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Anonymous User
Not applicable

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

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!

38 REPLIES 38
Anonymous User
Not applicable

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

Anonymous User
Not applicable

THEY CAN DO NOTHING 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Can confirm i'm still getting the patterned overlay. There was even a major update to the roku/nowtv software at some point recently but the issue remains.

 

Have spent months going back and forth with customer services via email, but they barely even acknowledge the specific issue and suggest I make sure i have enough bandwith (which I do).  Have also raised it twice on twitter, providing examples when requested bu then received no response.

 

I advise others who have the issue to tweet them and basically pester them until they finally devote resources to investigating and sorting it.

 

it's a shame to have to watch a big game like liv v man city with a poor quality stream.

 

to clarify i am not talking about the 'breaking up of reception' like one of the previous posts. i am talking about a specific and obvious patterned overlay.

 

it's still there over adverts and half time punditry - it's just especially noticable on the green pitch and ruins the quality.

gavs82008
Legend 5
Legend 5

@Anonymous User @Anonymous User 

What devices are you using?

 

Do you happen to have an Amazon fire stick? 

If your using Now TV stick, then I would fully recommend ditching this in place for a Amazon fire stick. Much more reliable than Now TV sticks.

FYI that I do not work for NOW, just a NOW customer trying to help
Anonymous User
Not applicable

hi, thanks for the response. i am indeed using a nowtv fire stick. 

 

i don't have an amazon stick but am tempted. i do regularly have to unplug and replug the nowtv stick for other issues e.g. dodgy audio. 

 

georgemans on page 1 however reported the same issue on an Xbox, so i'm wondering if it's an issue with the nowtv app rather than the hardware, which makes me unsure if an amazon stick would fix it.

gavs82008
Legend 5
Legend 5

@Anonymous User 

In all honesty mate I would strongly advise getting an Amazon fire stick.

 

One thing I can safely say is that I own a Now TV stick, Roku stick and an Amazon fire stick. The Amazon fire stick is by far the most reliable device and not just for Now TV performance, with Now TV itself I’ve found to have zero issues with it when I watch Now TV on my Amazon fire stick.

FYI that I do not work for NOW, just a NOW customer trying to help
SweetBlitz
Expert 3

If your using Now TV stick, then I would fully recommend ditching this in place for a Amazon fire stick. Much more reliable than Now TV sticks.

 

@gavs82008 Does it have a 30 minute pause?   I don’t have any reliability issue with my Now TV sticks.

gavs82008
Legend 5
Legend 5

@SweetBlitz 

The Live pause is only for Now TV devices if I am not mistaken. 

FYI that I do not work for NOW, just a NOW customer trying to help
Anonymous User
Not applicable

@gavs82008 

 

Can you confirm you don't get the patterned overlay when using a FireTV Stick?

 

I made a thread about this issue over in the Everything Sports section, see thread

Blotchy / Blocky Picture On Sports Channels.

 

I have had multiple back and forth emails with support about this, they have acknowledged the issue and said it would be fixed. It obviously hasn't been so went back to them, reply this time was we can't see a problem. They clearly don't have a clue whats going on.

 

My dad has a NowTV stick on a <40 inch Panasonic TV this issue is present but not as noticeable as through my NowTV stick on a 50 inch Panasonic. The problem is also there when i watch through a Youview box, it actually appears worse through this.

 

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

hi, yes just looked at your thread, looks like we have the same exact issue.

 

i had the same experience with support as you did. 

 

it's definitely not to do with the software on newer tv's because i have an older tv. 

 

i am not going to purchase a third party product (firestick) just to be able to use NowTV in an acceptable way. i would be tempted if it also had live pause & rewind, but since it doesn't, i'm going to pester nowtv til this is resolved.