Nov. 5: Will ESPN Have a 4K Game of the Week? Who Would Carry It?
TV Answer Man, two questions: Will ESPN have a 4K college football game this week? And if it will, where can I find it? I have heard that ESPN does the best 4K so I want to check it out! — Frankie, Pontiac, Michigan.
Frankie, ESPN has a college football feature called, ‘The 4K Game of the Week,’ although we learned a few weeks ago that the game of the week is not necessarily every week. But you will get a 4K game this Saturday (November 5).
The sports network will broadcast the Florida vs. Texas A&M game from College Station’s Kyle Field in beautiful ‘native 4K’ on participating pay TV services at noon ET. ESPN’s ‘Matchup Predictor’ says Texas A&M has a 67.2 percent chance of winning. The Aggies of Texas A&M are 3-5 while Florida’s Gators are 4-4.
The game will be simulcast in high-def on the main ESPN channel.
If you’re not familiar with the term, native 4K means that the game is produced in 4K on site as well as transmitted to the home in 4K. (In contrast, Fox produces its college football games in 1080p HD on site and then upscales it to 4K HDR for the home transmission. ESPN’s 4K games do not include HDR, also known as High Dynamic Range.)
Upscaling 4K is not considered as good as native 4K, but the inclusion of HDR can offer heightened colors and vividness.
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The ESPN 4K broadcast will be available on special 4K channels from select pay TV providers, including DIRECTV, Verizon, Comcast and YouTube TV. (Unlike Fox, ESPN does not provide a 4K stream on its app, ESPN+.)
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
