The live trial took place at Wembley Stadium , broadcasting to a beta version of the BT Sport App on a range of devices including the brandnew Samsung S9 on EE ’ s 4G mobile network .

The live broadcast used EE ’ s 4G network , also part of BT . “ 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 ,” commented Jamie Hindhaugh , chief operating officer , BT Sport . “ HDR is the future for mobile – the technology is perfect for getting the most out of the small screen , with incredible colour and definition .”

According to BT , 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 .

To prove the performance of HD HDR live broadcast to mobile , BT Sport used a 24-camera Ultra HD set up at Wembley Stadium , with 17 HDR cameras with native HDR , and the remaining seven cameras converted to HDR 10 PQ . BT Sport will continue to test the new HD HDR technology along with other features in development .

In 2017 , BT Sport broadcast the UEFA Champions League final using HDR in Ultra-High Definition ( UHD ) with Dolby Atmos sound on its BT TV service at a private screening in London . The match was also available for the first time in Virtual Reality 360 to fans , and in 4K UHD on YouTube and 4K UHD with Dolby Atmos sound on BT TV .

Paolo Pescatore , VP , multiplay and media , CCS Insight , attended the match and showcase , declaring the proof of concept a success . “ Being a 4K aficionado I was sceptical at first , but the project worked very well in a congested network environment and the picture quality was superb .”

“ Based on my experience , a combination of

HD and HDR is likely to be better suited to smaller screens . Not only does it provide an excellent image quality , it also brings lots of other advantages . In particular , broadcasting a live-stream in HD and HDR needs far less bandwidth than 4K content ; about 7 Mbps rather than 16 Mbps to 20 Mbps for 4K . Consumers will use less data and gain a better viewing experience when relying on a mobile connection . For mobile operators , it would seem that the economics of delivering live video in this format makes more sense than in 4K .”

“ This is the first of what I believe will be many cases where ( BT TV ) it will gain from being part of the BT group , by using its parent ’ s extensive fixed-line and mobile networks . We note that EE is starting to bring BT Sport further into its huge retail presence , marketing messages and price plans .”

“ However , BT has so far failed to maximise the opportunity BT Sport presents ,” he notes . “ Given escalating content costs , it must do more to take full advantage of what I think is an extremely valuable asset . The latest Premier League UK rights auction is a testament to the ongoing challenges the company faces : it ’ s spending more money per match , but ending up with fewer games and the unloved Saturday lunchtime slot .”

According to Pescatore , these rising costs have led BT to scale back its broader aspirations . “ It must now consider making BT Sport available on more platforms and services and use it to attract subscribers . After all , it established itself as a strong number two after Sky in the race to secure rights to show Premier League matches . Previous bidders including the likes of Setanta have tried and failed to compete ,” he adds .

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