Samsung thinks 5G’s going to make 8K TVs a thing: Just in time for the PS5
Samsung is betting big that the arrival of 5G will lead to a boom in content for its 8K TVs and displays, according to fresh comments from its executives.
Sonia Chen, Director of Display Marketing at Samsung Electronics’ made the claim in a press release sent out for the annual QLED Summit hosted by Insight Media in New York on Tuesday.
Related: What is 8K TV? Is it the future of TV tech in 2019?
“With the rapid expansion of 5G wireless network technology, 8K display market is expected to make great strides,” she said
“In particular, it will receive the spotlight among the millennial generation who are familiar with fast internet speed and high-quality image viewing.”
Despite Samsung’s bold claims there are still a very limited number of 8K TVs and monitors available to the public. Samsung is one of the only companies making mainstream 8K TVs, but they are all very expensive. The latest Samsung QE82Q950R 8K TV costs a staggering £9999.
Related: What is 5G?
Hyogun Lee, Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics Visual Display Business, argued 8K TVs will sell well despite their hefty upfront cost.
“For 4K TV too, there were concerns over a lack of content in its early days, but these concerns faded away after people experienced the actual picture quality. The best picture -quality experience will be chosen by consumers after all,” he said.
Despite the lack of shows or TVs on offer, Samsung isn’t alone in it faith in 8K. Sony’s PS5 is confirmed to be capable of 8K playback, as is Microsoft’s newly unveiled Project Scarlet console – commonly referred to as the Xbox 2.
Related: Best TV 2019
Marketing speak aside, the comments follow a wider push in the technology community to utilise the next generation gigabit-per-second connection speeds offered by 5G networks.
5G is a next generation networking technology being rolled out in select markets, including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh in the UK.
Forecasts predict the tech is will let you download entire TV series in seconds and stream triple-A games over the cloud in 4K.
We found there was definitely some truth to this claim when we tested EE’s 5G London Network on the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G last month, so it makes sense that the tech would support 8K streaming.