So I did a thing!

[Deacon]

There are plenty of soccer and car race 4k streams out there but I am not aware of any 4k live broadcasts...just thinking right now, is the football game on Thurs. night streamed in 4k on Amazon?

 

[Randy]

There are plenty of soccer and car race 4k streams out there but I am not aware of any 4k live broadcasts...just thinking right now, is the football game on Thurs. night streamed in 4k on Amazon?

It looked really good but I'm not sure.

 

[Towen7]

There are plenty of soccer and car race 4k streams out there but I am not aware of any 4k live broadcasts...just thinking right now, is the football game on Thurs. night streamed in 4k on Amazon?

Amazon Primed For ‘Thursday Night Football’ Tour

The fully remote production launches tonight with a new mobile fleet of 16 that’s producing the games in 1080p with High Dynamic Range with around 250 people onsite for each TNF game. (Courtesy of Prime Video)

tvnewscheck.com

"For the 2022 season TNF will be delivered in 1080p with standard dynamic range (SDR), due to some upgrades on the playback and distribution side that still need to be made. The plan is to offer 1080p HDR for the 2023 season"

 

[Huey]

Remember when sports was kind of the driving force for adoption to HD? I'm surprised that they are late to the party. Of course, I guess the model has kind of changed with Netflix being the early driver of 4K.

 

[bmwuk]

Remember when sports was kind of the driving force for adoption to HD? I'm surprised that they are late to the party. Of course, I guess the model has kind of changed with Netflix being the early driver of 4K.

YouTube TV offers some 4K games but really not consistent so I determined it wasn't worth the extra $20. I did it during the World Cup but really wasn't overly impressed.

Amazon TNF does look really good even if just HD.

As for the bigger TV being cheaper than smaller one you had. Yep I have 5.5 year old Sony 75" 4K that I paid $2200 for. I just chuckle when I see 85" pricing now at Costco or Best Buy. But I'm very happy with even with no Dolby Vision and other improvements over 5.5 years. It is perfectly hung on the wall, slightly above my center channel. So I prefer to just wait because otherwise I have a larger TV I I have to hang at least 3 inches higher based on above example and now it somewhat overlaps my acoustic panels.

Congrats on the purchase

 

[mcad64]

Here in the frozen north , occasional NHL hockey games are in 4k broadcast on Sportsnet or TSN .

 

[Huey]

YouTube TV offers some 4K games but really not consistent so I determined it wasn't worth the extra $20. I did it during the World Cup but really wasn't overly impressed.

Amazon TNF does look really good even if just HD.

As for the bigger TV being cheaper than smaller one you had. Yep I have 5.5 year old Sony 75" 4K that I paid $2200 for. I just chuckle when I see 85" pricing now at Costco or Best Buy. But I'm very happy with even with no Dolby Vision and other improvements over 5.5 years. It is perfectly hung on the wall, slightly above my center channel. So I prefer to just wait because otherwise I have a larger TV I I have to hang at least 3 inches higher based on above example and now it somewhat overlaps my acoustic panels.

Congrats on the purchase

Thanks! I really have enjoyed this set. One thing I have noticed about this set, like the video of the short throw projector that Botch posted, I can have the overhead light on in the living room, and hardly lose any contrast. I've always thought the screen looked so dull when the tv is off, just a very flat black, but I guess it more than makes up for it with that ability.

 

[Towen7]

Remember when sports was kind of the driving force for adoption to HD? I'm surprised that they are late to the party. Of course, I guess the model has kind of changed with Netflix being the early driver of 4K.

Live 4K broadcasts from a mobile production facility are significantly more complex than they are from a studio. On top of that each venue has unique fixed and wireless data facilities which the venue, not the broadcaster, owns and operates. The event organizers and the broadcasters pay for access to those networks. Placing and provisioning the data circuits required for that much live bandwidth is prohibitively expensive for all but the highest profile events.

 

[Huey]

Live 4K broadcasts from a mobile production facility are significantly more complex than they are from a studio. On top of that each venue has unique fixed and wireless data facilities which the venue, not the broadcaster, owns and operates. The event organizers and the broadcasters pay for access to those networks. Placing and provisioning the data circuits required for that much live bandwidth is prohibitively expensive for all but the highest profile events.

