That's right: you can now watch all your favourite sports events in ultra HD on Channel 780.

We got a glimpse of it and we could see each blade of grass on the screen!

(Sometimes lah. When the athletes are running around, no time to see the grass and all.)

Tonnes of brand new features

Another feature of the new Ultra Box that got us super excited was the cloud recording.

If you're an Astro user, you know that whatever you record now is on your decoder and the space is limited, so sometimes you have no choice but to delete shows that you wish you can re-watch a million times, but you can't.

You won't have that kind of dilemma anymore because with the new box, whatever you record will be stored in the clouds, and existing Astro users get 200 hours of recording space for FREE!

Not enough? You can also upgrade your cloud to 400 or even 1500 hours.

There's more: if you flip to a new channel and find a show interesting but you missed the first 10 or 20 minutes (or more), all you have to do is press the 'Play' button on your remote control and you can start watching it from the beginning.

One account, many platforms

Seamless viewing on multiple platforms is another feature you might like.

Say, you’re watching your favourite show on television but your siblings are loudly arguing about something and you can’t concentrate. You can just switch it off, open your Astro Go app on any of your devices and continue watching right where you left off.

The new interface is also uniform across all platforms, so it’s much easier to navigate.

Astro has also upgraded the search feature, so not only can you search for movies and shows, but also the names of your favourite actors, directors and more when you’re picking what to watch.

Chief Executive Officer of Astro Group, Henry Tan, said during the launch at Sunway Pyramid, that the company is on a journey of continuous improvement to provide its customers with a better experience from customer service, to content, and to the experience at home.

“Over half a million homes have 4K TV of which 70% are Astro customers. The launch of the Ultra Box is timely to meet the growing demand for 4K UHD viewing. Additionally, commercial establishments in the hospitality, retail and F&B sectors will welcome the opportunity to offer patrons live sports and other content in 4K UHD,” he said.

During the question and answer session with the media, Tan also said that there will be less disruption to shows when it rains as the new box is a hybrid that allows Astro to use both satellite and the internet to provide its services. “People always ask me this question but they have to realise that we provide services outside of urban areas as well and satellite is still the most viable way for places without strong internet connections,” he said.

For now, only channel 780 (Sports) and two Astro Best channels will offer 4K viewing, but Astro is planning on increasing the numbers as suppliers start providing them with higher quality content.

However, about 100 channels that are not in HD yet will now be available in HD.

Astro customers who are subscribed to packages that cost more than RM100 can upgrade their decoders for FREE, while those with subscription of less than RM100 can get it installed for RM199.