Is it time for 8K home cinema?
We are often asked if it is time for 8K home cinema and when is the right time to transition into this new technology to enhance the performance of home cinema and media room systems. A question that is coming up currently is, ‘Is the time right to move into 8K capable home cinema systems?’ The short answer is no, read on to find out why.
The simple reason for our position is that the technology necessary to make this happen just is not mature enough at this point, to deliver the reliability that must be built into every system that we create. As a rule, we always wait for a technology to be developed enough for us to be sure that it will work all of the time, every time.
4K capable systems are now common and the preferred standard for most cinemas. However, there were issues when the concept was first introduced including some manufacturers producing 4K capable products that were in advance of the format being formally established and standardised. This meant that some of that equipment was not compatible with other products in the system and the dreaded blank screen resulted from issues such as failed ‘handshakes’ between equipment.
Waiting until the 4K standard was established properly, and there being a good choice of reliable and high-performance products available, paid dividends because those installation companies that followed this path maintained the reliability and credibility of what they were offering. Even at this point, there can be issues with 4K, particularly when dealing with streaming services where content can look below par even under ideal circumstances, which involves a strong network and properly connected high-performance products. Systems can be at the mercy of the streaming broadcasters, who do not always deliver the very highest standard possible. While streaming services are certainly very popular it is still possible to argue the very best way to get a good reliable 4K signal is from a Blu-ray disc.
It is also worth noting here is what are we asking the equipment and the broadcasters to do? It is not a small step, 8K means quadrupling the resolution of the current 4K world, so we are asking the equipment to make a very significant leap.
As we can see new technologies take time to bed in and responsible installation companies wait until an acceptable level of reliability is in place before offering them to customers.
The issues in home cinema applications
The first thing to highlight is there is little or no native 8K content available. It is possible to create 8K content and load it onto YouTube or Vimeo, but this is not the professional-level broadcast-quality content that we would use in a home cinema.
Currently, there is one broadcast channel in Japan issuing a native 8K signal, and in terms of broadcast level quality for the globe that is it. Amazon Prime Video, Google, IMAX and Roku are all members of the 8K Association, so we can assume they have ambitions in this area but at present there are no concrete plans.
There is also an issue with equipment. There are a number of TV’s that are 8K capable and currently JVC has a projector capable of upscaling 4K content to 8K. Currently as far as we are aware, Digital Projection is the only maker producing a natively compatible 8K projector. With little or no content to display this equipment relies mostly on upscaling existing 4K signals to an 8K quality. In the case of JVC the projector is not 8K native capable but only has the ability of upscaling a 4K signal to 8K.
Equipment-wise, 8K will be part of next-gen gaming systems. Sony and Microsoft have said PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X consoles will be upgradeable in the future to support native 8K, but again that is in the future, at the moment we could find only one game that is 8K.
So currently even if you have a piece of equipment that is 8K capable, you are going to be watching an upscaled 4K picture, not true 8K. Some of the results here are impressive, but we are still a long way from a true 8K infrastructure.
A universal standard has also yet to be agreed for the format. The term 8K is still generic and usually means any resolution with a horizontal pixel count of around 8,000. Different 8K resolutions have been standardized by various organizations, so currently, there is no globally agreed standard for broadcasters and content makers to adhere to which is not ideal. To add to the situation, the 8K Association has stated that the Blu-ray disc format will not extend to 8K because of the industry’s move to streaming rather than physical media. Potentially this could push an 8K world back even further.
One final thing to consider here is that content creators often take time to get used to using a new format effectively. 4K content has not only needed time to bed into the equipment but also into the way that content is produced. Taking the step into 8K is another huge leap, it will take time.
Taking all of this into consideration our current advice is if you want to buy a TV or a projector that is capable of upscaling to 8K, fine some good results can be had from that, however, we are still a very long way from a native 8K world.