Comcast XFINITY TV → State of 4K?

So I'm curious what the state of 4K is on Comcast at this point?

From what I see, it's limited to vod, apps and special events. Meanwhile broadcast is mostly 720p sometimes downscaled from 1080i

That is correct, there are no linear 4K channels, all 4K/HDR programing is either via Xfinity on Demand or through some X1 apps.

You also connot record in 4K, only the HD channels.

To get 4K/HDR, you'll need either an X1 XG1v4, Xi6 or an Xfinity "Flex" streaming box (»www.xfinity.com/learn/flex ).

Some of the apps on X1/Flex that have 4K/HDR programs include:

- Amazon Prime Video
- Apple TV+
- Disney+
- HBO Max
- Netflix
- Vudu
- YouTube

For more information about 4K programing on Comcast see:

4K on Xfinity: What’s New and How to Watch
»www.xfinity.com/hub/tv-v ··· ra-hd-tv

4K Sports Available on Xfinity X1
»www.xfinity.com/hub/tv-v ··· -xfinity

4K Ultra HD (UHD) and High Dynamic Range (HDR) on Xfinity TV
»www.xfinity.com/support/ ··· -4k-faqs

There's a massive lack of 4k linear programming being offered by the channel owners...
»www.lyngsat.com/uhd/index.html

Yeah what I figured. We never got 1080p broadcasting.

ATSC 3.0 has 4K support but it's barely in use and most people don't have tuners for it.

It seems like streaming services are taking over and linear cable isn't going to see improvements.

ATSC 3.0 broadcasts are coming to more areas now, but even if a TV station is broadcasting using ATSC 3.0, that doesn't mean its programming will be in 4K/UHD, however.

Except for a few PBS stations, it seems most OTA stations are looking forward to using their new ATSC 3.0 transmissions for things other than providing 4K TV.

See the discusiion in this other thread: »zapperbox for ATSC 3.0

Even if 4K content was being widely produced (and it mostly isn't, at least yet, with the noted exceptions), most of the current ATSC 3.0 transmitters are lighthouse stations, sharing the resource with a number of channels, and you can only fit so many bits into the ATSC 3.0 stream, so mostly you are just getting the normal station HD feeds at this point.

Should (and it is still a maybe) ATSC 3.0 take off in a big way for OTA stations and they migrate their primary transmitter to be a single station feed rather than sharing one might start to see some UHD programming, if their content suppliers start creating it due to demand by consumers and the consumers can't get it via the expanding DTC model. Local stations at this point mostly produce local news, and I am not sure being about to accurately count the nose hairs of the anchors on your UHD TV is a compelling reason for the local stations to upgrade their local production equipment any time soon.

It’s best to watch popular series and movies using the content owners app instead of DVR or live premium channel broadcast

For example many of HBO’s content is in 4K on HBO Max. While you could DVR a series like “Last of Us” for example, the quality would be much much worse.

Always check the content owners app first.

A good example is Survivor on Paramount. On the COMCAST channel, you get a low resolution image with no HDR. On the Paramount app you get a 1080 (not sure if i or p) image with HDR. It is a night and day difference in terms of quality for that show.

The state of 4k is that the "battle for 4k" - if there even was one - has been won decisively by the on-demand streaming apps. Netflix, Prime, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount, HBO Max and other streaming services are adding 4k content almost every day, and pretty much all original series are in either 4k, or in some cases in 1080p.

Many shows that currently air on 720p or 1080i on regular linear channels, will actually be in 1080p on streaming services.

There are no linear 4k channels, and it is not expected that anyone is going to invest in it either. You'll get two or three sporting events in 4k per week, maybe some more when the Olympics are on, and that is really about it.

I don't think any television channels are considering going 4k, and even virtually all ATSC 3.0 broadcasts are merely 1080p simulcasts of their 720p/1080i versions. The whole linear TV thing is dying in favor of calling up programs on-demand instead of waiting for them to air, and/or recording them.

If you want 4k, (and even a FEW titles in 8k, but only IF you have a TV with Roku built in, not a stick or puck) you will need to ditch the "channels in a grid guide" method of content distribution, and upgrade to the "star trek holodeck style" method of content distribution: call it up when you want, and enjoy it. Too bad its still on a flat screen, and not in an actual holodeck.

If you want to stick with "channels in a grid guide" to get your content, you'll also be stuck with 720p or 1080i at best.

Yeah what it seems to be. Awaiting a new 4K tv here that was purchased today

Already have a XG1v4 and probably need to buy a 4K chromecast now...

