Hulu kicks off 4K Ultra HD streaming with original programming and Bond films

By Kris Wouk December 3, 2016

hulu launches 4k streaming spectre snow scene — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Both Netflix and Amazon have been offering select content in 4K Ultra HD for quite some time now and comparatively, Hulu has been slow to follow. Now the streaming service has finally jumped on the 4K bandwagon, as The Verge reports, but there isn’t a wealth of content at launch, and ways to watch are limited.

As usual, you’ll need to make sure that you have a 4K-ready TV and fast enough internet to support a 4K stream — Hulu says it requires a minimum of 13 megabits per second for 4K streaming — but you’ll also need supported hardware. Right now, only two devices are capable of streaming 4K from Hulu: the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One S game consoles.

If you’re fortunate enough to have the right hardware to watch Hulu’s new 4K streams, you’ll also find content is limited. The bulk of available content right now consists of Hulu original series like 11.22.63, The Path, Chance, and Shut Eye. If you’re a fan of Hulu’s original programming, this is great, but otherwise the offerings seem somewhat lackluster. Unless, that is, you’re a James Bond fan.

In addition to Hulu originals, a total of 20 Bond films from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer catalog are available in 4K. This includes the recent Spectre, and classics like Goldfinger, From Russia With Love, and Dr. No, among others.

Though there isn’t much here at the start, it’s telling that Hulu has finally entered the 4K game at all. It’s a fairly safe bet that more content will be available sooner rather than later, and it shouldn’t be too long before the service offers 4K content on other devices as well. Whether HDR (high dynamic range) content is on the way as well is currently unknown, but with both Netflix and Amazon supporting it, it seems likely that Hulu would like to offer it eventually.

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Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

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