What is required for Ultra HD?

[GemPalt]

Could anyone tell me exactly what's required to be able to access Ultra HD? We've been thinking over upgrading to a 4k TV and then getting Sky Ultra HD for the football and F1 but we are unsure if we'll be able to. 

We remember reading somewhere before that the UHD comes through as 'on demand' and thus uses the broadband rather than the dish, is this true? We have Sky Q and not Stream or Glass, and we can only get 28-30Mbps fibre connection here and we aren't sure if that means we won't be able to get UHD. Obviously we want to find out because if we can't then there is no point upgrading the tv etc. 

Thanks in advance for any info and/advice

[nigea99 · Accepted solution]

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@GemPalt wrote:

Could anyone tell me exactly what's required to be able to access Ultra HD? We've been thinking over upgrading to a 4k TV and then getting Sky Ultra HD for the football and F1 but we are unsure if we'll be able to. 

We remember reading somewhere before that the UHD comes through as 'on demand' and thus uses the broadband rather than the dish, is this true? We have Sky Q and not Stream or Glass, and we can only get 28-30Mbps fibre connection here and we aren't sure if that means we won't be able to get UHD. Obviously we want to find out because if we can't then there is no point upgrading the tv etc. 

Thanks in advance for any info and/advice

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hi @GemPalt 

As far as SKY Q goes - 4k UHD/HDR is only available on the main box not minis so the TV has to be connected to the main box

To get UHD/HDR you need an HDR capable box - look in :

Home - Settings - System Info - Hardware Version 

If it is 32B1xxx or 32B2xxx then you already have a UHD/HDR box if 32B0xxx then it is UHD but not HDR if 32Cxxx then it is not UHD

If you don't have the right box you can upgrade by calling SKY but there will be a cost

To watch UHD content on SKY channels you must have the UHD add on 

To watch live sport such as Football, F1 Cricket & some others then no it does not use your broadband  - it comes via the Satellite just like the other live channels so you will be OK.

Other UHD content such as SKY Cinema  and some entertainment shows available in UHD are downloaded & use your broadband but SKY content is not streamed - they are downloads - so it doesn't  matter if your broadband isn't fast enough to stream for these - as you download to watch later

If you do want to stream in UHD via apps (either via SKY Q or the TV's inbuilt apps) such as Netflix, Disney+. Amazon Prime then you do need higher broadband - I am sorry  I can't remember the specific recommendations off the top of my head - I was on 35Mbs Fibre to Cabinet and was able to stream in UHD/HDR  

BTW Although SKY Q is convenient for the apps we generally advise to use the TV's inbuilt apps as they are tuned for the TV and often have a different version of HDR called Dolby Vision which is considered better

One thing to watch out for some TVs support UHD/HDR but are just not bright enough for use with SKY's version of HDR used for the football  (& all it's other HDR)   content so get them to confirm that the TV you are looking at buying is bright enough  for watching HDR via SKY - although you can get & watch UHD that is not HDR  many people notice little difference between HD & non HDR UHD.

[GemPalt]

@nigea99 

thank you for the very detailed reply, very helpful indeed. 

Sounds like we should be ok to get the upgrade for what we mainly want it for which is the sports. We may download some things but as you say the speed doesn't really matter then. 

Also didn’t realise about the apps and if we do upgrade we will use the ones that are built in to the tv. That's a great tip so thanks for that. 

Whats the deal with HDR? Not really up on that. Is that another setting for things once we've got the UHD add on? As you said some people don’t notice I'm guessing it can be turned on and off. I don't really have a clue what the HDR is. I'll have to ask when we look at the TV or do some research 

[nigea99]

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@GemPalt wrote:

@nigea99 

thank you for the very detailed reply, very helpful indeed. 

Sounds like we should be ok to get the upgrade for what we mainly want it for which is the sports. We may download some things but as you say the speed doesn't really matter then. 

Also didn’t realise about the apps and if we do upgrade we will use the ones that are built in to the tv. That's a great tip so thanks for that. 

Whats the deal with HDR? Not really up on that. Is that another setting for things once we've got the UHD add on? As you said some people don’t notice I'm guessing it can be turned on and off. I don't really have a clue what the HDR is. I'll have to ask when we look at the TV or do some research 

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Sorry @GemPalt,  I perhaps should have explained but I didn't want to make my initial reply too complicated.

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range & whilst it is not just limited to to 4K aka UHD it is mostly used with UHD (SKY only use HDR with UHD).  It- as the name implies - extends the Dynamic range to give deeper blacks & brighter whites. 

The foootball, F1 & cricket on SKY  in UHD are broadcast in HDR. 

As I mentioned many people often don't notice much  difference between HD & ordinary (SDR - Standard Dynamic Range) UHD but HDR UHD generally really does make a difference

To complicate matters there are a few different types of HDR in use the main ones being HDR10 , Dolby Vision and HLG - the last one being the version used by SKY channels & downloads.

So to watch SKY channels in HDR you need a TV capable of playing HLG version - but I think these days all TVs are capable. Although, as I mentioned, HLG needs a TV capable of going bright enough - some cheaper models although they support HLG are really unwatchable due it being too dark.

(Generally the minimum recommended Peak Brightness for HLG HDR being around 600 nits aka cd/m2 but unfortunately most Tech specs don't quote this value)

When Football on SKY was first broadcast in HDR we had many reports from customers finding it too dark due to their TVs not bright enough to support this version but that was a few years ago & TVs have generally improved but I do have to point this out just in case

BTW BBC iplayer also uses the HLG version 

HDR does not cost more - the subscription is just for UHD (whether that is SKY or Netflix etc)

To watch in UHD/HDR you may need to set some settings within the TV as well as setting the SKY Q box to the 10 bit  2160p setting - although as HDR is now becoming more standard TVs may now set these by default . Do  not worry, once you have your TV we can usually help people find & set these.

I hope I have helped and not just confused you - I realise some of the above is rather techie

[nigea99]

@GemPalt 

P.S. The UHD add on on SKY list price is currently £4pm  (on top of the HD add on) - this can sometimes be discounted but usually only by taking out with other add ons 

[GemPalt]

@nigea99 

Thanks again for the brilliantly detailed reply. 

Having just checked the box version it seems we have the 1TB box that is already UHD/HDR compliant which is good. (32B2xx)

Also the tv we are looking at is HDR10/HLG so that should be all good as well. 

With your help I think we can now make a decision and go ahead with what we had planned. 

Thanks for your help. You’re a credit to the forum!

[GemPalt]

Hi again @nigea99 

Sorry to be a pain. We have the new TV. We have set it to 2160p but when we go to select 10bit it won't have it. It just sets to it 8bit. If we try to select 10bit we get the error UH021. I cannot find anything that helps sadly. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance 

[nigea99]

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@GemPalt wrote:

Hi again @nigea99 

Sorry to be a pain. We have the new TV. We have set it to 2160p but when we go to select 10bit it won't have it. It just sets to it 8bit. If we try to select 10bit we get the error UH021. I cannot find anything that helps sadly. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance 

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Please can you tell us the make & model number of your new TV

[GemPalt]

Sorry again @nigea99 my partner just found out how to change it. No help needed. Thanks again 

[nigea99]

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@GemPalt wrote:

Sorry again @nigea99 my partner just found out how to change it. No help needed. Thanks again 

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Glad you have it sorted 🙂

[GemPalt]

@nigea99 Its a Samsung and she just found a setting called 'input signal plus' which was an extra HDR setting for external devices like the Q box. That seems to have worked. 

Sorry to bother you. Thanks again. You're a credit to the community!