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BT Sport's iOS and Apple TV Apps to Stream Champions League Final in HDR

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BT Sport has announced its first ever live mobile HDR stream will be the Champions League final in Madrid between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool on Saturday, June 1. BT Sport subscribers will be able to watch the match in HDR via the BT Sport app for iPhone and Apple TV.

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HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. HDR videos provide a broader range of colors and luminance compared to sub-HDR content, and the format also supports quality video playback on a wide variety of screen sizes.

Logged-in subscribers of the BT Sport app on an iPhone X, XS, XS Max, Apple TV 4K, or iPad Pro (2nd and 3rd generation) will be served with a tile on the homepage so they know the Champions League soccer final is available to them. Users without a HDR-capable device or logged-out users will see the normal tile on the homepage without any reference to HDR.

To AirPlay the match, users will need a capable TV to watch in HDR. The vast majority of 4K TVs sold in the last few years also support HDR. The app will detect HDR compatibility and serve the appropriate stream.

The Champions League final will also be available to non-BT Sport subscribers for free, though not in HDR. It will be shown on the mobile and large-screen apps, on BTSport.com and on YouTube. BT Sport's live coverage begins at 7pm on BT Sport 2 and BT Sport 4K UHD.

Apple debuted HDR support with the "Super Retina" display in the 2017 iPhone X, which became the first HDR OLED display incorporated into one of Apple's smartphones.

Apple also lists the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone XR as supporting HDR, but the displays for these devices are not the same as the Super Retina display on Apple's OLED iPhones, so any HDR content played on the 8 or 8 Plus isn't true HDR.

BT Sport claims its live HDR coverage of the Champions League Final on a mobile device is a "world first," and says that going forward it plans to show up to 70 live sporting events in High Dynamic Range per season.

Article Link: BT Sport's iOS and Apple TV Apps to Stream Champions League Final in HDR
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/05/29/bt-sport-app-champions-league-final-hdr/
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Newjackboy said:
Is it possible to airplay from the iOS app? I thought that was blocked?
Click to expand...
Yes, depending on your subscription...

Can I cast BT Sport?
BT Sport subscribers can stream the BT Sport app to a TV - it works with both Chromecast and Apple's Airplay and Apple TV as long as you are on the same wi-fi network.

You won't be able to cast if your subscription is an EE Mobile subscription without the large-screen BT Sport App bolt-on, a BT Mobile deal without BT Broadband, or a BT Business package.
 
Vado said:
It's embracing for NowTV/Sky that BT are dong this with their iOS/tvOS app and they have the absolute eyesore and utterly shambolic offering that is the NowTV app.
Click to expand...

Honestly couldn't agree more. How Sky are so far back on NowTV its beyond belief. They don't even stream it in 1080p for crying out loud.

This is awesome for BT to offer however.
 
So... does anybody know if the HDR version will be available to those who are on a 3-month free trial of the service? I'm in the US and don't have much desire for anything other than this game, so I'd like to just kill the trial after it's over...
 
If my Apple TV is set to 4K HDR then the picture isn’t smooth at all on the CL final HDR stream. If I set it to 1080p HDR then it’s fine? Wonder what the difference is?
 
kendo88 said:
If my Apple TV is set to 4K HDR then the picture isn’t smooth at all on the CL final HDR stream. If I set it to 1080p HDR then it’s fine? Wonder what the difference is?
Click to expand...

That could be due to your connection not being quick enough. Does it improve if you pause and allow it to buffer further?
 
Xenc said:
That could be due to your connection not being quick enough. Does it improve if you pause and allow it to buffer further?
Click to expand...

Don’t think it’s connection, as the BT had both a SDR and HDR 50fps stream at 1080p.

If I set Apple TV to 1080p HDR, I was getting the 1080p HDR stream and the motion was perfect.

If I set Apple TV to 4K HDR, I was still getting the 1080p HDR stream but motion was poor.

I tried it on my Xbox One X and it was perfect
 
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Xenc said:
How frustrating! The connection is usually the culprit as 4K demands four times the bandwidth than 1080p, though it's strange that the Xbox could handle it with no issue. Was it the same 4K stream on Xbox too?

I wonder if this could help you: About frame rate and dynamic range matching on Apple TV

Good luck!
Click to expand...

There was no 4K stream, that’s the thing. The highest quality stream BT had was a 1080p HDR 50fps stream.

So in theory, changing Apple TV output from 4K to 1080p shouldn’t have made a difference at all, as it’s the same stream. I guess the Apple TV is having to upscale the content though to output at 4K.

Also, the BT sport app seems to completely ignore the ATV’s match frame and range settings. If I set it to output 4K HDR, which is my default, the the BT app interface and any stream I play, even though the source is SDR most of the time, the ATV is still outputting HDR. So BT completely ignore the match settings
 
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The few 4K sports I've seen on Directv's channels 105 and 106 have been disappointing to say the least. Way too many long shots (especially for football). IMO, I would rather watch sports in HD. I think 4K shines in movies, maybe because they are prerecorded.
 
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