natursports/123RFIn recent years, live sports have lagged conspicuously behind the rest of streaming entertainment. Lack of availability and reliability has plagued the over-the-top sports market, but today brought news of another step forward. Sony Electronics has announced its participation in successful streaming trials of live 4K sporting events, including the first live North American soccer broadcast in 4K by Univision Deportes.
The events were streamed live and in 4K via the NeuLion Digital Platform and were delivered over-the-top exclusively to Sony 4K HDR Ultra HD TVs with integrated NeuLion 4K Streaming SDK. Availability was limited to select audiences in New York, Florida, and California. Trials began in early 2016 and are expected to continue through the summer.
Univision Deportes Network (UDN) is the number one Spanish-language sports network in the world, and participated in this round of trials by producing the groundbreaking soccer event referenced above. The match took place at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida on February 10 and pitted Mexico against Senegal in an international friendly.
“Sony 4K HDR Ultra HD TVs are the logical choice for these 4K events because with our experience in 4KHDR shooting, editing, recording, storage, playback, and transmission, we understand 4K display technology like no other company,” said Sunil Nayyar, Sony’s Director of Product Marketing, TV, and Projectors for North America. “These 4K live streaming tests reveal that the streaming and broadcast of live 4K sports is on its way to consumers in the near future. And Sony’s line-up of 4KHDR Ultra HD TVs is ready today.”
Recent months have brought quite a bit of news on the 4K sports front, as the NBA aired its first game in the format back in January — though it wasn’t streamed and was available only in the U.K. and Canada.
Hopefully, the momentum will continue and Mr. Nayyar’s “near future” timetable will hold true — there are a whole lot of rabid sports fans out there that are champing at the bit to watch their teams tilt with rival squads in glorious 4K.
Belkin drops a $50 mount for iPhone video calls on Apple TV 4K
We've previously written that the addition of FaceTime and Continuity Camera to Apple TV 4K is a perfect excuse to have some sort of tripod for your iPhone in the living room. Belkin just took that idea and made it a little easier (and less expensive than our idea).
Enter the appropriately named iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K. Retailing for just under $50, it's ... well, it's a MagSafe iPhone mount to use in conjunction with video calls on your Apple TV 4K. No cables required. No power needed. Just a simple way to position your iPhone to use when on FaceTime, Zoom, Webex, or the "Sing" feature on Apple Music.
If you don’t see CBS in 4K on YouTube TV, try this
A quick heads up if you have the 4K add-on for YouTube TV but aren't seeing the option to watch Super Bowl 2024 in 4K on CBS: It's likely because you're using a custom sort on your live channel listings. (Which is something you might have done if you want to hide YouTube TV channels that you never watch.) That'a bad enough for the game itself, and it also means you won't be able to enjoy the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 4K.
This is a known problem — and has been for years — anytime YouTube TV adds a new channel to the listing. If you're not using the default sort on the live channel listings, a new channel will appear at the bottom of the listings, which is bad enough. But worse is that it's hidden by default until you actively go in and unhide it.
TCL’s giant 115-inch QM89 is the world’s largest 4K mini-LED TV
If you're going to unveil the world's largest mini-LED TV, CES 2024 in Las Vegas seems like an appropriate venue at which to do it. The honor goes to TCL's new QM89 -- an absolutely massive 115-inch 4K, quantum dot mini-LED TV. TCL announced the QM89 along with the rest of its 2024 TV lineup and its 2024 soundbars.
First Look at TCL’s 115-Inch QM89 TV | The World’s Largest Mini-LED TV at CES
