Samsung is set to launch a smart TV with 8K resolution and 5G network support. The goal is to make it easier to view content
The two technologies that all electronics lovers today dream of are 5G, for communications, and 8K resolution, for viewing video content. Samsung knows this and is preparing to make both dreams come true with one product: a smart TV with an 8K screen and integrated 5G modem.
The effort is big and Samsung, as much as it is a tech giant, knows it can’t do it alone. That’s why it just announced a partnership with South Korean telecommunications company SK Telecom, aimed at jointly developing the world’s first 5G-8K TV. The agreement consists of a memorandum of understanding and the two companies will put together their respective leading technologies to make this innovative product. The two companies will initially work in the South Korean market but, later, the 8K resolution TV with 5G connection may be brought to the international market and connected to other local operators’ networks as well.
What Samsung’s 8K smart TV with 5G will look like
Samsung and SK Telecom’s 5G-8K TV will revolutionize users’ TV viewing experience by directly receiving 8K video streams via the South Korean operator’s 5G network. The display resolution will be 7,680×4,320 pixels, which is four times the UHD standard. While waiting for 8K content to become the standard, Samsung will apply AI 8K technology-based upscaling and next-generation codecs to project Full HD and UHD images at 8K resolution. The company will also provide 8K TVs with 5G dongles to support direct transmission of video content at 8K resolution.
5G and 8K: perfect marriage
Many believe that as 5G networks become more widespread and perfected, current wired connections to the Internet will gradually be replaced by wireless ones based on this new standard. 8K video transmissions will be made possible by 5G’s ultra-low latency and its high bandwidth. But the data streams needed to transmit so many 8K channels over a 5G network will be enormous. Therefore, SK Telecom plans to apply Mobile Edge Computing and Network-Based Media Processing to its 5G network to increase the smoothness of 8K video transmission.
Smart TV like smartphone
The two South Korean companies will also work on the possibility for the 5G-8K TV to offer a new user experience based on the evolution of Sero TV, Samsung’s TV that can be rotated both horizontally and vertically to provide a smartphone-like user interface. Users, therefore, will be able to replicate the smartphone experience even on a huge screen, connected at ultra-high speed.