The biggest problem with buying an 8K TV right now is that there simply isn’t that much 8K content out there. However, Samsung and Warner Bros. Discovery are looking to change that.
In a press release, Samsung announced that it was partnering up with the major Hollywood studio to bring more 8K content to consumers. Specifically, it’s bringing 8K movie trailers for upcoming Warner Bros. Discovery releases to over 65,000 retail stores.
Okay, so the 8K revolution isn’t here just yet. This 8K content seems to be limited to in-store tech demos. But this is a good step forward, given it will give consumers a real test to gauge an 8K TV versus a 4K TV and to see how an 8K TV handles native 8K content versus upscaled 4K content. That’s a big win for consumers who, up until now, kind of had to just take the word of TV manufacturers and experts that 8K TVs were, in fact, better at certain things.
Samsung and Warner Bros. Discovery already had a small-scale version of this partnership at some stores. According to the press release, the two companies ran a trial run at over 450 stores in the U.S. and Europe earlier in the year by showing Creed III on Samsung Neo QLED 8K TVs. However, this seems to have been enough of a success to take the partnership worldwide.
There’s a chance you’ve already seen an 8K trailer for a Warner Bros. Discovery movie at your local TV retailer. As part of this new partnership, Barbie is one of the movies that got the 8K trailer treatment. Other movie trailers that will be coming later this year include” Blue Beetle, Dune: Part Two, Wonka and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.”
Full disclosure, I may pull up with a folding chair at my local Best Buy to watch the trailer for Dune: Part Two in 8K. I bet that will look stunning.
Mainstream 8K TV content feels closer than ever
Every indication in the press release is that these are, in fact, native 8K trailers rather than upscaled 4K trailers. There’s always a chance that the lede has been buried here, but for now, I’m working under the assumption that these are not 4K trailers being upscaled by the 8K TVs. If that’s the case, then we are tantalizingly close to 8K content. If 8K trailers start becoming the norm, the only step left is doing the entire final product in 8K.
Hopefully, in the meantime, Samsung and Warner Bros. Discovery partner up to bring these 8K movie trailers to your Neo QLED 8K TV at home as a free channel or app. While it wouldn’t make me buy an 8K TV this instant, it would make your 8K TV a cool thing to show off to your friends and family and allow Samsung 8K TV owners to get a viewing experience no other TV owner can have. That’s a distinct step up from what 8K TVs currently are, which are just beautiful displays that upscale existing 4K content.
