Royal Wedding will be broadcast in 4K UHD courtesy of Sky - it's a world's first!

Enjoy the radiance of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry more than ever courtesy of UHD resolution and, hopefully, brilliant-smile-enhancing HDR

Sky News to broadcast royal wedding in 4K
Duncan Bell
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in News

If your invite for the royal wedding of Prince Harry Windsor and Princess Meghan Markle has mysteriously failed to turn up in the post, there's good news for you: Sky will be exclusively broadcasting the day's celebrations in 4K Ultra HD via Sky Q. Hoorah!

There's increasing hope that the World Cup will be in 4K, with England sure to sail to victory in Russia. UHD has four times the detail of standard HD, so that will be four times as triumphant.

The scene could be set for that certain victory on Saturday May 19, when Sky News and Sky One broadcast the nuptials of her regal highness Princess Markle of Suits off of the Telly, to the flame-haired hunk who is sixth in line to the throne of Great Britain: Prince Henry of Wales, more commonly known as Prince Harry.

Sky is the only broadcaster in the world to get the Ultra HD scoop, but you will need Sky Q as – for obvious reasons – Sky HD won't cut it. As the footage reels before your eyes in lustrous UHD, at a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels, you'll be able to, as Sky puts it, "enjoy the finery and grandeur as never seen before." 

Hopefully the broadcast will also be in HDR for greater brightness and contrast. HDR is rolling out on Sky 4K but there is no confirmation as yet that it will be used for the royal wedding.

Sky Q box

"Enjoy the finery and grandeur as never seen before," Sky says. 

What certainly will be ready for the event is a new and unique feature on the Sky News app. This will use "world-first software" to name key wedding guests as they arrive, and let you know their connection to the Royal couple via "on-screen graphics and captions." 

John Ryley, Head of Sky News was barely able to contain himself: “Sky News is incredibly excited to be the first and only broadcaster to televise a Royal Wedding in UHD and to offer those watching the ceremony across the country expert analysis, innovative technology and bespoke coverage on mobile.”

The broadcast is no small undertaking, and will involve 110 cameras, 27km of cable, 160 technical staff and 10 satellite uplinks. 

The wedding is available in 4K to Sky customers with a Sky Q 2TB box, a Sky Q Multiscreen subscription and a 4K Ultra HD TV. Coverage kicks off at 9am on Saturday May 19.

  • Photo by Anwar Hussein/Getty Images
Duncan Bell
Duncan Bell

Duncan is the former lifestyle editor of T3 and has been writing about tech for almost 15 years. He has covered everything from smartphones to headphones, TV to AC and air fryers to the movies of James Bond and obscure anime. His current brief is everything to do with the home and kitchen, which is good because he is an excellent cook, if he says so himself. He also covers cycling and ebikes – like over-using italics, this is another passion of his. In his long and varied lifestyle-tech career he is one of the few people to have been a fitness editor despite being unfit and a cars editor for not one but two websites, despite being unable to drive. He also has about 400 vacuum cleaners, and is possibly the UK's leading expert on cordless vacuum cleaners, despite being decidedly messy. A cricket fan for over 30 years, he also recently become T3's cricket editor, writing about how to stream obscure T20 tournaments, and turning out some typically no-nonsense opinions on the world's top teams and players.

Before T3, Duncan was a music and film reviewer, worked for a magazine about gambling that employed a surprisingly large number of convicted criminals, and then a magazine called Bizarre that was essentially like a cross between Reddit and DeviantArt, before the invention of the internet. There was also a lengthy period where he essentially wrote all of T3 magazine every month for about 3 years. 

A broadcaster, raconteur and public speaker, Duncan used to be on telly loads, but an unfortunate incident put a stop to that, so he now largely contents himself with telling people, "I used to be on the TV, you know."

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