Best 8K TVs to Buy in 2023: Best 8K TVs Plus Everything You Need to Know about 8K

The Best 8K TVs are at the very top of the television pyramid. They not only have a greater resolution than 4K TVs, but they also have all of the latest TV technologies, ensuring that you receive the finest possible contrast, motion processing, and everything else that creates a truly world-class TV.

And when we claim that the best 8K televisions are world-class, we mean it. Samsung, LG, and Sony are known for pushing the boundaries of television technology with new technology that delivers the best in flagship performance.

While you may believe that this means that only super-yacht owners can afford 8K TVs, this isn't the case. Although there are no crossovers between high-end 4K TVs and more entry-level 8K TVs in our guides to the best TVs under £1000 and best TVs under $1000, there is a crossover between high-end 4K TVs and more entry-level 8K TVs.

Because of their high quality, 8K TVs frequently appear in our list of the best TVs overall, competing with 4K counterparts for your money, including the finest OLED TVs. And, despite the lack of genuine 8K video, a large part of that is that they are well worth the increase.

These 8K TVs are built with the goal of upscaling 4K content beyond the level of detail that a 4K TV can provide, and they succeed. However, you may still be unsure what an 8K TV is or whether it's worth the hype – we'll go over that now and show you the best 8K TVs to search for.

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You'll note that our top TVs aren't always the most recent models revealed at CES 2022 in January. That's because many of those models won't be available until later in the year, and even those that are will be at their full retail price, with no evidence of a discount - but earlier models are now available at cheaper costs, giving them better value. The best TVs you can have in your home right now, as well as the best deals on said TVs, are the topic of this article. Because the only thing better than a brand new 8K TV is knowing you got a great price.

WHAT IS AN 8K TV RESOLUTION?

A normal 8K TV has a resolution of 7680x4320 pixels. 8K quadruples the resolution of Ultra HD, just as 4K Ultra HD TVs have four times the pixels of Full HD 1080p TVs.

This image has a total resolution of 33 million pixels, which means that most still cameras can't even fill it with a single image because it's that large and detailed.

What does 8K actually mean in this context? It refers to screens with a resolution of roughly 8,000 pixels across, similar to how 4K refers to panels with a resolution of around 4,000 pixels across. It's not a particularly accurate classification, but we're talking about the resolutions listed above 99 percent of the time when we say 8K.

To ensure that 4K or HD video looks excellent when the resolution is raised to fit the screen, all 8K TVs will have powerful upscaling capabilities. Although 4K video is reasonably straightforward to upscale for it, given the limited quantity of 4K content accessible on streaming platforms and even less on broadcast, upscaling HD will be what separates the 8K TVs worth buying from the others. 8K TVs employ 'AI upscaling' to make things appear as nice as possible, and if that sounds like jargon to you, check out our 'What is 8K AI upscaling?' tutorial.

In terms of visual quality, what does 8K mean? We're well above the level of detail that the most common film for movies can achieve. Traditional 35mm film is typically estimated to be about equivalent to about 6K, so we're well beyond the level of detail that the most frequent film for movies can achieve. Although an IMAX 70mm film is thought to be closer to 12K, digital effects for IMAX scenes are often done in 8K, and if that's good enough for Christopher Nolan, we'll take it. If you want a catchy way to describe 8K, think of it as having the IMAX experience at home.

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THE BEST 8K TVS: OUR LIST

The mini-LED is causing a stir. The Samsung QN900A, with its Neo QLED panel, is riding those waves in style: this is an incredibly magnificent 8K TV, a flagship in every sense of the word, with an outstanding picture, great connectivity, and black depths that equal anything in the OLED field. It's arguably the best television ever produced: Best 8K TV and Best Television of Any Kind.

Sure, a few functionalities are lacking here and there. It doesn't support Dolby Vision, which is due to Samsung's engagement with HDR10+ rather than a flaw with the QN900A; its support for Dolby Atmos is limited, but we'd assume that if you're investing in this, you're also prepared to invest in an external Atmos solution.

What you do get is a lot of stuff, a lot of it is boisterous, and a lot of it is loud and colorful. We tested the 75-inch model and found its HDR performance to be class-leading, its 4K upscaling to be entirely believable, its peak brightness to be much exceeding that of OLED (it reached 4,000 nits at one point), and its contrast to be absolutely astonishing.

