Jordan O'BrienFollowing the release of Planet Earth II in 4K HDR, the BBC has confirmed that Blue Planet II will also be made available in the immersive formats. But how exactly do you watch Blue Planet II in 4K HDR?
In order to watch Blue Planet II in 4K HDR, users will need to own a TV that will support the hybrid log gamma (HLG) HDR format, while also being 4K compatible. Thankfully, there are now far more TVs that fit this description than there were when Planet Earth II was released in 4K HDR. In fact, there are around 400 TVs that are capable of enjoying the new release of Blue Planet II.
Sets from Panasonic, LG, Philips, Hisense, Sony, and Roku, are listed as compatible with the 4K stream, although not all will support HLG. The BBC does note that the ‘vast majority’ will, however.
“Blue Planet II is the first programme we’ve shown in such high quality and perfectly demonstrates how the BBC is pushing the boundaries of digital innovation,” Matthew Postgate, chief technology and product officer for the BBC’s design and engineering team says.
Unfortunately, this new release isn’t a precursor to the launch of a wider 4K streaming service from the BBC. The broadcaster notes that this is simply just a test, although it’s a significantly longer test than what was available alongside Planet Earth II. While that series offered just six glorious minutes of footage, Blue Planet II will be available in 4K HDR in its entirety – meaning all ten episodes.
To watch the series users will need to access BBC iPlayer on one of the compatible TV sets after December 10, when the final episode airs on BBC One. They will then be able to enjoy the entire series for the next 30 days, before it is pulled from iPlayer and will inevitably be made available as a 4K Blu-ray.