Sky to broadcast sharper football matches and movies from August
Broadcaster Sky is going to offer a range of channels and programmes in Ultra HD from August.
The move is part of Sky’s Q Silver service, and subscribers will need a supported TV-top box and TV that allows the format to watch.
The picture quality offered by Ultra HD can be up to four times that of standard High Definition (HD).
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Sky plans to air 70 movies, 124 Premier League football games, and all Formula 1 races, in better-than-HD quality. Sky recently forked out £4.2bn to screen 126 live Premier League matches per year.
Ultra HD doesn’t cost any extra for Sky customers though the Q box and subscription starts at £54 a month.
BT Sport already has an Ultra HD channel using its YouView box, and rival Virgin Media is understood to be planning to roll out the format later this year.
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“In our opinion, this will kick start consumer appetite for 4K (another name for Ultra HD) in the UK,” said Paolo Pescatore, director of media at consultancy CCS Insight.
“Though BT was the first provider to launch 4K in the UK, it has failed to see any meaningful uptake to its BT TV service. Despite a huge investment in 4K, BT has failed to build upon its early mover advantage.”
Online streaming services Netflix and Amazon Video have both begun using the Ultra HD format recently.