Highest Resolution 8K
Highest resolution 8K is better than 4K—and that’s it. Common 1080p screens have a resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels. 4K screens double those numbers to 3,840 by 2,160, thereby quadrupling the number of pixels. 8K doubles the numbers again to a resolution of 7,680 by 4,320. That’s four times the number of pixels as 4K, which means it’s 16 times that of a 1080p TV.
For context, look really closely at your TV. Try to find a single pixel (not the individual red, green, and blue lights; those are subpixels, which means you’re too close). If you’re looking at a 4K screen, imagine four pixels taking up the space of that single pixel. If you’re looking at a 1080p screen, picture a grid of sixteen pixels, four by four, within that single pixel. That’s 8K. It’s much sharper than 4K and much, much sharper than 1080p.
While it’s sharper on paper, though, whether an 8K picture will look that much better to your eyes remains to be seen. Just as with all TVs and monitors, exactly how visible and distinct each pixel is depends on the size of the screen and the distance it is from the viewer. My couch is about eight feet from my 65-inch 4K TV, and it doesn’t look remotely grainy or indistinct. Even if I’m wearing my glasses (I’m slightly nearsighted), I can’t see each pixel or any jaggedness on the screen. If it was 8K it might be technically sharper, but from the 8K TVs I’ve tested and the limited 8K content I’ve seen, it won’t represent an equivalent visual jump in quality we saw when moving from 480p to 1080p, or 1080p to 4K.
Highest resolution 8k basics
8K describes UHD-2 and is the successor of 4K (UHD). The 8K resolution has about 8,000 columns horizontally. Or 7,680 x 4,320 pixels, distributed over the respective display size in the classic 16:9 format, which is four times more pixels than with 4K and 16 times as many pixels as with Full HD.
This means that there are approximately 33.2 million pixels on the display = 33.2 megapixels. Sometimes also 8,192 x 4,320 pixels at approximately 17:9 are called 8K. However, with the rather unusual page format, this resolution is hardly relevant for consumer electronics.
The purchase of 8K cables and adapters is already a good idea, not only for technical early risers, to be prepared for the future. The price difference to 4K products is not big, and 8K products are backward compatible. Home theatre and gaming enthusiasts who use large screens can already benefit from 8K. Also interesting for gamers: In 2020, the new Xbox and Playstation will be on the market, both are 8K compatible and support 8K streaming.