Constantly dropping picture quality

[Anonymous User]

Hi everyone,

My problem is the picture quality keeps dropping to insanely pixelated then goes back up to HD for a bit and drops again, making the watching of anything absolutely unenjoybable. I have a 1080p HD TV and decent wifi connection. Any ideas if there is a setting similar to YouTube where the picture quality changes when the Internet slows down and whether it can be turned off?

Thanks in advance for any help

[Anonymous User · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous User

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum.  Like most providers, NOW TV uses adaptive bitrates, this can't be overidden and aims to give you the best quality picture your connection can support.  If you're experiencing fluctuations in quality, a wired connection to your box is always preferable to wireless. 

[Anonymous User]

I have watched NowTV online for two weekends in a row.  The first weekend was fine and the quality of the picture was quite good, with only a few freezes and picture quality issues, however this morning was shocking. I counted on average the screen froze every 10 seconds and around 90% of the game the picture quality was so bad that I could not see the players.  I just wasted my money on this very poor service.  Never again.

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@Anonymous User wrote:

Hi @Anonymous User

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum.  Like most providers, NOW TV uses adaptive bitrates, this can't be overidden and aims to give you the best quality picture your connection can support.  If you're experiencing fluctuations in quality, a wired connection to your box is always preferable to wireless. 

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[Anonymous User]

sky sport channels (all) and entertainment channels are very poor pixilated qualitly. one minute it's fine the next its unwatchable. it doesn't matter wheather it'a a wired or wireless connection. Now Tv have some serious picture quality problems at present and need to sort it out their end. my entertainment pass has just run out. I will not be renewing until this problem has been sorted out as it's a waste of a pass at present. my sports pass runs out on 2nd september. I will not be renewing this one either if the picture quality does not improve. it's been going on for a few days now.

[Anonymous User]

Utter drivel, Netflix works fine so stop blaming customers systems and fix the Now TV problem!

[Anonymous User]

Hi,

im having this issue.. only with my now tv box in the living room where my router is.. no issues with now tv stick in upstairs tv which is considerably farther from the router.. only happens on now tv app not on any other app included on the now tv box ie, bbc, itv nor 4 (only others I use)

Have tested my connection speeds when this occurs to see if my connection has dropped but speeds are as expected. 

Can you advise on this as I don’t seem to be getting a good enough reason/ solution from the couple of pages through I have read..

many thanks

😇

[James1231]

I am having exactly the same problem . After 10 15 mins the picture is blurred. If I unplug and restart the now box picture is fine but then gets worse again.

[Anonymous User]

Yes, exactly that! It’s driving me insane. I subscribe to all three
packages simply because I seemed easier than a contract and I’m just
wasting my money..

[Anonymous User]

I have exactly the same issue watching sky sports (currently the Ryder cup!). It works fine for 20 minutes or so, it then gets blurry. I turn the now tv box off and on again and can watch for another 20 minutes. It used to work fine, this problem seems to have begun fairly recently, last few weeks.

I‘m using a wired connection over a plug in device. It doesn’t affect iPlayer viewed through nowtv.

[Anonymous User]

Same problem here. I can watch NOW TV movies and entertainment no problem, but when I watch the sports channel, it's fine for about 10-15 mins and then it goes blurry. It's annoyingly doing it right now as I try to watch the Ryder cup. My internet speed as measured a few mins ago is 38.4 mbs and it's a wired internet connection.

I've tried resetting, changing bitrates etc - the only thing which temporarily works is to unplug the box and repower up, but again I only get another 10-15 mins before having to go through the process again.

This needs to be sorted. My Sports subscription is currently due to renew on 6th Oct, but it will not be renewed if this problem persists. New box perhaps?

[Anonymous User]

Trying to watch F1 on a day pass and it is terrible. Using the new stick i have just been sent. No problem with sky store and worked ok with the old white box.  80 mbit bb. Will be asking for a voucher refund

[Anonymous User]

Well I called NowTV yesterday who had informed me that at 11am my speeds
were 2mbps and not good enough for streaming content.. (every occasion I
have had this issue I have checked my speeds except on this occasion so I
could not argue that at the time); but I called my internet provider to
find out what my speeds were at 11am that day and they confirmed they were
a little over 22mbps which is about what it usually is and has been
whenever I have checked at the same time as the NowTV issue occurring
previously.
I felt like I was being lied to by the bloke I spoke to at NowTV from the
start - that said I had a ‘technical issue’ with the first person I spoke
to and got transferred to someone else and had to start all over again..
clearly the company has more issues than just bad picture quality.. shame
on sky. My internet package is running out soon so we have decided when it
does we are going to get a package from virgin or bt and cancel our NowTV
subscription. Rather pay more for a good service than get a sh*t service
from a company that lies to me 🤣 hope you find a resolution to the issues
you’re also having.

[Anonymous User]

Same thing happened to me with a stick. Bought a week pass to watch football Friday night and Ryder Cup. Complete waste of money, had to reboot every 20 minutes to watch for 20 minutes. Once golf was finished, streaming perfectly. Complained via e mail to customer service yesterday and no response whatsoever. 

[Anonymous User]

This is no solution.

I have wired connection direct to my TV and constant 40MB.

Netflix and Amazon both stream in 4k without issue. But Now TV can barely go 10 minutes without dropping to an image quality where you cant tell if you are looking at a human face or or a garden shed.

Now TV service is just plain abysmal, how you can charge people mo ey for it is beyond me!!

[Anonymous User]

We have a wired connectiom and the picture quality is often worse than terrible.

[Anonymous User]

This isn't a solution. All other streaming services work fine and this is an issue particular to Now TV, not to your connection. Now TV has had this issue for years and it still isn't fixed (as reported by other members recently). It's like they reduce the bitrate at their end, not yours, in order to keep up with demand but all they do is reduce the quality for everyone.

[Simonpaddy1]

Am now in the *really* great position where I have to choose between low quality streaming on the Samsung app, or having to hunt down every new episode on the Apple TV app. 

It shouldn't be this hard to use a service I pay for...

[Simonpaddy1]

...wonder if the new NowTV Boost product will be any better in terms of reliable quality. 

[Anonymous User]

Just adding my £14.99's worth..

Went for a week pass to watch the NFL wildcard weekend, every 3 mins or so the bitrate drops to an blocky mess.

I'm on a 29mbps, gigabit wired connection on a PC which streams from Netflix, Prime and many other sites flawlessly.

Sorry NowTV, not paying for this dumpster fire ever again.

[Anonymous User]

Amazed there are so many threads saying the same thing I’m yet another dissatisfied customer wont bore you with the details you’ve read them above. Trading standards are my next step I’d urge you to do the same it’s a disgrace.

[PaulW1]

I thought the same - its not!