Just when 4K TV (3840 x 2160) prices are dropping rapidly and will be affordable for the masses next year (2014) ... now it looks like 8K TV/monitors (7680 x 4320) will be coming to a store near you in 2016 - broadcasting in 2020.

 

At 7680 x 4320 with a good dot pitch and 120Hz or better, there will be little or no need for AA any more ... we can finally put AA to rest ... never did like AA as a filter anyway.  On the plus side, it looks like 8K will peak and be the norm for many years ... getting close to limits of what the human eye can distinguish.  Apparently this has been the goal for most professional level movie cameras.

 

The next few years are going to be great for flight simulation ... but not so great on one's wallet.

 

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

One can only dream...

It's not the price of the TV that is a problem. That's a decent jump in technology for a 3-4 year span  It's, can video card manufactures keep their technology advancing enough to push those kind of pixels and yet make it affordable still?

I hate to think of what my FPS would be with that maybe I'd get .01FPS

 

 

can video card manufactures keep their technology advancing enough to push those kind of pixels and yet make it affordable still?

 

Yes, existing GPUs already do if you have FSAA turned up -- FSAA is accomplished by rendering the image at higher resolution internally then down sampling to your display resolution, so your video card is effectively running at 8K resolution if you are using 4XAA or 8XAA (pending your current monitor/output resolution).  At 8K resolution (and a good dot pitch and refresh) you can turn AA completely OFF (just no need for it at all) which will bring the GPU performance back up (effectively a wash).  So running at 8K with no AA is about the same (not exactly but close) as running 1080p with 8X AA.

 

AA is a filter, it's actually NOT good for image quality, it's used/implemented simply because of current monitor resolution limitations.  Now those limitation just got a lot bigger.

 

So in a word, existing and future GPUs will have no problem at 8K resolution if you have FSAA off.

 

Rob

Heya Rob, 

 

    I think in some ways we are at 4K already, at least in MONITORS.

 

    For example, I have a 23" 1920x1080p monitor. Multiply by 2 for a 46" screen (I wish!) and viola, 4K. All of the existing 4K sets that I have seen are on the big side, 50"+, to accommodate all those pixels.

 

    As for 8K, with a vertical resolution of 4320 pixels, that would definitely be a LOT of pixels, and I imagine it would be hard to cram them into anything less than 60", which is ironic because you would sit 12' away from such a display to watch TV. Still, it would be like a portal into another dimension...

 

   For eye candy, go check out an OLED display. Stunning, and the color saturation is so good you don't need 3D glasses for a 3D effect!

 

JKH

You've hit upon the reason why 1920 x 1080 for TVs will be around for a while. Unless you are going to buy one of those 80" monster TVs and sit right on top of it, one won't even see the difference between 1080 and 4K. Most people don't have a viewing room that is big enough to take advantage of 4K technology, not to mention that most movies or TV shows will be  available widely in 4K at the consumer level for another year or two. And If you get your video from online streaming, cable TV or satellite, don't expect the bandwidth to be there for 4K for even a longer period of time. 

Yes, existing GPUs already do if you have FSAA turned up -- FSAA is accomplished by rendering the image at higher resolution internally then down sampling to your display resolution, so your video card is effectively running at 8K resolution if you are using 4XAA or 8XAA (pending your current monitor/output resolution).  At 8K resolution (and a good dot pitch and refresh) you can turn AA completely OFF (just no need for it at all) which will bring the GPU performance back up (effectively a wash).  So running at 8K with no AA is about the same (not exactly but close) as running 1080p with 8X AA.

 

AA is a filter, it's actually NOT good for image quality, it's used/implemented simply because of current monitor resolution limitations.  Now those limitation just got a lot bigger.

 

So in a word, existing and future GPUs will have no problem at 8K resolution if you have FSAA off.

 

Rob

 

Ya know the FSAA disabling skipped my mind.. I downsampled all the time when I gamed on my 40in LED but I still had to use FSAA because it was only 1920x1080 which exposed every jagged line that much more.  

And If you get your video from online streaming, cable TV or satellite, don't expect the bandwidth to be there for 4K for even a longer period of time. 

 

This will be the large hurdle, IMHO I don't see the majority switching off 720p for content anytime soon. PC monitors are a different story, but just think about how long it took the VHS to disappear.

 

Just recently did I join the digital signal is better bandwagon but that's a whole different story.