I see your 84-inch 4K TV, and raise you one 145-inch 8K Super Hi-Vision monster of a display. First seeing light of day back in April, this collaborative effort from Panasonic and Japanese national broadcaster NHK has a resolution of 7680 x 4320 (more than 33 million pixels), and, being a plasma screen, is the first 8K display without need of a backlight. Naturally, Gizmag jumped at the chance to see it in the flesh at IFA 2012.
It has to be said that as fair as banquet table-sized televisions go, this is a good one. Showing a rotating loop of blossoming trees, strutting peacocks, captive lions and shiny clocks with elaborate mechanisms, the epic TV is hiding in a dark, isolated corner of Panasonic's hall at IFA 2012.
The display is mounted behind a bed of pebbles (emanating unmistakable "keep off" vibes) calculated to be comfortably deeper than the reach of a leaning technology journalist holding a camera on maximum zoom at arm's length (determined to find evidence that the thing actually has pixels. Needless to say, photos don't do it justice. The colors of the plasma display are vibrant, too.
Still, there's one thing to be said for more sensibly-sized (relatively, that is) 4K televisions. They're at least hitting the market soon ... though the availability of 4K content is still likely to be a chain dragger.
