What is happening with 4k Broadcast in the UK?

[bloostoo]

Is there any information as to what is either going to, or is most likely to happen with terrestrial 4K broadcasting in the UK?

Will new types of tuners be required - currently as far I can see everything is DVB-T2, can this even cope with 4k or not?

There's more and more content available on streaming services and digital purchasing of videos, but broadcast by comparison is miles behind.

A personal situation is that our aging Humax TV box is painfully sluggish to operate, but it does 1080p recording and does suit our requirements for now. Even a brand new Humax PVR would just give 4K graphical interface, but 1080p content upscaled, so am holding off as I'm anticipating '4k ready broadcast PVR's' to land at some point soonish.

 

[nopiano]

I have no idea myself, but I see the streaming platforms overtaking terrestrial broadcasting, as they already do with the occasional 4K offering.

I’d guess that aerials and dishes will be history in about ten years.

 

[Ethics Gradient]

It's interesting that when the Beeb broadcasts sporting events etc in 4k, it's via iPlayer. I suspect that's the direction it will go in, and would expect the other terrestrials to follow suit.

 

[davidf]

Given the majority of people don’t really care about high definition resolutions (but oddly still go out and buy 4K TVs), I doubt there’ll be any race to increase 4K content. Even if they did, it’ll be no better than 4K content on streaming services, which is an extremely mixed bag - the only ones that look vaguely like 4K are recently shot on digital formats, so look squeaky clean - older films (which should still look stunning) tend to look a bit soft and no better than 1080p.

All this comes back to what I’ve been saying for a while - it’s all going backwards. 4K streaming services use lower bitrates of video and audio than Blurays, and sometimes even equivalent to DVD. And 1080 is even worse. TVs get better, streaming services are taking us back to the 90s.

 

[Jasonovich]

Is there any information as to what is either going to, or is most likely to happen with terrestrial 4K broadcasting in the UK?

Will new types of tuners be required - currently as far I can see everything is DVB-T2, can this even cope with 4k or not?

There's more and more content available on streaming services and digital purchasing of videos, but broadcast by comparison is miles behind.

A personal situation is that our aging Humax TV box is painfully sluggish to operate, but it does 1080p recording and does suit our requirements for now. Even a brand new Humax PVR would just give 4K graphical interface, but 1080p content upscaled, so am holding off as I'm anticipating '4k ready broadcast PVR's' to land at some point soonish.

I believe terrestrial DVB-T or even DVB-T2 doesn't have the sufficient bandwidth to broadcast in 4K. The only viable option is fibre cable via the internet (Netflix, Apple, Amazon et'al) or DVB-S satellite but the latter is in decline and not much Government support or funding for FREESAT.
A lot of the stuff on Netflix is 4K, the IPTV services I subscribe to also has a reasonable volume of 4K(ish) material. Internet is the future for UHD or 4K

 

[daveh75]

Is there any information as to what is either going to, or is most likely to happen with terrestrial 4K broadcasting in the UK?

Will new types of tuners be required - currently as far I can see everything is DVB-T2, can this even cope with 4k or not?

There's more and more content available on streaming services and digital purchasing of videos, but broadcast by comparison is miles behind.

A personal situation is that our aging Humax TV box is painfully sluggish to operate, but it does 1080p recording and does suit our requirements for now. Even a brand new Humax PVR would just give 4K graphical interface, but 1080p content upscaled, so am holding off as I'm anticipating '4k ready broadcast PVR's' to land at some point soonish.

There will never be any 4K broadcasts via DTT, there just isn't the bandwidth.

They won't even convert the existing DVB-T SD muxes to T2 to free up the bandwidth, because it would make older h/w obsolete and leave those still with it, without access to any FTA TV.

If you've seen the news this week, then you will have seen the PSBs are currently developing a new IP based platform called "Freely" due to launch sometime in 2024/25.

The reality is this will be the future of FTA TV in the UK, as DTT is only licensed to 2034 at which point I think it's highly unlikely to be extended again, and the DTT spectrum auctioned off to mobile operators.

You might see some UHD content provided via Freely, but I wouldn't expect much as 4K/UHD is still very much the preserve of pay platforms

 

[abacus]

The US already has it, however it requires new boxes to play the new format, as to whether it will come to the UK and Europe is anybody's guess. (The current format does not support 4K due to limited bandwidth, hence the reason there are so few HD channels on Freeview)
Freely (When released around 2024) is to replace Freeview (But probably not till the 2030s before it gets phased out) which means 4K will only be limited by your broadband connection. (Most programs are already shot in 4K)

Bill

 

[Friesiansam]

Given the majority of people don’t really care about high definition resolutions (but oddly still go out and buy 4K TVs),

I think any but the cheapest of TVs are 4K by default now. Ours sometimes gets to show a 4K YouTube travel video.

 

[Edbostan]

Is there any information as to what is either going to, or is most likely to happen with terrestrial 4K broadcasting in the UK?

Will new types of tuners be required - currently as far I can see everything is DVB-T2, can this even cope with 4k or not?

There's more and more content available on streaming services and digital purchasing of videos, but broadcast by comparison is miles behind.

A personal situation is that our aging Humax TV box is painfully sluggish to operate, but it does 1080p recording and does suit our requirements for now. Even a brand new Humax PVR would just give 4K graphical interface, but 1080p content upscaled, so am holding off as I'm anticipating '4k ready broadcast PVR's' to land at some point soonish.

Are Humax giving up on their boxes due to direct streaming? We have had our BT 4k box which is a ponderous Humax 4000 for a number of years but apps for ITV X or Discovery + have not being added. I have approached BT but they said they are working on it. There is 4k content available but limited. No doubt BBC Research and Development are working with TV manufacturers to provide 4k viewing as the norm but there are technical issues to overcome.

 

[Jasonovich]

Are Humax giving up on their boxes due to direct streaming? We have had our BT 4k box which is a ponderous Humax 4000 for a number of years but apps for ITV X or Discovery + have not being added. I have approached BT but they said they are working on it. There is 4k content available but limited. No doubt BBC Research and Development are working with TV manufacturers to provide 4k viewing as the norm but there are technical issues to overcome.

Internet streaming appears to be the future, you just have to look at the major players , MAX (HBO), Disney, Apple, Showcase, Netflix, Amazon and et'al, and it's big, a lot of investment from these global brands.
Netflix and and many IPTV providers do provide a lot of 4K content. It's become the norm with Netflix, most of the stuff I watch is in 4K.

Not really cued up with the terrestrial broadcasting developments, may be someone can put me right. Though, I'm not sure digital terrestrial has a long term future or if there are new technologies in place to accommodate the 4K bandwidth.
I think, there's a little bit of, I want to be in control of what I want to watch, well, my personal opinion. The popularity of terrestrial broadcasting has been on the wane.
2 years ago, I decided to terminate my Beeb TV Tax licence, I wasn't watching it, my source of keeping up with the news came from the internet, the best decision I made. This saved me £150ish and felt great some BBC bureaucrat wasn't getting my money, Baha baah Waa ha, yep the money I saved, I was able to buy myself some decent cables for my HiFi

I have two satellite dishes installed and my dual Vu+ satellite receiver is gathering dust, Oh the S-Word. Welcome to the brave new world of streaming!

 

[jjbomber]

This saved me £150ish and felt great some BBC bureaucrat wasn't getting my money, Baha baah Waa ha, yep the money I saved, I was able to buy myself some decent cables for my HiFi