NHK broadcasts Olympics in 8K, NBC in 4K

[Query]

***If any of you have found info to add to my VERY incomplete and non-authoritative comments, please do so.***


A number of articles say that NBC will broadcast the upcoming summer and probably winter Olympics in 4K resolution, down-coverted from NHK and OBS broadcasts in 8K, as they did in 2016.

Interesting.

Incidentally, it may not be enough to have a 4K television to see the applicable 4K content. 4K broadcasts and streaming in general, like surround sound broadcasts, have been somewhat complicated, in that most networks are only able to display 4K using combinations of certain brands and models of TV and/or AVR and/or streaming box and maybe even HDMI cables. There are endless discussions of this in various Internet forums. In some cases a streaming box needs to be connected directly to the TV, without an intervening AVR. The combinations that fully work vary by network, and rapidly evolve or devolve. I'm not expert enough to know what hardware you will need for the upcoming Summer and Winter Olympics.

I would not be at all surprised if the only way to watch the full Olympics in the U.S. will be by subscribing to several NBC/Universal owned channels. That is already true for the trials.

Some information sources:
  https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/us-olympic-team-trials-tv-and-streaming-schedule (does NOT include skating, because is for Summer games!)
  https://www.nbcolympics.com
  https://olympics.com
  https://olympics.com/en/sport-events/
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC_Olympic_broadcasts
 
NBC's own Bob Costas has recommended delaying the 2020 Summer games to 2022:

  https://www.vulture.com/2021/05/bob-costas-thinks-tokyo-olympics-should-be-pushed-to-2022.html

So much politics always seems to get into the games. Various people have suggested boycotting the 2022 winter games, because they are in China.

And there remain open questions about future pandemic variations, which could change everything.

TRAVEL

I'm not sure about current CDC advice on travel to the Olympics. Perhaps it is available at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel, but that page keeps changing. Last I looked, they were advising against spectator travel to Japan, for the Olympics or otherwise, but I don't know if that is true anymore.

In any event, last I checked, the Japanese government wasn't planning to allow non-Japanese spectators at the 2020 Summer Olympics (currently scheduled in 2021).