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The Olympics and Paralympics are just a few weeks away, and against all odds it looks like they might actually be going ahead. So, the time has come to plan how you’re going to watch the action.
The good news is that actually watching the Games will be entirely free, because it’s all on the Seven Network. Sports will be spread across Seven’s free-to-air channels (assuming you have good reception), and streaming live on its catch-up service 7Plus, making 45 Olympic channels all up. You can access 7Plus through smart TVs, set-top boxes (like Apple TV or Fetch) and through the app on phones and tablets. You will need an account to access 7Plus.
As Tokyo prepares for the Olympics, it’s time to prepare your lounge room.Credit:Getty
In less good news, all those streams and channels will only be in either standard or high definition, not 4K. Optus had announced in 2019 that it would be streaming the Olympics in 4K on Fetch, exclusively for its 5G home internet customers, but a spokesperson confirmed that is no longer going ahead.
If you want to watch the games with strangers, there are plans to have live sites around the country, but they’re obviously dependant on the COVID restrictions for each area.
Lots of people use the Olympics as an excuse to upgrade their TV. If you’re looking for the perfect TV for watching sports, the main features to consider are uniform brightness, deep contrast and a wide viewing angle. I would also recommend getting a good 4K (or 8K, if you have the budget) TV that capably upscales, because that’ll at least get you closer to ultra high definition viewing.
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If you’re after an OLED, LG’s C1 range (from $2800) is the best of the bunch for sports. It has a Sport Alert feature to give you a heads up about big moments in the NBA, Premier League and NFL, and an OLED Motion feature to reduce blur on fast plays to make sport seem smoother and more natural.
If you have a brighter room and want to go LCD, the Samsung QLED 8K QN900A (from $6549) remains the best television I have ever seen in my life, and its less expensive sibling, the QN800 (from $4849), is also fantastic. For a 4K model, the 2021 Frame TV (from $1449) has good upscaling, an Active Voice Amplifier (to help make commentary clearer) and can be put in a standby mode that makes it look like a piece of art, so you can go bigger without being stuck with a giant black mirror dominating the room.
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