LG announced on Monday the launch of its new 88-inch OLED 8K TV, which will be available for pre-order in South Korea this week, and is coming to North American and European markets in the third quarter of 2019.
The model 88Z9, as it's called, will retail for ₩ 50 million KRW, which roughly translates to around $42,000 USD, according to The Verge. Pre-order pricing will start at ₩ 40 million KRW, which translates to around $34,000 USD.
At 8K resolution, LG's 88Z9 is four times as sharp as 4K resolution, and 16 times as sharp as 1080p resolution.
There currently isn't much 8K resolution content, and that is likely to remain so, at least in the near future. There are a few 8K YouTube videos available to stream, as well as a few 8K Blu-rays, and major streaming services like Netflix don't offer 8K resolution content yet. And you can forget about 8K cable TV, as 4K cable TV is barely available.
But LG's main selling point for an 8K TV in 2019 when there's so little 8K content to watch in 2019 is a chip that can upscale 4K and 1080p video to 8K resolution.
LG's 88Z9 will be the world's first 8K OLED TV to go on sale. OLED TV panels are seen as the gold standard in TV technology for their exquisite color reproduction, as well as their ability to display a true black color. That's because pixels displaying the color black turn themselves off, so they're not projecting any light, which can create a gray color on traditional LCD displays. The result is gorgeous contrast in addition to the incredible color.
