This is the major problem, too much of a delay between a standard and hardware support. If we are lucky they will be able to repurpose some of the existing hardware in todays processors. That might not be technically feasible so who knows what the power hit will be.
[doublepost=1515211238][/doublepost]
I really don't see demand for 8K in most homes, mainly due to the bandwidth requirements. Especially when i expect the communications industry will be forced to a metered system so people will end up paying by the bit just like phone services are time based. In the end it is the only fair way to offer these services because the network hogs have such a negative impact on the networks and other users.
Yeah i know metered services could kill 8k and even 4K for many users but something needs to be done to equalize burdens. Net neutrality isn't the answer as it is just a welfare system for heavy users.
Personally i stream very little these days! I still use DVDs mainly because they are so cheap used. If i'm interested in newer shows downloads are a better deal. This especially for anything you might watch more than once and pull from public WiFi.
In any event i don't get the attraction many have to hours in front of the TV. It certainly has a tendency to pull you away from potential accomplishments. This is one reason I've stayed extremely cheap with my TV system, i really don't need to be sucked in via a massive screen. Im actually seeing more and mire of the nation getting pissed off with the whole media industry and disconnecting their internet connections. While that might be extreme a concerted effort seems to be afoot to watch less TV. There certainly is a lit of advertisement urging people to unplug from time to time that i haven't seen before. Hopefully this change of heart in the nation will dramatically slow TV sales in general. Overcoming the "me too" desire with respect to TVs likely is part of the 4K sales problem. Simply put people are realizing that they don't need the expense that owning such a set implies and keeping up with the Jone's doesn't make any sense either.
So what is all this rambling about? I suspect 8K is the industry grasping at a solution to poor TV sales in general. 4K is hard to justify in many peoples minds but what the industry doesn't realize is the 8K isnt going to spark any interest that 4 failed to spark. I see tough times for TV sales for some time.
I get this too, partially. There are only so many hours in a day, who wants or can afford, to waste it endlessly watching content on a screen.
The only thing in life is time, ease, and money. Many people get home from work, often tired, and don't have the energy or funds for more expensive forms of entertainment than (relatively affordable) screen watching. Also, in the midst of autumn/winter (outside hot climes), who wants to be outside in the cold most of the time; you're gonna be inside more often than not, and let's face it, at least some of that time will be filled with tired/bored time wasting things. Haha!
The amount of money I see some people spend on tech these days surprises even me. I think part of it is people seeing YouTubers like MKBHD et al. (who obviously do it for money, getting lots of stuff for 'free' anyway) and aspire to keep up in some way. I sometimes don't think that's healthy for many people, as they get FOMO syndrome if they can't afford it, that drives a lot of discontent for some out there.
Anyhoo... people will typically get the latest 4K/8K/HDR/OLED thing, when they simply go to buy a replacement TV – i.e. it's not a must buy, but rather a more passive 'our TV isn't working properly, let's go and get a new one, as we can afford it at this moment in time' kind of decision.
Cinemas need 8K (and likely beyond too: I think I read somewhere that old films are being digitally scanned at 16K for several years now by the studios, dunno if for just archiving or remastering in to-come higher formats though?), as most are just at 4K which is perceivably by professionals as less than 35mm quality.
The main reason both 4K (and soon 8K) have problems with gaining traction or much excitement (at least from anyone with a brain to realise beyond the 'new shiny product' marketing on how great a 4K TV is!), is because the distribution and quality is a massive problem we haven't addressed yet.
You can't send multi TV channel large bandwidth over terrestrial aerial broadcast at any low/high quality at all. Nor can you stream/download easily and QUICKLY without having a really fast internet connection, also whilst using an absolute ton of bandwidth data. And then finally, to get high 'Bluray' quality that people really want, to get the full/proper experience that these resolutions actually give you (without annoying-to-deal with physical media), is simply bandwidth armageddon (BD quality 8K HDR 2h film could be ~1TB!), so is out of the question even for the next few years in most of the developed world. It's a catch 22, chicken and egg quandary we're currently in.
