Samsung’s smart TVs have been awfully smart for an awfully long time. And that’s before you look at image engine advances, the rise of 4K video content, and the introduction of Samsung’s Quantum LED (QLED) tech. But now it’s time for something new and different: Samsung’s 8K QLED TVs have travelled from the future to give us a glimpse of what’s going on. Today.

Wait, 8K is a thing now?

Correct-a-mundo. 8K is the next television resolution standard, though mainstream 8K content is a little way off from being widespread. The future, remember? Besides, that’s exactly how 4K screens got their start.

The difference between 4K and 8K isn’t simply a matter of doubling the pixels, though. The names are tricky that way. Moving from 4K to 8K involves quadrupling the pixels onscreen, further drilling down to the practical limits of the human eye. And it matters. Serious people in white coats with clipboards have done tests to actual living humans, just to be sure.

If you think of an 8K TV as consisting of four 4K screens stacked next to each other, you’re… completely correct. It’s a monster 7,680 x 4,320 resolution – four times that of 4K and sixteen times that of plain ole’ HD. 33 million pixels. That’s… nearly all the pixels.

But you just said there’s no 8K content available

That’s correct. Well spotted. It’s on the way. In the meantime, Samsung’s not going to leave you hanging with a high-end TV screen that can’t actually be used. That’d be like selling a sports car without shock absorbers – fine for 1905, far less practical in 2019.

Yes, the display is a true 8K screen and the moment native 8K content is available you’ll be able to play it on Samsung’s TVs. For the meantime, though, there’s Samsung’s 8K AI Upscaling on offer. That’s an AI-driven process that analyses video content and improves it to something worthy of a screen with ALL the pixels.

It does this by using machine learning; which is able to intelligently parse what’s happening in the video and selectively improve… well, everything for an 8K resolution.

What wizardry is this?

Ah, the joy of the Quantum Processor 8K, the crown jewel of Samsung’s QLED 8K Q900. It may seem like magic but it isn’t. It’s just very, very advanced – as indicated by the word ‘Quantum’ in the name. And, you know, the massive amount of tech inside the chip.

The Quantum Processor 8K controls a little something Samsung calls Machine Learning Super Resolution (MLSR) – the fancy tech that upscales content for Samsung Q900 8K TV. This is one of the things making smart TVs even smarter.

And that’s all it can do, right?

Wrong. The Quantum Processor 8K handles AI-driven upscaling, as well as optimising sound and will even provide content recommendation through Samsung’s TV interface. Based on your past viewing habits, no less.

And that’s not all Samsung’s new 8K QLED tech has to offer. There’s also Q HDR 8K, which is powered by the HDR10+ standard. Improved lighting tech and detail, optimised for an 8K panel? Sounds like the future is looking bright, clear, and detailed. And this is just the beginning.