HD Boost

[Anonymous User]

Just wondered if anyone's tried this? Assume it's supposed to be at least 1080i?

I can't really see a difference to what I had which was maybe 720p? on the Sky channels tagged 'HD' after the boost was applied.

I've got 75M fibre downstream and have an ethernet cable run between my router and Now TV box.

4k and HDR work ok with Netflix.

[schnapps]

Hi @Anonymous User 

To me the picture difference between 720p bumped up to 1080p is only marginal when watching on a TV screen say up to 50 inches (depending on viewing distance).

where the increase in picture resolution is more noticeable (i.e. sharper looking picture with less artefacts when watching on a much larger television screen).

Where the Boost Pass comes into play in my opinion is 50fps playback on the Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Premier League channels and glorious 5.1 surround sound.

From my testing on my home cinema projector and 5.1 system the sound quality of the Boost Pass is more impressive than the picture quality.

Just hope that NowTV can get the 50fps playback implemented on the rest of the Sky Sports channels.

[Anonymous User]

Is there any way to find out what the box is outputting?  I can't tell from my TV as the box is up scaling everything to 4k.

[Anonymous User]

I would set your NowTV Box to 1080p. It is highly likely that your TV will be better at upscaling sub4k content to 4K than the cheap now tv box hardware.

If you want to access 4k netflix/prime/youtube I would advocate using the native apps on the tv.

[RoyB]

@Anonymous User 

Info on the box? 

But if you pause the programme, you should be able to see the info on the screen as to whether HD and 5.1 are available, in small white on black icons. 

Doesn’t prove you are getting these things, though, just that they are available.

[Anonymous User]

Just wondered if you could see on-screen what the box is streaming and sends to the TV before the TV upscales it to 4k eg. 720p, 1080i, 1080p, FPS.

As you mention the details in the programme info panel just say what the programme should be rather than what you're actually getting.

[Anonymous User]

It definitely needs an update to show more stream details.

It used to show stream quality on the top right corner for example 4830 

[Anonymous User]

For me the boost HD has not made any difference, I have sky HD, netflix, amazon and apple TV and now TV is nowhere near as good as any of them. Actually cancelled the boost HD now as there is not much difference.

[schnapps]

Hi @Anonymous User 

For me taking the 50fps for Sports out of the equation i find it more difficult when comparing the 720p feed on NowTV against the 1080p HD Boost Pass on my 50 inch 4K television sitting about 8ft away from the television screen.

Where the HD Boost Pass comes into its own personally for me is watching NowTV with the HD Boost Pass on my 92 inch Projector screen where the PQ looks much sharper now ( i.e. nowTV is watchable at last on my projector screen when previously compared to 720p the picture was too soft & horrible where i avoided watching NowTV in the past on the larger screen and just stuck with Netflix & Amazon Prime).

Plus i now have 5.1 surround sound which is an absolute must when watching movies on the large screen.

Anyway if you think the HD Boost Pass isn't worth it and don't need the extra third stream then save yourself £3 which it looks like you have already done 😉.

[Anonymous User]

Yes ive cancelled it, no idea how now tv can continually make a picture look garbage. I thought going to 1080p would make a big difference but they have managed to make that look bad, some achievement. Dont get my wrong its in there interest for it to be bad, they want to keep people on the Sat service, the ironic thing is that even iptv streams are better pic quality although they have the framerate issue.

Also this grey filter thing is really frustrating, thats also been there forever, no idea what thats about, its as if your tv has no contrast, i even tried to up my contrast and colour to compensate.

[gavs82008]

@schnapps @Anonymous User 

For me personally when watching Now TV with the HD boost, I have noticed a much sharper picture. 

This was even noticed by the Mrs who even said the picture was better. 

We use our Samsung TV with the Now TV, having been a subscriber for 5 years I can safely say that the picture quality is better with the HD boost. 

What I did notice and made me realise how good the picture was, after taking a free trial of Sky Spain (aka Spanish Now TV) thanks to my parents living in Spain, who only output at 720p we noticed and even the Mrs was saying whats with the picture quality. It just wasn't as crisp or sharp. 

It will be interesting to see whether Sky UK will follow Italy and Austria in launching Sky without dish and available on Smart TVs. Where would that leave Now TV?

This is a quick copy and paste from a translated Sky Austria for Sky X

What devices can I use to view Sky X?

You can stream with a variety of devices, such as tablets, smart TVs, smartphones, PC / laptops or PS4 . If you don't have a Smart TV, you can look over the small, clever Sky X streaming box - find out in the device overview which devices are compatible with Sky X.

How and what can I stream with Sky X?

Sky X gives you the complete TV experience through the combination of linear channels and on demand . You have the choice: do you want to watch your films and series in a linear program or on demand at any time?

With Fiction & Live TV and Kombi & Live TV you can stream over 1000 films and the best series on demand , wherever and whenever you want.
Sport & Live TV gives you 100% live sports on our premium channels . And you always get 19 public and private channels .

[Anonymous User]

I'm a bit of a home cinema enthusiast and can honestly say on mine its no different, every other service i have is miles better. I have a samsung TV upstairs in our bedroom, will take a little peak at that one tonight.

[schnapps]

Hi @Anonymous User 

Contrast and Colours look perfectly fine and acceptable to me on the NowTV streaming service on both my television and projector screen (though i don't like an over saturated popping off the screen colour palette such has lime green football pitches for example and much prefer a more life like natural look).

Never had Sky Satellite to compare against but was a long time BT TV HD customer in the past and i am quite happy saving a few quid using NowTV which is sufficient for my needs.

[Anonymous User]

I actually have BT TV aswell lol, dont ask, now TV nowhere near any of them.

[Anonymous User]

We definitely notice the difference in Boost PQ on our 75" screen, but can't really tell on a 40" TV in the kitchen.  On the larger TV it was always a soft picture - now much crisper. Also the 5.1 sound makes a big difference on movies.

I noticed on vodzilla a note saying the Harry Potter films were in UHD on now tv boost but assume that was a mistake and I can't find any other reference.  I did check on our 4k Samsung tv built in now tv app and it showed as HD, we have got a 4k roku in another room but haven't checked that yet

[Anonymous User]

Hi there, yesterday Now TV was rolled out to BT/Plusnet boxes so I tested on that lastnight.

Sky sports news still has the frame rate issue, I'm guessing that channel hasnt been fixed regards to framerate.

I then watched the new pope, picture was decent, not as good as sky but def decent. The only issue I had last night was towards the end it started buffering alot but I think thats a one off.

I'm trying to ditch sky but need to make sure I'd be happy with picture quality, it really is borderline, at times it looks good and others it looks a bit rough. The sound was very good, sound was actually better than my Sky HD box.

[gavs82008]

@Anonymous User 

From my understanding only 3 channels are at 50fps, the premiership, main event and now F1. Even then that’s not on all devices as LG hasn’t been “supported”.

[RoyB]

@Anonymous User 

Further to what @schnapps  said, how big is your screen, and how far away from it do you sit?

[Anonymous User]

Its def an improvement on the sport channels and cinema as to entertainment not got that so cant say. 

[Anonymous User]

I have a 40" 4k TV. 

Sitting about 2 metres away.

[RoyB]

@Anonymous User 

HD should be about 50% better than 720p, but both are being upscaled (HD by a factor of 4, 720p by a factor of 6)  onto your fairly small (nowadays!) 4K TV.

I think you would have to get up pretty close to see any discernible difference.