Warner Bros.
Surprise Lady 1984 would be the first movie to stream in 4K HDR (UltraHD) on HBO Max when it premieres on the service within the US alongside a theatrical launch on December 25. It can additionally stream with Dolby Atmos audio.
The information was introduced in a tweet by Director Patty Jenkins:
Excited to announce that #WW84 would be the first movie on HBO Max out there in 4K Extremely HD, HDR 10, Dolby Imaginative and prescient AND Dolby Atmos! Can’t wait. IN THEATERS on Dec. twenty fifth and solely streaming within the US on @hbomax. PLEASE discover the largest and highest high quality display you possibly can!!
HBO Max is likely one of the costliest streaming providers at $14.99, however in contrast to nearly all of its opponents, it has not beforehand included any 4K or HDR content material.
For comparability, commercial-free month-to-month subscription prices for competing providers embrace: $6.99 for Disney+ (4K), $9.99 for CBS All Entry (HD), $4.99 for Apple TV+ (4K), $8.99 for Amazon Prime Video (4K), $11.99 for Hulu (4K), $10.99 for Showtime (4K), $8.99 for Starz (4K), or $10 for Peacock (HD).
Solely Netflix has a value level that rivals or beats HBO Max. Netflix’s HD-only subscription, which is equal in high quality to HBO Max up thus far, lately noticed its value raised from $12.99 to $13.99 per thirty days. Nonetheless, Netflix’s 4K-enabled subscription is now $17.99—three {dollars} greater than HBO Max, albeit with an unlimited library of UltraHD content material.
It is essential to notice, although, that even providers like Netflix or Hulu that provide 4K content material have loads of exhibits and films which might be solely out there in HD. The label right here simply means they provide at the least some 4K content material.
4K TVs accounted for a third of shipments within the US even again in 2017, however one analytics agency projected that 60 p.c of latest TV purchases in 2020 could be 4K. In line with surveys from corporations like IHS, round a 3rd of US households already had 4K TVs as of 2019. We’re speculating a bit right here, however there was some knowledge that correlates 4K TV possession with streaming service utilization, so it might be that nicely over a 3rd of HBO Max viewers will get a greater expertise with the movie (and presumably, with another future HBO Max programming as nicely) because of this transfer.
It has been a red-letter week for followers of high-end TV tech like 4K and HDR. Along with this HBO Max announcement, all six movies in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies grew to become out there in 4K HDR elsewhere. It was already reported that the movies could be launched on UltraHD Blu-ray, nevertheless it was much less extensively reported that the bodily launch early this week was accompanied by high quality upgrades in digital storefronts like iTunes and Amazon Video, too.
