Earlier this week, Netflix confirmed that it will begin offering AMC’s milestone meth drama Breaking Bad in 4K resolution with 5.1 surround sound sometime in June, according to Pocket-Lint. The rumor was finally confirmed back in December when it was revealed that Netflix already had a plan in place to start piping crystal-clear, Ultra HD video into living rooms in January. The news comes about one month after Netflix began offering 4K streams of the second season of its own prized original series House of Cards, as well as a handful of nature documentaries from filmmaker/photographer Louie Schwartzberg.
Sony, the license-holder of the series that racked up 10 Emmys, has expressed interest in remastering the show in sparkling 4K as far back as January 2013, when the Japanese corporation announced that it had plans to up-convert a number of titles from its library, including Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, and Glory. The reveal came not long after Sony’s unveiling of multiple 4K-ready TVs at 2013’s International CES. A year later, Sony approached 2014’s CES in a similar fashion, pulling back the curtains on three recently developed Ultra HD television lines and a new multi-tiered approach to bolstering 4K viewing choices.
Releasing 4K versions of one of Netflix’s most popular offerings is just one of Sony’s strategies for broadening the 4K landscape (and hopefully evangelizing a few 4K converts along the way). Netflix’s new 4K viewing option is offered at no extra cost, but you’ll need a 2014 4K TV that’s equipped with the latest Netflix app, and able to decode the HEVC (h.265) stream that Netflix uses to deliver the content.
The move may inspire fans to return to the breakout series that captivated the country and jammed up Twitter feeds with its dramatic final episodes.
