Sharp Aquos 4K Next LC-80XU30 TV includes 8K upscaling engine

by Mark Tyson on 22 May 2015, 10:05

Tags: Sharp (TYO:6753)

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Sharp has demonstrated a new 80-inch TV which offers a 'virtual' 8K resolution. The 80-inch Sharp Aquos 4K Next LC-80XU30 TV includes technology such as an RGBY panel and a Sharp X8-Master Engine PRO upscaling SoC. The end result is said to provide 8K upscaled Full HD and UHD content which is then displayed on the 4K UHD screen.

At the Tokyo press conference yesterday, where the TV was shown to the public for the first time, the new Aquos 4K Next LC-80XU30 was shown side-by-side with a conventional 80-inch 4K display. Tim Hornyak, from the IDG News Service, was at the event and reports that "the difference between the two wasn’t clear at first glance". However after spending a little more time looking at the displayed scenes of traditional Japanese architecture, handicrafts and cuisine Hornyak concluded that the new display "featured super-saturated colours that had more pop".

Sharp explains the technology behind the new Aquos TV, in its official press release, as dependent to two major technologies.

The first technology is the 'four primary colours' display panel. This display panel offers RGB pixels plus an additional Y subpixel. The Japanese firm has previously been known to call this technology "super-resolution technology". Sharp's new RGBY panel has the added benefit of increasing the colour gamut on offer. The realistic wide range of colours possible as shown on the display is further enhanced by an LED backlight which uses a new phosphor.

The second major ingredient to provide the eye-popping virtual 8K imagery is Sharp's X8-Master Engine PRO. Not much information is provided about this SoC but it is probably similar to AMD’s VSR (virtual super resolution) and Nvidia’s DSR (dynamic super resolution) supersampling antialiasing technologies.

Sharp's Aquos 4K Next LC-80XU30 TV will go on sale in Japan in July priced at around $13,000. The initial run is rather small, consisting of just 200 TV sets.

While Sharp offers innovative and sometimes groundbreaking technology directly to consumers and as a parts manufacturer its business isn't running that smoothly right now. PC World reports that only last week it announced a US$1.7 billion bailout from banks after a string of quarterly losses. It hopes to move to profitability thanks to the growing use of its displays in automobiles.



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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RGBY is a gimmick. The source files are RGB. If the extra yellow data isn't there at has to be made up. So you either just blend the colours and get normal RGB or guess the yellow values and fake in the same bad way every screen at a show room is over saturated.
I can also display upscaled 4k content on my FHD TV…even the guy who physically saw it in person couldn't tell the difference (lol) except for differences in vibrancy (note: vibrancy is not a measure of fidelity). I think resolution above 4k on screens < 60“ is a case of diminishing returns. I can barely tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on my 32” at normal vieiwng distance, nevermind something 4 times or 16 times the fidelity of 1080p.
It seems like a game they are playing now…..8k? Seriously? and upscaled?

Do we really need 8k consumer equipment when 4k is way beyond anything most people will ever be able to distinguish on the size screens you will have in a residential property?
There are four primary colours now?
So it takes 1080p or 4K footage, upscales it to 8k then downscales it to 4k for display?

If that improves quality then surely if they upscaled it and downscaled it a few more times it would be even better!!

Yeah I know, I bet it's all to do with sub pixel alignment blah blah blah but I very much doubt you need to scale to 8k to actually get the benefit of correctly targeted your panels pixel arrangement of choice.