It’s finally time. DIRECTV yesterday announced that the first ever live 4K broadcast in the US will start providing limited live 4K service, starting with the Masters Tournament on April 7.
Here’s the stuff you really need to know:
You’ll need the right equipment.
You must have an HR54 Genie DVR. This is the only DVR that will work, and since you can only have one Genie DVR in the home, you’ll need to retire your current Genie if you upgrade.
Plus, you must have a DIRECTV 4K Ready Smart TV or C61K 4K Genie Mini Client. The HR54 will not output 4K, so you will need either the Smart TV or 4K client.
If you are using a DIRECTV 4K Ready TV, You will need a wired network connection. The best choice is coaxial cable from the satellite feed and a DECA Broadband to convert to Ethernet.
If you are using a C61K client, your TV must support HDMI 2.0a and HDCP 2.2.
You will also need either the Premier or Ultimate package in order to get 4K channels.
What you DON’T need
For this broadcast, you won’t need a special LNB. It’s expected that in the future you will need this, but the LNBs are not in general distribution and aren’t needed for this particular broadcast.
Looking forward to the future
DIRECTV has officially announced that they will have a full-time live 4K channel, as soon as mid-April. It will contain 4K content from the Audience Network and other sources. No word on how soon you’ll need to upgrade to a new LNB for that, but as I said those new LNBs aren’t in wide distribution anyway. We’ll have them at Solid Signal as soon as we can.
So, 4K junkies, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for! Get started by shopping at Solid Signal now!
