Amazon’s Thursday Night Football: Will It Be In 4K or HD In 2024?

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.

TV Answer Man, do you know if Thursday Night football on Amazon will be in 4K or HD this season? I seem to recall they said it would be in 4K this year, right? — Dave, Pasadena, California.

Dave, Amazon’s Thursday Night Football begins its third season tonight (September 12) with the Buffalo Bills-Miami Dolphins game at 8 p.m. ET. (Pre-game coverage starts at 7 p.m. ET.) The tech giant last year won plaudits from critics (and most) fans for its weekly TNF presentations which were delivered with relatively few technical glitches that you sometimes find during live sports broadcasts on other streaming services.

In 2022, Amazon’s first season of carrying TNF contests, the company offered 1080p HD SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) streams. While 1080p HD SDR is an upgrade over what you see during NFL games on CBS (1080i) and Fox (720p), it cannot display the color range and vividness of a 1080p HDR (High Dynamic Range) image.

So last year, Amazon upgraded to 1080p HD HDR and it will stay with that format in 2024. It’s not 4K, but it does provide a sharper and more colorful picture than in 2022. (As reference, Apple also uses 1080p HDR for its MLB broadcasts.)

The Amazon TNF games will also be available in Dolby Surround Sound audio and each game will be delivered with what the company says is ‘ultra low latency’ which is designed to reduce the delay between the real time action and what you see at home. As you may know, live streaming is often up to a minute behind the actual play, but Amazon last year cut that gap to around 20-25 seconds for most games.

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

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.

The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.