SK Telecom and Samsung reckon we need 8K TV over 5G

Korean tech giant Samsung has teamed up with compatriot operator SK Telecoms to develop what they claim will be the world’s first 5G 8K TV.

On one level this should just be as simple as whacking a 5G modem into an 8K telly, but there seems to be more to it than that, hence the announcement. SK Telecom says that only when it applies mobile edge computing and network-based media processing to its 5G network will it be able to achieve seamless transmission of 8K video. The fact that those sorts of technologies are in the 5G roadmap anyway is beside the point.

Which brings us to the likely real reason for this announcement: to generate positive publicity for both companies. 5G has long been in danger of being a technological solution in search of a problem and the same could certainly be said of 8K video, in a world that is still trying to work out whether it sees much value in 4K.

“The 5G-8K TV is the culmination of ultra-low latency 5G networks combined with ultra-high definition TV technology,” said Park Jin-hyo, CTO and Head of ICT R&D Center at SK Telecom. “5G technology will help make the world of hyper media a reality.” Hyper media seems to refer to telly augmented by all kinds of other internet gimmickry.

Short of producing a 5G dongle it’s not clear what Samsung is bringing to the project other than cash and its consumer electronics brand. Nowhere is it explained why it’s preferable to deliver all this hyper media goodness over 5G rather than fibre, nor is it openly discussed what the minimum screen size would be beneath which the human eye is unable to discern any difference between 4K and 8K. But these are just details that shouldn’t detract from our jubilation that the 5G 8K era is almost upon us.