Why are most shows not in UHD?

[LJHeath]

I am now watching From, and noticed that show does not stream in 4K, and after checking a lot of other shows don't stream in 4K either. I have the Ultra HD pack because shows like House of the Dragon do work in 4K, but are some shows just not filmed in that resolution? Is there a way I can watch shows like From, or the Walking Dead in 4K? That goes for all the spin off shows which are brand new like Daryl, only in regular HD. 

Thank you. 

[Mister_Dalek · Accepted solution]

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@LJHeath wrote:

I am now watching From, and noticed that show does not stream in 4K, and after checking a lot of other shows don't stream in 4K either. I have the Ultra HD pack because shows like House of the Dragon do work in 4K, but are some shows just not filmed in that resolution? Is there a way I can watch shows like From, or the Walking Dead in 4K? That goes for all the spin off shows which are brand new like Daryl, only in regular HD. 

Thank you. 

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Many shows, like The Walking Dead, are only ever mastered in HD and do not exist in 4K. This is often due to the increased post production costs for VFX work which would have to be created in 4K.

Even shows without VFX cost more to post produce in 4K. It costs more to ingest rushes at 4K for editing due to increased storage space required. It costs more to export a final cut at 4K as it takes longer and also takes up more space. 

Like most things in life, it all comes down to money.  

[LJHeath]

Hello thank you for your quick answer. I did not expect such a thorough answer so fast. That is good to know, just from my cold infested head right now, just caught me off guard that such high production value shows are not all created to be in 4K in the modern day. But thank you for your answer. 

[Nigelb1972]

The production costs are much higher for UHD content so often it's a budgeting issue especially for lower budget shows with lots of visual FX whether they be physical like make-up etc or CGI.

I remember when EastEnders went HD, they literally had to rebuild all of the sets because people noticed that the walls were made from flimsy wood panels and the wallpaper wasn't lined up properly.