Google upgrades North American users to 4k version of movies

Google says that users in the United States and Canada who have previously purchased movies in HD or SD resolution via Google Play can expect a free upgrade of those movies in 4k resolution.

The condition is that a 4k version of the film in question has been made available by the Hollywood studio at all. Users just need to open the Play Movies & TV app and it will notify you if a movie has been upgraded to the higher 4k resolution. Those movies can then be streamed in 4k. Google also lowers the dollar prices of most 4k movies. The Verge reports that those prices were previously around $30, and are now mostly below $20. It is unknown when this upgrade policy will also be implemented outside of North America.

Google is still lagging behind Apple when it comes to upgrading its film offering. The Cupertino company already released a free update for movies purchased in iTunes in September last year: full HD movies were upgraded to a 4k version including HDR, if such a version was available. And in August this year, the addition of Dolby Atmos tracks for movies on the Apple TV 4K followed. Google does not report any upgrades that also add HDR versions of movies.