According to the 8K Association, 8K TVs may stop being sold in Europe. The “crime” rests with the European Union

It’s a fact that 8K takes time to hit the market. The lack of content in this format doesn’t help either, and we’re finally at a point. many users are currently upgrading their living room to 4K. But there is one more stone on the road that could make developing this technology in Europe even more difficult.

The emerging 8K industry will face a new challenge, according to a report by the 8K Association, a nonprofit organization open to the development of the 8K ecosystem and with members like Samsung, Panasonic, Google, Intel and more. To the new energy consumption regulation that will come into force in Europe from March 2023. And according to the parameters of this new arrangement, No TV with 8K resolution can meet European market requirementsA challenge for the development of this technology on the continent.

Strict regulations that exclude 8K and MicroLED panels

We have discussed this regulation before. And such legislation will force the TV’s HDR modes to be even more controlled to deliver a consumption within set margins. Again, this also affects the 8K and MicroLED models marketed in Europe.. If their efficiency remains largely unchanged, manufacturers may have serious problems selling these models in the European community.

They claim to have agreed from the 8K Association to reduce energy consumption in the 8K ecosystem. However, they also state that a ‘common sense’ approach should be taken to this issue, based on realistic targets in line with the technical developments on this issue.

According to the regulation, from March 1, 2023, for all televisions and MicroLED panels above 4K resolution, energy efficiency index should not be higher than 0.90. This ultimately states that 8K and MicroLED televisions should consume the same energy as 4K televisions, something unthinkable at the moment, and indeed the 8K Association is responsible for verifying that no 8K televisions meet this requirement and therefore its sale will be restricted. in Europe.

According to the organization, this energy efficiency index was determined based on the study of different televisions offered for sale between 2012 and 2017. As the association assures, these limits are reasonable for the performance delivered by different panel families between those years. But they argue from the organization that it does not make sense to use the same method for televisions with higher resolutions than UHD and MicroLED panels. the technology was launched and settled after the legislation came into effect.

As a result, the 8K Association indicates that 8K and MicroLED values arbitrarily taken Based on the performance of UHD panels.

The 8K Association said the regulatory committee has a chance to address this issue before the law goes into effect next March. In fact, according to the regulations, they must specify a hearing to review this arrangement before the end of the year.

A limit hard to reach

The efficiency index of 0.9 on 8K panels is very difficult to achieve because the pixel density is higher than on 4K panels and therefore the opening ratio is lower for light to fall on them. Like this, A stronger backlight is required than a 4K panel With OLEDs to get the same brightness on the screen, the problem is similar though not the backlight issue.

Add to this what 8K panels need higher image processing capacityand therefore consumes more than 4K panels. There is much to explore and test in such technologies to reduce consumption, but these improvements take time.