As our entire Samsung QN900A review demonstrates, the QN900A is a complete package. With full HDMI 2.1 support and as much VRR, ALL, and FreeSync as you can eat, it's ready for next-gen gaming. Big-screen Playstation 5 games have never looked so amazing. Although the sound isn't spectacular, it sounds very good in the context of a TV this tiny and bezel-free (particularly when paired with one of Samsung's Q Symphony soundbars).

You don't need the 8K functionality here - if you want to save some money, the Samsung QN95A is a better option – but the QN900A outperforms it in a variety of image quality categories. This is simply superior. It is, in fact, the best.

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The Samsung QN800A is the model below the QN900A in Samsung's 2021 lineup. All of the same capabilities, such as AI-based processing and upscaling, a superior sound system, and superb gaming features like HDMI 2.1 compatibility, are efficiently delivered (with 4K 120Hz and Variable Refresh Rate).

The connections and processing are all done in the separate One Connect box, which is connected to the screen by a single thin wire, maintaining the ultra-thin design.

In actuality, being the model down means it doesn't reach the same HDR brightness peaks, but it's still brighter than nearly any other TV on the market today, so it still provides the wonderfully vibrant and realism in bright situations that we love.

It also boasts a Mini-LED backlight and a large number of dimming zones to provide excellent contrast alongside its brightness, albeit the backlight precision looks to be weaker than the QN900A, resulting in more light leakage from bright to dark places. To be clear, that's more light bleeding than the LCD TV with the least amount of light bleeding we've ever observed. As a result, it's still doing pretty well. See our entire Samsung QN800A vs Samsung QN900A guide for more information on how they vary.

You also have the 8K screen's 33 million pixels and the finest upscaling we've yet seen for making videos take advantage of them. It's fantastic television.

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A fantastic TV that makes the most of Sony's screen know-how... and boy, does Sony have a lot of it. It's available in 75-inch or 85-inch sizes, allowing you to get the most out of the massive resolution.

Sony is employing its latest 'Bravia XR' technology, which is supposed to alter the picture not only based on the overall frame, but also by determining where the focus is in a specific image. Given that Sony was already among the best in terms of picture processing, this raises the bar even higher.

A full array backlight ensures a lot of HDR bling, as well as remarkably precise contrast. It's not quite up to the Samsung Q900A's level, but it's still a step up over 4K TVs – and the processing truly helps the 8K panel show off its capabilities.

It's a big TV, but it's not unsightly, and it comes with a superb sound system. Overall, the Samsung is a better package, but Sony has really flexed its image quality muscles here, and the results are stunning. It comes in two sizes: 75-inch and 85-inch.

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LG produces the world's only 8K OLED TVs, and they deliver genuinely remarkable visual quality at an incredible price. It's a kind of a design marvel: the screen is super thin despite being gigantic, which means the 88-inch model actually requires a stand (with built-in speakers) that you can't remove — the structure is critical to keeping the thing in one piece. The 77-inch model, on the other hand, may be wall-mounted.

It's awe-inspiring to view anything on. All of the benefits of OLED – flawless per-pixel colour accuracy and amazing contrast – are present, but on a massive, stunning screen that washes over you.

LG's image processing for upscaling and dealing with motion blur is also impressive – this TV is worthy of being the focal point of any room. Given the price, you'd hope so.

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LG's QNED99 8K TV is reasonably priced for an 8K TV, and it's quantum dot Mini-LED display produces exceptional image quality. It's an IPS panel rather than the more popular VA panel, which means it offers a huge viewing angle range. On the negative, IPS panels struggle to achieve the same deep blacks as VA panels, but LG has done an excellent job here: the black levels are very similar to those of VA panels, and the brights are extremely bright.

LG claims that this TV is the best in its class, with a fourth-generation AI processor, nanocrystal technology for more vivid colour reproduction, game optimisation, Google Assistant, Alexa, and AirPlay, and hands-free voice control among its many features. It runs webOS version 6, and the all-important upscaling works flawlessly — despite the fact that 8K content is still scarce. Although HDMI 2.1 is present, unlike other competition monitors, the refresh rate is fixed at 120Hz. This may not be the TV for serious next-gen console gaming if you're looking for an 8K TV.

