Chinese TV maker Changhong had a special launch event last month in China where it disclosed its plans to launch 5 series of 8K TVs. These models will launch first in China, but Changhong is a huge TV exporter so expect these to be rolled out worldwide soon thereafter as well. In January 2020, Changhong said it had completed a new “5G+industrial Internet” production line in Mianyang, China for these next generation products.
Details on the TV products and production plans remain thin, however. The graphic below summarizes the model series, sizes and prices in yuan.
We believe the 8K Q7ART TV and the 8K Q7Min models have been released in China and are planned for release soon in other countries. Timing for the release of the other TVs is not yet clear.
At CES 2020, Changhong highlighted was their new 75” 8K miniLED model (Q7Min). This uses a CSOT 120 Hz module with 5K miniLED on a glass backplane with an SoC from Mediatek driving 5K zones. It has Dolby Vision and Atmos, 1000 nits and a HDMI 2.1 interface. This sells for about $7K.
The 8K Q7ARTV and the 5G +8K TVs are thought to be very similar with the addition of the 5G interface being the main difference. These are 350 nit peak TVs with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos and a 60 Hz panel. Equivalent USD pricing is $5,625 for the 75” 5G model and $3,023/$4,430 for the 65”/75” ArtTV models.
The massive 110” 8K TV model uses a 120Hz panel from BOE with 600 nits of peak luminance. MSRP equivalent pricing is $70K.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Changhong’s new 8K line up is the D8K series using a BOE panel. I double checked that the prices are correct – they are. A 55” 8K TV can be purchased in China for the equivalent of ~$618, while the 65” goes for ~$928 and the 75” for ~$1,265. I don’t have details on the specifications, but this must be a bare-bones TV to reach these price points. It will be most interesting to see how consumers react to this series.
