I remember when 8K TVs first hit the scene around 2019, and I immediately thought: What’s the point? Don’t get me wrong, the technology is impressive, and the sharpness is extraordinary, but with almost no 8K content available, it felt pointless and painfully expensive. Meanwhile, 4K TVs already deliver incredible quality without making your wallet cry too much.
Fast-forward six years to 2026, and not much has changed. Streaming services still don’t support 8K — YouTube being the rare exception — and native 8K gaming on consoles like the PS5, Switch 2, or Xbox Series X isn’t possible. Even on high-end PCs, 8K gaming is a serious challenge. And of course, 8K TVs remain far more expensive than 4K TVs.
So when TCL ditched making 8K TVs in 2023, and Sony followed suit in 2025, it wasn’t shocking. But that left two major players in the 8K arena: LG and Samsung.
Now, though, LG appears to be stepping back as well. Speaking to FlatpanelsHD, LG Display confirmed it has put 8K panel development “on hold.” The company says it could resume development if market conditions improve, so this isn’t necessarily the end of LG’s 8K TVs forever.
One of the last 8K TVs LG released was the QNED99T in 2024, a MiniLED model that has since been discontinued and is now sold out at many retailers. The TV is still available on LG’s website, though, and at the time of writing, it’s on sale for $2,500, down from its original $5,300 price. Additionally, the last OLED 8K TV LG made was the Z3, but it was discontinued last year.
The writing was on the wall
8K won’t become viable for a while
Following Sony and TCL’s decision to abandon 8K TVs, LG’s move to do the same isn’t a huge surprise — especially given the reasons I mentioned earlier, like high costs and the lack of 8K content.
But with this news about LG, one of the only major players left in the 8K arena is Samsung. However, at CES 2026, it didn’t announce any new 8K models. So, even for Samsung, the future of 8K TVs seems murky. For now, Samsung is still selling its latest 2025 QN900F QLED 8K TV, which starts at $3,300 for the 65-inch and goes up to $5,500 for the 85-inch.
8K definitely feels like it arrived more than a decade too early, and with TCL, Sony, and now LG no longer producing 8K TVs, that certainly seems the case.
Looking ahead, the big question for 8K is demand, as LG has already hinted at, and right now it’s clearly not there. Even into the 2030s, I struggle to see a huge spike in interest for 8K TVs. Many people I know are still focused on upgrading from LCD to OLED 4K, and 8K hasn’t even crossed their minds yet. Also, for 8K content to take off, streaming services would need more bandwidth — 4K is already locked behind higher-tier plans on some platforms, like Netflix’s Premium plan, and I don’t see people rushing to pay more for an 8K TV and 8K streaming anytime soon.
For me, and I think a lot of people feel the same, 4K is more than good enough. It still looks great, and until filmmakers and showrunners decide to start distributing in 8K, gaming hardware catches up, and 8K is affordable, 4K will remain the gold standard. I don’t see that changing this decade — or even in the early 2030s. 8K definitely feels like it arrived more than a decade too early, and with TCL, Sony, and now LG no longer producing 8K TVs, that certainly seems the case.
