Super Bowl LVII: Comcast Will Be First to Air 4K Coverage of 'The Big Game' in Dolby Vision HDR

For the first time ever, Super Bowl LVII will be available in Dolby Vision HDR in the U.S. with Comcast’s Xfinity X1 service delivering 4K HDR coverage to fans homes. According to an announcement from Dolby and Comcast, Xfinity will be the only place where fans can experience FOX’s live 4K coverage of the Super Bowl in Dolby Vision HDR. To view the game in Dolby Vision, Xfinity X1 users can simply say “4K” into their voice remote. Xfinity customers will need a compatible X1 cable box and Dolby Vision capable TV.

Dolby Laboratories is one of the companies at the center of the HDR revolution, as both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are designed to deliver improved next-generation experiences to consumers. And, with Fox Sports delivering NFL Playoff games and Super Bowl LVII in HDR, such high-exposure events are making a difference.

“HDR is really taking off,” Carlos Watanabe, director, pay TV and streaming, Dolby, told SVG earlier this week. “Fox also delivered all the FIFA World Cup games and selected college basketball, college football, and MLB games in HDR. Hopefully, that will stimulate other broadcasters and a lot of producers to deliver more content in HDR. We know that is happening, because we have been talking to some of them and they are all studying it and getting their workflow ready.”

Dolby Vision is agnostic to the production format and resolution, according to Watanabe. Dolby inserts the frame-by-frame metadata that describes the video on the transmission encoder. Comcast can then receive an HDR source and convert it into PQ HDR10 with the Dolby Vision metadata, which is what goes out to the consumer. “It’s just another step to the encoder; They don’t have to add another external box,” he adds.

Wantanabe says the process is rather straightforward with the Dolby Vision Live Distribution Processing analyzing every frame and generating metadata describing that particular frame. When the signal reaches a Dolby Vision–enabled display, it will use the image metadata to map the signal to the capability of that particular display, optimizing the experience for the consumer.

“With static metadata, you just send specific mapping information for a generic display type,” he says. “With dynamic metadata (i.e., Dolby Vision), the display dynamically creates its own customized mappings. It doesn’t matter if the panel costs $400 or $2,000; Dolby Vision will deliver a consistent and best image for that particular display.”

CLICK HERE for more of SVG’s coverage of Super Bowl LVII in Dolby Vision HDR.

Ken Kerschbaumer contributed to this article.