Microsoft shows off 16K-res Windows 8 PC with one billion pixel wallpaper

Microsoft's 16K multi-monitor Windows 8 PC

Last time the Extreme Windows Blog demoed a Windows 8 gaming PC that featured three 4K resolution Sharp PN-K321 displays. The company is back demoing four 4K monitor setups for 16K resolution experience. This goes beyond a gamer’s dream.

In this new experiment pushing Windows 8 and hardware to their limits, Microsoft went for one more display and created an impressive 10-foot-wide experience like no other. The multi-monitor setup still uses Sharp’s PN-K321 displays, which, when combined, are equivalent to sixteen 1920 x 1080 monitors with a total resolution of 15360 x 2160 or 33,117,600 pixels.

To unify the experience on these four displays, Microsoft took advantage of Windows 8’s panoramic wallpaper feature and used NASA’s 153MB TIFF image from Curiosity at Rock Nest on Mars that has 1 billion pixels — Yes! With a “B” –. The setup is so out of this world that even the mouse was difficult to find, and here is when the old show location of the pointer option in Windows came in handy for the first time.

What would you do with a setup like this? Oh, by the way, the monitors’ cost was around $20,000. So basically, we’re looking at a 23-25K workstation.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].