Does Spectrum Offer 4K Television and 4K Content?
4K content and 4K television is a rage these days. If you want to experience an accurate and crisp picture quality of 4K content, many will tell you that cable TV is the last place for it. These providers usually use QAM for multimedia content, which does not support 4K content.
Users usually rely on online services to have 4K experience. Thankfully, for those who are hooked on Spectrum cable TV, some providers have stepped up. Charter Spectrum is one of the very first providers to offer and support 4K coverage.
A Word About 4K Television and 4K Ultra HD Technology
4K Ultra HD refers to a TV that offers a resolution that’s 4 times more than that of a regular HDTV (1080p). In other words, it means that over 8 million pixels have been clutched together. While an HDTV only fits 2 million pixels into the same room.
The result? 4K TV gives you a crisp and clear picture quality with HDR and consistent colors. Since each pixel is smaller, it gets a small slice of the larger. On smaller screens, beefing up the resolution doesn’t make much sense. Therefore, the additional pixels have a clearly greater effect on the bigger screen because it gets all of them in.
Spectrum Cable Offers 4K
As mentioned already, Spectrum is one of the first providers to offer 4K channels and 4K content. However, it is not offering 4K content via digital cable. The TV boxes that Spectrum is offering currently with Spectrum TV packages come with a resolution of 1080p.
The highest resolution you will get is 1080i. Therefore, accessing 4K content via the internet would be your best bet. This is how you will get the best of your Spectrum connection.
How to Get Spectrum 4K Service
As we have established already that to enjoy 4K content, you will have to stream it over the internet. To do so, you will have to register with the 4K service by Spectrum. To watch the content in SD and HD quality, you need a set-top box by Spectrum or a DVR.
Read Also: Parental Control Can Keep Your Child Safe Online
For an Apple TV go for 4th gen or Apple TV 4K to watch 4K content. You will need to install the 4K Apple TV app by Spectrum in order to stream 4K content on your Apple TV. The 4K application allows you to access plenty of live channels and lots of 4K content from the on-demand section.
Setting Up Apple TV
You can easily set up Apple TV with Spectrum TV Select and any other plans. Your Apple TV will automatically identify Spectrum’s broadband network. It will also sign to the Spectrum TV app and various other services automatically. You don’t have to enter the login credentials every time and that surely is an advantage.
This Spectrum app is also interlinked with your Apple TV application. Siri is also connected and it will allow you to watch shows, sports, and movies seamlessly. You can watch all this content on all your Apple devices such as iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and so on.
You can command Siri to play TV shows, movies, and live channels on your Apple TV with the 4K app of Spectrum with your Siri remote. Spectrum ensures that you will have a real 4K television experience!
The Downsides
Since 4K television experience is all about seamless streaming, internet speeds play an important role in the process. Spectrum is a result of three companies merging. And all these three companies had different infrastructure and agenda. Therefore, you will get internet speeds according to your location.
Before you invest in an Apple TV, make sure that the internet speeds in your area can keep up. Go for the highest speed tier. Another downside that you may experience is that you won’t be able to toggle the channels seamlessly between SD, HD, and 4K content.
Lastly, recording something on DVR is also a challenge.
Will Cable Take Over 4K?
It’s hard to say exactly when this whole transition will take place. There are still tons of miles to go before cable TV transforms into 4K entirely. At the moment, very few people have invested in a 4K TV. And that’s exactly why most of the cable TV providers are not interested in investing in the 4K technology.
The old systems do not support 4K technology. Therefore, for 4K broadcasting, a costly venture of setting up a new channel chain has to be in place. Cable TV providers would need a substantial upgrade or change in their facilities to keep up with the said new technology.
The considerable fact here is that a significant number of audience is unable to tell the exact difference between HD content, as we see on Netflix, and the real 4K content. This is the main reason why broadcasters don’t feel the need for investing in 4K for the time being.
The shift to 4K technology is not expected anytime soon. It will come but it will take its sweet time.
