BT Sport Ultimate is bringing HDR sports matches to the UK

Looking to up your game when it comes to high-quality sports broadcasts? BT Sport Ultimate is the first UK TV channel to broadcast live matches in high dynamic range – or, as you may know it, HDR – promising enhanced images for all of your favourite sporting events.

Technically a rebrand of the existing BT Sport 4K UHD channel, the newly-named BT Sport Ultimate will be able to show off broadcasts in Ultra HD and HDR – while BT TV viewers will even get Dolby Atmos to let them enjoy the atmosphere at venues in immersive surround sound.

While most new TVs these days are shouting about 4K resolution for sharper, more detailed images, HDR is what makes those extra pixels really count. With an expanded range of colours, and sharper contrast between them, everything from the grass courts of Wimbledon to the multicoloured jerseys of the football World Cup will jump out more than ever.

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Where, when, and how

The first live HDR match on BT Sport Ultimate will be Liverpool v Manchester City on Sunday 4, August 2019.

You'll need a screen that supports these picture and audio formats though – so make sure you have a 4K TV capable of HDR before you start squinting to see the picture difference, not to mention a BT TV set-top box, which comes with BT TV Total Entertainment, Max, or Max HD subscriptions. You'll need Dolby Atmos speakers to get the benefit of the surround sound audio too.

While HDR works slightly differently on mobile – upping the brightness in colourful sections of the screen – EE 5G pay monthly subscribers will be able to see the enhanced picture on the BT Sport app too. 

A press release for the channel launch says BT Sport Ultimate will "soon extend to other BT Sport customers, such as EE 4G pay monthly customers and those who watch via the BT Sport app or via Sky".

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