Thanks to Molotov TV, which has decided to broadcast “France TV Sport 4K UHD”, watching Roland Garros in 4K is finally possible, regardless of its operator. This is excellent news, since Roland Garros in 4K has always been reserved for a tiny part of the population.
Roland Garros is a paradox. For ten years, the French tournament has been used by broadcasters to experiment with new things. 3D, 4K, 8K, 360 degrees, multi-cam… Roland Garros is not just a tennis tournament, it’s also a land of technological experimentation.
However, if the technical teams have a lot of fun on site, the general public only rarely has access to these exploits. 10 years after starting to capture Roland Garros in 4K for the first time, France Télévisions has still not found a way to broadcast it in this optimal quality on all stations. To tell the truth, in comparison with the major football events (Champions League, Euro, World Cup…), Roland Garros is painful to see. The good news is that Molotov TV has found a solution to this problem, while waiting for France Télévisions and the operators to find real common ground.
For the first time, Roland Garros in 4K is available in Molotov
As in 2022, Roland Garros in 2023 is co-broadcast by two groups. France Télévisions takes care of most of the matches (France 2, France 3, France 4 and the france.tv site), Amazon Prime Video takes care of the night sessions. Amazon has not yet said if its matches will be offered in 4K (it was partially the case last year, there were many technical problems), France TV offers him an event stream which responds to the name of ” France TV Sports 4K UHD”. Problem, not many people broadcast it, as reported by the specialized site Ultra-K. Here are all the ways to access the channel:
- Directly through the DTT, but only in Paris, Nantes and Toulouse, subject to having compatible equipment. This experiment has been going on for years, but still does not extend to other cities.
- From satellite for subscribers Fransat (channel 444).
- For operators, only the ISP OrneTHD is at the rendezvous. Orange, Bouygues, SFR and Free have decided not to broadcast the France TV channel, although they offer TF1 4K and M6 4K during major football events.
- On the web for the first time, thanks to Molotov TV. Once again, the application and the france.tv site do not offer 4K streams. myCANAL is also deprived of the 4K stream.
The only major limit: as it did with TF1 4K, Molotov reserves France TV 4K for its paying subscribers. So count 5.99 euros for a month of Roland Garros in 4K, even if there is currently a promotion to benefit from a month for less than one euro. Molotov offers a 4K SDR and 4K HDR (HDR10+) stream, depending on your affinity and your TV. The sound is also Dolby Atmos.
If Amazon is indeed streaming Roland Garros in 4K, then tennis and tech fans will for the first time be able to watch Roland Garros in full quality, worthy of a TV released in 2023. It was about time, even if we can only deplore that the efforts do not come from the operators themselves.
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