Unless sport is a "must have dealbreaker", the vast majority of content on the most popular channels can be gotten cheaper and in better quality (often 1080p or 4k with current series) by going for 5 or 6 streaming services vs paying for channels.

News we don't have anymore on cable, it is just a bunch of channel lying to us with their own political flavor, so you don't have to keep cable for that... (unless, of course, you love being lied to).

Movies, most current TV series, you certainly don't need to keep cable for, plus you get hundreds if not thousands of original titles that will never make it to cable.

It's just that sports thing. You kinda have to have cable for that still. For me, that wasn't important so I cut cable out in 2014. Got a 4k TV in 2016, and haven't looked back.

I don't think the weather guy is lying when he puts up the tornado map.

Nope But I was talking specifically about news-specific content, not about weather content. As far as weather goes, typically TV coverage is about 15-30 minutes behind the internet and/or apps, so you don't really have to keep cable for that either.

Also, If you are signed up for warning alerts with your local authorities, you'll know about any local tornadoes long before a weather channel on cable does. Certainly not worth the money you are probably paying the cable company for it. There are better ways of getting warnings about tornadoes in the region than television these days.

That said: I keep an antenna on my roof for a few local channels, just in case there is a local disaster (here in California that would be earthquakes, wildfires, and occasionally even a tornado..... we had one touch down near Los Angeles just a few weeks ago), and those are 100% free.

Well, it cost me $39.95 for the antenna and an hour of my Saturday to install it in 2014....

It's mid-2024 and the major networks are still not providing any native 4K programming:

Commentary: The TV Networks Don’t Give 2 F’s About 4K
By Phillip Swann, TV Answer Man - June 28, 2024
»tvanswerman.com/2024/06/ ··· bout-4k/

quote:

---

Q: TV Answer Man, I noticed that you haven’t done any 4K updates on sports that will be in 4K lately. How come? Are they not doing sports in 4K? I know there isn’t much but don’t the networks understand that 4K is very important to people who paid major bucks to get a 4K TV? Why don’t they give us more sports in 4K? — Johnny, Hermosa Beach, California.

A: Johnny, there have been a few live national sporting events in upscaled 4K over the last month. Fox offered an upscaled 4K feed of the special MLB game from Rickwood Field in Alabama and a few UFL games in the format, again upscaled. There were also several baseball games available in market in 4K from NESN (actually native 4K!) and Spectrum SportsNet LA (upscaled 4K.)

But that’s about it. The networks continue to produce next to nothing in 4K. And when they actually provide a 4K broadcast, it’s not really 4K. It’s upscaled 4K from a 1080p HD production, which means the picture might be better than HD but still inferior to a native 4K production (one where 4K cameras and on-site 4K production facilities are used.)

And to make matters worse, the networks do next to nothing to promote the 4K offerings. There are no press releases or even a mention in their social media feeds or web sites. The 4K TV owner has to find out about them through sources such as this web site or the hard-working AVS Forum group: »www.avsforum.com/threads ··· 3/page-5

The reason for this is that 4K is an extremely low priority at the networks. Most network executives do not believe a 4K broadcast, even just an upscaled one, is worth the extra cost of producing it. Consequently, there is little support within the network to provide live sports in 4K.

This is also why you don’t see any promotions or press releases for 4K productions. (Besides a special event such as the Super Bowl.) The network’s communications department realizes that the top brass simply doesn’t care about 4K so there’s no point in investing their time and resources in promoting it. By example, did you know that NBC will offer a 4K feed of next month’s Olympic Games from Paris? I bet not because NBC hasn’t said two words about it in their multitude of press releases on the games. It’s simply not a big deal at the network.

I have asked NBC if the 4K feed, which will likely be on the usual providers such as DIRECTV, Comcast, and YouTube TV, will be available on Peacock, the NBCUniversal-operated streaming service. Thus far, the response has been crickets, which is not unusual when I inquire about 4K. I usually have to badger the PR team to get a response to 4K inquiries. (One network’s PR department, which I won’t name, actually became enraged when I repeated my inquiry because I hadn’t received a response from my first inquiry of five days earlier.)

Again, it’s because the networks, in general, don’t give a flying flip about 4K and only provide the infrequent upscaled 4K presentations if they don’t crush the budget. It’s too bad this is true because there are many 4K TV owners who would like to watch live sports in real 4K. But I’m here to tell you that it’s not happening in this country anytime soon.

