David Farnor | On 08, Apr 2014

Netflix is now streaming house of Cards Season in 4K Ultra HD. If you’re rich and lucky enough to live in the right area.

The Internet TV company announced its plans at CES this year to bring 4K streaming to its service, starting with the second season of the Kevin Spacey-starring political series. Now, without any official announcement, it looks like they have already started.

Journalist Steve May tweeted on 5th April: “Watching House of Cards S2 in 4K on Netflix. WHOAH I mean seriously WHOAH. Freakin’ unbelievable. Full HD is ruined for me…”

Others have confirmed the availability of the new resolution. HDTVTest.co.uk, currently giving a Samsung HU8500 UHDTV a trial run, found that they could stream the show in 2160 HD (a big step up from the usual 1080p or 720p HD).

“You can’t cheat the physics of compression, especially given Netflix’s 4K streaming bitrate of 15.6 Mbps which is lower than that of well-transferred Blu-rays, albeit using the more efficient HEVC/h.265 codec,” notes HDTVTest. Nonetheless, they praise the quality of Netflix’s 4K streaming when it comes to “bright, colourful scenes”.

Nonetheless, the roll-out of Netflix 4K content will not be a quick thing: so far, the company has only confirmed the remaster of Breaking Bad in 4K and House of Cards, although future Netflix Original shows will all be shot in Ultra HD. And, of course, there is the small matter of affordability, with Ultra HD televisions not set to drop below the £1,000 mark for some time.

How can you get your retinas on some super-clear Spacey action now? All you need is a compatible 4K TV with built-in HEVC decoder – like this Samsung HU7500 32 inch set, which costs a mere £2,299. Oh, and a broadband speed of at least 15Mbps.

So, to recap: Netflix is now offering House of Cards Season 2 in 4K for rich people. For everyone else, carry on with your lives.

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