Black Box v Smart Box

[Anonymous User]

If you have the black box is there any advantage in getting the Smart box ?

Will it solve the slight judder you get in the Sky Sports stream for instance and make it smoother ?

(Panasonic 50DX750B owner)

[Andy]

@Anonymous User

Welcome to the forum.

With regards the motion judder, in theory the 50Hz output of the smart box compared to the 60Hz output of the black box should lead to less/no motion judder. In practice it's not quite that simple,  some people say there is a difference, others don't. You can read more about what users think of the issue here

http://community.nowtv.com/t5/NOW-TV-Smart-Box/Sky-Sports-picture-quality/m-p/395679/highlight/true#M1171

The obvious reason to upgrade is for the Freeview receiver, although it's fair to say the interface and TV guide (only now/next) is pretty basic. You also get a better field of view on the IR sensor, and 720p on all live streams (compared to just sports streams on the black box). 

If you have a flick through some of the threads in the Smart Box section on the forum you'll get a feel for what people are saying about it, but if you are only thinking of buying one to eliminate motion judder buy from a place with a good returns policy (I'd check when buying that they will take it back if it doesn't solve the issue for you)

http://help.nowtv.com/article/NOW-TV-Box-Tech-Spec

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the response. Yeah I've been reading that thread and a few others. Its a 50/50 chance. I would only be buying it to eliminate the judder. I dont need it for freeview. I was just wondering as Sainsburys were selling them cheap (same price as the black box) when I went in today so I was wondering whether to pick one up. 

I have BT TV and in an ideal world they would allow Sky Sports on two boxes but thats not going to happen and its a pity the Now TV app doesnt include the Sky channels on the BT TV boxes either so my only solution is the black box.

Its almost what I want so near. Quite happy with what it offers and enables me to watch the odd match.

[Andy]

@Anonymous User

Yeah I can sympathise with you. I've never really had a problem with motion judder on either of the boxes (apart from slight amounts of ticker tape judder which isn't something that catches my eye) which is why I can't really say it will make a difference, but I appreciate different people and different equipment setups are more susceptible than others. I'm guessing you've already played around with the TV picture settings to try to reduce the issue yourself (new TVs love their dozens of picture enhancements but I still find I get the best picture by turning most of them off and the rest to a low setting!)

Like you say the only real way you will find out for you personally is to try it out yourself, anybody else who tells you it will 100% eliminate it are only talking about their own living room. Try telling Sainsburys (or any of the other stores that have sales offers on the box at the mo) that you are specifically buying to help with judder on your current box and whether they will accept a return if it doesn't help - don't scratch off the voucher code for the passes that come with it as that's a common reason for returns being refused.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Hi @Anonymous User,

There is no doubt that you will be better off watching ALL content including sports, at the correct frequency of 50Hz. Which only the 'smart' version of the NOW TV Box can do!

You'll also need to visit your televisions 'post-processing/frame creation' options (for the given HDMI input) and disable default features such as: Real Cinema, Motion Eye Care, TruMotion, Intelligent Frame Creation, Game Mode, Film Cadence Mode, etc (or whatever they may be called on your make and model of TV).

Cheers

[Anonymous User]

Yes I have played around with the settings before watching the Leeds v Liverpoo match tonight. Think I will try the Smart box and report back.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Hi again @Anonymous User,

If you currently have a 'Black' NOW TV box, no amount of fiddling around  with your Panasonic televisions 'post-processing/frame creation' options will fully resolve the motion problems you are seeing. This is because the 'black' box outputs all video at 60Hz - instead of the correct 50Hz!

And there's no way that you can make 50 fit neatly into 60 (or vice-versa)  

[Anonymous User]

@SeeMoreDigital actually there is, for a number of users the judder isn't the missing/extra frames but the post processing by the TV. But some users have it in their head that every single customer can see the problem, despite the percentage of people reporting the issue below 1%.

[SeeMoreDigital]

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@Anonymous User wrote:

@SeeMoreDigital actually there is, for a number of users the judder isn't the missing/extra frames but the post processing by the TV. 

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Agreed some people are less susceptible than others at seeing such issues. But never the less there's no way that you can make 50Hz sources fit neatly into a 60Hz output flow, without introducing motion errors...

I've been at a few video encoding and decoding seminars where this issue has been discussed. And when test videos are played on the same display to a room full of people, some people can see motion flow issues and others can't. And the people that can see such issues, don't all see them in the same way. But they are there 😉

[Anonymous User]

I went to Sainsburys and they've put the price back up to £50 for the Smart Box. Went into Curry's and they have it for £69 and £49 depending on pass you get with it. So whilst I was stood in the shop I went on my mobile to the Curry's website. They had it still at £24.99, so did a click and collect. Walked over to the till and showed them the reserve code and mentioned only done it in last half hour so they might not have it printed out. She went on till, found the order and voila. Smart TV Box for £24.99!

Noticed the menu is a lot slicker than the normal black box it responds better to the remote. Watched a bit of highlights on Sky Sports of a footy match and a couple of movies and the picture movement looks smoother. I need really to watch a live football match so will see if there is one on tonight. Checked the TV and it was receiving 50hz picture this time too.

Signed up for the GUI trial too so be interesting to see what the new menus are like. Quiet like the TV guide too as it not only shows freeview channels but NowTV channels.

[Anonymous User]

Just a little update. Having the Smart Box for a bit and watched live footy it is smoother. I put the black box in the dining room on the other TV and kept walking between the two and you do notice less judder on the smart box. Also the picture looks a lot more colourful for want of a better word.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Nice one. Thanks for the update @Anonymous User...