Sky delays HDR video update until late 2020

(Image credit: Sky)

Bad news for Sky TV customers waiting for HDR video: a Sky employee has confirmed the long-rumoured HDR update won't arrive until "late next year [2020] at the earliest".

The Sky Q service currently delivers 4K UHD video content but doesn't offer HDR support, unlike many rival TV services. An update to bring HDR video to Sky was first mooted back in February 2017, but that upgrade has never arrived.

Now, as spotted by Forbes, a Sky employee has taken to a long-running thread on the Sky Community website to break the bad news that it's not coming any time soon.

The user, listed as Kei+M, a community manager and Sky employee, posted the update on 24th December: "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's unlikely that the UK will be seeing HDR until late next year at the earliest. We've pushed it back whilst we work on other priorities."

As the TV landscape continues to change at a rapid rate, it's only getting harder to keep customers happy – and it seems Sky either doesn't see HDR as crucial to paying punters' happiness, or just can't quite dot the i's and cross the t's when it comes to the getting the tech up and running. Either way, it's now official that HDR on Sky isn't happening any time soon.

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff and The Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).