Are 8K TVs dead? I asked the industry heavyweights, and the silence was deafening
It’s like content creators and tech are having a game of chicken
by Alastair Stevenson · What Hi-Fi?
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Anyone remember their parents telling them the tale of the boy who cried wolf? I’d argue it’s one of the most important lessons I learned as a child.
Well, that and don’t steal raisins from Sophia – that led to an unfortunate incident in nursery, where I was given a tattoo on my left hand’s index finger after a biro from said classmate found its mark.
Why am I mentioning this now? I'm not sure about my raisin confession, but the cry wolf part is relevant to this article, because it applies to my recent experience speaking to big-name companies to check what's going on with 8K TVs for this year's special Home Cinema Week event. Sadly, it's not good news.
“We can’t comment on this.”
“No updates right now.”
“We have no plans or updates to share for the technology.”
"While 8K represents a significant technological milestone, its broader adoption will depend on the continued evolution of content and distribution ecosystems."
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Getting a vibe from the responses yet? I certainly did.
Full transparency, I’m not that fussed about 8K yet, due to the ongoing lack of content mastered at the resolution.
But the cold fish reaction to the tech in 2026 does leave a bit of a sour taste in the mouth, given how hard some firms were pushing 8K to “enthusiasts” who wanted a future-proof set, even a few years ago.
To catch readers up, 8K is an upgraded resolution that delivers four times the pixel density of 4K – 7680 × 4320 pixels (approx. 33.2 million total pixels) to 4K’s 3840 × 2160 pixels (approx. 8.3 million total pixels) to be precise. Samsung started making noise about the resolution being a big deal in the early 2010s and went on to vocally describe it as the future right up to the 2020s.
And since 2018, it, in fairness, has made 8K TVs, in many ways putting its money where its mouth is. One of them, the 2024 Samsung QN900D, even won a What Hi-Fi? Award after earning five stars from our reviewers.
LG and Sony also briefly got in on the action. LG offered three generations of 8K Z-series OLED TVs and Sony the 2022 Z9K 8K Mini LED – though both LG and Sony have since unceremoniously exited the 8K market, leaving Samsung largely unchallenged.
Why the sour taste? Because, truthfully, I know some readers, and one friend with more money than sense, have invested in 8K sets, viewing them as a future-proof purchase, as the marketing at the time suggested.
So now the firms have suddenly turned cold on it and no longer want to speak about it at all, I can’t help but feel a minor grump growing on their behalf and that they're guilty of crying wolf on it being the future; and losing some trust in the process.
This is especially true in 2026 as there are so many other “future of TV” technologies appearing right now. On the panel front, numerous companies are pushing RGB Mini LED as the future and the “OLED-killer” we’ve been waiting for. Though, based on our review of the Sony Bravia 7 II and Bravia 9 II, the team and I are not quite convinced of that yet.
Or there’s Dolby Vision 2, another new “future of home cinema” bit of tech firms seem to be pushing as an essential “future-proof” feature you need to have on your next TV – despite the lack of any content mastered in it.
Sound similar to 8K? Though there are companies confirmed to be making content with Dolby Vision 2 tech, it’s hard not to see at least some similarities. And because of that, I can’t help but think the response is a bit disappointing with 8K and a key reminder that marketing and sales teams aren’t on your side.
Just because a company wants to sell you a fancy new feature as the most important thing ever doesn’t mean it is.
We’ve seen that many times before. And with Samsung the only big player making 8K TVs, you have to wonder, is it destined to be sent to the same farm as 3D and curved TVs? It’s not looking good right now, though I hope to be proven wrong – at the very least for the sake of the readers and my friend who drank the Kool-Aid.
Fingers crossed the silence is because they have a huge 8K announcement coming, and don’t want to spoil the surprise…
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