Inside Fox Sports' Upcoming Season of 4K HDR Distribution of Thursday Night Football Fox's Davies: Perfecting (and converting) the 2020 color space has been the critical objective By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, September 20, 2019 - 1:14 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
As you've likely heard by now - and as was officially announced by the network on Friday morning - Fox Sports will be distributing this season's Thursday Night Football NFL package in 4K UHD (Ultra High Definition) and HDR.
Beginning with next Thursday's matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, Fox Sports' production and operations team will produce TNF games in 1080p/High Dynamic Range (HDR) and upconvert the image from there to 4K/HDR.
Fox has been working on trialing these production methods dating back to the preseason and has done as much as they can behind-the-scenes during the first two Thursday Night Football games this season, which were held in Carolina (on Sept. 13) and Jacksonville (on Sept. 19). Fox has actually produced the first two Thursday Night Football games in 2020 color space (the designated color space for ultra-high-definition TV; HD displays conform to Rec. 709), just not distributing that anywhere for the public to see.
Come next week, the full-fledged production will feature high-end cameras from Sony, including the HDC-4300, HDC-5500, and HDC-P50 compact POV system. The truck will also leverage EVS XT4Ks for ingest, playout, and replay. All pieces of technology that Fox is familiar with.
Keeping everything sort of in line with what we normally do was the order of the day, says Mike Davies, SVP, technical and field operations for Fox Sports. The bottom line is, when you do these types of things, you want to make sure that you preserve what's great about your production, first and foremost. That is everything from super motion cameras to the ability to record everything to making sure that you have all of your POVs - like pylons and skycams and wireless cameras - that all those things aren't compromised. Insofar as to what an ultra-high definition show looks like? Hopefully it looks very much the same as what we would do in standard dynamic range.
In the compound will be the lead truck Game Creek Encore, which Fox Sports has plenty of experience working in (the truck has been with Fox at the U.S. Open golf championships since 2015 and has also played a key role at various NFC Championship Games and MLB All-Star Games). With that familiarity with their facilities, Fox Sports' engineering team - including VP, Field Operations & Engineering Kevin Callahan and Technical Producer Matt Battaglia - was able to spend extra time in their Fox Sports Lab experimenting and testing out some new equipment for this project.
Much of that work went into perfecting conversion gear that would change signals from SDR (standard dynamic range) to HDR and vice versa while making sure that everything remained true in terms of color quality in both color spaces. Fox Sports worked closely with THUMBWAR, a creative and technical consulting agency based in Los Angeles, on the color space work with key contributions from vendors like AJA Video Systems and Colorfront, who helped with the conversion scheme. Sony also provided their conversion equipment to pair with their arsenal of cameras working the games.
Those conversions are critical not only to the upconvert from 1080p to 4K, but also in helping balance out the fact that while the game itself is produced in HDR, the pregame and postgame shows taking place onsite with Fox and NFL Network are still being done in SDR.
According to Davies, keeping those worlds as similar and balanced as possible - while letting them shine in their own right - is critical. It's been a great team, and if we measure our success by the lack of engineering issues, then it's been so far, so good.
Thursday Night Football 4K games will be available on select cable distributors and Virtual MVPDs like, including DirecTV, Altice Optimum, Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, TVision, and fuboTV, while also streaming through the Fox Sports and FOX NOW apps on Apple 4K TV and select Roku sticks*.
*Roku devices that support 4K are Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere+, Roku Streaming Stick+, Roku Ultra, and 4K TV models with Roku OS built in.
Fox Sports' 2019 Thursday Night Football schedule begins Sept. 26 with the Philadelphia Eagles at the Green Bay Packers.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, today unveiled its educational presentations for the 2026 NAB Show. This year SMPTE will ...
18/03/2026
Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, gaming, and more, today ann...
18/03/2026
Digital Alert Systems
Preview
2026 NAB Show
April 19 - 22
Booth C3452
At the 2026 NAB Show, Digital Alert Systems will showcase Version 6.0 of its DASDEC ...
18/03/2026
Setplex today announced that it will showcase its complete, fully integrated Zapflex platform for the first time at the 2026 NAB Show, introducing powerful new ...
