- LG no longer makes its 8K OLED TV, nor any 8K LED TV
- 8K panel production is “on hold” but may return if things change
- Even Samsung isn’t pushing 8K that hard – it’s starting to look a lot like 3D
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: a TV technology has failed to excite customers due to high prices and a lack of compatible content. It looks like 8K may be going the way of 3D TVs and is winding down as LG is reportedly exiting a market that TCL and Sony have already left.
LG was the only manufacturer to sell 8K OLED TVs worldwide, but its Z3 OLED TV was discontinued last year and there is no replacement model in this year’s line-up. Panel manufacturer LG Display has confirmed to FlatpanelsHD that development of 8K panels has been put on hold for the foreseeable future unless market conditions improve.
The Z3 was one of our picks for the best 8K TVs. But the fact that our list only includes three TVs, one of which is still available but no longer being made, is a bit of a clue as to why LG seems to be getting away with it.
What is the state of the 8K TV market?
With LG out of the 8K TV market, Hisense’s 8K plans are apparently on hold, and both TCL and Sony are gone, leaving Samsung as the sole bearer of the 8K torch – and Samsung’s enthusiasm doesn’t look all that strong either.
A few years ago, Samsung offered a range of 8K TVs aimed at different budget levels. Last year it only bothered a really high-end model, and that seems to be the case in 2026 too – unusually, however, Samsung didn’t show this TV at CES 2026, focusing instead on RGB TVs and QD-OLED.
Perhaps even more notably, when Samsung first demonstrated its Micro RGB backlight technology at CES 2025, it was in an 8K prototype – but the only RGB TVs it’s actually launching are 4K.
We identified 8K TV as one of our 2025 losers, explaining that a big part of the problem is that 8K TV doesn’t solve a problem: “there’s only so much information that the human eye can actually perceive. In a world where the best 4K TVs continue to dazzle, native 8K UHD panels (78600 x 432) are pixel overkill.” At normal viewing distances, “you’d be hard-pressed to tell the fine details of your favorite Ultra HD movie or show on the 8K screen of the current best 55-inch 4K TV”.
I think another key issue is the persistent and probably fatal lack of content for it. Blu-ray tops out at 4K resolution, as do all the major streamers’ most premium tiers, and there won’t be an 8K disc format; last year Warner Bros said they had scanned some major films in 8K, but the number of films was only 20 and it was not clear how those films would be distributed. As I wrote at the time, “the lack of 8K content is clearly worrying broadcasters and keeping sales numbers low.”
I think it’s a shame, but as the former owner of a 3D TV who struggled to find much worth donning the silly specs for, I’m well aware that sometimes the usefulness of TV technology doesn’t always live up to the hype (although 3D may not be as dead as it seems: new TV technology delivers D-glasses-free will, if we want D-glasses).
I think there is a place for 8K technology: Samsung’s The Wall is extraordinary and it can be useful in displays where you want a lot of pixel area.
But given the price of the set, the lack of content and the sheer brilliance of the best 4K TVs, I’m just not sure that place is in my living room or yours. And it seems that manufacturers are increasingly coming to that conclusion as well.
The best TVs for all budgets
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