Peacock embraces Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR and Atmos for reside sports activities
As reside sports activities turns into a much bigger focus for the Peacock streaming service, so does the image and sound high quality.
To that finish, the NBC-owned service plans to help Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR and Dolby Atmos object-based encompass sound for sporting occasions. Peacock will roll out these codecs for its Sunday Night time Soccer, MLB, and NBA protection over the course of 2026, together with help for Dolby Imaginative and prescient 2 and Dolby AC-4 audio.
Dolby Imaginative and prescient improve
In comparison with commonplace dynamic vary video, excessive dynamic vary permits for higher shade element, significantly in highlights and shadows, making the image look extra vibrant total. Dolby Imaginative and prescient is a proprietary HDR format that may additional optimize the image on a scene-by-scene foundation, whereas additionally considering the properties of the TV.
Whereas Peacock has already provided some content material in HDR, together with NBA video games and its 2024 Summer time Olympics protection, it’s now committing to help Dolby Imaginative and prescient throughout a wider vary of sporting occasions. That help will even prolong to Dolby Imaginative and prescient 2, which provides additional optimizations based mostly on the kind of TV and different components resembling room lighting.
The upshot is that sports activities on Peacock ought to look extra life like, at the least on suitable TVs. Whereas many present TVs supply Dolby Imaginative and prescient help, none with Dolby Imaginative and prescient 2 can be found right now, though we’ll probably see a bunch of them introduced at CES this week.
On the audio facet, Dolby Atmos takes benefit of the upward-firing audio system on some soundbars and multi-channel house theater methods to carry a dimension of peak to encompass sound. Peacock has already provided Atmos for its Olympics and NBA protection, however now it’s committing to the format for soccer and baseball as effectively.
Sports activities focus
The Dolby Imaginative and prescient announcement matches with Peacock’s latest pivot towards reside sports activities. It’s now a serious supply of NBA and WNBA protection, and it’ll start carrying MLB video games on Sundays this yr. That’s along with the streamer’s current sports activities protection, which incorporates English Premier League, Notre Dame Soccer, and a few Huge Ten soccer and basketball. (There’s no phrase on Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Atmos reaching these sporting occasions.)
The infusion of reside sports activities was considered one of Peacock’s justifications for a serious value hike in July, from $8 to $11 per 30 days for the ad-supported plan, and from $14 to $17 per 30 days with out adverts. A minimum of now you’ll get a lift in image and audio high quality to go along with the upper costs.
