Wimbledon 2023 tennis is here and games are again available to watch in Ultra HD 4K resolution. Here’s everything you need to know about live streaming in Ultra HD, including supported devices and minimum internet speeds.
In the UK, where Wimbledon is held, the BBC has been running 4K trials in recent years, along with other events such as the European Football Championship. As usual, it’s available in four times the resolution of Full HD if you’ve got the right equipment.
The tournament starts on Monday, July 3 and runs through Sunday, July 16.
Wimbledon Ultra HD in the UK
If you’re in the UK you can watch live games in Ultra HD (aka 4K) thanks to the BBC (on BBC One and BBC Two) and while we were hoping for more coverage than in recent years it’s still limited to games on center court.
The BBC didn’t announce this in a blog post as usual, but a spokesperson told Tech Advisor: “As in previous years, we have center court matches available in UHD.”
This means you can see Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and many more in pin-sharp 4K detail. Naturally, both the men’s and women’s finals will be shown in Ultra HD.
Here’s what you need:
- Fast enough internet
- A compatible 4K TV or streaming device
- A BBC account
- A valid TV license
When it comes to broadband speed, the BBC says it should be 24 Mbps for the ‘full 3840 pixel Ultra HD experience’, or 12 Mbps for 2560p at a lower resolution. Find out how to test your broadband speed.
If your Wi-Fi is unreliable, consider connecting your TV or media player to your router with an Ethernet cable for a better connection. You can also upgrade your home network with a powerline adapter or mesh Wi-Fi network kit.
You’ll also need a compatible TV or media player (if your TV is 4K but isn’t supported itself) and luckily the list is long, including many Samsung, LG, Philips and Hisense 4K smart TVs.
Supported streamers and set-top boxes include Amazon Fire TV Cube, Virgin Media TiVo, and several Roku models.
Go to the BBC site and click on the manufacturer or search the page for your exact model number. Unfortunately, Sky Q is still not supported, nor can you watch in 4K via a web browser on your phone or laptop.
Note: If you want to watch in HDR, you need a TV that supports HLG (hybrid log gamma). It’s the HDR standard used for iPlayer, so check your TV specs to see if it’s supported.
If you have the right hardware and fast enough, all you need to do is open the iPlayer app and find the Wimbledon matches from the home page or sports section.
Make sure you have the video quality set to “Best Quality” in the settings menu, and check the iPlayer interface for little “UHD” icons so you know it’s in Ultra HD.
The good news is that this is no longer an Ultra HD trial, so there’s no limit to the number of people who can join the 4K stream.
Eurosport has previously shown Wimbledon in 4K Ultra HD, and while the channel confirmed it would not be doing the same in 2021 “because of the broadcast rights”, the women’s and men’s finals were Reportedly broadcast in 4K.
It’s unclear what the situation is for 2023, but it seems unlikely that this official blog post makes no mention of high resolution at all.
It reads: “You can watch the daily Wimbledon highlights at 10pm on Eurosport 2 and Discovery+ from 3rd July, as well as the two singles finals live on 15th and 16th July.”
Note that for those in Ireland, the tournament has a new deal with Premier Sports for 2023 for “the very best matches”.
A blog post says: “Premier Sports will dedicate both its linear channels to Wimbledon coverage (Premier Sports 1 & Premier Sports 2) and three red button continuous coverage for the duration of the event.”
Wimbledon Ultra HD in the US
Although you can watch Wimbledon in the United States via ESPN+ (ESPN on TV) or Tennis Channel Plus, neither seems to offer 4K. ESPN+ is limited to 720p and the Tennis Channel site only lists HD quality.
You can watch in 4K via the BBC iPlayer with the method below. Note that BBC America will not be showing Wimbledon.
![Wimbledon BBC iPlayer](https://images.techadvisor.com/cmsdata/features/3698919/wimbledon_bbc_iplayer_thumb.jpg)
Wimbledon Ultra HD outside the UK
If you’re not in the UK – maybe you’re on holiday abroad – then watching Wimbledon in Ultra HD via the BBC iPlayer will be a little more difficult, but it’s still possible.
You’ll still need all the requirements mentioned above, but you’ll need to install a VPN on your TV or device in order to browse virtually from the UK, otherwise the content will be geo-restricted.
We advise NordVPN And SurfShark but you can see more in our best VPN roundups. You need to download and install it before signing up and selecting a server in the UK. Then launch and browse iPlayer as if you were in the UK.
Please note there are other restrictions when it comes to watching BBC iPlayer outside the UK, such as a valid TV license and also a BBC account with a UK postcode.
Read more in our relevant tutorials:
![Unblock streaming services with NordVPN - 3](https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/How-to-watch-iPlayer-abroad-NordVPN-3.jpg?quality=50&strip=all&w=1200)
Jim Martin / Foundry