BT Sport Hails World’s First HD HDR Broadcast of UEFA Champions League Soccer Match

BT Sport showcased the world’s first live HD broadcast in HDR10 high dynamic range by sending a Union of European Football Associations Champions League soccer match telecast to a smartphone, said the British Telecom subsidiary Thursday. The “breakthrough” live trial was Wednesday at London’s Wembley Stadium, broadcasting to a beta version of the BT Sport App installed on a Samsung Galaxy S9 using the 4G mobile network of EE, the BT-owned wireless carrier, it said. In the quarterfinal UEFA Champions League match, Italian champions Juventus defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1. “Mobile viewers are an important and growing part of our audience, and we’re constantly focusing on innovating to ensure the best possible experience for our sports fans,” said Jamie Hindhaugh, BT Sport chief operating officer, in a written statement. “HDR is the future for mobile -- the technology is perfect for getting the most out of the small screen, with incredible colour and definition.” HD HDR “provides a better mobile experience and is less data intensive for both the mobile network and the user’s data consumption than 4K,” said BT Sport. U.S. broadcasters expressed many of the same sentiments, saying bandwidth constraints have many looking toward using 1080p with HDR in launching ATSC 3.0, at least as an “interim” approach (see 1705160044). BT Sport used 24 Ultra HD cameras at Wembley, including 17 that captured the match in native HDR10, the rest upconverted to HDR10, it said: “BT Sport will continue to test the new HD HDR technology along with other features in development.” BT Sport also beamed the match in 4K with HDR and Dolby Atmos sound to a private screening in London, it said.