These days, I very rarely get to go to football matches.
I'm an avid Spurs fan (yes, still), but between the costs involved and family life obligations, I make it to the glorious Tottenham Hotspur Stadium just once or twice a season at best.
I therefore do the vast majority of my football watching at home, and I'm lucky enough to do so with a system capable of taking advantage of the excellent picture and sound formats now available.
Pretty much every match that Sky broadcasts is available in 4K with HDR, and the crispness and vibrancy are generally lovely to behold. But while 4K and HDR undoubtedly make a match look better, they don't fundamentally change the feeling of watching one. No degree of sharpness or punch gets around the fact that you're still viewing the game through a screen.
The accompanying Dolby Atmos sound, though, is a different story.
With Dolby Atmos, I can turn the volume up and be transported to the stadium. I can hear the crowd all around me, audibly pick out individuals yelling abuse at the ref, and the theatrical yells of pain as yet another player takes a dive come through with a realistic sense of distance.
If I could turn off the commentary (something Sky doesn't currently offer) and find a candle with a stale beer and body odour scent, I could well forget I was in my living room.
The impact of Atmos is far more pronounced with football than with my other sporting passion, Formula 1.
Don't get me wrong, noise is a big part of the F1 experience, from the neeeeeee-OW of the cars racing down the straight to the fizzing whirr of the wheel guns. But F1 broadcasts aren't designed to put you in the stands in the way that football broadcasts are, so the addition of Atmos adds relatively little compared with the 5.1 and even stereo delivery.
For me, with F1, the joy of the UHD broadcast comes in the form of the extra definition and detail in the cars, the gorgeous vibrancy of the gleaming paintwork and the searing brightness of the sunlight sparkling off the surface of the yacht-packed Monaco marina. It's a real feast for the eyes and ears, but I never feel like I'm there.
With football, though, Atmos can make me feel like I'm in the crowd at the stadium, and that's a far bigger change to the viewing experience than simply making the picture sharper or brighter.
Now, if only Sky would let us turn off the commentary. Especially when Spurs are playing badly.
Not that that's going to happen so often this season, you understand...
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