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LG brought a mammoth 98-inch 8K display to CES 2016

LG brought a mammoth 98-inch 8K display to CES 2016

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It wouldn't be the Consumer Electronics Show unless a tech company showed up to Las Vegas with a stupid large television. This year LG decided to fill that role with its UH9800 model, a 98-inch "super ultra-high-definition" 8K display. The set even has moving speakers for what LG describes as a "impactful" visual and audio experience. It's not the largest TV to ever make its way to this show, but it's certainly one of the largest 8K displays ever produced.

We won't likely see 8K televisions populating our living rooms anytime soon, so it's easy to consider this a display of unnecessary excess. And it is — that's what makes CES great. Tech companies pull out all the stops to produce what can only be described as a gadget lover's fantasy come to life. We won't ever be able to afford a 98-inch 8K TV for ourselves, unless a company figures out how to replicate one in virtual reality. So longingly looking at a display with a resolution and breadth that can melt your brain is part of the fun. LG didn't disclose a price, but Sharp's 85-inch 8K display costs about $133,000.

A 98-inch 8K TV is a quintessential CES display of excess

There is, however, a benefit to pushing TV and camera makers to develop technology to shoot and display 8K video. Through a process called downsampling, content makers can reduce an 8K video to a version of 4K that is sharper than what a standard 4K camera can produce. When 4K becomes the norm, we should see increasingly higher quality video that pushes the limits of the standard as companies like Sony and Red begin optimizing the most cutting-edge camera tech.

See all of our CES 2016 news right here!