With 4K displays having failed (so far) to displace 1080p, Samsung has now revealed their 8K displays

I love c|net's headline for this story: "Hello, 8K displays: TV's next must-have feature isn't really a must-have."

The article that accompanies that bit of pith is almost as pithy:

Remember when every consumer electronics company hyped 3D TV as the next big feature? Or started pushing curved TVs? Yeah, I barely do, either.

That's because those supposedly hot TV features eventually faded away.

The latest TV "must have" that you actually don't really need -- at least right now -- has arrived at the IFA electronics show in Berlin. That's 8K, the super-crisp display technology that has four times the resolution of 4K screens. (I know, the math confuses me too.)

[...]

It's the latest "next big feature" from an industry that has hyped advancements with dubious value. It may be a long time -- if ever -- before you'll even consider one. Experts say you'll have to sit really close to the screen, even with huge 85-inch TVs like the Samsung, to notice a difference in the sharpness, and there isn't even content you can watch on it. Also, you can bet these initial TVs won't be cheap. As CNET TV expert David Katzmaier noted in his initial thoughts about Samsung's new TV, "all those pixels might be so much overkill."

[One might say exactly the same thing about 4K, too, but I digress.]

But people tend to hold on to their TVs much longer than their phones. The push to get 8K into the market -- when 4K is just starting to become a thing -- underscores the industry's desire to give consumers a reason to upgrade and pay more for a premium product.

I'm going to disagree with c|net on one point: 4K hasn't started to become a thing, yet, either. You don't need 4K, for which there's basically no content available, and you definitely don't need 8K, for which there's nothing.