Now tv box bit rate

[Anonymous User]

Can you adjust the bit rate on the Now TV box (black) I have found the key combination on the remote to see the available bit rate. It looks like it can be set for auto or a number of manual settings. We live on a boat and only have mobile data but do have 80gb per month between us. Our TV in standard resulution and I have set to 720p. I don't mind lower quality, just interested in making our data last out the month. We mainly watch movies. Thanks. Rob

[Andy]

@Anonymous User

Welcome to the forum. No, unfortunately that bit rate menu you refer to is for legacy Roku apps and doesn't have any effect on NOW TV as this service uses adaptive bitrate streaming, it will automatically adjust bitrate to the best it can achieve on your connection. So I'm afraid if you have limited data allowance you'd need to limit how many movies you watch, as a rough guide allow 3GB of data per movie but keep a close eye on your usage.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Hi @Anonymous User,

To follow on from what Andy has said... Currently NOW TV's maximum bitrate is around 4865Kbps which equates to around 2.2 GB of data per hour 😉

Cheers

[Anonymous User]

So, if I have a slower connection, the adaptive bit rate will lower? We only use mobile internet as we are on a narrowboat travelling. We do have available 30gb per month on two iPhones which we use the personal hotspot to connect to the Now TV box. Could we not just place the iPhones in a position where we get a slower connection? Sometimes, depending on our location (i.e. In the middle of nowhere!) we might only get 3G anyway. So, a slower connection makes the Now TV box choose a lower bitrate therefore using less data? Not sure at what bitrate level, picture becomes too pixelated. Having said all this, we have enough data for 20 movies a month and that's plenty for us.

[Andy · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous User

Yep that's right, the stream will adapt to try and keep the film streaming as best it can. It will be a bit trial and error as placing the phones where the signal is weak could also lead to intermittent connections so you might find the stream stopping and starting, but it's worth a try. In fact turning 4G off on your iPhone, thus forcing it to only connect via 3G would help as well, although in areas of strong 3G connection the connection could still pull down maximum bitrate.

Like I say worth playing around, just remember to keep an eye on your data usage so you don't get any unexpected bills!  (any NOW TV streaming will be on top of all your other day to day Internet usage, and a 3 hour viewing of Titanic will be worth two average 90 min films!) 

[Anonymous User]

That's great. Many thanks. Pity the box cannot adjust bitrate. Not everyone has unlimited internet

[Anonymous User]

I seem to recall hearing last year that NowTV were going to increase their bit rates - hopefully resulting in better picture quality nearer to live BBC iPlayer standards. Has anything happened on that front ?

( I use a Smart Box and haven't watched for a while )