Why You Should Watch Tonight’s World Series Game 4 In 4K

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

TV Answer Man, you are always writing about baseball or football or some other sport in 4K. Is it really worth looking at it in 4K? It’s just upscaled, you know, not even real 4K. So why should anyone look at it in 4K? For example, the World Series is in 4K, right? But what’s the big deal? Who cares!!! – Carl, Lexington, Kentucky.

Carl, you’re right. Fox is airing the 2025 World Series in upscaled 4K including tonight’s game four at 8 p.m. ET between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers from beautiful Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. After last night’s 18 inning classic, which was won by the Dodgers on a Freddie Freeman home run, sports fans will be particularly eager to watch tonight’s game to see if the teams can replicate the experience. (The Dodgers are now ahead, two games to one.)

And, yes, I am here to tell you that you should watch the game in 4K, albeit upscaled 4K which means it’s actually produced in 1080p HD and then converted to 4K for the home transmission.

Why You Should Watch In Upscaled 4K
An upscaled 4K broadcast delivers a more vivid and detailed picture than a HD image. However, I will agree that if there’s a choice between a 1080p HD broadcast on your streaming, cable or satellite service and an upscaled 4K broadcast, the difference may not be significant. The problem with that, however, is that Fox’s network affiliates broadcast in 720p HD, the lowest picture quality for a high-def broadcast. Consequently, the difference between the 720p HD image and the upscaled 4K image is quite significant and worth making the extra effort to watch the latter. So, I am encouraging everyone to watch tonight’s game, and the remainder of the World Series, in 4K. You’ll be glad that you did.

How Can You Watch Fox’s 4K Games?
Fox’s 4K games can be seen in the format on the Fox Sports or Fox One apps by logging in with your TV Everywhere user name and password from your pay TV provider. (You can also watch the game with a separate subscription to Fox One which costs $19.99 a month.)

The pay TV services that normally offer Fox games in 4K on special 4K channels are DIRECTV, Dish, Sling TV, 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.

What Are Fox’s Upscaled 4K Broadcasts?
Fox’s 4K live sports broadcasts are upscaled from 1080p HDR (High Dynamic Range). 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. ESPN also upscaled its 4K broadcasts from a 1080p HD signal.

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