Well for starters 8k video lets you zoom in and crop and still get 4k in the end.
And we are at 2024, i own a 4k lg oled display now for years. Why not leverage it? Just because 1080p is 'plenty'?
Netflix 4k is 15 Mbit.
So unless I see people mentioning the media, I am always weary of the comparison.
Nonetheless, i do think that compression from a high res source looks different / sharper.
As opposed to Netflix where you press a button and you're watching something.
People out there aren't much like the people who post here - when they get home from their crappy job they hate, finally make dinner because they can't afford food delivery, kick off their shoes on the old couch they bought at a yard sale and turn on their 15 year old TV they want it to just work. They don't have the interest or energy to fuck around with things that many here find fun and interesting and exciting.
This post is giving me major "why would you need Dropbox when you can rsync?" vibes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18255896
1: I'm using the term "HT setup" rather broadly, as the primary location in a residence for watching movies as a group; it includes e.g. people who don't own a TV and watch movies on their laptop sitting on a coffee table. Setups where the display covers over 40% of the FOV (where 4k definitely makes a difference) are somewhere in the top 5%.