If you are a Comcast Xfinity subscriber with an Xi6 box or one of Comcast’s Xumo streaming boxes, you are in for a serious Super Bowl treat on Sunday, February 9, 2025 when Taylor Swift the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, Louisiana for Super Bowl LIX.
According to Comcast, this year‘s big game will be delivered in an “enhanced 4K format.” To be frank, Comcast is underselling the visual and auditory delight that many of its customers will have on tap. What we’re talking about here is 4K resolution with Dolby Vision HDR AND Dolby Atmos surround sound.
Yeah. That’s happening.
While Fox will capture Super Bowl LIX in 1080p, the video feed will be upscaled to 4K using bleeding-edge professional-grade equipment. The video signal will then get Dolby’s proprietary HDR processing, enabling a Dolby Vision HDR signal to be delivered to capable TVs, maximizing the HDR impact for a TV’s individual capabilities. In other words, the game should look nothing short of stunning.
Adding to the visual impact will be a Dolby Atmos surround sound signal providing anyone with Dolby Atmos-capable TV’s, soundbars, and home theater systems an in-stadium sonic symphony sure to add to the realism of the game. Be sure to keep an ear out for Taylor Swift cheering from the upper left quadrant of your living room.
Perhaps just as exciting as the high resolution, HDR, and Atmos surround experience is the fact that Comcast expects to deliver the signal at 30 Mb per second, which points to a less compressed video signal with deep color information that will aid in the overall clarity and sharpness of the picture.
To ensure that high bit rate signal is rock solid for the entire game, Comcast has a proprietary DASH standard with “edge delivery” mechanism to ensure mass deployment of the high-quality experience goes off without a hitch.
To get the full experience, Comcast customers will need a 4K TV, preferably with Dolby Vision (though not required for HDR) and Dolby-enabled devices such as the Xi6 or Xumo Stream Box.
Anyone uncertain about whether they have the equipment necessary should check with Comcast, as there may still be time to get the equipment ahead of the big game.
