Is Now the Right Time to Buy an 8K Television?
TVs are a staple household item nowadays, but with new technology entering the market every year, its hard to know when its the right time to upgrade. While the biggest TV may not always be the best there have been significant advances in TV tech in recent years. Fancy buzzwords like OLED, Mini-LED and 8K are filling up the market, which can make it even harder to find the perfect TV for you. A TV with 4K HDR is good enough for most people, but TV enthusiasts will know that 8K is the next big thing. The problem is that 8K is so cutting edge that it doesnt have much content right now. When a TV is 8K compatible thats in reference to its resolution  i.e the number of pixels it can display. The more pixels you have, the clearer your picture. 4K provides 3840 x 2160 pixels and 8K is double that at a huge 7680 x 4320. When you see 4K or 8K listed in a TVs product name they are referring to its resolution which is then paired with other features like the panel type and technical capabilities. Why you should consider an 8K TV  8K is still a new and emerging technology in the market, which makes it quite expensive. We chatted to Hisenses product specialist, Chris Mayer, to find out the pros and cons of buying an 8K TV right now. Hisenses 2021 lineup features two new 8K capable TVs  the U80G and the U90G. I actually had the chance to test out one of these snazzy 8K TVs for myself and was suitably impressed with its picture quality. But I have my reservations about buying such a high-end TV when theres not a lot of optimised content right now. According to Mayer, the difference with an 8K TV like Hisenses is that its built for the future and thats in large part thanks to its AI upscaling engine  The benefit you get from buying one this second is the 8K AI upscaling engine. The effort we put into making the 8K AI upscaling engine was informed by knowing that there wont be 8K content for a while, he said. Its worth noting that AI upscaling is a feature standard in 8K televisions from a lot of different brands, for these reasons. Its also particularly relevant for Australians, where getting a decent internet connection capable of 4K, let alone 8K, can be hard enough. The upscaling engine takes the stress off your internet and processes images internally via the software in the TV, meaning you wont constantly be battling buffering to get a clear image. Seeing this 8K upscaling in person is pretty impressive. I ran the TV through the gamut of content from 360p to 4K HDR and the engine handled it remarkably well, but theres no denying that true 8K pictures looked the best, by far. This is where future-proofing comes in. All our TVs have a three-year warranty, so we expect at a minimum that someone who buys one of our TVs is going to have it for at least three years. Were always thinking about whether this technology is going to be relevant in three years time. [Hisense TVs] are certified to all the 8K standards and we have all of the building blocks that are essential to an 8K TV for the future.  That makes this year as good a time as any to buy an 8K TV. Mayer said that now 8K standards have been set its easier to have confidence in this new technology. I think this is a good year to buy an 8K TV, knowing that were future-proofed as much as we can be. I wouldnt have bought it a few years ago because the conditions hadnt been standardised.  Theres no doubt it will take the film and television industries a bit longer to make 8K content standard. Weve seen over the years the transition towards 4K HDR content being the new normal and thats thanks in large part to streamers like Netflix. If youre seeking a new television and have the funds, an 8K TV is a reasonable investment to future-proof your viewing experience. But if ultra-high-definition content isnt one of your pre-requisites, you can certainly afford to wait until 8Ks become more accessible.