8K Association Sets Minimal Specs for 8K Ultra-HD TVs
by Anton Shilov on September 4, 2019 11:00 AM EST
The 8K Association, a group led by leading makers of TVs and display panels focused to facilitate growth of the 8K ecosystem, this week introduced a list of minimal technical specifications that should be met by a TV carrying an 8K logotype. If the initiative is embraced widely by the industry, it will ensure that next-generation 8K televisions and monitors will offer consistent performance levels and therefore experience.
While resolution is a key characteristic of any display or TV, it clearly is not the only feature that defines quality and experience they provide. Nowadays, there are hundreds of mediocre 4K Ultra-HD 'HDR'-badged displays and TVs which use cheap panels and backlighting that lack proper bit depth, luminance, and color gamut that are essential for proper reproduction of 4K and HDR content. Such hardware ruins user experience and slowdowns adoption of new technologies by content creators.
To avoid such a situation in the looming 8K era and develop strict guidelines for next-generation TVs, AU Optronics, Samsung Electronics, Panasonic, Hisense, and TCL formed the 8K Association in January, 2019. Since then, the 8KA was also joined by Astro Design, ATEME, Chili, Innolux, Intel, Louis Pictures, Novatek, Samsung Display, Tencent, V-Silicon, and Xperi.
Recently, the 8K Association rolled out its first set of specifications covering 8K input parameters, display performance, interface, and media formats. In a nutshell, the 8KA wants an 8K TV or display to meet the following minimums:
- Feature a resolution of 7680×4320 pixels
- Support 24p, 30p, and 60p frames per second input framerate
- Have a peak luminance of at least (a minimum of) 600 nits
- Support HEVC codec
- Use HDMI 2.1 interface
The 8K specification by the 8KA also covers things like bit depth, frame rate, chroma sub-sampling, black level, color gamut, white point, HDR modes, and additional codecs.
It remains to be seen whether 8KA’s initiative is embraced by other suppliers of televisions and SoCs, but the idea of making 8K Ultra-HD TVs and displays more appealing to the end user by guaranteeing certain experience certainly looks attractive.
Related Reading:
- VESA Rolls Out Updated DisplayHDR Standard for OLED Displays: DisplayHDR True Black
- VESA Announces DisplayHDR Specification: Defining HDR Capabilities In Performance Tiers
- Sharp to Demonstrate 120-Inch 8K LCD TV & 8K TV with 5G Modem at IFA
- AU Optronics's New 85-Inch 8K LCD TV with 1,024-Zone Backlighting
- Honor Set to Enter TV Market with New Honghu 8K CPU
- VESA Announces DisplayPort 2.0 Standard: Bandwidth For 8K Monitors & Beyond
- Realtek Demonstrates RTD2893: A Platform for 8K Ultra HD TVs
Source: 8K Association (via Hexus)
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Lord of the Bored - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
I think he meant all the CG animation and compositing that makes up most of that frame, not the final display of that frame.scottrichardson - Wednesday, September 4, 2019 - link
They could also just redo the digital intermediate at 4K once the master was ready for cinema. They could have started work on re-rendering and exporting a higher quality version at 4K, ready for digital release? Seems unlikely - and to be honest I saw this in 4K at our local cinema and the CGI was definitely 4K - details you wouldn't be able to get in 2K.rabidkevin - Wednesday, September 4, 2019 - link
And here I am with my 1080p TV still LolKakti - Wednesday, September 4, 2019 - link
Interesting that neither LG or Sony are members. I doubt it'll make much of a difference since those specs are pretty much the starting point for even the crappiest displays, but LG is kinda a big deal in the panel industry.mooninite - Wednesday, September 4, 2019 - link
HEVC still has its claws in too many places. Long live AV1...nandnandnand - Wednesday, September 4, 2019 - link
It is minimal specs. It's safe to say that these TVs will also support H.264 and VP9.AV1 is a big deal. Too bad it's almost nowhere in 2019. Hopefully we will see it in all phones, laptops, and GPUs soon. Navi didn't have it which was a bit of a surprise for me.
Also, there is a threat of a patent lawsuit against AOMedia/AV1: https://www.iam-media.com/market-developments/sisv...
The scum might need to be eliminated before we see widespread adoption.
GreenReaper - Monday, September 9, 2019 - link
Or maybe it does have it, they're just not announcing it yet due to the lawsuit...It's possible it missed the boat, though, given AMD's issues with competing in GPU.
tuxRoller - Wednesday, September 4, 2019 - link
Requiring hevc at this point?Bold move.
Kendog52404 - Wednesday, September 4, 2019 - link
While neither LG or Sony are members, the things required all look to be focused on the North American Market. While I appreciate that, as a resident of North America, one thing that struck me was the 24p, 30p, and 60p are as noted above, North American focused. The UK and most of Europe, I believe, all default with a 50 hz. setting, so I assume that's 25p, 50p, and so on? I can also imagine these TVs/displays being more "wall screens" which show smaller images, in "windows" such as a 4K display here, a 1080P display there, and so on. I could also see that as a field for higher resolution, due to, I'm assuming the math works like this, 4x4 showing of 4K display "images/videos each in windows. That could be useful for more commercial applications like security cameras or even broadcast production, since for only one "video wall", it's showing 16 "true 4K" videos.seerak - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
It would be simpler to just dispense with set frame rates and make it variable up to a maximum.As for images in windows, a.k.a. picture-in-picture, I've long wondered why they don't realize that LCD displays, unlike the old CRT's, are a frame buffer device, and it should be possible to economize on bandwidth by being able to write to specific spots on the screen only instead of refreshing the whole frame. Regular TV's wouldn't use this necessarily, but huge advertising wall displays with largely static content could.