What’s the best way to get 4K TV?
Sky, Virgin and BT are after your cash to provide you with Ultra HD content in all its glory. But how does each service compare, and what’s the cost?
The battle is on between the big pay-tv providers to get you to sign up to their new, premium 4K (or Ultra HD) services. With more and more new TVS being 4K-capable, and big-budget series such as The Crown (Netflix) and The Grand Tour (Amazon) now available in 4K, the TV industry is convinced this is the ‘next big thing’.
So if you got a nice big shiny 4K TV for Christmas, which TV provider should you turn to if you want to watch more than just 4K content on Netflix, Amazon and Youtube? BT Vision was first out of the gates in 2015 with its Sport Ultra HD channel, stealing a march on Sky and Virgin Media. BT’S 4K set-top box is based on the Humax DTR T4000.
But Sky hit back hard last year with its Award-winning Sky Q service – our subscription TV Product of the Year in 2016 – including its own 4K channel and wireless multiroom capability.
Now Virgin TV is getting in on the act with its new Tivo-powered V6 box, also 4K capable, which replaces the ageing first-gen Tivo box introduced in 2011.
Choices, choices. Here we provide a breakdown of what each service currently offers (see panel right). It pays to read the small print – the real cost will depend on which package you subscribe to, whether you take broadband from the same company and in some cases there are additional installation or set-up costs to consider. One thing’s for sure: 4K TV doesn’t come cheap.
Content
Not surprisingly, when it comes to content it’s sport that’s been one of the big drivers behind 4K TV. BT Vision has the rights to show some Premier League, UEFA Champions League and FA Cup matches, Aviva Premiership Rugby and the occasional NBA basketball match in 4K. It’s also shown Motogp in UHD, and says it will “double the number of sports events broadcast in UHD this season”.
Sky shares the Premier League rights with BT and has the rights to 126 matches, while BT has 42, so clearly has the edge as far as football is concerned. It also offers a selection of movies, natural history programmes and popular series such as Fortitude on Sky Atlantic in 4K. Virgin TV includes Netflix 4K, but has no dedicated 4K channel.
There’s an increasing amount of 4K content (of varying quality) on Youtube, Amazon and Netflix of course. Virgin and BT have the advantage here as Netflix is built into their platforms, but you don’t get Netflix on Sky. That said, if your 4K TV includes Netflix and Amazon apps, you’ll be fine.
What about the BBC, you ask? Well, it doesn’t have any firm plans to launch a 4K broadcast channel at the moment.
Instead, it has been running a limited 4K trial on iplayer, the first being a fourminute clip of Planet Earth II.
High Dynamic Range
One interesting thing about the BBC trial is that it is using a specific form of HDR (High Dynamic Range) called Hybrid-log Gamma (HLG). At the moment it’s compatible only with certain Panasonic TVS, although the Corporation says it is working with other TV manufacturers to make it viable with their sets too.
As for HDR generally, none of the set-top boxes have it yet but Virgin says there will be an update to bring HDR to its V6 box next year – and it will be BBC/ HLG compatible. BT says HDR will be included on its new G5 box, with BBC/ HLG support coming via a future firmware update.
Multi-room
The other big feature being promoted by Sky is the Multiscreen capability of its Q service (an extra £12/month), with the Q Silver full-size box able to connect wirelessly to up to four Q Mini boxes in other rooms. Sky Q uses its own wireless mesh system like Sonos, so doesn’t depend on your home network’s speed.
The Multiscreen deal gives you one Q Mini box at no extra cost, and you can add more Q Mini boxes to your set-up for £99 each. And if you have Sky broadband, each Mini box works as a wi-fi booster too. With Sky Multiscreen, you can watch programmes on up to two extra TVS at the same time.
Virgin’s approach to multi-room is not quite so elegant. Yes, you can connect one V6 to another wirelessly over your home network, but Virgin recommends only having two boxes connected this way, with the main one hooked up via an ethernet cable to the Superhub.
If you want to add more set-top boxes, including, say, a first-generation Tivo box, then Virgin recommends using powerline ethernet sockets as a more robust way to connect them. That way you could have up to six Tivo boxes around the house.
BT Vision says it offers a multi-room option, but not for 4K content. It’s also adding Dolby Atmos sound from 2017.
It’s also worth remembering your TV will need to accept the 4K signal via an HDMI 2.0 connection that supports HDCP 2.2 content protection - some older sets don’t support it, so it’s worth checking your TV’S specs first.
Fluid viewing
You may have seen the phrase ‘Fluid viewing’ banded about when talking about Sky Q. This basically means you can start watching a programme on one screen, then pause it and pick it up on another should you so desire.
Both Sky and Virgin offer this facility. Alternatively, you can stream certain shows and download recordings to a tablet to watch at home or elsewhere. BT Vision will add this functionality in early 2017 through its new BT TV app.
In addition, Virgin is offering its own so-called Tellytablet, running Android Marshmallow OS, as a portable 14in Full HD screen with rechargeable battery to use around the home. It’s available for an upfront cost of £299 or as part of Virgin’s Freestyle mobile bundle that spreads the cost over 24 months.
One other area where Virgin claims superiority over Sky Q is in its recording capability: the V6 box has six tuners, so you can record six shows simultaneously and watch a seventh, while Sky Q ‘only’ has four tuners, so you can watch four shows and record a fifth. Whether that matters or not is up to you.
We’ve already tested the BT Vision UHD Youview box, and awarded it four stars, while Sky Q got the full five stars and our 2016 Award for set-top box Product of the Year. We are still waiting for Virgin to install our V6 box, so our official verdict on that will have to wait until we’ve had the chance to test it sometime in the New Year.
Until then, Sky Q is our provider of choice for 4K TV with its dedicated UHD channel and multi-room capability. The good news is that if you have invested in a 4K TV, the amount of content and services available is growing steadily, provided you are prepared to pay for it.