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Anonymous User
Not applicable

Sky Sports picture quality (Smoothness)

Hello, 

 

I'm new to NowTV having recenlty ditched my traditional Sky package. 

 

I realise there's already tons of threads about this going back years but watching SkySports on NowTV gives me a headache. The picture is just not smooth at all. Especially noticable on football games and on SSN when the yellow ticker at the bottom of the screen appears. 

 

I'm watching via 3rd gen (2013) Apple TV, ethernet, BT Infinity and tried fiddling about with the TV settings as suggested in previous threads and setting the ATV to 720p @ 50Hz. Nothing makes any difference. 

 

Streaming BT Sport matches from the app on my phone to the ATV via AirPlay is perfect.

 

This is obviously something at NowTV's end as it's too widespread of an issue. Is there any definitive answer or solution anywhere or are they basically saying 'tough, if you want better quality then pay more and watch via satellite'?

17 REPLIES 17
Anonymous User
Not applicable

@starman73

 

The main sites I used were: AV Forums (which is very reliable and did a full review of my tv plus had a settings video up on Youtube with calibrated settings for Low light, Daytime, and HDR viewing), hdtv test, & digital foundry (although it's showing settings for gaming you just have to ignore the gaming specific settings and follow their actual picture settings). Combining the three, and with my own tweaks, has left me with a fantastic visual experience on my tv.

You may have guessed I'm a bit of videophile Smiley LOL

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Just thought I'd post an update.

 

Went and bought a NowTV Smart Box with the aim of testing if the Sky Sports 'smoothness' was due to watching through the AppleTV. 

 

Looks like, at least in my case, it was an AppleTV issue after all. I'm currently watching the England v Pakistan test match on SSC and the picture is great. No visible jerkiness (yes it was only slight on the ATV but was noticable enough to annoy me) and just as smooth as it used to be via my dish. 

 

Switching over to SSN and the ticker across the bottom is fine and the footy on SSF is good too. 

 

So I guess that's me sorted.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I have same issue. Dropped SS from my VM package and got NowTV instead. Have tried Apple TV and new Roku stick, and PQ is very poor on both. I think I’ll get a new NowTV Smart Box, and hope that improves picture. 

schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

Hi @Anonymous User 

 

Changing to a NowTV smart 4K box will not improve matters with regards to PQ or motion resolution with NowTV sports, due to that they stream at 25fps which is not ideal for fast moving sports.

 

Nowtv seriously need to up the frame rate to 50fps like BBC iPlayer and BT Sports.

 

If you are seeing motion judder then a NowTV 4K Smart box or Roku Stick Plus may improve things where you can match the native frame rate with the 25fps stream.

 

I own both a Roku Stick Plus and NowTV 4K smart box and NowTV Sports still looks ropey to me (unnatural looking) with no resolution motion clarity when watching panning camera shots like football for example.

 

You could have a play with your TV motion settings if you don't mind the soap opera effect (which i dislike using on my television where again the picture looks unnatural to me).

 

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

@Anonymous User wrote:

I have same issue. Dropped SS from my VM package and got NowTV instead. Have tried Apple TV and new Roku stick, and PQ is very poor on both. I think I’ll get a new NowTV Smart Box, and hope that improves picture. 


It won't. What you're seeing now is as good as it gets. You only have to read the many threads here and elsewhere on the poor picture quality when it comes to the Sky Sports channels. It all comes down to NowTV broadcasting at a paltry 720p/25fps.

 

***EDITED*** 100% in agreement with @schnapps who got in there before me Smiley LOL

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Many thanks to Schnapps and Robert for clarifying that.  I've not yet bought a SmartBox, and won't do so now. 

 

I'll join the chorus of grumblers on this issue.  It's incredible that Sky should imply that the Now TV Sky Sports experience is equivalent to watching on Sky (or on VirginMedia) - it clearly is much, much worse. 

 

I'll play around with settings, but don't really want to do that and then have to change when going back to watching via cable/sat. 

 

Thx once again.

schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

Hi @Anonymous User 

 

With regards to changing the picture settings, most modern TV's should have an option to select different picture settings on different HDMI input sources.

 

So if your NowTV device and Cable Sat box are on different input sources they shouldn't effect each other.

 

I doubt the motion picture settings on your TV will drasticaly improve things that much in terms of PQ when it comes to streaming nowtv sports at 25fps Smiley Sad

Anonymous User
Not applicable

The framerate is terrible but it’s my only option to watch f1. I think it should be less than half the price for the current quality. I can’t believe they haven’t even acknowledged it or made any effort to get a better stream. This is killing my interest in F1 I’m thinking I won’t bother watching this year as I can’t really justify the expense for such low quality.