The Evolution of TV: Beyond 3D

I consider my own LG Smart TV considerably good for at least 5-7 years in the future. Its host of smart features, on top of its 3D capability, makes it an advanced gadget. Add to it the 2D to 3D conversion ability, and the Dual Play feature, and you get a fairly advanced TV – one you could only imagine a few years back. I remember a few years back – HD was the big thing. Indeed it still is – especially in our country.  Yet, it seems, technology has a way of moving faster than imagination.

LG OLED TV

Already, we have another revolutionary TV knocking at our doors. OLED TV promises to be the next big thing in the TV technology. I think I will revise that – it has already become the next big thing. Already, we have a virtual war going in this field – mainly between the two Korean giants – LG and Samsung.

And LG seems to have won the first battle with a big hand. While both the TV makers demonstrated their OLED TVs in CES 2012, LG has shown amazing alacrity in being the first to market. So, the LG OLED TV has the distinction of being the first ever OLED TV available for the mass market. The deliveries of this OLED TV are expected to start soon, and the good news is – India will be among the first markets that will get to explore OLED TVs!

On a slightly somber note, the OLED war has already taken a casualty. Sony, the reputed electronics giant from Japan, has sold its OLED TV business to Panasonic, and decided to focus on other promising ventures. 

4K and 8K - Ultra High Definition TVs

While we are still in the throes of adopting HD, comes the news of 4K and, hold your breath, 8K high definition televisions! The numbers, 4 and 8, represent the times the overall resolution of HD is multiplied in these TVs. So, 4K means 4 times the resolution of an “ordinary” HD TV, while 8K implies 8 times the same. 

LG 4K UHD TV

The 4K format is rapidly moving from the realm of concept into practice. We already have impending TV launches (from LG and Sony) that will carry the 4K format screens. Needless to say, the screen sizes will be huge – LG and Sony are both offering an 84 inch screen. LG has even declared that these 4K TVs will be soon available in limited markets, at an expected price tag of around USD 22K. Panasonic has also displayed a 103 inch glass free 3D TV – but it is a prototype.

Coming to the 8K TVs – while the work is still in developmental stages, we already have a working model that’s displayed in this year’s IFA at Berlin. From the stable of Panasonic and NHK, it a behemoth, boasting of a gigantic 145 inches of screen! Indeed, those giant sized screens are necessary if those sky high resolutions are to be appreciated in practice.

It is not that the 4K and 8K resolution TVs are mere sand castles – the position seems to be well thought out, and in consonance with other developments in the digital imaging and film making technology. We already have 4K capable projectors and films are already being shot in high resolutions (for example, The Hobbit, due for a December 2012 release, is shot in 5K).

Till the time the 4K and 8K resolution TVs become more prevalent and cheaper, mere mortals like me will continue to enjoy our evenings on our humble LG 3D TVs.