(While all of these devices are themselves capable of playback in 4K with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, HBO Max’s help site says that the service doesn’t currently support Atmos on Chromecast or Xbox.)Īssuming that you can successfully stream Game of Thrones in 4K HDR at home, it might be worth loading up “The Long Night” - the infamous episode that was “too dark” - to see if you have a better viewing experience than you did back in April 2019. And my Xbox One X’s HBO Max app produced 4K video in HDR10, not Dolby Vision, with Dolby Digital Plus audio. When I cast HBO Max from my phone to the Chromecast, I got 4K and Dolby Vision, but Dolby Digital Plus sound instead of Atmos. When I tried using the app on my Chromecast with Google TV, I got 4K but in HDR10 rather than Dolby Vision, albeit with Atmos. The only way I was able to get the show to play in 4K with both Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos sound was by using the HBO Max app on my LG C1 television. I can’t stress enough how much your ability to watch Game of Thrones in these new formats will depend on the particulars of your setup. (Unlike Xbox devices, PlayStation consoles do not support Dolby Atmos or Dolby Vision.) Despite reports that the HBO Max PS5 app was updated with 4K support earlier this year, an HBO Max representative confirmed to Polygon that the apps on PS4 and PS5 currently do not offer 4K or HDR. I loaded up an episode of Game of Thrones on my PS5, and it did not appear to play in 4K or HDR10. The HBO Max help site lists the Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X as 4K-capable platforms, but it does not mention the PlayStation 4 Pro or PlayStation 5. In addition, while HBO Max is accessible on a wide variety of devices, not all of them support 4K. (This kind of feature gating isn’t exclusive to HBO Max 4K streaming is available only in the most expensive Netflix plan.) For one thing, only customers who subscribe to the ad-free tier of HBO Max - which costs 50% more than the version of the service with ads - can stream content in 4K. (HBO Max began supporting these formats at the end of 2020 with the premiere of Wonder Woman 1984, but until Monday, the service’s 4K catalog was limited to films, not TV series - and only about 30 of them.) That will bring the nearly 50-year-old cable TV network up to par with competitors like Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Video, and Hulu, each of which has offered programming in 4K HDR for years. Game of Thrones is the first HBO series to support these cutting-edge formats, and House of the Dragon will be the first one to debut with that support. This marks a major milestone for the company. House of the Dragon, the first Game of Thrones spinoff series, will also be available to stream in these formats when it premieres on Aug. These modern video and audio formats represent the top of the line, as far as the home viewing experience is concerned. HBO Max users worldwide can now stream all eight seasons of Game of Thrones in 4K resolution with HDR color - both Dolby Vision and HDR10 - and Dolby Atmos surround sound, HBO announced Monday. Game of Thrones fans had many problems with the show’s final season, and one of their most vehement criticisms involved a technical issue rather than a concern about plot: Viewers complained that they couldn’t see the action unfolding during the Battle of Winterfell because the episode was just “too dark.” Now, more than three years after the episode aired, HBO is offering a new way to stream the show that may help.
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