Cool but not practical: Sharp to launch an 85-inch 8K TV

The 4K Ultra HD televisions are coming out at the Consumer Electronics Show by the dozens. Those TVs have four times as many pixels as conventional high-definition TVs with a resolution of 1080p. But Sharp is outdoing them all.

The Japanese company unveiled an 85-inch TV with 8K resolution at CES today. The TV has 16 times the number of pixels of regular HD. That’s a pretty astounding accomplishment, but it won’t be cheap. Sharp didn’t say how much the TV would cost. But it is already selling a 90-inch TV for $10,000.

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Sharp is still one of Japan’s biggest makers of LCD screens. It makes its screens in a Gen 10 factory, where workers cut displays from glass sheets that are 100-square feet. That technology compares to 60-square-feet glass sheets from factories that opened in 2006.

Yes, 8K is coming. We don’t need no stinkin’ 4K. Sharp is going to sell those, too. It will have two types of 4K Ultra HD TVs.

Sharp, by the way, is enjoying double-digit growth. It is the No. 1 maker of TVs 60 inches and up. That category has grown from 4 percent of the market in 2010 to 20 percent of the market now. Overall, Sharp is releasing 21 new TVs with screens at 60 inches and up.

Sharp also has a few new technologies. Its IGZO technology is a new compound semiconductor used to make screens that have two to three times less energy consumption. Sharp is using the IGZO technology in screens with products from 4 inches to 32 inches.