18/03/2026
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES TO THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION THAT QUALIFIED OR MAY HAVE QUALIFIED AS INSIDE INFORMATION WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 7(1) OF THE ...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking DP for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Director of Photography for Low Budget Dramedy Fe...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy Feature Film- I...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Location, Sound for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Location/Sound for Low Budget Dramed...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Film - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Dramedy Fe...
18/03/2026
Calrec Redefines Broadcast Workflows at NAB 2026 with its Most Powerful Hardware...
18/03/2026
Oscar Nominated Two People Exchanging Saliva Posted with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio handle...
18/03/2026
Boston Conservatory Presents Celebrated Musical Satire Urinetown Performances for this Center Stage production will take place at Boston Conservatory Theater ...
18/03/2026
Charlie Puth Joins Switched On Pop at Berklee NYC The Berklee alum spoke with host and Berklee NYC professor Charlie Harding for a live taping, answering audi...
17/03/2026
NASA+'s Rebecca Sirmons and Brittany Brown offer unique look at live streami...
17/03/2026
The transition to IP has fundamentally reshaped professional media infrastructures. Video, audio, and increasingly metadata now circulate as independent, precis...
17/03/2026
Live sports streaming can push every element in your video delivery chain to its limit, exposing every potential weakness in seconds. When the Super Bowl, the O...
17/03/2026
Texas Athletics sought to modernize its media production, enhance fan experience...
17/03/2026
Ikegami USA will demonstrate the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast...
17/03/2026
TNA Wrestling and iHeartMedia announces a new multi-platform collaboration that will integrate iHeartMedia across TNA's premium live events, weekly televisi...
17/03/2026
The goal was to transform Hard Rock Stadium into a global leader in sports and e...
17/03/2026
Spectrum has announced the launch of its new Multiview feature in the Spectrum TV App, giving customers the ability to watch up to four NCAA men's or women&...
17/03/2026
Genius Sports deal also covers data technology, AI, fan engagement, and performance analysis....
17/03/2026
Net Insight is supporting the rollout of a new state-wide centralized operation with Rede Massa, which is an SBT affiliate, the Brazilian regional television ne...
17/03/2026
Featuring audio from practice sessions, qualifying races, and Grand Prix races, the film represents Apple's sports-media ambitions
At Sunday night's Ac...
17/03/2026
Live broadcast has always been one of the most demanding environments in media a...
17/03/2026
DirecTV is introducing several new viewing features, including a multi-screen March Madness Mix channel and an updated Sports Central mobile app hub, ahead of...
17/03/2026
Deltatre has announced a multi-year partnership with ATP Media, the media arm of the ATP Tour, covering broadcast graphics, data, and production across the 2026...
17/03/2026
The Detroit Pistons have announced a third consecutive season partnering with Sc...
17/03/2026
Fresh Finds Africa spotlights emerging artists and movements across the continent and its global diaspora, with listeners tuning in to discover new Afro-forward...
17/03/2026
Last month, more than 60,000 fans piled into Bangkok's Rajamangala National ...
17/03/2026
Vintage-inspired channel strip joins line-up
Black Rooster Audio's latest plug-in provides an all-in-one mixing tool inspired by classic analogue consol...
17/03/2026
Level and EQ voice, reverb and noise independently
The latest plug-in to join Accentize's collection is said to take a new approach to dialogue processi...
17/03/2026
UHF radio mic & IEM bandwidth at risk
Once again, the UHF bandwidth that is currently allocated to RF audio gear is at risk of being reassigned to high-spee...
17/03/2026
Last Friday, the first Plant Fire Department Training Week in Bavaria successf...
17/03/2026
New campaign from NAATI and SBS CulturalConnnect highlights how we all deserve ...
17/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/03/2026
3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced the launch of a public beta for its new 3D asset streaming platform. Miris is building the infrastruc...
Inside Fox Sports' Upcoming Season of 4K HDR Distribution of Thursday Night Football Fox's Davies: Perfecting (and converting) the 2020 color space has been the critical objective By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
