DIRECTV and Comcast tomorrow plan to air two college football games in 4K while Fubo TV and Altice’s Optimum will carry one in the format.
The two games that will be in 4K tomorrow on DIRECTV and Comcast are TCU at Texas at noon ET and Oklahoma at Iowa State at 7:30 p.m. ET. Fubo will stream the TCU-Texas game in 4K while Optimum’s guide says it will offer the Oklahoma-Iowa State contest in 4K.
Fox will produce the TCU-Texas game, which means it will be broadcast in 1080p and ‘upscaled’ to 4K for the home audience. Upscaling is the process when one video format is converted to another. In this case, Fox will take the 1080p HDR signal and convert it to a 4K format. Upscaling 4K is not as good as what’s called, native 4K, which means the original event was produced in 4K, and broadcast or streamed in 4K as well. Still, the 4K broadcast should be an improvement over 1080i or 1080p HD.
ESPN, which will produce the night game, normally does a live 4K event in ‘native 4K.’ Videophiles say that native 4K, which means it’s broadcast on site in 4K as well as transmitted to the home in 4K, offers a more realistic and vivid picture than an upscaled 4K one.
Texas (2-0), which is ranked number nine in some polls, has a potent offense, averaging 61 points in its first two games, including a wild 63-56 win last week against Texas Tech. TCU (0-1) lost its opener last week to Iowa State, 37-34.
Oklahoma (1-1), which is ranked 18th in some polls, destroyed Missouri State in its opener, 48-0, but lost a close one last week to Kansas State, 38-35. Iowa State (1-1) defeated TCU last week after losing to Louisiana in its opener on September 12.
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— Phillip Swann
Note: DIRECTV and Comcast are also offering daily 4K coverage of the French Open tennis tournament. See article for more details.
