Quality issues on Sky Sports - some kind of patterned overlay?

[branflakes]

Hello!

I recently purchased the sky sports pass with Boost, and I am using a NowTV Stick. The quality was a little below my expectations considering it's 1080p 50fps (it looks noticeably worse than BT and Amazon).

Upon a little investigation I noticed that it wasn't a problem with the sharpness, but rather that there was a subtle pattern overlay/watermark on the picture that was making it look patchy and artefacted.

I then noticed that when I pause and unpause, the overlay can be seen clearly (it then fades after a few seconds, but not completely). 

This picture shows what I mean (towards the bottom half):

It seems to happen on all the football channels, I checked Netball out of curiosity and it didn't happen there. It also doesn't happen when I stream from the NowTV app. I know its not my TV as I stream plenty of other stuff without this. 

Is this pattern familiar to you guys? Is it some kind of anti-piracy measure? I would understand if that was the case but it's visibly affecting my streaming quality. Even the 720p feed casting from the iPhone app would be superior to what I've currently got if the framerate weren't so poor. 

Anything I can try? 

thank you!

[Anonymous User]

I have the exact same issue when watching the football lastnight.

I have a Now TV box black 4K to a LG OLED TV.

This was the first time i had paid for the new NOWTV boost feature as well. I was struggling to see any improvements of 720p resolution. Possibly because of the patterned overlay ?

The BT Sports app on Xbox looks so much better than this and im not having to pay extra £3.00 a month for a boost.

Any help/advice would be great.

Thanks Ben

[Anonymous User]

The football last night was 720

as only the prem leave and main event are 1080p

[Anonymous User]

Sure the Nottingham forest match was on main event channel.

[branflakes]

can confirm it's still the case with the premier league football this evening. 

the overlay is still there, i'm pretty sure that's the main cause of the poor quality. it's the most noticeable on the big green areas of the pitch, which look really poor. close ups with minimal motion by contrast look good.  but there's no noticeable improvement over the 720p app casting, except for the framerate. 

either way it's night and day vs the match I watched earlier on BT Sport, which looks like true 1080p. 

[Anonymous User]

Same issue here been going on 6 months, doubt they are going to fix it, it's very annoying and think I will be cancelling

[Anonymous User]

Hi all,

Just been reading the thread and have exactly the same issue. It seems to be prevalent on Sky One for me.

I’m using Now TV through a Samsung OLED TV

[Anonymous User]

Folks I've got this exact issue and I am using an Amazon 4k Firestick. My bandwidth is always good and I have no issues with other football apps like BT or Premier. Has anyone ever found a resolution for this issue? It's driving me wild. I pay a lot of money for this privelidge and it's absolutely terrible quality because of this camouflage overlay.

[schnapps]

Hi @Anonymous User 

There are a few threads on the Community about picture noise artefacts when watching Sky Sports over the last 24 months such has the camouflage effect, fog or mist or  marco blocking noise on the background where i have inputted on a few of them myself.

I believe they are all related and just a different description on what the customer sees when watching Sky Sports with NOW.

Unfortunately i don't know the answer, where NOW will blame your internet connection which is not the case.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the reply. I figured as much. Looks like it's been an issue for
years. Found lots of threads about it but no answer and sounds like NowTV
have their head in the sand about it. I'm not even gonna report it because
it's so obviously a problem at their end and they'll make me jump through
the troubleshooting nonsense which will just drive me up the wall. Their
app is trash. There's literally no settings that you can play with to try
and rectify the issue. I'll probably just cancel my subscription and find
an alternative.

[Jno]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but can anyone clarify whether or not this issue is isolated to the Now App when using it on a TV, or if this also happens when viewing Sky TV channels broadcasting?

I ask because anything through Sky in a live broadcast is patchy like camouflage overlay, but when on demand, it’s perfectly fine.

Personally, I believe this to be how the Now TV App handles compression and upconversion to a 4K tv — specifically with regards to Sky channels, as other non-sky channels are prefectly fine.

Mobile devices are perfectly fine, and my guess is that live broadcasts through traditional media channel boxes work perfectly fine as well.

Thoughts?

[gavs82008]

@Jno 

My understanding is that it’s across many “big screen” devices such as Smart TVs, Amazon Fire sticks. 
Don’t have an active sports membership so I can’t comment. @schnapps  take it this issue is still happening and my assumption on devices is correct with boost or not?

[schnapps]

Hi @gavs82008 

In the past i have seen this camouflage picture effect on all three of my main playback devices which are the Amazon 4K Fire Stick, NOW 4K Smart box and Youview 4K box whilst watching live Sky sports with my Boost Membership.

I haven't noticed the camo effect in the last week or so, using my Amazon Fire Stick.

Haven't used the other two devices during this time to check.

Previously the camouflage effect did disappear for me for a short time, then reared it's ugly head again 😡.

[Anonymous User]

Having this problem too. Poor for the price you pay. 

any solution?

[gavs82008]

@Anonymous User 

Are you using a Now TV stick?

Usually doing a factory reset to the device can squash bugs on the system and get it to work again.

[Anonymous User]

@gavs82008 

Watching through NOW TV app on Xbox One X 

Seeing the same textured pattern/ overlay as someone pictured above.

Extra noticeable on the green pitch.

[gavs82008]

@Anonymous User 

Can think of two suggestions.

1. Delete and reinstall the app 

2. Unplug your router for a couple of minutes and turn back on

If they fail, report the fault with Now TV staff. Best option to send an email so you can provide screenshots.

 

[Anonymous User]

Liverpool  v City reception breaking up last 10 minutes of first half - unwatchable 

studio adverts all OK - clearly the signal from the ground

THIS HAPPENS REGULARLY ON BIG GAMES - TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE

[Anonymous User]

Yep I am having the same issue on PC and I'm a boost customer. 

The quality is shocking!

[gavs82008]

@Anonymous User 

Boost isn’t supported with the Now TV player on PC

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

[Anonymous User]

Terrible quality on Liverpool Man City game- unwatchable 2nd half. Audio fine- visual awful