Sony Unveils 16K Screen That is Two Storeys Tall and Longer Than a Bus

The Largest Single 16K Screen Yet

Sony just unveiled (via the BBC) their most impressive 16K resolution display in Japan. It measures 63ft by 17ft or 19.2m by 5.4m. Essentially making it longer than a typical city bus (45 ft), and taller than most single floor dwellings. In fact, it is so big that it takes up two floors at the Shiseido Research Center, where it is being installed.

Just to put what 16K resolution means in perspective, that is 16 times as many pixels as a 4K UHD TV. In comparison to your typical 1080p TV however, it has 64 times as many pixels. So you can only imagine just how much detail you are getting with this screen. Especially at that size.

Since Shiseido is a cosmetics company, I guess they want to show off how well their products can hide the blemishes on a person’s face. By blowing the image up as large as possible so every pore is visible and much larger than real life.

When Will This Be Available for Home Purchase?

Because of its size, don’t count on it being available in your local Best Buy soon. In fact, don’t count on it being on any shelves at all. This is strictly for those with millions of dollars and the room the put it in.

Even Sony does not have many clients who can shell out as much money for such a display. The last time the company made a special 16K display was in 2014 for Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. However, that one required multiple displays pieced together into one. The new one at Sisheido in Yokohama is entirely a single colossal piece.

While it may not be available for home users, this is basically a showcase of Sony’s Crystal LED technology. Which will eventually trickle down to their consumer TVs. Crystal LED is essentially their answer to LG’s OLED and other micro-LED technologies. According to Sony, their Crystal LED is superior in that it delivers similar black levels as OLED, except it can be much brighter.

Either way, I can’t wait to see future consumer televisions using it. For now, Sony is pitching a range of smaller, lower-resolution Crystal LED displays for use in office lobbies, car showrooms, and cinemas.