Hulu’s Android TV app has been upgraded from 720p to 1080p on some devices

Hulu’s Android TV apps can finally stream in 1080p on the new Nvidia Shield TV set-top boxes and Sony Bravia TVs, as spotted by users on Reddit, and written by Gizmodo, Android Central, and 9to5Google.

Users first noticed the change in the “App and device information” page of the Hulu app. After the update, the app lists the new maximum video resolution as “1920 x 1080”. It’s kind of a sneaky way to make the switch. Looking at the description of the update on the Play Store, there is no mention of it, so it’s possible that something has changed on the server side of Hulu as well.

Picture: 9to5Google

Gizmodo says he was able to confirm that at least the 2019 Nvidia Shield and Bravia TVs received the 1080p boost on March 23, but the change was not reflected on the support pages of Hulu, which were last updated in February. Hulu doesn’t seem to specifically list which devices streamed in each resolution (aside from live TV streaming) on ​​its support site, but it does provide minimum bitrates for each:

• Standard Definition (SD): 1.5 Mbps
• High definition (HD) 720p: 3 Mbps
• High Definition (HD) 1080p: 6 Mbps
• 4K Ultra HD: 16 Mbps

For the new Chromecast with Google TV, which runs a skied version of Android TV, it’s unclear when 1080p Hulu support was added or if it launched with it. I was able to check my Chromecast’s Hulu app and it currently supports 1080p. We have contacted Hulu to confirm which other Android TV devices may have been affected by this update.

4K streaming is even more limited on Hulu. 4K content is mostly limited to original Hulu shows and movies, and according to Hulu’s probably outdated list, the devices that can actually stream in 4K are the 5th Gen Apple TV, Chromecast Ultra, Amazon Fire TV. and the Fire TV Stick. , LG UHD TVs from 2017, Roku devices, Vizio TVs with SmartCast, and Xbox One S and X.

It’s nice that more devices can theoretically stream in a higher resolution, especially for people who have shelled money for higher resolution displays. I think it’s worth mentioning, however, that some of the Redditors who first discovered this change had no idea that they had been streaming 720p all this time.