The NFL championship game will be televised in Dolby’s premium format.
Anyone with a 4K Dolby Vision-capable TV and Comcast’s Xfinity X1 subscription will be able to watch Super Bowl 57 in a new format: in 4K HDR with Dolby Vision. The two companies announced that they will use Fox’s 4K Big Game feed this year and supplement it with Dolby Vision.
The higher-quality broadcast on February 12 requires Comcast’s X1 cable box and a TV that supports Dolby Vision. You may locate it by inputting “4K” into the voice remote for the X1 cable box. Dolby promises “lifelike colors, crisp contrast, and rich details” in the broadcast.
According to Dolby, Comcast is real-time repackaging Fox’s 4K feed with Dolby Vision.
When asked if the inclusion of Dolby Vision would cause any observable latency or lag, a Comcast official said there would be a delay “in the order of milliseconds” when compared to other 4K or HD Fox broadcasts. Dolby Vision is a high-dynamic-range video format.
According to CNET editor Geoff Morrison, “HDR content on an HDR TV can look significantly more vivid and colorful than standard content.” Streaming services including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Vudu support the Dolby version of this technology.
While this is a first for the Super Bowl, Xfinity and Dolby have televised various athletic events in 4K with Dolby Vision, including this postseason’s NFL playoff games on the network as well as last year’s FIFA World Cup (which also aired on Fox). The TV Answer Man notes that viewers should be aware that Fox’s 4K NFL broadcast is an upscaled 1080p HDR feed rather than a true 4K production.
If you don’t have Comcast, you can still watch the Super Bowl in 4K HDR (albeit it won’t have Dolby Vision) by logging into one of the many other cables, streaming, or satellite providers, and using the Fox Sports or Fox Now apps.
