Game 1 of the NBA Finals had a bit of everything. Both ESPN, and the league have to be thrilled with the trajectory of this series and the playoffs in general. But of the many social media discussions that popped up last night during the game, a familiar complaint surfaced.
ABC/ESPN broadcasting the NBA Finals in 2026 in 720p resolution is criminal negligence. Especially after the high visual quality that was on display this past Saturday for the Western Conference Finals that were on NBC/Peacock. This video quality looks atrocious on big screen…
— Jaxson Reid (@JaxsonReid2) June 4, 2026
NBA Finals in 720p in 2026
— Tankathon.com (@tankathon) June 4, 2026
The odd thing about the posts, both of which were full of colorful replies, is that ESPN had announced that the NBA Finals would be broadcast in 1080p. “The 2026 NBA Finals will be ABC’s first NBA Finals presented with 1080p HDR capture and transmission,” ESPN’s press release on the subject read.
The always helpful Sports Video Group did a whole piece about the extensive effort and investment made into improving the picture quality. It’s packed full of impressive details, photos, and technical terms that will go over the head of most sports fans. If you take the time to read the thorough piece, it’s beyond clear ESPN was motivated to present a crisp and robust presentation of the Finals.
“Support by the reliable broadcast compounds, ESPN looks to continue down the path of 1080p HDR. Nearly its entire production chain is running in the format: signals from the venue to remote staffers in Bristol, CT; internal signal flow in Bristol; and delivery to ESPN’s streaming platforms and the ESPN App. The sole workflow in 1080p SDR is linear transmission and integration on ABC.”
So if that’s the case, why all the negative social media chatter about picture quality? To get to the bottom of this, I connected with Kristian Hernández, Senior Editor of Sports Video Group and the author of the article on ESPN’s efforts. The biggest culprit in the underwhelming picture quality that was observed ? Local TV affiliates.
“For this year’s NBA Finals, the ESPN App is streaming the game in 1080p HDR (high dynamic range for brighter highlights, deeper contrast, and a wider availability of colors) but the network is transmitting the feed linearly to ABC in 1080p SDR (standard dynamic range). This means that the original video feeds captured in 1080p HDR at the venue are downconverted for distribution. Depending on where viewers are watching, their local affiliate might not have the infrastructure to handle a 1080p broadcast of varying dynamic ranges. In addition, the television that someone is watching the game on may also impact what they’re seeing. The broadcast becomes downscaled to match these certain limitations, so on YouTube TV, they’re not watching on a traditional cable box but they’re receiving the feed from their home affiliate.”
If your local affiliate, or your cable provider, is downscaling the picture, you do have some options.
“Broadcasts through the network’s own streaming platforms or through OTT distribution, for the time being, are given more freedom to experiment with broadcasts in higher formats. For instance, CBS Sports produced the 2026 Men’s Final Four in 1080p HDR for the first time, but on HBO Max through their partnership with TNT Sports. There are less obstacles and hoops to jump through in regard to distribution and transmission.”
So, more or less, if you notice your picture seems bad, it’s worth trying to use the ESPN App in this case, or the streaming app of whatever broadcast you are watching to see if there is a difference. Hernandez adds that as more networks shift to 1080p HDR production and the format becomes a more consistent standard, affiliates are more likely to adapt it.
Poor, or inconsistent, picture quality is at the top of our list of annoyances here at Awful Announcing. It’s not like a certain announcer, where some fans may like how they call a game, and others will not. Nobody has ever said, “You know, I actually enjoy the bad picture!”
Let’s hope everyone from networks to local affiliates continue to make progress on standardizing the picture quality experience for all viewers. It’s got to be a major annoyance to invest so much time and money into improving the picture quality, when a lot of fans don’t see it, and actually complain. Ultimately the complaints land with the network, as most fans aren’t savvy enough to figure out who and where the culprit actually is for a poor experience.
The post Is the picture quality on the NBA Finals better or worse? The answer is complicated appeared first on Awful Announcing.
