Sky Cinema means HD movies will look better than ever
4K to follow later, but it's good news for 1080p TVs too
Movie night is about to get a whole lot better if you’re a Sky subscriber.
From July 8, Sky Movies is no more: say hello to Sky Cinema. It’s the biggest shake-up to Sky’s film channels since the satellite service first launched way back in 1989, bringing the UK in line with Sky’s German and Italian versions.
This isn’t just a name change, though. Sky’s promising a wider selection of films and more premieres than ever, as well as a serious boost in sound and picture quality, whether you’ve got Sky Q or not.
Starting on launch night with James Bond’s latest globe-trotting adventure Spectre, there will be a new premiere every single night. Big hitters like Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Ant Man, The Martian and Star Wars: The Force Awakens are just a few that have made the cut.
That means Sky Movies will be the only place to watch 45 of the 50 top-rated films from 2015, without actually buying a DVD or Blu-ray. There’ll be a world cinema night every Wednesday too, something that wasn’t exactly well-served on the old Sky Movies channels.
4K is on the way, UHD fans, but not until later in the year. In the meantime, Sky has switched its internal master format to add even more detail to its HD broadcasts. This basically keeps more of the information from the original studio master when it gets scrambled into digital data your Sky box can decode, which means a sharper and more vibrant picture.
You’ll be getting 33% more pixels and four times the number of colour shades currently available from Sky Movies. Certain on-demand films will get audio tracks taken straight from the studio too, meaning a wider soundstage for bigger bangs and quieter whispers without having to fiddle with your TV volume.
This improved HD quality will be coming to Sky customers and to Virgin Media subscribers that also pay for Sky Cinema, but you won’t have to pay extra for it; HD will now come as standard, rather than charge a premium.
That’s across 11 live channels, on demand through the Sky Store, on mobile through the Sky Go and Sky Cinema apps, and on Now TV streaming boxes. Basically, if you’re a film fan, there’s never been a better way to watch.
You’ll start seeing Sky Cinema ads soon, and the renamed channels will launch on the 8th of July.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
