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LG's room-dominating 8K OLED TV goes on sale

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LG's 88-inch 8K OLED television goes up for pre-order in South Korea this week, followed by North American and European availability in Q3 2019
LG
LG's 88-inch 8K OLED television goes up for pre-order in South Korea this week, followed by North American and European availability in Q3 2019
LG
The LG 88Z9 television rocks more than 33 million self-emitting pixels
LG
The LG 88Z9 television employs deep learning technology to upscale content from 4K or 1080p
LG
Deep learning is employed to intelligently boost audio output, with the LG 88Z9 capable of mixing-up a two channel track to virtual surround sound for more immersive listening
LG
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We first got a glimpse of the world's first 88-inch 8K OLED display from LG back in January 2018, which was then shown off to European tech enthusiasts in August at IFA 2018 in Berlin, Germany. But it's buyers in South Korea who get the first bite at this monster cherry as LG announces that pre-orders on its home turf start this week.

LG is promising viewers a top notch visual feast from the 88 diagonal inch display made up of more than 33 million self-emitting pixels, which breaks down to a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels, or the equivalent to 16 times Full HD or four times 4K UHD.

At its heart, there's a second generation Alpha processor which leverages deep learning technology to optimize content, particularly when upscaling from 4K or 1080p – which will likely be pretty standard activity until 8K broadcasts become less of a novelty and more of the norm. LG says that the processor will also take ambient conditions into account and auto-adjust screen brightness to suit.

The LG 88Z9 television rocks more than 33 million self-emitting pixels
LG

The 88-inch 8K OLED TV supports Dolby Vision content, features HDMI 2.1 for 60 frames per second visuals, and rocks automatic low latency mode, variable refresh rate and enhanced audio return channel.

The LG 88Z9 – to use its given name – is also reported capable of intelligently boosting audio, being able to mix-up a two channel track to virtual 5.1 surround sound for more immersive listening. Users get the option to fine-tweak audio settings to preference, or let the TV do its thing and choose the best sound for the room using deep learning algorithms.

And the final piece of the TV behemoth puzzle, voice interaction could be possible thanks to Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa being included for some markets.

Following the South Korean launch, the LG 88Z9 will roll out to North America and Europe in the third quarter of 2019. No pricing has been revealed as yet.

Source: LG

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5 comments
Grunchy
Organic LEDs degrade over time & suffer burn-in. LCDs don't really do that. Comparing the two technologies I don't see enough superior image quality in OLED to justify the guaranteed limited life span. A cynical person might suggest manufacturers are promoting OLED so that TVs have to be replaced on a regular basis again.
guzmanchinky
Is there any 8k content out there? I thought we were just barely starting to get good 4k content? Of course this is very cool, and I'm sure it looks incredible, but it's still just a screen. I really want the big techies to show me a screen that makes me feel like I'm really there. Not VR necessarily, that makes most people queasy, including me sometimes, but definitely native 3D without goggles, like looking through a window maybe?
Rocky Stefano
Grunchy. I love it when people give completely unqualified comments. To put this into words more people will understand is this. If the only thing you expect to do is keep the station pointed to CNN or some form of static content (Call of Duty) every day for 5 hours for 5 years, then OLED may BEGIN to show burn-in. However, if you're a regular consumer who watches varied content on a daily basis you'll likely never experience it.
Lamar Havard
The human eye can't even detect 4K...what's with the 8K crap?!
TomLeeM
I think that is way cool. I want one. I have no doubt that the price will eventually come down in time. LCD televisions were expensive at first but their price came down when there was more companies making them. I am hoping my next television is an OLED one.