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RBZ
Scholar

HD or Not HD, That is the Question!

I bought a Stick, purely to gain pause/rewind of live TV as the app on my Samsung TV doesn't support it. But I'm not convinced that it correctly supports HD. The interface is a little fuzzy & washed out, regardless of setting 720 or 1080 in the Stick's settings. In fact switching to 1080 makes zero difference to the quality of the interface/menus, they remain looking decidedly low res. So some questions:

 

Do all versions of the Stick support 1080?

 

Are the Stick menus fixed at low res regardless of screen res setting? The menus on the TV app are vastly crisper & more vibrant.

 

How can I be certain that the Stick is streaming HD? The TV app displays the bit rate (7830) when streaming HD but I can't find anything similar for the Stick. The TV guide lists HD versions but even so, receiving an HD stream doesn't necessarily mean the stick is displaying HD.

 

Any help gratefully received. 🙂

9 REPLIES 9
RoyB
Legend

@RBZ 

 

Look and see if the audio says 5.1

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.
RBZ
Scholar

It's available as an option but not sure how that helps? Like the HD channels logos, availability of what's going in doesn't necessarily equate to what's coming out.

 

I've just noticed that while the TV is locking on to the HDMI input that the Stick is plugged into, it displays the resolution. While the Stick is booting it's 720. Annoyingly I can't find a way to display that after something starts playing. So it looks like the menu interface is indeed locked to 720, I guess as 1080 wasn't available when the Stick was launched.

 

Equally annoyingly, there's no way to toggle between the Samsung app & the Stick. Switching to HDMI closes the app.

 

 

schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

Hi @RBZ 

 

Firstly go into the Stick Settings and under Display type force 1080p.

 

Unfortunately on the NowTV branded devices there is no way to check the NowTV stream quality figure like your Samsung Smart TV if you don't trust the HD icon on the NowTV information on screen banner bar or Now & Next TV Guide.

 

The tale tail ways to see if you are on NowTV Boost with your Stick is going under My Account section of the NowTV Stick where it should say NowTV Boost (Active Pass).

 

On my 50 inch TV screen it is difficult to judge between 720p and 1080p, though when i use NowTV Boost on my 92 inch Projector screen you can easily identify 720p NowTV content where the picture is soft with less detail.

 

Another way to see if you are on NowTV Boost and have a NowTV Sports Pass is to watch one of the six channels that has 50fps playback on your Stick where there is a night and day difference in my opinion against the 25fps Sports channels.

 

Another way to confirm NowTV Boost is if you have a Sound System that accepts and displays 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound (it will say either Dolby Digital + or Dolby Digital depending on the specification of your sound system).

schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

Hi @RBZ 

 

Here's some NowTV articles linked below about Boost, maximum streaming quality, and how to setup 5.1 surround sound with Boost.

 

https://help.nowtv.com/article/what-is-now-tv-boost 

 

https://help.nowtv.com/article/what-is-highest-streaming-quality-for-my-device 

 

https://help.nowtv.com/article/how-to-adjust-audio-settings 

RBZ
Scholar

The Stick is already forced to 1080 but as I said, that isn't reflected in the appearance of the menus.

 

There is no question that the Boost is active, just whether the Stick is actually displaying 1080. It makes no difference that 5.1 is present as that just confirms the Stick is receiving HD, not necessarily outputting it.

 

Which channels are 50fps?

 

I'm watching on a 55" TV. I guess ultimately if I'm struggling this much to verify what I'm seeing then I may as well just cancel the Boost. Maybe the drop back to 720 will be more apparent.

schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

The six Sky Sports Channels with a NowTV Sports Pass and Boost that offers 50fps playback with your NowTV Stick is :-

 

Main Event, Premier League, Football, Cricket, Golf & F1.

Saint1976
Elite 3

@RBZ firstly I wouldn't be concerned if menus and icons are displaying in a lower resolution because that's not really what I'm paying for. As long as the stream is displaying in 1080p with 5.1 (and 50fps for the sport) I'm happy. 

 

That said, I can understand customers scepticism that they're receiving 1080p if menu screens aren't crisp. Below are 2 images. The first is the menu screen from the inbuilt app of Amazon Prime Video on my 4k TV. Second is the same area but on the app on a Roku Premiere. There is a clear difference not just in clarity but colour saturation most noticeable around the 'prime' banner and 'from 5:30pm'.

Screenshot_20201214-120440.jpg

Screenshot_20201214-120459.jpg

Playing content (which I'm afraid is impossible for me to capture) there is no difference. Both are pin sharp.

 

That brings us to the next matter - am I seeing a 1080p broadcast. @schnapps has already mentioned he can see a clear difference between his TV and projector. The determining factors are size of screen and viewing distance. For all screen sizes there is a distance at which you can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p due in part to the limitations of the human eye. You can use the graph below to find the maximum viewing distance of each screen size before you fail to see the difference between broadcast resolutions. Essentially, if you have a 50inch screen and sat 15 feet away, you won't notice the difference between 1080p and 720p

 

Screenshot_20201214-121127.jpg

RBZ
Scholar

@Saint1976 

 

Yes, I'm probably borderline for viewing distance. I've had Boost before & didn't really notice a drastic drop in quality when it ended. What prompted me to try again was a recent game on Amazon Prime where the picture quality was superb. My TV is only 1080 so Amazon can't have been displaying any higher but it was a very obvious step up, whereas NowTV seems much less so.

 

I can't begin to imagine why Roku have crippled the menus in this way, maybe it's having limited hardware resources available in the Stick format. I don't think it's even 720, looks more like SD.

 

The Boost trial is due to end today so I'll see if I notice the drop this time.

Saint1976
Elite 3

@RBZ as mentioned in the thread already NowTV Boost comes into its own on the sports channels where 50fps makes viewing content a much better experience.

 

As for Amazon, I have to agree that their broadcast is superb and I struggle to tell the difference between their content in 1080p and BT Ultimate in 4k.

 

I also find that Amazon's broadcast is much more stable with no drop in image quality through out it's broadcast where as BT and NowTV can occasionally drop for a few seconds before going back up.