By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman
TV Answer Man, do you know if the women’s World Cup soccer tournament will be in 4K? — Cheryl, Manhattan Beach, California.
Cheryl, Fox will broadcast all 64 matches of next month’s FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer tournament from Australia and New Zealand. The first match will be New Zealand vs. Norway at 3 a.m. ET on July 20 with the final scheduled for 6 a.m. ET on August 20. As was the case for the Men’s World Cup, some games (29) will be on Fox network affiliates while some (35) will be on FS1. You can see a TV schedule here.
But will the matches be available in 4K, you ask?
Answer: Yes! All of them will be in 4K HDR (High Dynamic Range). (See this article on how HDR enhances a 4K picture.)
The pay TV services that are expected to carry the female World Cup matches 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.
You will also be able to stream the games in 4K HDR on the Fox Sports and Fox Now apps.
(You can learn more about which providers participate in the Fox 4K program here. To find out what you need to watch 4K on the Fox Sports app, including which devices are compatible, click here.)
Note: Fox normally produces its 4K coverage in 1080p and ‘upscales’ it to a 4K 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.
It’s unclear if Fox will offer an upscaled 4K of the games or a native 4K. The TV Answer Man will update this article if we get more information. See this article on the difference between upscaled 4K and native 4K.
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
