Best answer: When Disney+ launches on November 12, it will support 4K playback on several devices that also support it like the Chromecast Ultra, Roku Premiere, NVIDIA Shield TV, and more.
- Magical pictures: Disney+ ($7/mo at Disney+)
- Beautiful cast: Chromecast Ultra ($69 at Amazon)
Disney never looked better
When Disney+ goes live on November 12, there is going to a lot of fantastic content available. With everything from classics like Mary Poppins to modern hits such as Captain Marvel, we are going to have a bunch of entertainment at our fingertips. Of course, we want to see these shows in the best possible way, and right now, that is 4K. Thankfully Disney will be including 4K Ultra HD video playback in Dolby Vision ultra-vivid imaging, HDR10, and Dolby Atmos in your subscription.
Now, just because the video stream from Disney+ can be in 4K doesn’t mean that you can enjoy that show at full resolution. The display you are viewing the content on must be at the proper resolution to take advantage of all that ultra HD glory. If you’re unfamiliar, 4K is a resolution for a display that has at least eight million active pixels, or 3,840 x 2,160 for a television. The benchmark for high definition content was 1080p, and 4K is considered an ultra-high definition.
What devices will Disney+ support 4K on?
Disney has told us all the devices are going to be able to stream their service on at launch:
- Android phones and tablets
- Android TV devices
- Google Chromecast
- Apple iOS phones and tablets
- Apple TV
- Desktop web browsers
- Xbox One
- Playstation 4
- Android-based Sony TVs
- Roku
Though not everything on this list can handle 4K playback, unfortunately, the number of phones and tablets that fully support 4K viewing on them is concise, the new Sony Xperia 1 happens to be one of those devices. Thankfully the list of Disney+ supported devices has some hardware that will make viewing in ultra HD simple. Probably the most straightforward way to do this is with a TV that supports 4K and plug in a Chromecast Ultra into it. This set up will let you send available 4K content from your phone or tablet to your TV.
HD is available too
You can also watch the ultra HD content from Disney+ on your 4K television using an Android TV box, a Roku streaming device (except the Roku Express), Apple TV 4K, and Xbox One series console, or a Playstation 4.
Even if you don’t have a 4K television or tablet, it doesn’t mean that the stream you get from Disney+ won’t look great,1080p is still a great picture. Almost as important as the device you plan to watch on is the internet speed you have and how much data you have available because 4K needs a lot of bandwidth and uses a LOT of data. So keep these things in mind as you get ready to sit down to catch everything Disney+ will have to offer.
Beautiful magic
Disney+
From $7/mo at Disney+
All the Pixels Pixar offers
Disney has a lot of gorgeous content in its arsenal, and much of the shows in that last five years will be in 4K. New originals will also likely show up in ultra HD like the Mandalorian and Hawkeye.
Throwing pixels
Chromecast Ultra
$69 at Amazon
Small device, big picture
Chromecast is one of the most simple devices to help get streaming content quickly from your mobile device to your TV, and with the Chromecast Ultra, you can do that in 4K too!
