TV Answer Man, do you know if Fox will have the World Cup next month in 4K? And if it’s in 4K, will it be upscaled 4K like they do with college football or will it be native 4K like ESPN does? — Marty, Los Angeles. 

Marty, Fox will broadcast the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar from the tournament’s opening game (Qatar vs. Ecuador) on Sunday, November 20, until the final on Sunday, December 18. There will be 32 teams competing in eight categories with the majority of the group matches featuring start times of 8 a.m., 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET. (The United States is in group B with England, Wales and Iran.)

The network will send every announcer, reporter and analyst to Qatar to cover the games in person and all 64 matches will feature a Fox Sports play-by-play announcer and analyst on location. Pre-game and post-game programs will originate from the Fox Sports set in Doha.

But will Fox produce the games in 4K?

Answer: Yes!

Every match will stream live in 4K on the Fox Sports app. The pay TV services that are expected to also carry them on special 4K channels are DIRECTV, Dish, Comcast, Verizon, Optimum, YouTube TV, and FuboTV. (In FuboTV markets where the Fox affiliate is provided with your programming package.) Check your on-screen guide for more details.

Fox’s 4K broadcasts, including its 4K college football productions, are normally upscaled from 1080p HDR. Upscaling is the process when one video format is converted to another. Fox takes the 1080p HDR signal and converts it to a 4K format. Upscaling 4K is not considered as good as native 4K, but the inclusion of HDR can offer heightened colors and vividness.

However, Fox tells the TV Answer Man that all World Cup matches will be presented in native 4K, not upscaled 4K, which should make videophiles very happy.

Studio programming, however, will be upscaled from 1080p HDR to 4K HDR.

Marty, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman