8K TVs never became the new standard as makers pull back
After years of promotion, most major manufacturers have left the 8K TV market, with only about 1.6 million sets sold since 2015. Scarce content, high prices and limited visible benefit are the main reasons.
Ultra-high-resolution 8K televisions, which display 7,680 x 4,320 pixels, have failed to replace 4K sets on the global market. A late-2026 review by the technology site Engadget finds that most major TV makers have abandoned the segment, while buyers never showed broad interest in it.
Manufacturers step back
This year LG left the 8K market after LG Display, the company that makes the panels, stopped producing 8K LCD and OLED panels. Sony discontinued its remaining 8K models in 2025, and TCL had earlier cited low demand as its reason for withdrawing. The only major brand still offering one is Samsung, with the QN990H in its 2026 lineup.
Sales figures
In September 2024, research firm Omdia reported nearly a billion 4K TVs in use worldwide, against cumulative sales of just 1.6 million 8K sets since 2015. Omdia also noted that 8K sales peaked in 2022.
A shortage of content
The main obstacle is a lack of material: there are virtually no films, TV shows or streaming libraries in 8K. There are a few exceptions, such as BS8K from Japan's public broadcaster NHK, China Media Group's CCTV-8K and Spain's RTVE, but they barely affect the market. An 8K TV can only upscale lower-resolution images, which shows limited benefit. Streaming 8K would also require far more data than many home internet connections can handle, and 8K gaming demands extremely powerful and costly hardware. The sets themselves cost between $3,000 and $40,000.
What the eye can see
A 2025 University of Cambridge study found that the benefit depends on how much detail the human eye can resolve, and on field of view. For example, a 44-inch 4K or 8K set viewed from 2.5 meters away offers nothing better than a QHD screen of the same size. The article concludes that a 4K TV is the best choice for most shoppers, while 8K may appeal only to enthusiasts with a large living room and a 65-inch or larger screen.
