Trying to watch the Olympics in 4K/HDR with Dolby Atmos Surround? Good luck!

This year, NBC advertised that its Olympic coverage would be available in 4K with HDR (High Dynamic Range) and Dolby Atmos surround sound. NBCUniversal’s remote broadcast center in Connecticut is apparently a state-of-the-art facility, staffed by several thousand dedicated employees. So will we all see the fruits of their labor?

From the announcements at NBCUniversal’s Upfront event, you’d think anyone with access to NBC’s Peacock app would be able to see and hear the 2024 Paris Olympics “24/7” in all their audiovisual and visual glory. But for many viewers, that didn’t turn out to be the case.

As an Olympic fan (and a fan of high-quality video and audio), I was excited. NBC announced that it would be mixing the Olympics broadcast in 1080p HD with HDR and Dolby Atmos, then upscaling it to 4K. My initial research indicated that I would need access to both Peacock and USA Networks to get all the options. I’m already a Peacock subscriber (which includes access to USA Network), but to make sure I had the widest selection, I signed up for a trial of YouTube TV, since they also provide access to my local NBC affiliate’s live stream.

With all my apps ready and loaded on my flagship TCL QM851G Mini-LED 4K TV ($1,499 on Amazon) , connected to an LG S95TR Dolby Atmos soundbar ($1,199 on Amazon ), I tuned in to the Olympic opening ceremony. Apparently, the prime-time broadcast of the opening ceremony on YouTube TV was only available on the NBC affiliate channel. It wasn’t available on Peacock or USA Network during prime time. The local NBC feed on YouTube TV wasn’t in 4K, there was no HDR, and there was no Dolby Atmos. The quality was certainly OK, but not 4K, and not in surround sound. YouTube TV was broadcasting the local NBC affiliate channel’s prime-time broadcast of the opening ceremony in 1080i HD with 2-channel (stereo) PCM audio and no HDR.

After the disappointing opening ceremony, I loaded up the Peacock and USA apps on Google TV and did a few searches. USA had select Olympic events available in 4K, but the audio on both the Peacock and USA apps on Google TV was also 2-channel PCM, not Dolby Atmos. I spent an agonizing 80-minute chat session with Peacock support trying (and failing) to get it to work. When I asked why both NBC and Dolby were advertising that the Olympics would be available in Dolby Atmos on Peacock, tech support manager Amritpreet’s final response before hanging up on the chat was, “if you don’t see the Dolby banner, it’s not Dolby.”

Maybe it’s the device’s fault?

After the Google TV and YouTube TV app crashes, I tried the Peacock app on my FireTV 4K and was able to get 5.1-channel audio for some of the Olympic events, but not Dolby Atmos. I also tested three additional streaming devices: Apple TV 4K, FireTV 4K Max (the latest version), and Roku 4K+. In all cases, the best I could get was regular Dolby 5.1 audio, although some of the content was only in stereo. On the latest Amazon FireTV 4K Max and Roku 4K+, I could verify that the Peacock app itself supported Dolby Atmos, as some of the videos were available in 4K with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos surround sound, but none of the Olympic events were available in Dolby Atmos, including both live and pre-recorded events. So if the Peacock app did indeed support the Olympics in Dolby Atmos, it didn’t do so on any of the five streaming devices I tested.

Checking NBCUniversal’s “Advanced Audio and Video” page for the Olympic broadcasts, you’ll find the following caveats and limitations for 4K/HDR and Dolby Atmos. Pay close attention to the device limitations. There’s no Apple TV, no Google TV, and only “select” X1, FireTV, LG, Roku, and Samsung devices are supported.

Peacock*

• NBC’s Olympic coverage will be broadcast live on Peacock in 1080p HDR with Atmos.
• NBC’s morning and daytime Olympic coverage will be broadcast live on Peacock in 1080p HDR with 5.1 surround sound.
• “Gold Zone,” a daily series highlighting Olympic highlights across sports, will be streamed on Peacock in 1080p HDR and 5.1 surround sound

* HDR and Atmos are supported on select X1, FireTV, LG, Roku and Samsung devices

US Network**
Altice, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV/DirecTV Stream, Dish, Fubo, Sling TV, Verizon and YouTube TV will broadcast 24/7 Olympic coverage on USA Network in 4K HDR with 5.1 surround sound.

