The sports fan’s experience has historically been the first to benefit from upgrades in technology. Sports networks were among the first cable channels to get loyal subscribers. HD mattered for sporting events long before it did for programming like newscasts or sitcoms. PVRs allowed fans to schedule their sports viewing and also to manage which parts of a game they most wanted to see. The smartphone and tablet era has completely changed the sports fan’s experience with score updates and live streaming of games.
Now a new era in the television experience is upon us and no programming will be more impacted than sports.
The announcement by Rogers on Monday that it is launching 4K TV and a 4K set-top box available on platforms like Shomi and Netflix means Canadian sports fans will have the chance to see games more clearly than ever before. The visual upgrade, analogous to the difference between SD and HD, includes a host of viewing benefits. Here are four ways that 4K TV will be different.
Frequency
When HD was in its infancy a true HD sporting event was few and far between. Now as a consumer you’ll be able to experience 4K games relatively often. Sportsnet will broadcast over 100 live sporting events in 4K. For hockey that will start as soon as January 23rd and from there you should see one NHL broadcast in 4K a week. In baseball that will start with next year’s home opener and include all 81 home games.
Outdoor
Sportsnet is offering not just a 4K viewing experience but also a 4K HDR viewing experience. The visibility of televisions that are outdoors either in your backyard or on a giant screen on site at a stadium will be enhanced as changes in light exposure will no longer drastically affect the picture. If you have an iPhone you know the difference between HDR and a normal photo. With images resolution is everything and the importance is multiplied when you are talking about moving images. You’ll really notice the difference in 4K when watching sports on a bigger screen, on which the image typically gets stretched and what was crisp becomes soft. The HDR 4K pictures won’t incur the same issue even on a larger screen. As President of Sportsnet & NHL Properties for Rogers Scott Moore says, “It is truly a revolution in resolution.”
Usability
Being able to zoom in is going to make options for colour commenators and broadcast directors endless. Showing the difference in the way Kobe jumps after his Achilles injury—pointing out how Edwin Encarnacion changes his timing mechanism and keeps his hands back on changeups, or pointing out the mustard stain on Sid Seixeiro’s shirt. Commentators circling or highlighting what they’re talking about will be a thing of the past as they’ll be able to easily isolate and blow up different portions of the same video. The other user-friendly bonus are the graphics. A big-time sports broadcast has more keys, boards, and images appearing on screen to provide more insight and feed the appetite of stats-conscious fans. The quality of graphical elements and their capability will be enhanced in 4K, which is a plus considering the frequency and duration with which they now appear on screen.
Replay
The biggest difference will be replays. Those close plays at home plate or at the goal line will be that much sharper to the human eye. In real-time and in slow-motion replays, a picture that is four times as clear will make it easier to decipher colour and to determine if the puck crossed the line or if that foot was kept in bounds. The other great feature is the ability to zoom in on replays and isolate parts of video without losing resolution. For fans looking at a replay review of a call the zoomed-in image often distorts the sense of what happened because the pixels tend to bleed together. With 4K that won’t be the case, making it much easier not only for the viewing audience to make a call but also for the referees under the hood who at times still get it wrong even with the help of a second look.
As Rogers CEO Guy Laurence put it at the 4K announcement at the Rogers Centre in Toronto: “This is going to be a 4K Christmas.” It’s estimated that 40 percent of the TVs to be sold over the holiday season are expected to be 4K compliant. Homes that have them will soon be the ones where sports fans congregate.
The sports revolution will be televised and it will be in 4K.
