Q. I saw your article about the lack of live 4K on DIRECTV. What about Comcast? What is their 4K lineup? I have Comcast and I am thinking about getting a 4K TV. — Tom, Nashville.
Tom, you’re not going to like what I have to say.
As of this morning, Comcast’s 4K lineup consists of three On Demand shows — a documentary called Great Barrier Reef; a documentary called Ski Moments; and a 4K video of a burning fireplace called, you guessed it, Fireplace 4K. And that’s it.
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To make matters worse, the fireplace doc requires a Netflix subscription; the skiing show requires a subscription to the Outside TV channel; and the Great Barrier Reef doc is a Pay-Per-View title.
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There are no live 4K shows scheduled on Comcast, unlike Dish and DIRECTV, which occasionally air live sporting events in 4K. In fact, Comcast has never aired a show live in 4K.
Comcast’s On Demand menu recently featured several recorded events from the 2018 Olympics in 4K, such as the Opening Ceremonies, skating and hockey. But as of this morning, those 4K broadcasts were gone.
So we’re basically left with the three shows.
Oh, Comcast does offer 4K shows from Netflix and Amazon Prime. You can watch those on Comcast’s Net-connected X1 set-top. That is, if you have a subscription to Netflix and/or Amazon — and subscribe to Comcast’s Internet service. (You can watch 4K shows from Netflix and Amazon using any 4K-enabled streaming device. Big whoop that Comcast has them, too.)
Bottom line: Comcast’s 4K offering is abysmal.
Tom, if you’re considering buying a 4K TV because of what you can watch on Comcast, save your money.
— Phillip Swann
Photo credit: Free photo from Pexels.com.
Also, I recently moved and bought a 4K TV with Comcast service, the standard X1 box is a 1080P box. You have to get their 4K X1 box to get the Netflix and Amazon Prime 4K offerings through Comcast. When they installed my services, they gave me the stardard 1080P box. Luckily for me the box was bad, and when they dispatched a technician to check my service, they replaced it with the 4K box. Otherwise, I would have never known the 4K boxes existed for Comcast, given the lack of 4K content offered by Comcast.
At least Comcast has SOME 4K content. Spectrum (Charter) has NONE!
The author is wrong. Much of the last winter Olympics was available in 4k on the Xfinity X1 platform.
Not anymore, as of yesterday morning. And it was not broadcast live. Tape delay.
Tape Delay: https://tvanswerman.com/2018/02/06/comcast-directv-to-offer-winter-olympics-in-4k/