Sharp recently unveiled the world's first ever commercially available 8K TV. (Photo : Reuters)
Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp announced that it will release the world's first ever commercial 8K television in October. The TV will be available for 16 million yen or roughly $133,000.
8K is a display resolution that offers 16 times the resolution of Full HD. Also known as Super Hi-Vision, an 8K display packs a resolution of 7680 x 4320. For comparison, a 4K Ultra HD display has a resolution of 3840 x 2160.
According to CNBC, Sharp said that the 8K TV will be released on Oct. 30 and will be available in 85-inch model only.
Despite the stunning display feature of 8K display, experts said that it is not practical to buy one once it is available. One cited reason is that most broadcasters do not offer 8K content yet.
For now, a Japanese public broadcaster, NHK, is preparing a test to broadcast 8K television content. However, the broadcaster's main goal is to deploy it just in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
NHK is one of the pioneers in the development of 8K format, according to Computer World. The company has been working on the format as early as 1995.
Currently, major broadcasters only broadcast contents in the 4K format. BT Sports recently featured a football match in 4K format and has one Ultra HD channel that occasionally broadcasts matches on this resolution. Additionally, Amazon and Netflix also offer a handful of content in 4K resolution.
Sharp plans to present the 8K TV at the upcoming Ceatec Expo in Japan in October. Sharp, along with LG and Samsung, presented an 8K TV prototype at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
