If you’re serious about media, you want to watch your movies and TV shows with the best picture possible. That means you need4K. With4K Ultra HD televisionsbecoming cheaper than ever and streaming services likeNetflix(for an extra fee) andDisney+offering 4K, at-home entertainment has never looked better.
But what aboutHulu, theotherstreaming service controlled by Disney? Does it offer a 4K option? The answer is complicated. While Hulu does have some 4K programming, your options are extremely sparse. If 4K is a deal-breaker for you, you’ll want to check out a different service.
Can you get 4K on Hulu?
Technically, yes. Hulu has 4K capabilities, although you’re going to have to look very hard to find them. Currently, only a few devices support 4K Hulu streams, and the shows that you can watch in 4K are much more limited thanHulu’s support pagesuggests.
In addition, while Hulu supports 4K resolution, it doesn’t support aHigh-Dynamic Range (HDR)picture. Even if you have an HDR-capable TV, the contrast won’t be as extreme and the colors won’t be as rich and vivid as you expect. It’s a strange omission, and one we expect Disney will want to rectify sooner than later.
You’ll need a16 Mbps internet connectionto watch 4K content. On the plus side, unlike Netflix, 4K streaming is free with your regular Hulu subscription.
What devices currently stream Hulu in 4K?
Only a limited number of devices can stream Hulu at 4K. As of this writing, 4K Hulu streams are only available on theApple TV 4K,Chromecast Ultra,and theXbox One, with 4K support coming toAmazon Fire TVand LG WebOS devices soon. If you use any other streaming solution, you’re out of luck.
In 2016, when Hulu first introduced 4K streams, you could use yourPlayStation 4 Proto get 4K Hulu content. At some point, however, all of Hulu’s 4K capabilities were removed. They returned in July 2019, but 4K support hasn’t come back to the PS4 just yet, so don’t rely on your console for 4K even if it worked in the past. It won’t now.
What movies and shows are available to stream in 4K on Hulu?
While Hulu promises “a select list of programming” available to stream in 4K, that’s misleading. You have even fewer options than Hulu implies. Right now, the only 4K content on the service seems to be some ofHulu’s original series— and not even all of those. If you want to watch Hulu’s big shows, likeThe Handmaid’s TaleandCatch-22in 4K, that’s fine. Other, more obscure original series seem to be hit-or-miss.
As far as we can tell, no third-party movies or shows are available on Hulu in 4K (we’ve reached out to Hulu for a full list of their 4K programming, and will update if/when we hear back). This includes the James Bond flicks, where were available in 4K on Hulu in 2016, but are no longer available on the service at all.
