Sorry, 8K TVs Have Flopped

TV makers imagined the longer term could be full of much more pixels, however the 8K promised land was by no means to be. One extra main firm has successfully known as off its plans for large, costly 8K TVs, leaving solely Samsung holding the torch for a display kind that few, if anyone, really need.

LG, one of the vital outstanding TV and show producers on this planet, is exiting the 8K TV market with out a lot fanfare. The firm advised FlatpanelsHD that it was “taking a comprehensive view of current display market trends and the trends within the 8K content ecosystem.” In human communicate, meaning it’s placing 8K TVs on ice, at the very least for now.

See LG QNED MiniLED 8K TV at Best Buy

This previous weekend, FlatpanelsHD quoted a number of nameless sources to say the corporate’s newest 8K TV, the QNED99TUA mini LED, was being discontinued. Currently, the TV is on sale for $2,500 at 86 inches, greater than half off from its common $5,300 value. It’s clear primarily based on the muffled rumblings and shrugs coming from the screen-loving crowd that there aren’t many tears being shed for 8K’s demise.

Samsung is virtually the one main participant attempting to make 8K work with the most recent 98-inch QN990H. It introduced the 8K TV at CES 2026 with none particulars about pricing and availability. Back in 2020, the Korean tech big provided three 8K TV fashions; now it will possibly’t even hassle to inform us extra about one. I’ve frolicked in entrance of Samsung’s earlier 8K fashions, just like the $5,000 QN900D, and the expertise left me underwhelmed. There’s little or no fallacious with Samsung’s image high quality and brightness, however even when watching native 8K content material, I used to be hard-pressed to seek out the distinction between it and 4K. You would wish an exceptionally giant TV to identify any extra readability from 4K to 8K, and that’s in the event you can find something to watch at that decision.

Next to no 8K content material to look at

Console makers have additionally walked again their 8K ambitions. Sony’s PlayStation 5 shipped in 2020 with a blaring “8K” sticker on their field artwork. Only a naked few video games ever supported the decision, together with titles like No Man’s Sky and The Touryst. A couple of extra video games like Gran Turismo 7 assist the additional pixels on PlayStation 5 Pro because of upscaling. In 2024, Sony began eradicating the “8K” assist discover on the field.

Paul Gray, an analyst for the analysis agency Omdia, told FlatpanelHD back in 2024 that just one.6 million 8K TVs had been bought since firms began pushing the decision to Japanese audiences in 2015. In the identical time-frame, 4K TVs have been rising like weeds. S&S Insider reported the marketplace for extremely high-definition (UHD) is valued at $305.58 billion, with 70% of consumers in North America and Western Europe preferring 4K. You can’t stroll by a Best Buy with out tripping on at the very least a dozen kinds of UHD TVs.

TCL and Sony have each deserted the 8K TV recreation. In explicit, TCL was extra keen to say the quiet half out loud. In 2023, the foremost finances TV model said, “Looking at the market, it is not what people had expected.” In January 2026, Sony handed TCL the keys to its TV kingdom, saying TCL is taking a 51% stake in its TV enterprise. Starting subsequent 12 months, the finances model will produce Sony’s high-end Bravia OLEDs and QLEDs.

TV consumers got each alternative to decide on 8K, however few—if any—ever took the chew. The HDMI 2.2 customary boosted the sign to assist increased resolutions, with 8K resolutions capable of assist 240Hz refresh charge. It modified little concerning the precise market. Judging by this previous CES’s lengthy lineup of recent TVs, the brand new hotness isn’t increased pixel counts, however novel display sorts starting from tandem OLED to WOLED (for brighter natural light-emitting diode shows) and extra compact micro RGB TVs promising higher shade accuracy with native dimming. Screen decision has plateaued, however display makers are nonetheless attempting to craft the following huge factor.

See LG QNED MiniLED 8K TV at Best Buy