Sony’s unveil their colossal new 16k display that could be yours for $5million
Display resolutions will continue to get better and better, and there's no end in sight yet.
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Griffin, M. (2020) 'Sony’s unveil their colossal new 16k display that could be yours for $5million', 311 Institute, 4 February. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/sonys-unveil-their-new-colossal-16k-display-that-could-be-yours-for-5million/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
Recently there have been a number of developments in the display technology, with the arrival of 8K holographic displays, and emergence of the first 11K displays that have a natural 3D effect, all the way through to actual science fiction busting real living holograms. Now though Sony have unveiled their first 16K resolution crystal LED screen for cinemas and have announced that the tech will be available to consumers as well.
Unsurprisingly though it won’t be available from your regular high street dealer though and the announced that they’ll be selling the screens “through specially trained and certified dealers in sizes up to 63 feet wide at 16K resolution,” but unless you're a one-percenter, you probably won't be able to afford it.
Courtesy: Sony
Much like Samsung's Cinema LED Onyx system, Sony's crystal LED tech uses micro-LED modules, each 16x18 inches in size at 360 x 360 resolution with three tiny LEDs for each pixel. The technology works like OLED, but is much brighter, allowing for extremely high 1,000 nit brightness, 10-bits of grayscale, very accurate colour reproduction and "spectacular" 3D, as Sony described it.
By putting together modules, you can create screens with different sizes and resolutions. Sony will offer it any way you want, but some sample configurations include 1080p with 18 modules at 8 feet x 4 feet, 4K size at 16 feet wide (72 modules), 8K at 32 feet x 18 feet (288 modules) and 16K and 63 feet x 18 feet (576 modules).
It sounds a bit like putting together Lego, except that each "block" reportedly costs around $10,000. That means the 4K screen would run around $720,000, while the 16K unit would cost you a whopping $5.8 million.
To be fair, if you have space for a 63 foot wide screen, there's a good chance you have enough cash to pay for one. Sony didn't say when the crystal LED tech go on sale, but if you want to see it in person they’ll be showing it off again soon at the tech at the CEDIA expo in Colorado.
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Display resolutions will continue to get better and better, and there's no end in sight yet.
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Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 17-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
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Sources and further reading
- Sony develops 16k display a 783inch crystal led screen anandtech.com
- 2019 09 12 Sony Electronics Brings 16K capable Display System to Consumers Living Rooms with Crystal LED Residential Solutions cedia.vporoom.com
- Samsung's Cinema LED engadget.com
- Sony crystal led display technology techhive.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 4 February 2020. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2020). Sony’s unveil their colossal new 16k display that could be yours for $5million. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/sonys-unveil-their-new-colossal-16k-display-that-could-be-yours-for-5million/
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