8K HDR TVs: Prohibited from March 2023

It seems that Moore’s law is not relevant anymore. Starting March 2023, many TV sets (especially OLED and 8K) could be prohibited from being sold in the European Union due to high power consumption. This direct order by the European Union’s Ecodesign Directive could cause a knockout (or knockdown) for 8K content usage and we think that this a good thing for the environment.

Article reproduced by permission from Y.M. Cinema Magazine

Spotted and reported by 4KFilme, it appears that from March 2023, many TV sets (especially OLED and 8K) could be prohibited from being sold in the European Union due to high power consumption. That’s a very significant portion of the whole market. As reported, starting in March 2023, the EU’s Ecodesign Directive will ban the sales of televisions that exceed the newly defined upper limit for energy consumption. OLED and 8K TVs fall into these criteria.

Energy Efficiency Index (EEI),

EEI stands for Energy Efficiency Index, and it’s the new energy efficiency label from the European Union. As for home TVs, the parameters that affect the maximum values/consumption of the EEI are the size and resolution of the screen. The EEI must be defined within certain scales so that the television or monitor can be sold within the European Union, and as of March 1, 2023, these limits change significantly. Devices that exceed the upper limit of the maximum consumption values ​​(most HDR 8K TVs) can no longer be sold in Europe. Below you can find the formula that calculates the EEI: 

The end of OLED and 8K TVs?

According to the new energy classification, almost all modern TVs between 49 and 85 inches diagonal (and larger) end up in the energy efficiency class “G” (explore the slide below). This is the worst class, at least according to the European Union. And all televisions, regardless of whether they are LCD, OLED, Mini-LED, QLED, Micro-LED, etc., that have been classified in this class and exceed the upper limits defined for energy consumption, may cease to be marketed from March 2023, especially those well-sold TV with 8K HDR capabilities, since the brightness is a solid factor that pushes up the energy consumption.

Thoughts: Breaking the (Moore) law

Moore’s law is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore’s law is an observation and projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of physics, it is an empirical relationship linked to gains from experience in production and indicates the growth of technology due to demand. Moore’s law can explain the insane growth in resolution and the heavy presence of 8K and even 12K content and cameras. Nevertheless, there’s a possibility that 8K content TV will be less relevant. The reason for the consumption limitation is not mentioned. The war in Europe might be a solid cause. So who thought that the Russian invasion would destroy Moore’s law? Anyway, do not master your content in 12K resolution yet.

Article reproduced by permission from Y.M. Cinema Magazine

Postscript

“I raised this very issue with Netflix, back in 2021”, said VMI Managing Director, Barry Bassett, as a justification for producers not shooting beyond 4K.

If 4K has 4 x times the resolution of HD, then of course 8K has 4x the resolution of 4K, or 16x the resolution of HD. This means 16x the data, 16x the archive size, 16x the rendering and of course, 16x the data streaming, storage and much hungrier consumer sets.

We all have to be more energy-aware, so I embrace this decision by the EU – perhaps we stop at 4K… for now!

Barry Bassett. Managing Director, VMI