Sky Q subscribers will finally start to receive video content with high dynamic range (HDR) by the middle of the week.
A report from Forbes writer John Archer, who also reviews home cinema equipment for us at Trusted Reviews, brings word of the long-delayed update, which was supposed to arrive in 2019.
Archer says Sky had tipped him off that “big news” was coming, but over the weekend the broadcaster’s own press release seemingly confirmed the imminent HDR rollout.
That press release says the launch is coming on Wednesday May 27 with support for newer Sky Q 1TB UHD and 2TB boxes. Unfortunately, the company says ‘some of our older Sky Q boxes do not support HDR.’
Related: Sky Q review 2020
Those incompatible boxes appear to be the version one Sky Q devices, without external power supplies won’t be compatible with the HDR roll-out. All 2TB boxes should be compatible, the report says. The company is telling users they can upgrade to a Sky Q box if they don’t have a current UHD description, but will not be upgrading current Sky Q boxes to those compatible with HDR.
Here’s the information from the leaked press release: “If a customer’s box doesn’t support UHD, follow the normal process to upgrade the customer to a UHD subscription. As part of this upgrade the customer will then receive an HDR compatible box. If a customer has an old UHD box that doesn’t support HDR, we’re not currently able to upgrade it to a newer HDR-compatible model. We’ll look to support this as we introduce more great HDR content on Q.”
The long-awaited rollout isn’t going to mean a flood of immediately-available HDR content. There’ll be a trio of nature programmes available on demand, to coincide with the new Sky Nature Channel: Gangs Of Lemur Island, Pridelands: Wilderness Reborn, and Malawi Wildlife Rescue.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.