NOW TV gets 4K Ultra HD boost option

Previously limited to 720p or 1080p with the Boost add-on, NOW TV is finally giving customers the ability to watch premium Sky content in 4K Ultra HD HDR.

The new Ultra Boost add-on costs £9 per month on top of any NOW TV Memberships, but will then boost any subscribed content to 4K Ultra HD HDR where available.

Ultra Boost also includes Dolby Atmos sound for the first time, ad-free streaming, and customers can stream on up to 3 other screens at the same time.

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NOW Ultra Boost

Customers subscribed to NOW TV will now be able to access some premium Sky TV content in 4K Ultra HD HDR resolution for the first time with the new Ultra Boost add-on.

Priced at £9 per month, it's £3 more expensive than the current Boost add-on, which upgrades viewing resolution from the standard 720p to full 1080p HD for £6 per month.

Boost and the new Ultra Boost plans also remove ads and allow subscribers to stream on more than one device at a time, a useful feature for families.

Ultra Boost also upgrades the sound to Dolby Atmos, although again this is limited to selected content and won't be available on all shows. Where it isn't, more programmes will be boosted to Dolby Digital 5.1, as with the Boost add-on, instead of the standard Stereo sound quality.

Note that for Boost and Ultra Boost, while most on-demand content will be ad-free, viewers will still see adverts on live channels as well as promotional trailers for content available to them.

4K Ultra HD content

Ultra Boost for NOW TV is a long-awaited upgrade that'll no doubt be well received by sports fans, with the Sky Sports pack offering the most Ultra HD content.

4K Ultra HD content on NOW offers:

• 4 Ultra HD Sky Sports channels (Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports F1, plus Sky Sports UHD 1 & 2)
• Selected shows and movies through NOW Entertainment and NOW Cinema packs

To benefit, customers will need to watch from a device that supports 4K Ultra HD as well as a surround sound system or soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos if they also want to enjoy more immersive sound.

Up until now, one of the main differences between Sky TV and NOW TV was the inability to watch Ultra HD content on NOW, especially in the case of choosing the best Sky Sports deals.

So, this recent upgrade narrows the divide between the budget NOW service, and more premium options including Sky Stream and Virgin Stream.

Ultra Boost support

While pleasing to see NOW upgraded, there are some limitations to the service with a number of smart TVs and box-sets with the NOW app not supporting the new 4K add-on.

Notably TalkTalk's current Android-powered TV box doesn't support the Ultra Boost add-on, although customers do get NOW Boost for free with their TalkTalk TV subscription, as well as support for Ultra HD on other platforms including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and BBC iPlayer.

Support for Ultra Boost is also missing from BT and EE TV boxes, as well as Nvidia Shield, NOW's discontinued smart boxes and sticks, including the 4K Smart Box, and a number of smart TVs including Google TV, Sharp, Philips, Panasonic, Bush, Hitachi, Toshiba, JVC, TCL, and cello.

Devices that do support NOW Ultra Boost include LG and Samsung smart TVs, Amazon Fire Cube and Fire TV Stick (live streaming only on the cube), Apple TV 4K 2nd and 3rd generation only, Chromecast Ultra and Chromecast with Google TV, and Roku TV 4K, Roku Streambar, Roku Express 4K, and the Roku Streaming Stick 4K.

With such a big reliance on NOW content, it'll be interesting to see if TalkTalk and BT/EE move to upgrade their boxes to support the new 4K add-on, otherwise they could find themselves pushed even further behind market-leaders Sky and Virgin Media for TV.