 8K docking station), the perceived, potential total addressable market is simply not there for big panel makers to risk it.

It’s worth considering the evolution of screen sizes and screen resolutions over the decades. The table below shows the resolution, screen size (most common diagonal, an entirely subjective number based on decades of observation) and pixel density.

Pixel density, measured in PPI, saw little variation going from XGA to Full HD, the latter being the mainstream screen resolution in an office environment. Why is it important? Because Windows has a pixel density of up to 135 dpi (dots per inch). To maintain a pixel density that corresponds to a popular screen size would mean sticking to 55-inch, which is too big for the overwhelming majority of office desks.

Stepping up to a bigger display?

It’s been seven years now that Vestel, Sharp and TCL unveiled 8K TVs and TVs may well be the only reasonable way for those with enough desk space to infuse some 8K goodness in their productivity routine. 

I have been a huge cheerleader when it comes to 8K display at work but my pent-up expectations have not been matched by market realities. For now, LG and Samsung will be more than happy to sell you 8K television sets that can be used as 8K monitors for a fraction of the cost of the Ultrasharp UP3218. Just don’t expect all the niceties that come with a display that’s pitched as a monitor for creatives.

My 8K gaming odyssey continues, and I have to admit that it’s had its ups and downs. I’ve had the pleasure of using three of the most powerful (and impressive) gaming GPUs ever made; the RTX Titan, RTX 3090, and RTX 4090, and played some truly stunning games.

I’ve also been left shaking my head in disbelief – both positively and negatively – with the performance of some games.

Earlier this year I checked out the Next Gen update of the Witcher 3 and was amused – and slightly dismayed – that at 8K it managed to hobble even the mighty RTX 4090.

But, was I ready to give up the 8K dream? Certainly not, and while I wait for the upcoming slew of new PC games to test out on our 8K rig, I thought I’d give another aging CD Projekt Red game a spin: Cyberpunk 2077.

Cypberpunk 2077’s launch back in 2020 is pretty notorious. As the follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Witcher 3, there have been few games as eagerly anticipated as Cyperpunk 2077, but after several delays, it arrived… to massive disappointment. The game was full of bugs, the open world felt empty, and there was a general feeling that even despite numerous delays, the game was unfinished.

However, to CD Projekt Red’s credit, the company has spent the last few years fixing, improving, and adding to the game, and the Cypberpunk 2077 of 2023 is a very different beast indeed. I’ve returned to the game, and while it’s not perfect (and never will be), it’s hugely entertaining with an astonishingly detailed and immersive open world.

Even better, it has recently been updated to support DLSS 3, so with our powerful, new and improved 8K gaming rig from Stormforce, I was keen to see how the game now performs at the demanding 7680 x 4320 resolution.

Can DLSS 3 make a difference?

When I first got my hands on Cypberpunk 2077 back in 2020 and tested it out at 8K, I found that our current 8K rig at the time, which featured the then cutting-edge Nvidia RTX 3090, along with an Intel Core i9-9900K CPU and 32GB of DDR4 RAM, made the game was barely playable.

However, with DLSS 2.0 set to ‘Ultra Performance’, I was able to play Cypberpunk 2077 back then at 31.8fps, with ray tracing on. It was playable… but not great. I did manage to get Cypberpunk 2077 running at 8K at above 60fps (the golden benchmark, in my opinion), with ray tracing off, but with graphics set to medium and DLSS set to Ultra performance.

Back in 2020, it was clear that DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) was a very promising bit of tech that made 8K gaming a possibility.

DLSS utilizes the power of the GPU to upscale games to a higher resolution using AI and machine learning, improving performance at ultra-high resolutions without too much impact on graphical fidelity.

Since 2020, DLSS has come along in leaps and bounds, with DLSS 3 launching last year. As well as improving the tech behind DLSS, allowing it to more accurately upscale images for better performance, and even less noticeable graphical degradation, it also features Optical Multi Frame Generation, which creates new frames using machine learning that are inserted between ‘real’ frames, upping the frame rates and making games feel more responsive and smoother.

Optical Flow Accelerator, meanwhile, tracks moving objects, not just pixels, which can reduce stuttering when using DLSS.

So, when Cyberpunk 2077 was updated to support DLSS 3, I was keen to try it out.

A beast of a PC

Since 2020, we’ve also updated our 8K gaming rig. Supplied by UK PC maker Stormforce Gaming, this new PC ups the ante considerably, with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU, Intel Core i9-13900K, and 32GB of DDR5 RAM.

Could this mighty machine run Cyberpunk at 8K with all the graphical bells and whistles turned on, including ray tracing set to the highest setting?

No. The game essentially turned into a slideshow, hitting 0 – 1 frames per second. However, turning on DLSS 3 to ‘Auto’ made an instant impact, with the average frame rate rocketing to a playable 34.63fos.

This is interesting, as with the RTX 3090 and DLSS 2.0 at the same settings, I only managed 15.4fps. It was only by turning DLSS 2.0 to Ultra Performance, which reduces image quality slightly for improved performance, that was the RTX 3090 able to run Cyberpunk 2077 at a similar 31.8fps.

Back on our current 8K rig, I turned on the new Frame Insertion option that’s exclusive to DLSS 3 – and the results were seriously impressive, as I was then getting 58.29fps.

A doubling of the fps is incredibly impressive, and while there were some noticeable quirks when moving the camera quickly, where there was a slight smudging around objects, on the whole, the game looked – and ran – brilliantly.

Moving DLSS 3 to Ultra Performance boosted the frame rates a bit further to 59.49. Turning off frame insertion, but keeping DLSS on Ultra Performance, frame rates dropped to 54.07.

It’s clear, then that while DLSS continues to do a lot of heavy lifting, the new frame insertion feature allows you to dial back the amount of upscaling DLSS does while keeping frame rates high, as DLSS on ‘Auto’ and frame insertion on returns a better image than DLSS set to ‘Ultra Performance’.

I was interested to see what difference DLSS 3 would make to the game with the intensive ray tracing effects turned off – but here’s the thing. The RTX 4090 is such a beast, that without ray tracing it ran Cyberpunk 2077 at the very highest graphical settings at native 8K at a rock-solid 60fps (so far, no 8K display can run faster than 60Hz). Even without ray tracing, Cyberpunk is a stunning game, but with all the atmospheric neon lights of the futuristic Night City, ray tracing really does make a difference – though at 8K the impact on performance is huge.

However, thanks to DLSS 3, and especially frame insertion, I’m now a believer in 8K again, as I was able to get Cypberpunk 2077 running amazingly well, with incredibly immersive graphics. The fact that the RTX 4090 was also able to run the game at Ultra settings at 8K natively and at 60fps also bodes extremely well for the future of Nvidia’s latest flagship card.