How to watch 4K on your 4K TV
Your new TV is almost definitely 4K, right? Unless it’s 8K (but see opposite). So if you want to see what that screen can really do, you’ll want to watch some 4K content. Yet this isn’t as easy as you might think — even though the first 4K TV went on sale way back in 2012. Indeed as with 8K TVs, manufacturers really started selling 4K TVs far in advance of 4K material being available to watch, because TV manufacturers constantly need to have a ‘next big thing’ to sell.
But the good news is that today there is no shortage of 4K content available — you just have to know where to get it, and then do the right things to make sure it’s actually working. Here’s our guide to doing just that. Although we kick off with the bad news.
Broadcast 4K
Wouldn’t it be great just to watch good old free-to-air telly in 4K? But in a nutshell, don’t hold your breath. Broadcast standards. There are technical issues, new standards to mandate, not to mention limited bandwidth in TV multiplexes, and adding 4K would jam them up good and proper, while the government prefers to auction additional available bandwidth to telcos rather than give it away for improved free-to-air broadcasts. And of course tons of studio equipment would require an update to 4K at a time when media companies are cutting, not investing.
