Watch Max in 4K UHD & HDR10 or Dolby Vision

You can watch select titles in 4K UHD with HDR10 or Dolby Vision on select devices with the Ultimate Ad-Free plan. To find out if a title is available in 4K UHD with HDR10 or Dolby Vision, choose the show or movie in Max and then look for 4K UHD, HDR10, or Dolby Vision on the details screen.

Note  4K UHD, HDR, and Dolby Atmos availability depends on your plan and device.

Max automatically plays the highest quality video available for your device and subscription plan. Titles available in 4K UHD are also available in HD on all supported devices.

For info about Dolby Atmos, go to Max audio quality.

What you need

To stream in 4K UHD and HDR10 or Dolby Vision:

All devices must support HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 (your TV, media player, audio/video receiver, cables, adapters, and any other connected devices).

If you have the above requirements and the title is available in 4K UHD, Max should automatically play the title in 4K UHD. Max adjusts the video quality based on your network bandwidth and connection speed (you can't manually adjust the resolution in Max).

Supported 4K devices
  • Amazon Fire TV
  • Android TVs
  • Apple TV 4K
  • Apple Vision Pro
  • AirPlay 2-compatible 4K TVs
  • Cox Contour 2 and Contour Stream Player
  • Google Chromecast Ultra and Chromecast with Google TV
  • 4K LG Smart TVs
  • iPhone and iPad
  • PlayStation 5
  • Roku Ultra, Roku Ultra LT, Roku Streaming Stick 4K+, Roku Streaming Stick 4K, Roku Streaming Stick+, Roku Express 4K+, Roku Express 4K, Roku Premiere+, Roku Premiere, Roku Smart Soundbar, Roku Streambar, Roku 4K TVs, Roku 8K TVs, and Roku 4
  • Samsung Tizen 4K TVs
  • VIZIO 4K Smart TVs
  • Xfinity X1 (Xi6) and Flex
Supported HDR10 devices
Supported Dolby Vision devices

* Live sports may stream in HDR10 or SDR instead of Dolby Vision.

Troubleshooting

If you're having trouble streaming in 4K UHD resolution, here are some things to try:

Check your devices

Make sure your TV supports 4K UHD resolution. To do this, find your TV model number and then search the internet for info about your TV's resolution.

Check your display settings

When it comes to TV settings, we suggest turning off motion smoothing. The steps for doing this vary depending on your TV model. Also, you may want to set your picture mode to Cinema or Movie mode.

For more display suggestions, find your streaming device below.

Amazon Fire TV 4K devices

Check your Amazon Fire TV display settings. Here's how:

  1. Go to Settings > Display & Sounds > Display.
  2. Open the Video Resolution section.
  3. Set your video resolution to Auto. A notification appears if HDCP 2.2 is not detected for your Fire TV's HDMI connection.

For more info, go to Watch Video in 4K on Your Fire TV.

Apple TV 4K

Check your Apple TV video settings. Here's how:

  1. On your Apple TV, go to Settings > Video and Audio > Format.
  2. Select 4K HDR (if available).
  3. Go to Match Content. Turn on Match Dynamic Range and Match Frame Rate.
  4. Choose Check HDMI Connection to confirm support for the selected format.

If your Apple TV doesn't detect support for 4K HDR, go to Apple's 4K, HDR, and Dolby Vision on your Apple TV 4K article.

Chromecast with Google TV and Android TV 4K

Check your display settings. Here's how:

  1. In the upper-right corner of your TV, go to Profile > Settings.
  2. Choose Display & Sound.
  3. Select Match Content. This should automatically set your device to display content in the native format. You can also manually set the resolution by going to Advanced display settings.

If you don't have the option to display in 4K HDR, go to Stream 4K Ultra HD content for more info.

LG Smart TV

For help with your LG TV, go to Best picture settings for your LG 4K or 4K OLED - TV.

Cox Contour 2 and Contour Stream Player

Check your Cox video settings. Here's how:

  1. Press the Contour button on your Cox remote.
  2. Select Settings settings, then go to Device Settings > Video Display > Video Output Resolution.
  3. Select 16:9, 2160p60 4k UHD (Best Available).
PlayStation 5

For help with your PlayStation 5, go to PlayStation's How to change PS5 resolution article.

Roku (select models)

Check your Roku display settings. Here's how:

  1. Press the Home button on your Roku remote.
  2. Go to Settings > Display type and choose Auto Detect.
  3. If your Roku detects 4K support for your display, choose OK.

If your Roku doesn't detect your display type, you can try Force output. For more info about setting your display type, go to How do I change the display type on my Roku?

Samsung TV

For help with your Samsung TV, go to Samsung's Adjust picture settings article.

VIZIO Smart TVs

You can check the resolution of your stream on some VIZIO TV models. Here's how:

  1. Start watching a 4K movie for 1 minute.
  2. Press the Info button on your remote.
  3. At the top of your screen, you'll find the resolution streaming to your TV.

If the resolution is less than 2160p (4K), test your network connection. Here's how:

  1. Press the Menu button (Gear icon) on your remote.
  2. Go to Network > Test Connection.

To stream 4K video, you need a minimum download speed of 25 Mbps on your VIZIO Smart TV (we recommend a download speed of 50+ Mbps for the best experience).

For more help with your VIZIO TV, go to VIZIO's Image Quality article.

Xfinity X1 (Xi6) and Flex

Check your X1 or Flex video settings. Here's how:

  1. Press the Xfinity button on your remote.
  2. Select Settings (Gear icon), then go to Device Settings > Video Display > Video Output Resolution.
  3. Select 16:9, 2160p60 4k UHD (Best Available).

For more info, go to 4K UHD and HDR on Xfinity TV.

Check your internet speed

Make sure your internet download speed is at least 25 Mbps. Max automatically adjusts the video quality based on the download speed of your connection. If your download speed is less than 25 Mbps, the show or movie won't stream in 4K.

Higher speeds will provide more consistent 4K streaming. For the best experience, we recommend a download speed of 50+ Mbps on your streaming device. To find out how to test your connection speed, go to the Max buffering page.

Try a wired connection: If you experience slow or inconsistent speeds over Wi-Fi, connect your streaming device to your router using an Ethernet cable.

Reduce activity on your network: If other people are using the same network, ask them to temporarily pause their activity. This will allocate as much bandwidth as possible for streaming.

Try another cable or HDMI port

If you're using a streaming player (e.g. Apple TV):

  • Make sure you're using a High-Speed 4K HDMI cable.
  • Make sure your HDMI cable is plugged into a HDCP 2.2 compatible HDMI port on your TV or audio/video receiver. HDCP 2.2 may not be supported by all of the HDMI ports on your TV (refer to your owner's manual to find out which HDMI port is HDCP 2.2 compatible).
  • Bypass your audio video receiver, HDMI switch, or sound bar, by connecting your streaming device directly to your TV.

If you're getting a 'There's a problem with your device setup' error, try HDMI troubleshooting.

Screen too dark?

If live sports or movies in HDR or Dolby Vision are too dark, do one of the following on your TV or streaming player:

  • Turn up the screen brightness.
  • Turn off HDR.

If you need help finding the steps for your TV device, search the internet for "adjust brightness" + your device (e.g., adjust brightness Samsung TV), or “turn off HDR" + your device (e.g., turn off HDR Apple TV).