House Of The Dragon, the highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel series, is coming to Sky (and its streaming service NOW) in the UK – and will be available in Ultra HD (4K) / HDR, as Sky confirmed to us.
However, only some of Sky’s customers will be able to watch the show in 4K, and apparently not during the live airing.
Furthermore, it will not be available in 4K for NOW customers, as the service doesn’t support Ultra HD at all.
The ten-episode series will premiere in the UK on Monday, August 22 at 2am – yes, in the middle of the night – simultaneously with its US premiere.
Sky customers will be able to watch House Of The Dragon on Sky Atlantic (therefore Virgin Media customers with a Sky add-on will not be getting it), and NOW customers will get access to it if they’re subscribed to the Entertainment Membership.
Subsequent weekly episodes will continue to air at the same time as the US, and each episode will also be available on-demand once the initial real-time airing is over.
House of The Dragon (Photo: Sky)
House of The Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood book, and is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
The series tells the story of House Targaryen, and chronicles the conquest that united the Seven Kingdoms under Targaryen rule through the Dance of the Dragons: the Targaryen civil, war that nearly ended their dynasty forever
House of The Dragon stars Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, and Rhys Ifans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PnQxbW6Jc4
House Of The Dragon In 4K
4K (also known as Ultra HD) gives you four times the details over Full HD, with a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels,
HDR, which you often see mentioned alongside 4K, stands for “High Dynamic Range”. It’s a technology that helps improve the contrast rates between whites and blacks, making the picture much more accurate, while also providing a larger colour palette and more colour shades.
In the US (and several other countries), on HBO Max, House Of The Dragon will be available in 4K and HDR. But HBO Max is not available in the UK (at least not without a VPN), therefore many of its shows air on Sky.
Until now, however, it has been unclear whether UK viewers will get the same Ultra HD picture quality.
Now, Sky finally confirmed to us that House Of The Dragon will indeed be available in 4K / HDR on Sky Q and Sky Glass, as long as you have the appropriate subscription.
However, judging by the tech details Sky is showing on the programme’s page – it appears that the LIVE version of the show – the one you watch on the live Sky Atlantic channel, either via Sky Q or Sky Glass, will NOT be in 4K.
Instead, only the on-demand, broadband-based version of House Of The Dragon will be available in UHD (4K) / HDR, on compatible devices, sometime after the live broadcast.
This is presumably because a live 4K broadcast would consume too much bandwidth, with an on-demand streaming version being easier for Sky to push to your device.
We’re waiting to get more details from Sky regarding the exact 4K schedule, and will update this article accordingly.
As for NOW subscribers, they will not be getting House Of The Dragon in 4K no matter what – as Sky’s streaming service does not support 4K (and even Full HD, 1080p, requires an extra paid add-on, NOW Boost.
House Of The Dragon NOW And Sky Offers
NOW (Formerly NOW TV- they changed their name) is Sky’s no-contract streaming service – a cheaper TV platform that gives you flexible packages (“memberships”) of content that can be watched on a variety of streaming devices.
The plans include the Entertainment Membership for TV shows, the Cinema Membership for movies, and the Sky Sports Membership. (See our full NOW review here).
With so much anticipation for House of The Dragon, NOW has announced a special limited-time promotion.
Normally, the Entertainment Membership costs £9.99/month, and so does the Cinema Membership.
As a special promotion, customers can now get a bundle of BOTH memberships for just £14.99/month – for up to six months.
As always with NOW, there are no long-term contracts so you can cancel at any time (even before the six months are up) – but once the offer period is done, your subscription will auto-renew at £19.98 (for both memberships together) – therefore don’t forget to cancel if you don’t want them.
On Sky TV’s side, Sky is offering a deal on its streaming TV – Sky Glass – where new customers can get a £100 Prepaid Mastercard card.