LG's Ultra High-Definition TV comes with big price tag

• LG Smart TV has 84-inch screen, 8 million pixels of resolution
• Details come to life on "massive" high-resolution display
• Won't work with some cable channels because of difference in picture quality

On the surface, the 84LM9600 seems like any other LG Smart TV, just bigger. But look closer—this 84-inch monster is a different beast entirely. It's one of the new Ultra High-Definition TVs (UHDTV), with more than 8 million pixels of resolution and a price tag matching that of a Hyundai Sonata ($20,000).

We saw this gargantuan set at CES 2012, back when the format was still called 4K and touching wasn't allowed. But LG recently invited us to take a closer look, giving us four hours alone with the future of television. LG had some sample UHDTV content for us to watch and, for the most part, it looked glorious: The UHDTV content we saw took full advantage of the screen's staggering 8,294,400 pixel count. It's not quite as jaw-dropping as the jump from standard-definition to high-definition was, but details come to life on the massive, ultra high-resolution display.

Does this mean that your HD television, with its miniscule 1080p resolution, is already outdated? Well…probably not. Yeah, Ultra HD displays (four times the resolution of 1080p) are now commercially available, but at four times the resolution of 1080p, you'll have a tough time finding anything to watch. And with most cable signals barely topping 720p, buying a UHDTV now is like calling your real estate agent to buy property on Mars. Is this TV worth as much as car? Early adopters can find out right now: It's been on sale at select retailers since October. The rest of us will wait it out for the next half-decade.

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