What Is 16K Resolution? Will We Ever Go Higher than 8K?

16K resolution screens are in development. But do you really need one in your living room? How would you even look at it?

4K TVs are just starting to become commonplace in households worldwide, while those who want to go fancy can go all the way up to 8K resolution for a few extra hundred dollars. However, tech companies are already thinking about the next best thing after that. And it's widely thought that the next step is 16K resolution.

Now, there's a lot we don't know about 16K screens, other than they will pack amazing pixel density and should be a boon for ultra-large TVs. However, they're still very far away.

So, what is 16K, and what can we expect from it? And more importantly, when will it come out?

What Is 16K Resolution?

Marketing names for screen resolutions over HD have been pretty clear and self-descriptive, and 16K is no different. 16K is a screen resolution with more or less 16,000 pixels horizontally. Most 16K TVs you'll see once 16K becomes a standard will likely not have exactly 16,000 pixels. The most commonly talked-about resolution is 15,360 x 8,640 pixels—basically, exactly four times as many pixels as 8K, and 16 times as many pixels as 4K.

No actual consumer 16K screens are actually being sold at the time of writing the article, but it's not like the concept hasn't been explored. 16K resolutions can be run on computers using multi-monitor setups—popular YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips actually attempted to run games at 16K resolution in a video by running a multi-monitor setup comprised of 16 4K monitors. It can also be done by using four 8K monitors.

As for actual 16K screens, though, prototypes have been shown off. For example, Innolux showed a 100-inch 16K display at Touch Taiwan Display 2018, while Sony showed off a humongous 783-inch unit at NAB 2019.

There's nothing commercial yet, though. But why?

Why Don't We Have 16K Resolution Yet?

In the case of 8K, the very first commercially-available 8K TV was released in 2015. Granted, back then, it cost an eye-watering $133,000, and prices have dropped steeply since. Still, if screen makers have been playing around with the concept of 16K for years now (16K prototypes have been shown as early as 2018), what's stopping one of them from starting to commercialize it, given we're well into 2022?

The short answer is that someone will eventually do it (after all, the tech is in development), but there isn't much of a rush to put it on the market because it probably won't be a game-changer for most people.

The thing with screen resolutions is that pixel density going up past a certain point starts yielding diminishing returns to the actual resolution difference the human eye will notice. Put a 50-inch 4K screen alongside a 50-inch 8K screen, and unless you're really nitpicky, chances are you won't notice a difference in quality. It's also why 8K screens are typically sold in sizes ranging from 70 inches to 100 inches.

With that being said, unless you're planning to buy a super-large TV that's the size of your entire wall, you likely won't notice a big difference with 16K. These types of ultra-large screens are the ones that will truly benefit from having a 16K resolution or something above that. It could come in handy for a screen that's replacing a projector in a movie theater, for a digital billboard, or for a screen to place in a large office.

16K Res Sounds Cool, But You (Probably) Don't Need It

16K screens are coming eventually. But once they're out, don't feel in any particular rush to throw out your newly-acquired 100-inch 8K TV. Chances are you won't notice a difference with a 16K one that's the same size.

Right now, TV manufacturers are focusing on other ways to improve image quality rather than just resolution. For example, introducing displays with better color accuracy/reproduction and power consumption are both things that can go a long way towards making better TVs, even if their resolution is still 4K/8K.