As per an announcement by Google on Tuesday, 4K Ultra HD content is now available through Google Play. Users can rent, purchase, and stream movies for the price range starting from $7.99 to $29.99.
As of now the 4K movies are only available for purchase in the US and Canada, offering more than 125 titles including movies like- “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”, “Ghostbusters,” “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” “Captain Phillips,” “10 Cloverfield Lane,” “Lucy,” “Everest,” “The Lego Movie,” “The 5th Element” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” etc. For older movies the users will have to pay double the price of HD content as 4K movies starts at $24.99 and HD at $12.99. For recent HD releases price range is usually $14.99 – $19.99. For rentals it is $7.99 versus $3.99.
Movies are streamed using the VP9 codec, same codec used for YouTube. Users can purchase 4K movies on their Android devices or on the web and stream via Chromocast Ultra , Sony Bravia Android TV, or Xiomi.
Mi Box 3 and 2016 Samsung Smart TVs. Furthermore Google has also announced to offer free 4K movies subscription to the first time buyers of Chromecast Ultra, the selection of movies is very limited though includes movies like- Ghostbusters and Captain Phillips etc. Chromecast Ultra is available for just $69 from retailers like Best Buy, Google Store, Target, and Walmart in the US.
In the recent past Google play has become a major source of content across multiple platforms in 117 countries worldwide. In addition to the 4K ultra HD content launch Google play movies and TV has launched support for the Daydream virtual reality platform. This headset enables users to watch all their Google play select in a ‘virtual cinema’. To use the headset viewers would need a Day-dream ready smartphone.
