Sharp snubs quantum dots for 8K TV
Sharp (6753.JP) and the Japan National Institute of Material Science has devised a way to improve the color efficiency of LED driven LCD TVs. In this case, the company and NIMS were working toward improving the color of 8K displays in order to meet 8K broadcast color gamut requirements, and have jointly developed a green fluorescent material that they believe will bring the overall screen color to 90% of the BT 2020 standard (the newest commercial standard). In many cases, the enhancement of color gamut is accomplished by using cadmium-based quantum dots (although not all QDs are cadmium based), but concerns over the use of cadmium in consumer products has pushed display developers to look for alternatives. Cadmium-free QDs are available from a number of sources, but some do not believe they can meet the same specs as cadmium-based QDs. The use of Sharp’s new ‘green’ would entail changing the LED backlight, which Sharp believes is less of a burden than using dangerous heavy metals to achieve the same goals.
While we commend Sharp for its discovery, the application that it was developed for is 8K TV, which is a focus for the Japanese broadcast industry, and consequently Japanese TV set suppliers. The concept of 8K TV is a logical one, however the TV and broadcast industries are still trying to wrap themselves around 4K, which is the step up from full HD, which is what is commonly used in most TVs. 4K broadcast and storage bandwidths are already taxing infrastructure, and the cost of upgrading even small scale broadcast systems is high, which leaves most 4K content to single unit storage or compresses broadcast modes. 4K Blu-ray players are a new animal, and little native 4K content is available from traditional broadcast venues, but we admit that 4K TV sales continue to increase as consumers are being convinced that not buying a 4K set will leave you alone and befriended once 4K really gets going. 8K bandwidth and storage requirements are ‘a bit’ larger, and while we have seen a few 8K sets at shows, they will remain out of the mainstream for a few years.
For comparison:
4K uses a resolution based on 8,294,400 pixels, which is 4 times current ‘full HD’ resolution
8K uses a resolution based on 33,177,600 pixels, which is 4 times 4K resolution and 16 times full HD.
To make matters worse, 4K transmission runs at 60 frames/second, which means the information for 8.2m pixels must be transmitted 60 times each second, which is a massive amount of data, however the 8K frame rate is twice that (120 fps) which means the information for 33.2m pixels must be transmitted 120 times each second. “Ok, ok, You’re gonna need a bigger boat…” might be an appropriate quote.
While we commend Sharp for its discovery, the application that it was developed for is 8K TV, which is a focus for the Japanese broadcast industry, and consequently Japanese TV set suppliers. The concept of 8K TV is a logical one, however the TV and broadcast industries are still trying to wrap themselves around 4K, which is the step up from full HD, which is what is commonly used in most TVs. 4K broadcast and storage bandwidths are already taxing infrastructure, and the cost of upgrading even small scale broadcast systems is high, which leaves most 4K content to single unit storage or compresses broadcast modes. 4K Blu-ray players are a new animal, and little native 4K content is available from traditional broadcast venues, but we admit that 4K TV sales continue to increase as consumers are being convinced that not buying a 4K set will leave you alone and befriended once 4K really gets going. 8K bandwidth and storage requirements are ‘a bit’ larger, and while we have seen a few 8K sets at shows, they will remain out of the mainstream for a few years.
For comparison:
4K uses a resolution based on 8,294,400 pixels, which is 4 times current ‘full HD’ resolution
8K uses a resolution based on 33,177,600 pixels, which is 4 times 4K resolution and 16 times full HD.
To make matters worse, 4K transmission runs at 60 frames/second, which means the information for 8.2m pixels must be transmitted 60 times each second, which is a massive amount of data, however the 8K frame rate is twice that (120 fps) which means the information for 33.2m pixels must be transmitted 120 times each second. “Ok, ok, You’re gonna need a bigger boat…” might be an appropriate quote.
Relative 'size' of 8K TV - Source: Sharp
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