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8K TV: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

What can I watch in 8K?

In native, pure 8K? In reality, nothing. Even when working digitally, Hollywood has preferred to employ 6K cameras (and, as we previously mentioned, ancient films can only be re-scanned to 6K, though they can subsequently be upscaled, which can be quite effective), so content isn't about to explode. 

This year, Japan was supposed to test the first 8K public broadcasts during the Olympic Games, but that's clearly not going to happen. BT Sport, meantime, has demonstrated a live 8K broadcast of a football match in the United Kingdom and stated that it expects to be able to broadcast the 2020/2021 football season in 8K on dedicated channels, although everything is still up in the air owing to the pandemic disruption.

There are currently no plans for an 8K disc format. However, Vimeo now supports 8K video, and YouTube is known for being ahead of the curve, so 8K streaming appears to be the way of the future if your bandwidth can take it.

Samsung is working on a technique called ScaleNet that is supposed to make transmitting 8K over slow connections easier, and it's particularly intriguing. It works by downscaling the image to 4K at the transmission end, then upscaling it back to 8K using a matched 'AI' that understands how the first one works - this should maintain more information than a typical compression technique.

Now that upscaling from lower resolutions is getting so advanced thanks to machine learning, it appears that the industry may be moving away from worrying about native resolution. Whether you toss it in HD, 4K, 6K, or full 8K, as long as an 8K screen is good enough, it will still provide an edge.

All of the preceding simply addresses how to get the image to you, not how to record it in the first place! The Samsung S20 Ultra, as well as the LG V60 ThinQ phone, and the Canon EOS R5 mirrorless camera, are among the first consumer cameras to have 8K recording. Sony 8k tv

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Is 8K gaming a thing?

If you have a crazily powerful PC, gaming in 8K is doable — you'll need two (at least) of the highest-end graphics cards operating in tandem, and the games you play will need to support it.

Both of the next-gen consoles, Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X, have stated that they would support 8K, but don't expect every game to have a real 8K output. Right now, that amount of power is simply not possible in compact boxes.

However, they will almost certainly support 8K HDMI and may employ sophisticated upscaling techniques (similar to those employed by the PS4 Pro for some demanding 4K games) to achieve a result that appears surprisingly close to 8K. We'll have to wait and see.

So, for the most part, you'll be upscaling current material. However, with a good upscale from a 4K video, you can still take advantage of those extra pixels, especially on a large screen. It won't look as nice as native 8K, but it will appear better than 4K, which is an enhancement worth having on a large screen. Sony 8k tv

What HDMI cable do I need for 8K?

This is a crucial – and seductive – question. You won't be able to utilize the one that came with your DVD player in 2011, but there is a new HDMI standard that can push the needed number of pixels over a single wire. HDMI 2.1 is a three-fold increase in bandwidth over earlier HDMI connections.

HDMI 2.1 is backward compatible with earlier HDMI connections, so you can use your existing cables for 4K or Full HD, but you'll need a new higher-speed cable if you wish to connect an 8K source to it. Ultra High-Speed HDMI cables are those that have been certified to use the full bandwidth of the new connection type. Whoah.

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Is 8K worth the upgrade?

It very well may be, but not for the reasons you may think. Normally, a significant resolution jump occurs, and we urge that you upgrade so that you may enjoy gorgeous videos in the new resolution... However, as we've already stated, this is not the situation here. Sony 8k tv

No, you should buy one of the top 8K TVs (the ones listed above) because they represent the pinnacle of television technology - you should buy them because you want the best motion processing, HDR performance, and colour reproduction available. If you want the best TV available, regardless of resolution, buy one of these.

However, this isn't to say that the greater resolution won't be beneficial to you. There's a reason 8K TVs are commonly available in sizes larger than 65 inches: that's where you'll see the most improvement over a 4K TV. Sony 8k tv

It's not worth it merely for the number of pixels if you live in an average-sized home with a 50- to 65-inch TV unless you want to sit incredibly close to the screen and pick out every last detail.

However, if you have a larger room and are considering 70-inch or larger TVs (or even projectors, because there are 98-inch 8K TVs on the market), or simply want the greatest TV technology available, an 8K TV is well worth considering.