In the past few decades, TV technology has taken some truly massive strides. Not only are TVs now much bigger than they once were, with screens that reach nearly 100 inches in size. But they also have much greater picture quality, thanks to 4K and 8K resolutions.
However, with so much progress having been made in such a short period of time, many people wonder what the future still has in store. Will TVs continue to get bigger? And will resolutions continue to double with every generation?
In fact, you might go so far as to wonder whether there might ever be a 32K TV available on the market. Are such resolutions possible? And when might we first expect to see them in shops?
Our Reliant tech experts have been there to witness all of the biggest innovations in the TV world. Using their decades of experience, they’re going to help us glimpse into a possible future for TVs, to find out if 32K resolutions might actually be a close reality!
Will There Ever Be A 32K TV?
At the moment, it’s unlikely that 32K TVs will enter the mass market any time soon. While 32K TVs do technically exist, they’re still very much in the prototyping phase. Manufacturers like Samsung and LG are already hard at work developing potential 32K models, but it’s unlikely they’ll be entering our homes any time soon!
32K TVs do technically exist, but they are far from ready to enter the market. 32K resolutions are possible, but creating affordable tech to display them is proving difficult for even top manufacturers.
There are actually a few reasons why this is the case. Let’s go through each of them!
We Still Don’t Have 16K TVs!
One of the main selling points of 8K TVs is that they double the resolution of 4K TVs. This means that 8K TVs can display incredibly realistic and crisp visuals. Naturally, many people wonder whether 16K TVs may eventually enter the market, to effectively double the resolution of 8K TVs! Unfortunately, as of right now, 16K TVs are not currently available in the mass market.
16K technology is, much like 32K technology, still very much in its infancy. While 16K TVs have been produced, and have been shown off at trade shows, they’re far from being viable for general consumption. As such, it would be pointless to release 32K TVs, when 16K TVs are still yet to even be available!
They’d Be Incredibly Expensive
Unfortunately, if 32K TVs were to suddenly be available for purchase, they would be prohibitively expensive. A 32K TV would, of course, feature a massive number of pixels, and would need to have an immense screen size. In order to accommodate this, 32K TVs would need to have price tags that could easily get anyone’s eyes watering!
In order for a 32K resolution to display at its best, a TV would need to have an incredibly large screen. Unfortunately, not only are TVs of this size very expensive, but they’re also largely unviable for many people’s homes. You would need to have a very large living room just to accommodate a 32K TV.
There’s Little Demand
It’s also worth noting that, currently, there’s very little demand for TVs of such a resolution. 8K TVs are still a relatively new technology to many people. As such, many people are still hesitating to make the jump to 8K. It would be an incredibly tough job to sell anyone on the idea of a 32K TV when 8K TVs are still so daunting to so many.
It remains to be seen whether 8K will overtake 4K as one of the most popular TV resolutions.
There’s No 32K Content
In order to be truly worth it, a TV of a higher resolution needs to have plenty of good content that takes advantage of it. What would be the point of buying a 4K TV, for example, if you didn’t plan to play any 4K content on it?
Unfortunately, as it currently stands there is no content available that can display at a 32K resolution. In fact, there’s currently very little 8K content on the market to take advantage of 8K resolutions.
In order for 32K TVs to become a truly essential technology for the home, there would have to be more content available for them. But before then, 8K would have to become the industry standard over 4K.
There is currently no 32K content that would make 32K TVs a truly worthwhile purchase. It’s unlikely that 32K content will be produced anytime soon, as it would be immensely expensive to put together.
Producing 8K content is very expensive, so it’s likely that producing 32K content would be even more costly!
Frequently Asked Questions
Will There Ever Be A 32K TV?
It’s unlikely that 32K TVs will enter the mass market anytime soon. This is because 32K technology is still very much in its infancy. 32K TVs would also need to be very large and very expensive. When you consider that there is little demand for 32K resolutions, it would not make sense for manufacturers to release a 32K display!
What’s Next After 8K TV?
Since 8K TVs were designed to double the resolution of 4K TVs, it stands to reason that the next step would be a 16K TV. While 16K TVs do technically exist, they are not available for purchase. 16K TVs have only thus far been shown off at tech shows and other private events.
Is There A 16K Camera?
Yes. 16K cameras do exist. However, they are often incredibly expensive. As well as this, in order to display images at a full 16K resolution, you would need a screen of very considerable size. As such, there is currently little incentive to opt for a 16K camera for producing content.