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Anonymous User
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Stream quality

Is the Chromecast the same as Android and IOS in that it's limited to SD or can it get the higher quality video we already get on the NowTV? Only I was about to test, but as I already have 4 registered devices and not prepared to remove any, I can't.

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Anonymous User
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Hi All,

 

To confirm, Chromecast uses a "big screen" stream rather than the compressed one we use for mobile devices. The picture on your Chromecast comes directly from NOW TV through your WiFi, not via your phone first.

 

Picture quality will vary from time to time- when testing ours out in the office I found it to be pretty much the same as the NOW TV Box. It is a new platform for us though and we're constantly making improvements to streaming quality, so it could get better.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

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Anonymous User
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Repeated the test tonight. Indistinguishable for a while. But the Chromecast seems to be a lot keener on negotiating down to a lower bit rate than the NowTV box.

Performance on other streaming services suggest that bandwidth to the Chromecast isn't a problem.
Anonymous User
Not applicable

Hi All,

 

To confirm, Chromecast uses a "big screen" stream rather than the compressed one we use for mobile devices. The picture on your Chromecast comes directly from NOW TV through your WiFi, not via your phone first.

 

Picture quality will vary from time to time- when testing ours out in the office I found it to be pretty much the same as the NOW TV Box. It is a new platform for us though and we're constantly making improvements to streaming quality, so it could get better.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Thanks for adding Chromecast support.  I've managed to get it added using one device slot by connecting to chromecast from the Android app and waiting for it to come through on the TV before playing.

 

I have noticed quite poor streaming quality though with Chromecast on NowTV.  When you first connect the stream quality is good but it quickly negotiates down to a poor quality and fluctuates quite a bit.  I don't have this issue on Roku or NowTV boxes.  Chromecast also works perfectly on Iplayer so I think the NowTV implementation needs a little tuning.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Having purchased a Sky Sportds week pass yesterday, I too encounter this. It will fluctuate somewhat every 10-15 minutes or so. In all honesty it's managable for somebody with no other means of accessing Sky Sports but I would much rather have a steady, solid bitrate as opposed to the fluctuation - even if that meant dropping the max bitrate. Appreciate the support team here have little to no insight into the technical aspect of these issues so unless we can be given some absolute clarity, with some technical explanation, there's very little point in appealing to the support team for assistance with this issue. However, for what it's worth, I am running BT Infinity at 75Mb down/18Mb up with absolutely no problems handling this or other services and I'm using a Nexus 5 running 4.4.4 and an iPhone 5. 

 

 

 

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

@Anonymous User live channels are a little more complex than a typical on demand stream, and are always more likely to vary in quality or buffer.

 

When you watch an on demand movie or show (either with us or other similar services), the content is pre-stored on a "delivery network" which means it's more easily accessable to your device, as it's ready and waiting. A lot of our apps also store a few seconds of footage, meaning that if your internet connection did slow down, there's a chunk ready to be played anyway without affecting quality or causing a period of buffering.

 

With live channels, you obviously want to see everything as it happens, and so there's little or no opportunity for us to store the content in the same way. It has to be delivered on-the-fly, meaning any fluctuations in internet speed are more noticeable. There are a lot of other factors other than the speed of your broadband connection which can cause those slowdowns as well, so I'm not necessarily saying there's anything wrong with your broadband.

 

I hope that bit of extra information is useful.

 

Tom 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I appreciate that where the streaming of live content is concerned the demands on connection differ to that of streaming content 'on-demand', with that said various other services (BT Sport and their Chromecast compatibility for example) offer live 'on-the-fly' streaming without the issues described in this thread. Whilst on the subject of picking apart this service, Sky Sports (and I would imagine the other channels available) is not streamed at the same FPS as source creating a very slight, but noticiable if like me you are sensitive to these things, jitter. This is the same issue suffered on various services including Sky Go and the BT Sport app. Not a deal breaker, even for somebody as particular as me however worth mentioning. 

Anonymous User
Not applicable
I'm on portugal can't see any of my movies
Anonymous User
Not applicable

Hi @Anonymous User 

 

Thanks for posting.

 

You can only watch NOW TV in the UK I'm afraid.

 

Regards

 

Ranj

NOW TV Team

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Hi @Anonymous User 

 

Have your team done any comparisons between Apple TV & the NOW TV box?  My friend reckons it's better, but I can't notice any difference.

 

Regards

@Anonymous User 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Are there any plans to add Dolby support via Chromecast - Netflix has this and the picture qulaity and consitency with the Netflix implementation is excepeional in comparrison to the now TV - and also considerably cheaper for subscription.

 

I love Chromecast and am so happy that the big names in on demand and live content are embrassing it, i am sure this is early days and these apps and services willl evolve given time, however it would be nice to know if the Dolby aspect is on your roadmap?

 

Other than that i love being able to scroll through the app and then cast to the TV - slightly annoying it registers as two devices on my account though 😞