Lack of HDR on some programmes

[Ellie_TV]

Is the new season of Based On A True Story only available in UHD with no HDR for everyone else?

I was recently in the USA, staying with friends who are big fans of TV and streaming services. One thing that struck me was how much better served they seem to be in the USA for getting certain programmes in better quality than we do. 

For them, the new season of Based On A True Story is available in Dolby Vision on the Peacock app. So is The Day Of The Jackal.

On the Max app, I noticed that The Franchise had Dolby Vision, along with both seasons of The White Lotus and all of Succession. 

I appreciate that here in the UK we are limited to the HLG format of HDR for programmes that Sky have bought from US networks, so no Dolby Vision, but we get HLG HDR on The Penguin and Dune Prophecy, so why not on shows like Based On A True Story and The Franchise when they clearly have been mastered in HDR? Peacock is owned by Comcast who own Sky, so surely they should be giving us their biggest shows in the best quality possible? 

I wonder why Sky don't get HLG HDR versions of everything? Is it purely down to cost? 

Hopefully when the Max app launches in the UK in 2026 we should finally get the option of Dolby Vision on all their shows if played back via the Max app, rather than from Sky's servers. It would be nice if they did the same with Peacock shows too. 

It seems a shame that the UK is short changed on things like this.

[Doc5907]

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@Ellie_TV wrote:

Is the new season of Based On A True Story only available in UHD with no HDR for everyone else?

I was recently in the USA, staying with friends who are big fans of TV and streaming services. One thing that struck me was how much better served they seem to be in the USA for getting certain programmes in better quality than we do. 

For them, the new season of Based On A True Story is available in Dolby Vision on the Peacock app. So is The Day Of The Jackal.

On the Max app, I noticed that The Franchise had Dolby Vision, along with both seasons of The White Lotus and all of Succession. 

I appreciate that here in the UK we are limited to the HLG format of HDR for programmes that Sky have bought from US networks, so no Dolby Vision, but we get HLG HDR on The Penguin and Dune Prophecy, so why not on shows like Based On A True Story and The Franchise when they clearly have been mastered in HDR? Peacock is owned by Comcast who own Sky, so surely they should be giving us their biggest shows in the best quality possible? 

I wonder why Sky don't get HLG HDR versions of everything? Is it purely down to cost? 

Hopefully when the Max app launches in the UK in 2026 we should finally get the option of Dolby Vision on all their shows if played back via the Max app, rather than from Sky's servers. It would be nice if they did the same with Peacock shows too. 

It seems a shame that the UK is short changed on things like this.

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But streets ahead of the US when it comes to live 4k/HDR sports.

[Ellie_TV]

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@Doc5907 wrote:

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@Ellie_TV wrote:

Is the new season of Based On A True Story only available in UHD with no HDR for everyone else?

I was recently in the USA, staying with friends who are big fans of TV and streaming services. One thing that struck me was how much better served they seem to be in the USA for getting certain programmes in better quality than we do. 

For them, the new season of Based On A True Story is available in Dolby Vision on the Peacock app. So is The Day Of The Jackal.

On the Max app, I noticed that The Franchise had Dolby Vision, along with both seasons of The White Lotus and all of Succession. 

I appreciate that here in the UK we are limited to the HLG format of HDR for programmes that Sky have bought from US networks, so no Dolby Vision, but we get HLG HDR on The Penguin and Dune Prophecy, so why not on shows like Based On A True Story and The Franchise when they clearly have been mastered in HDR? Peacock is owned by Comcast who own Sky, so surely they should be giving us their biggest shows in the best quality possible? 

I wonder why Sky don't get HLG HDR versions of everything? Is it purely down to cost? 

Hopefully when the Max app launches in the UK in 2026 we should finally get the option of Dolby Vision on all their shows if played back via the Max app, rather than from Sky's servers. It would be nice if they did the same with Peacock shows too. 

It seems a shame that the UK is short changed on things like this.

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But streets ahead of the US when it comes to live 4k/HDR sports.

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I'm afraid I find watching sport to be incredibly dull regardless of the resolution and dynamic range it's presented in. 

I find that HDR brings much more to drama series & movies and offers a lot more than just a punch of extra colour, contrast and brightness, which is all it can really do in a live sport environment. 

True HDR grades for drama series and movies are done on a shot by shot basis, not just the one overall setting (with some minor manual on-the-fly tweaking) which you get on live HDR events. This is why I prefer the dynamic HDR presentations offered by Dolby Vision and HDR10+, they can really add to the experience of watching something. Both HLG and HDR10 are static HDR formats so only offer one level of brightness/contrast across the whole programme, often therefore resulting in artificially brightened dark scenes, and reduced brightness on overly bright scenes. A balance has to be struck so a mid-ground is selected for these static HDR presentations. 

A lot of Sky's UHD HLG programmes and movies do look fantastic (I'm sure live sport does too!), and for those I am grateful, but I just wish we in the UK had the chance to see all the shows and movies that are produced in this format, not just those that Sky choose.