---

Family Member here typically watches the following channels lol

MeTV
Cozy Comedy
Hallmark at times
News
HGTV

Records as much as can onto the DVR lol, rarely ever watches any 4K movies on the 4K TV Samsung TV downstairs there.

My TV up here currently only 1080P, but maybe if we ever start using Streaming App, i possibly might decide to upgrade to 4K TV

My DVR Recordings i try to limit as much as i can, but sometimes i barely have time to watch a show live, so then it gets DVR'd, and watch it later

Comcast and DirecTV are I think the only two providers who even have anything 4k. (At least, out of the classic providers, Fubo does 4k sports as well).

Spectrum hasn't invested in it. Neither have Cox, Verizon, AT&T (outside of satellite), Dish.... no one is interested in providing the infrastructure for it to deliver it to customers, and no one is interested in developing tuners for it. While Comcast and DirecTV satellite have taken it on, (albeit it very limited) without getting the majority of cable companies on board, no channel is going to be interested in launching a 4k version.

The "war for 4k" has been done and dusted. And traditional channels lost.

This is really just technological progression. The way people consume media has drastically changed since the introduction of the internet to the big public, and bandwidth to homes getting large enough to stream video. And just like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video (and as of yesterday, Redbox who filed for bankruptcy) the traditional cable channels will eventually just become a relic that we may or may not remember fondly.

If 4k content is the goal, there is only one answer: Streaming over the internet. Sure, there are BluRay's, but no one wants to mail you a new BluRay every week with new shows that dropped. So streaming is where it is at for continuing television series.

Eventually, there will be 8k streaming..... and if the world gets crazy enough to do 16k streaming, it will just be a natural progression upwards using the same technology, you'd just need yet again a fatter tv panel.

Cable TV..... will basically be forever stuck at 720p. Or 1080i, if you are lucky.

I just got around to sticking an antenna in the attic and see that several of the Chicago area stations have 1080p/HDR ATSC 3.0 broadcast channels - and at least NBC has the ability to restart a program from the beginning by transparently switching to the internet. Interesting... I assume they could do 4k if they wanted.

I see that too here in the Philly, PA market. NBC had their own fly out UI and can pull content from the internet for start over or other NBC VOD content. Pretty interesting. The TV is reporting 1080p for the major networks, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox. It’s nice to see WPVI Ch6 because his ATSC 1.0 signal in VHF-Lo (85ish MHz or so) is notoriously difficult to get around here. You need a very large element VHF-Lo antenna. Its ATSC3 simulcast is on RF33 I belive, so my attic pie plate antenna picks it up.

Sony TV here. LG does not have ATSC3 tuner (some kind of dispute).

ATSC1/3 doesn’t matter, that’s just a transport. Theres all low power ATSC 1.0 station transmitting MANY 1080p and some 4k in its 19.2mbps transport. It’s just using more advanced codecs.

»youtu.be/_t_GN8qPf8g

They could. But they are probably not going to. There are a few stations that do broadcast in 4k over ATSC 3.0, but only a few, and it doesn't look like anyone is interested.

But because there is a 1080p feed of most local stations now, all programs that are on streaming services as a next day release from these broadcast networks.....are also all in 1080p. In some cases, they even put the 4k broadcast on as the material has often been filmed in 4k and is released to streaming in 4k.

As a lot of content gets released to streaming in 4k, I don't think they see any good reason to invest in 4k for channels. I mean, 4k technology has existed since 2012, I have had my 4k TV since 2016, and the only place that is rapidly expanding 4k content are streaming services. Not cable. Not satellite.

The idea of channels is just an obsolete tech now..... and although I believe that the broadcast networks will survive because they serve as a public service to the masses to get information and important news..... All good content will be released on streaming now, and doesn't make it back to cable.

If you are a fan of Star Trek, Star Wars, Star Gate (future projects are being talked about), and all the Marvel stuff...... all of that content will never make it back to cable (exception: Season 1 of Discovery, but that was because CBS needed a filler after their reality show had to stop filming due to Covid in 2020). Same with the new upcoming Battlestar Galactica remake that is being worked on.....

As of 2020, more new content drops on streaming services than on cable (and that has not changed), and as of 2022 streaming has more viewers than cable, and with the millions of customers lost each year..... I don't think that is going to change either.

The battle for 4k was lost by cable many years ago. If cable wanted to invest in 4k, they would have done so already. OTA is your best bet for MAYBE a channel turning on 4k, but none of the big markets (NY, CHI, LA) have any plans to do so.