Game of Thrones upgraded to 4K HDR on HBO Max, not ‘too dark’ anymore

polygon.com:

Game of Thrones fans had many problems with the show’s final season, and one of their most vehement criticisms involved a technical issue rather than a concern about plot: Viewers complained that they couldn’t see the action unfolding during the Battle of Winterfell, because the episode was just “too dark.” Now, more than three years after the episode aired, HBO is offering a new way to stream the show that may help.

HBO Max users worldwide can now stream all eight seasons of Game of Thrones in 4K resolution with HDR color — both Dolby Vision and HDR10 — and Dolby Atmos surround sound, HBO announced Monday. These modern video and audio formats represent the top of the line, as far as the home viewing experience is concerned.

House of the Dragon, the first Game of Thrones spinoff series, will also be available to stream in these formats when it premieres on Aug. 21, HBO said.

This marks a major milestone for the company. Game of Thrones is the first HBO series to support these cutting-edge formats, and House of the Dragon will be the first one to debut with that support. That will bring the nearly 50-year-old cable TV network up to par with competitors like Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Video, and Hulu, each of which has offered programming in 4K HDR for years. (HBO Max began supporting these formats at the end of 2020 with the premiere of Wonder Woman 1984, but until Monday, the service’s 4K catalog was limited to films, not TV series — and only about 30 of them.)

Will we ever see Game of Thrones as it was meant to be seen?

There are some caveats here. For one thing, only customers who subscribe to the ad-free tier of HBO Max — which costs 50% more than the version of the service with ads — can stream content in 4K. (This