Skip to main content

Epix plans to launch 4K content this year, possibly its own streaming service

Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you have been shopping for a TV lately, you’ve probably noticed that unless you’re looking at TVs with screens under 32 inches, most models for sale these days are 4K TVs. Unfortunately, content has yet to catch up, leaving many of us watching plain old HD content on our fancy new 4K screens, though this situation is slowly improving as more content providers add 4K support. Now Epix has announced that subscribers will be able to watch its content in 4K starting later this year, according to Variety.

The MGM-owned network has yet to formally announce plans for when this content will arrive, but customers will be able to watch on-demand via the Epix apps available on various platforms like the Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV. Obviously not all of the network’s content will be available in 4K, but early titles will include Star Trek Beyond, Transformers: The Last Knight, and the James Bond movies Die Another Day, Goldeneye, and The Spy Who Loved Me. The Epix original series Get Shorty will also be available in 4K.

Recommended Videos

While 4K does look noticeably better than HD content, you’ll notice an even bigger difference with high dynamic range (HDR), which boosts contrast and offers more vivid colors. While Epix has yet to commit to it, Sahran did hint at eventually supporting HDR as well.

Epix has other big plans moving forward as well. While it may not be this year, the company is considering launching its own stand-alone streaming service, as plenty of other cable networks have done. Similar to HBO Now and HBO Go, this would give customers who subscribe to the network through cable or a streaming service like Sling TV, and viewers who would rather pay for Epix on its own, options to watch the network’s content.

This wouldn’t exactly be unfamiliar territory for Epix, which dipped an early toe into the streaming waters by licensing its content to Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu over the years. “We were born with digital DNA,” Epix’s vice president and general manager Monty Sahran told Variety. “People forget that we were there first.”

Kris Wouk
Former Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
TCL’s NXTFrame gallery TV launches with a little help from Bang & Olufsen
TCL NXTFrame A3000W Pro.

TCL has released its answer to Samsung's popular
Buy at Amazon
. Known as the TCL NXTFrame, it comes in 55-, 65-, 75-, and 85-inch sizes, as well as in both a regular and "pro" version, with prices starting at $1,500. The three smallest sizes are available starting August 5, with the 85-inch models showing up in stores and online in September. TCL claims the NXTFrame is the world’s thinnest “All-In-One” TV, with a 1.1-inch deep chassis on the 55- to 75-inch models.

The NXTFrame and NXTFrame Pro are identical in terms of the TV portion, with the Pro models getting the added benefit of a 3.1.2 soundbar and wireless subwoofer system that has been co-engineered by TCL and Bang & Olufsen (B&O). TCL says that the audio system uses B&O’s BeoSonic,"a proprietary digital interface, which allows customers to seamlessly customize and refine their sound experience."

Read more
Sling TV begins some limited streaming in 4K resolution
Sling TV app icon on Apple TV.

Sling TV — the third-largest of the live-streaming services in the U.S. — announced today in a blog post that it will stream some live sports in 4K resolution. It joins the likes of YouTube TV and Fubo with that feature, though it has limitations that the other services do not.

All of the services are limited in what they can stream in 4K — it's ultimately up to the source material. But Sling TV has an added limitation in that the higher resolution is only available in certain locations.

Read more
Nit Nerds News: Exciting new Apple TV 4K features, new Xbox consoles
Nit Nerds News

Exciting New Apple TV 4K Features, New Xbox Consoles | Nit Nerds News

Today on Nit Nerds News: New Apple tvOS features that will freshen up existing Apple TV 4K boxes. Updated Xbox consoles are a bit of a letdown for home entertainment. Asus has unveiled some eye-popping new PC monitors.

Read more