According to The Verge, CBS Sports Digital confirmed Thursday that the 2021 Superbowl will not be streamed in 4K or HDR. This year is CBS’ turn to broadcast the game, scheduled for Feb. 7, and was supposed to be the first time that the company would stream a game in 4K/HDR. However, it has had to change those plans due to production limitations caused by COVID-19.
This marks a bit of a backwards step for the Superbowl, because it was available in 4K/HDR for the first time last year. It was Fox Sports’ turn then, and that company has more experience in 4K/HDR streaming than CBS, having provided it for a number of games in 2019. But because so much has to be done remotely this year thanks to COVID-19, CBS wasn’t able to catch up. The company has assured us that it is focusing on reliability and latency to make sure that its streams, while not 4K/HDR quality, will still be of excellent quality.
