Sharp
A shopper standing on an escalator rides past advertisements for Sharp Corp.'s Aquos television at an electronics shop in Tokyo August 1, 2014. Japan's Sharp Corp posted a 55 percent increase in operating profit for the April-June quarter, beating its own guidance to break even. The company reported strong demand for its LCD panels and a lighter-than-expected impact from a hike in consumption taxes in Japan. Reuters/Issei Kato

People haven’t quite digested all the dimensions of 4K TV and here comes Sharp announcing it will launch the world’s first 8K TV at a whopping price of 16 million Yen (AU$184,564). The Japanese electronics giant will start a limited sale of the television screen from October.

The 8K format is said to deliver images 16 times sharper than the latest Full HD screens on the market. Many companies previously worked on “Super-Hi Vision” test models, but Sharp made the first attempt to make it commercially viable, according to BBC News.

The new 85-inch television sets will be first offered to broadcasters and video production companies starting Oct.30. By 2018, Sharp aims to begin mass production to bring 8K TVs to the larger consumer market. It expects a rise in demand for the TV screen ahead of 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sharp, Samsung and LG showcased prototypes of 8K displays at the Consumer Electronics Show 2015 in Las Vegas. The 8K format is also known as “Super-Hi Vision” TV and touts a resolution of 7,680 pixels by 4,320 pixels.

The 8K TVs manufacturing cost is expected to fall with the increase in production volumes. Sharp’s IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide), which is a high-performance technology that provides a thin-film transistor, generates the high image quality of 8K television screens.

Public broadcaster Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) will begin transmitting in the 8K format in 2016, reported The Japan Daily Press in 2013. NHK also conducted its first tests at the Summer Olympics in London where it beamed six channels of live Super Hi-Vision coverage at public viewing sites.

In 2014, NHK successfully carried out the broadcast of long-distance digital terrestrial signals for its Super Hi-Vision 8K format. NHK is said to have placed orders for the new TV to check picture quality before they begin their new venture.

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