Presto finally getting HD streams

[sincity]

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Presto has a pretty impressive lineup of content on both its TV and Movies service, but since it launched, the service has been stuck in the standard definition past. But that's all about to change, according to a post on its community forums.

As picked up by Gizmodo, the post announces that the team has been testing HD streams, rolling out 1080p programming in a test phase to the service. This means Presto customers could potentially find some HD programming on their device right now.

According to Presto, "Our plan is to progressively upgrade our content to be available in HD (where possible) and to also upgrade the enablement of HD on the devices and applications which Presto is currently available on – this may take some time, especially for some devices. We want to be sure our HD service is up and running before we start shouting about it!"

Double the data

Of course, all that extra quality doesn't come without its own cost, in this case significantly increased data consumption.

Presto says that an HD stream will consume about 3GB per hour, compared to 1.5GB per hour for SD, but on the upside, Telstra home broadband and Foxtel Broadband customers will get the increased quality included as unmetered data.

There's also going to be a boost to include 5.1 sound on HD streams, with Presto confirming there will be an announcement coming in the not too distant future.

• This announcement will probably influence our Presto vs Netflix vs Stan comparison