The Fox Sports app tomorrow (Saturday, June 25) at 3 p.m. ET will stream the United States Football League (USFL) semifinal playoff game between the Philadelphia Stars and New Jersey Generals in 4K HDR (High Dynamic Range).
On July 3, the winner of the Stars-Generals game will play the winner of tomorrow’s New Orleans Breakers-Birmingham Stallions matchup (8 p.m. ET) in the league championship. The Breakers-Stallions game will not be available in 4K.
Fox Sports App In 4K: Which Devices Are Compatible?
Fox tomorrow will offer a HD simulcast of the Stars-Generals game on Fox network affiliates and the New Orleans-Birmingham game will be in HD on NBC.
The Stars-Generals game can be watched in 4K HDR on the Fox Sports app by using your TV Everywhere user name and password from your pay TV provider.
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The pay TV services that are expected to carry the 4K game on special 4K channels are DIRECTV, Dish, Comcast, Verizon, Optimum, YouTube TV, and FuboTV. (In markets where the Fox affiliate is provided with your programming package.) Check your on-screen guide for more details.
Note: Fox produces its 4K coverage in 1080p HDR and ‘upscales’ it to a 4K HDR broadcast as opposed to shooting the event in 4K and transmitting in the same format. Upscaling is the process when one video format is converted to another. In this case, Fox takes the 1080p HDR signal and convert it to a 4K format.
Fox is also scheduled to offer the 2022 MLB All-Star Game in 4K on July 19 at 8 p.m. ET.
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I am a FiOS 1 customer and have watched several Fox 4K upscales on the dedicated channels. Compared to the ESPN and NBC native 4K broadcasts, the Fox upscales in HDR are not very good. The colors are cartoonish and the usually poor definition of the 1080i broadcasts are accentuated in 4K upscaling. I actually prefer the regular HD broadcast. The native 4K broadcasts have been amazing. ESPN in particular, are everything you ever imagined 4K to be.
Is it just me? I’m the only one who doesn’t care about this “USFL” games.
I’m sure FOX can do better than this.
In this case it’s not as much about the game as it is about the 4K technology. This is the learning stage for 4K sports coverage and the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard.