Yes, the hype surrounding 8K is definitely real and will likely supplant 4K to be the standard in just a few years.

So, how do you prepare for this monumental change in the TV universe? Well, the most logical step to take is to go all in and splurge on a brand-new 8K HDTV. 

And if you’re guessing that it’s not going to be cheap, you are absolutely right. But if you’re set to hand over thousands of dollars on a TV set, perhaps it’ll calm your anxiety a bit by going with a reputable brand like Samsung.

The Korean tech giant indeed has a great option for you right now—and it’s the 65-inch Q900 8K TV, which is currently retailing for about $2,900. So, if you decide to purchase this set, now you can start enjoying awesome 8K content? Not so fast.

Side-by-side tests, especially for 55- and 65-inch models, have shown that the pictures on both of Samsung’s 8K and 4K TVs look nearly identical. Until there is more 8K content to work with, this 8K TV is just too early for most consumers. Interestingly, there have been several recent movies filmed in 8K, such as “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” but this is far from becoming the standard in the film industry.

There is, however, more of a picture-quality difference if you go with an 80-inch-plus 8K TV. If you do decide to dive into that hefty purchase, you may think that you are future-proofing your TV tech. Know that no one can really criticize you for that line of thinking.

What you’ll be receiving with the Q900 is a premium viewing experience, thanks largely to its next-gen QLED tech and excellent overall image quality that boasts plenty-deep black levels. Samsung’s highly regarded quantum dot technology enables you to experience images bursting with a dazzling range of colors, each upscaled to incredible clarity driven by an intelligent 8K quantum processor.

Tapping into one of QLED’s major strengths, the high light output works incredibly well with HDR, and you’ll surely enjoy the accurate colors and robust video processing, which will be a boon for hardcore gamers and lovers of intense action films.

Like Samsung’s other recent 8K TV offerings, the Q900 boasts 8K AI upscaling technology that can theoretically transform 4K content into 8K. By tapping into that next-gen AI tech, these TVs are adding in the “missing” pixels to make the content 8K. It is surely a fascinating advancement, but upscaling will never be a substitute for the real thing.

So, here is the bottom line: You shouldn’t be faulted for being early to embrace 8K, but until 8K content becomes more mainstream, you can bet that your 4K TV will continue to be an integral part of your family room at least for a few more years. 

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.