I get that, but the same limitations were in place when live formats started going from SD to HD. I'm sure they'll eventually get there, and honestly, I don't even watch that many sports. I'm just surprised it was more Netflix that drove 4k adoption than anything, and I only say Netflix, because they were one of the first ones to have 4k streams, although that isn't the case anymore.

 

[Batman]

Lets not forget, live sports also highlight the shortcomings of the dominant TV technology with motion blur/ghosting. And even though a lot of current tvs are better there’s still a lot of TVs out there already in home that have older tech and aren’t 4K. I don’t think live sports is the ideal segment to push live 4K broadcast except for the really special events.

 

[Towen7]

I get that, but the same limitations were in place when live formats started going from SD to HD.

That's not entirely accurate. While the principle is the same the amount of data that has to be passed from camera to truck and from truck to HQ is orders of magnitude higher and the precision demands on the network (timing accuracy and latency) are also much more demanding than they were for the SD to HD transition.

I may not have mentioned it but I was recently assigned In-Building and Special Events team for my employer's network in South Texas. Our first high profile sporting event will be the NCAA Final Four tournament in Houston. For this single event, this team has been working on network projects for the NRG stadium related to this one event for about six months. At this one venue we're already in the planning phase for the NCAA Football championship in 2024 and the World Cup in 2026.

My point is that it's not as easy as backing up a production truck and hitting the on-air button, which is how I assumed it worked before getting involved in this new assignment. I just assumed that the venue had huge data pipes that sat idle 300 days of the year and the broadcasters essentially logged on ... but that's not how it works. Each big event requires a customized network which takes months and months to implement.

 

[Towen7]

Lets not forget, live sports also highlight the shortcomings of the dominant TV technology with motion blur/ghosting. And even though a lot of current tvs are better there’s still a lot of TVs out there already in home that have older tech and aren’t 4K. I don’t think live sports is the ideal segment to push live 4K broadcast except for the really special events.

Very accurate

If there were a justifiable business case for broadcasters to spend what it takes to more regularly broadcast 4K sporting events they 100% would. The fact that they aren't should speak for itself with regard to the cost of the investments required.

 

[Huey]

Didn't realize it would open up such a discussion when I made that comment. I believe you guys, but also don't understand the difference between going from sd to hd is easier than hd to 4k. I would think the infrastructure would be even better for that move today.

 

[Batman]

Also, IMO sports that are played on a larger grass field like Soccer, Football, maybe baseball a little where fans and activity aren’t as likely to be onscreen masking the blur somewhat further highlight it. It’s like playing on a blank green canvas, making the blur more obvious.

 

[Huey]

Here's a couple of links to articles talking about why there isn't more 4k content in sports. LINK! LINK2

As mentioned, cost is a major factor, but there are others as well, including covid and actually needing 16k cameras instead of 4k cameras.

 

[bmwuk]

That's not entirely accurate. While the principle is the same the amount of data that has to be passed from camera to truck and from truck to HQ is orders of magnitude higher and the precision demands on the network (timing accuracy and latency) are also much more demanding than they were for the SD to HD transition.

I may not have mentioned it but I was recently assigned In-Building and Special Events team for my employer's network in South Texas. Our first high profile sporting event will be the NCAA Final Four tournament in Houston. For this single event, this team has been working on network projects for the NRG stadium related to this one event for about six months. At this one venue we're already in the planning phase for the NCAA Football championship in 2024 and the World Cup in 2026.

My point is that it's not as easy as backing up a production truck and hitting the on-air button, which is how I assumed it worked before getting involved in this new assignment. I just assumed that the venue had huge data pipes that sat idle 300 days of the year and the broadcasters essentially logged on ... but that's not how it works. Each big event requires a customized network which takes months and months to implement.

Very cool. I'm here in Houston as you know. I am awaiting world cup tickets to open up just to say I've been to a game. I've done the Copa de Oro about 6 years ago and watched a younger Messi torch the US.

National championship and final four as well. You've got your hands full.