If normal HD isn’t enough for you and you have a television set up to the task, HBO just announced that all 10 Episodes of the first season of Game of Thrones will arrive on 4K Ultra HD format this summer. Read all the details below!
HBO made the announcement via this press release:
New York, N.Y., April 4, 2018 – Relive the warmer days and calmer nights of Westeros when Game of Thrones: Season 1 makes its highly-anticipated debut on 4K Ultra HD optimized for Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range on June 5th from HBO Home Entertainment. Heralded as an “HBO triumph” (Boston Globe), Season 1 of the visually stunning fantasy epic, described as a “menacing, brutal and complex solid start” (The Guardian), includes all 10 episodes beautifully redone in 4K format to give fans the ultimate clarity and detail on HDR TVs.
A perfect gift for Father’s Day or way to kick off summer break, the 4K Ultra HD format for Game of Thrones: Season 1 comes with eye-catching key art featuring the iconic, all-powerful Iron Throne. With this release, fans and those new to the series alike can now catch more than 600 minutes of one of the most critically acclaimed first seasons of episodic television in striking clarity.
In addition to Season 1 episodes, fans can go beyond what started it all, with hours of gripping bonus features, from behind-the-scenes, making-of sequences, audio commentaries and much more.
Game of Thrones continues to be the most successful franchise in HBO history and remains the most awarded drama series in Emmy® history, with 38 Emmys® to date.
As the press release says, the box set comes with all the bonus features you would expect from a normal Blu-Ray release, at the same HD quality instead of 4K:
- Animated Histories: Learn about the mythology of Westeros as told from the varying perspectives of the characters themselves.
Anatomy of an Episode – an in-episode experience that explores the creative minds and colossal efforts behind episode six, “A Golden Crown.” - Cast Auditions: Watch rarely-seen footage of the cast auditioning for Game of Thrones
- Making Game of Thrones -an exclusive 30-minute feature including never-before-seen footage from the set and interviews from the cast and crew.
- Character Profiles – profiles of 15 major characters as described by the actors portraying them.
- Creating the Show Open – an inside look at the creation of the Emmy-winning opening title sequence for Game of Thrones.
- From the Book to the Screen – executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss along with author George R.R. Martin talk about the challenges of bringing Martin’s epic fantasy novel to life on HBO.
- The Night’s Watch – an in-depth look at the unique order of men who patrol and protect the Wall, a 700 foot ice structure that separates the Seven Kingdoms from the darkness beyond.
- Creating the Dothraki Language – an insightful glance into the comprehensive language created for the Dothraki people in Game of Thrones.
- Audio Commentaries – Seven audio commentaries with cast and crew including David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Mark Addy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Bryan Cogman, Harry Lloyd, Daniel Minahan and Alan Taylor.
- A Digital Download code for the ten-episode season in HD.
The retail 4K Ultra Disc and online releases will both be available on June 5!
Yes! Can only imagine how this stunning show is gonna look in 4k with Dolby Vision. Though I am gonna hold out for the complete box set with the final season coming next year.
Ditto, waiting for all 8 seasons on 4K.
Excellent.
I love the start of that press release too. “Relive the warmer days and calmer nights.” So true, LOL.
Giving all 8 seasons next year to someone who never watched the show would be the best gift ever. 😀
So does this mean we can get HBO GO/Now in 4K for season 8?
Whoo smokeys this is awesome news. Though, I tend to agree with others. I would rather wait for the whole set to come out and buy it all at once even though it’ll probably cost me my right hand to buy it.
Only if Arya doesn’t die. 👸🏻
Off topic, but I’m starting to think the look on Ser Jorah’s face whenever he sees Jon Snow isn’t jealousy but bafflement at running into so many men in such a short time who knew his father. 【・_・?】
it was never shot in 4k. wasn’t mastered in 4k. vfx wasn’t done in 4k. just an upscale. it’s only going to be slightly better than HD (and mostly because of the dynamic range not the resolution). I hope they’re shooting 8th season in 4K but I doubt it.
Yes but are we ever going to get the [ spoiler ] Bran/Sansa [ / spoiler] deleted scene?
dragonreborn,
Thought that the show was shot using an Arri Alexa, and RED Dragon? The RED shoots in 6k resolution. Arri’s shoot in 4k or 2k depending on the setup. However, I do agree that most if not all of the VFX would be rendered in 2k as all VFX are. My guess is that it will be enhanced using some sort of Checkerboard rendering like a lot of video games are that don’t have the head room. I believe it should still be a substantial upgrade in image quality. Just having Dolby Vision alone will increase the image quality 10-fold, even without the native 4k capturing and the upscale VFX.
John RaynorSnow,
As far as I know Alexa cameras during first few seasons were only able to capture 2K. Even after that I don’t know if they switched the production to 4k. Red cameras were only used for shots with special needs. I don’t expect a big change in definition. They use the word ‘upscale’ as if there’s a mysterious technique like you see in movies where FBI or CIA magically enhances a webcam image to imax resolution. In reality you can’t introduce new detail, only use some clever pixel interpolation algorithms and sharpening. Although it will look sharper it won’t have any more detail than what it already has. Dolby Vision HDR will indeed be the most noticeable change. I’m just not sure I’m ready buy all the seasons in 4K but I’ll definitely buy 7 and 8 in 4K.
ps: It’s true that CGI is rendered in 2K even in 4K mastered films but I don’t think it’s a problem. CGI renders are always sharper than they should be and get defocused in compositing.
Im waiting for all 8 seasons to be in 4k, worth the wait!