Wimbledon 2024 tennis is here and once again games are available to watch in Ultra HD 4K resolution. Here’s everything you need to know about how to live stream in Ultra HD including supported devices and minimum internet speeds.
In the UK, where Wimbledon is held, the BBC has run 4K trials for the last few years along with other events like the Euros football. As usual, it’s available in four times the resolution of Full HD if you have the right equipment.
The tournament started on Monday 1 July and runs until Sunday 14 July.
Wimbledon Ultra HD in the UK
If you’re in the UK then you can watch live games in Ultra HD (aka 4K) thanks to the BBC (across BBC One and Two) and although we were hoping for more coverage than last couple of years, it’s still limited to games on centre court.
This information is available on Wimbledon’s website, which states: “WBS provides multi-camera coverage of all 18 Championships courts, with Centre Court in UHD/HDR.”
This means you’ll be able to watch the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and many more in crisp 4K detail. Of course, both 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 needs to be 24Mbps for the ‘full 3840 pixel Ultra HD experience’, or 12Mbps for lower-res 2560p. Find out how to test your broadband speed.
If your Wi-Fi is unreliable, consider plugging your TV or media player into your router with an Ethernet cable for a better connection. You could 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 not supported itself) and fortunately, 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 various Roku models.
Head to the BBC site and click on the manufacturer or search the page for your exact model number. Sadly, Sky Q is still not supported, and you can’t watch in 4K via a web browser on your phone or laptop either.
Note that if you want to watch in HDR you’ll 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 speed, you simply need to open the iPlayer app and find the Wimbledon matches via the homepage or sports section.
Make sure you have the video quality 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 is no limit to how many people can join the 4K stream.
Eurosport has previously shown Wimbledon in 4K Ultra HD, and although the channel confirmed that it wouldn’t be doing the same for 2021 “due to the broadcasting rights” the women’s and men’s finals were reportedly broadcast in 4K.
It’s unclear what the situation is for 2024, but official comms have not mentioned high resolution at all.
Note that for those in Ireland, the tournament struck a deal with Premier Sports in 2023 for “the very best matches”, and the tournament is on these channels again in 2024.
A blog post says: “Premier Sports will dedicate both its linear channels to Wimbledon coverage (Premier Sports 1 & Premier Sports 2) as well as providing three red button continuous coverage court feeds for the duration of the event.”
Wimbledon Ultra HD in the US
Although you can watch Wimbledon in the States via ESPN+ (ESPN on TV) or Tennis Channel Plus, neither appears to offer 4K. ESPN+ is limited to 720p and Tennis Channel’s site only mentions HD quality.
However, you can watch in 4K via the BBC iPlayer with the method below. Note that BBC America will not be showing Wimbledon.
Wimbledon Ultra HD outside the UK
If you’re not in the UK – perhaps you’re on holiday abroad – then watching Wimbledon in Ultra HD via the BBC iPlayer is going to be a little harder but is still possible.
You’ll still need all of the requirements mentioned above but you’ll need to install a VPN on your TV or device in order to virtually browse from the UK, otherwise the content will be geo-restricted.
We recommend NordVPN and SurfShark but you can see more in our best VPNs round-up. You’ll need to download and install it before logging in and selecting a United Kingdom server. Then launch and browse iPlayer as if you were in the UK.
Note there are other restrictions when it comes to watching BBC iPlayer outside of the UK such as needing a valid TV licence and also needing a BBC account with a UK postcode.
Find out more in our relevant tutorials:
Jim Martin / Foundry
Jim Martin / Foundry
Jim Martin / Foundry
