4K and HDR Streaming: What Your Setup Actually Needs
A 4K TV alone doesn't guarantee a 4K picture. A few other pieces need to line up first.
4K and HDR are two separate things that often get bundled together in marketing. 4K refers to resolution — the number of pixels. HDR refers to contrast and color range. A setup can support one without the other.
What has to line up
- A TV that actually supports 4K and/or HDR, not just a large screen
- A streaming device or Smart TV app capable of decoding 4K/HDR content
- An HDMI cable rated for the bandwidth involved — see our HDMI cable guide
- A stable, sufficiently fast internet connection
Why the picture sometimes looks average anyway
If any one piece in that chain doesn't support 4K or HDR, playback quietly falls back to a lower quality without necessarily telling you why. A slow or unstable connection has the same effect — see our guide on internet speed for streaming.
Checking what your setup supports
Your TV and streaming device's settings menus will usually list supported resolutions and HDR formats. Our Devices page covers the platform categories Apollo Group TV is designed to run on.
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