**Some of these distributors will continue to expand USA Network’s 4K HDR coverage to include Dolby Vision and Atmos. Please contact your distributor for more information.

So USA Network was supposed to have 5.1 surround and 24×7 4K/HDR, but that didn’t work on Google TV, so it’s likely the same Peacock device limitations apply to USA Network coverage as well. Additionally, I tested the Peacock primetime stream on both a FireTV 4K and a Roku Stick 4K+ (both listed as supported), but I got standard Dolby 5.1, not Dolby Atmos as stated on the NBC website.

The only bright spot: wireless transmission

I’ll admit I haven’t always been a big fan of ATSC 3.0, as it seems to take forever to roll out. New York City, one of the top markets in the country, didn’t get its first ATSC 3.0 broadcasts until late 2023, more than six years after its initial rollout. ATSC 3.0 (or “Next Generation Television,” as it’s also known) is the latest version of free over-the-air broadcasting. It’s capable of delivering multi-channel surround sound (including Dolby Atmos and MPEG-H), 4K resolution with HDR, and even interactive features since it has an internet-based component. But when it launched, it also added DRM (digital rights management), which caused many early adopters to lose access to broadcasts from legally purchased tuners.

In addition to NBC’s unfulfilled promise to stream Peacock, the network also announced that its Olympic coverage would be available in eleven U.S. markets via free ATSC 3.0 terrestrial broadcasts. Fortunately, New York was one of those eleven markets. So as soon as I got Zapperbox M1 Dual Tuner ATSC 3.0 DVR ($275 on Amazon), I scanned the channels, and connected it to my Epson 4K projector: Bingo! Olympic events live in 1080P High Definition with HDR and immersive Dolby Atmos surround sound.

I know: 1080P is not 4K, but any good 4K TV or projector can convert a 1080p signal to 4K resolution with pretty good results. The HDR component is more important because it allows for a wider, more dynamic color palette. In addition, the 60Hz progressive transmission allows for super-smooth motion playback, rather than the motion blur or jagged edges that can occur with interlaced transmission.

The games have never looked (or sounded) better. The soccer fields were lush green and a bright white ball floated above them as Spain cruised to an overtime victory over France to claim the gold medal in the final soccer match. Team USA’s gymnastics uniforms took on an extra sparkle as they returned to the top of the podium in the team competition, with Simone Biles flying high, nearly 12 feet above the mat. You could almost taste the chlorine in the crystal blue waters as Leon Marchand rewarded his host nation’s fans with four gold medals and a bronze, and the U.S.’s Katie Ledecky swam to her ninth gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle. Now This this is how you watch the Olympic Games.

As for the Dolby Atmos surround sound, it was a bit more muted than I would have liked. I could hear some reverberation from the seats and crowd noise around and above me, but I personally would have preferred a more immersive mix. It was definitely a big improvement over the two-channel stereo mix on the Peacock (Google TV) app, but it wasn’t as dynamic or enveloping a mix as I would have expected.

Unfortunately, I had to leave New York before the Olympics ended. And now I’m back in a land where there’s no terrestrial coverage. I’ll try again to find a streaming option with a 4K live stream and Dolby Atmos surround sound for the closing ceremony. But I’m not optimistic.

Summary

NBCUniversal clearly put a lot of effort into delivering high-quality audio and video coverage of this year’s Olympics. And those results were evident on the only device I could find that fully supported it (the ZapperBox ATSC 3.0 tuner). While the 4K and 1080p/HDR events I was able to watch, in both Dolby 5.1 and Dolby Atmos surround sound, looked and sounded exceptionally good, most viewers would be seeing and hearing a scaled-down version of them. We need more devices that can support that effort, including the popular GoogleTV platform used by TV manufacturers like Sony, TCL, and Hisense. The fact that I, as an A/V journalist and reviewer with access to multiple streaming devices, had such a hard time getting it to work doesn’t bode well for the average viewer.

And you, dear readers? Are you watching the Olympics in 4K/HDR with Dolby Atmos? If so (or if not), let us know in the comments.

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