cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Anonymous User
Not applicable

Bitrate is very poor.

Hello,

 

Now i have taken the 12 months blackfriday deal at £200 as it seems to be a good deal.

However i really dont know why Sky find it acceptable to totally mug us off with these poor streams.

 

Before i go on...

My internet speed and connection is fine and using ethernet.

 

Now i also pay for BTTV along with BT sports and the stream quality they offer is far far far far supierior to this rubbish, it is so good infact that it is similar to satillite quality. Now i say this because this proves that i cant be palmed off with the whole connection issue nonesense.

 

In 2017 will someone please explain to me using technical terms if you wish why you are supplying a sub par 720p stream witha diabolical bitrate that makes watching anything fast moving *cough* Formula 1 *cough* extremely hard to watch? It is totally unacceptable for a multi billion pound organisation like yourselves to offer such a poor quality stream surely? I mean surely it is a little bit embarrasing when illegal streams are streaming at 1080p at higher bitrates than your official streams? I dont agree with illegal streams what so ever but why are you holding back on quality? do you secretly want me to just spend double on a sky and broadband subscription? I dont get it, please explain. 

 

 

Kind Regards, Harris91.

21 REPLIES 21
Anonymous User
Not applicable

What are you using to watch Now TV?  PC?  Now TV box? Roku stick? Something else?

If you are using a PC, are you using an app or a browser?

 

FWIW I get a very good picture with wifi and a Roku stick and ethernet with a black Now TV box, but I tend not to use my PC as that isn't so good.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Nowtv box, test also on my MAC and PC. All struggle with fast moving images especially on the F1 channel and fast football, as I said this is not user sided it is server sided limitations.

 

My argument is not that this is unwatchable, it is.. but the quality is way below my expectations based on other streaming providers. lets be honest.. when there is little movement onscreen it is fine - very respectable 720p quality. As soon as there is movement it becomes more blurry and struggles ( caused by low bit rates ). I just dont see why we are getting a 720p stream? Why not HD or better still 4K this isnt 2008, we are a decade past the birth of HD. 

 

It isnt just me with this opinion, i have a 4K tv and i cant understand why Sky customers get 1080p and we get 720p with a crap bit rate. Anyway there isnt really any excuse please bring us 1080p 60/30 fps streams ! Amazon, twitch, netflix, BT, VIrgin, youtube to name a few all offer this... why cant NOWTV? ( SKYUK ) 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

@Anonymous User wrote:

 

It isnt just me with this opinion, i have a 4K tv and i cant understand why Sky customers get 1080p and we get 720p with a crap bit rate. Anyway there isnt really any excuse please bring us 1080p 60/30 fps streams ! Amazon, twitch, netflix, BT, VIrgin, youtube to name a few all offer this... why cant NOWTV? ( SKYUK ) 


I suspect it is a compromise to keep costs down.  A better picture with higher bitstreams on live streams would cost more to deliver and probably have more lag.    When Sky Q via broadband arrives next year sometime then they will most likely provide full HD and 4K, but will undoubtedly cost more.

 

Now TV isn't where Sky make the big bucks, but they need to be in the game with Netflix and Amazon.  Amazon have started to dip their toe into sports and could blow Sky out of the water without batting an eyelid. Netflix could probably do likewise.   And if Apple ever get serious about content...  

 

PS I don't think Virgin offer HD streams.  SD at best via TV anywhere. 

 

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Yeah think you are right with virgin actually.

 

Still variable bit rates are still an option, used by amazon and i think BT also offer this. The bit rate changes based on your internet speed, however the maximum bit rate and screen resolution is significantly higher than NOWTV.

 

I understand running costs would be higher however that isnt really our problem, a company as big as sky should be providing the best quality in all areas as they are one of if not the biggest media group. (And for 33 quid a month i think they should be doing that)

 

Have you tested BT TV with BT sport? it is fantastic, and they havent been in the game for nearly as long as sky have. Trouble is if I wanted to buy sky sports through BT it is disgustingly overpriced, i think its 2 channels for around 33 quid. 

Hooba
Scholar 3

There's no reason why NowTV can't bring us 1080p 60/30 fps streams. Presumably they choose not to, on the grounds that if they did Sky would lose a lot of contarcted customers. NowTv is what it is .... It's at best half decent quality through something like AppleTV. But its still an attractive proposition to some. Stream on up to 4 devices, 2 simultaneously. So it boils down to circa £20 a month for contract free multi-room Sky sports at 720p, with a shonky stream rate. I keep toying with the idea of going back to Sky - but I can't quite bring myself to sign up to a contract. It's 'good enough' for me.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

"Presumably they choose not to, on the grounds that if they did Sky would lose a lot of contarcted customers."

 

Its crazy... i mean its the same bloody company for god sake. I can understand it with BTTV but since nowtv is part of sky they should be bending over backwards to let us enjoy quality that is close to that of a satalite picture. Sky dont half bang on about it every time the adverts come on!

Hooba
Scholar 3

It's not really crazt at all. 

 

It's a different proposition / product to contracted Sky Sports through a dish. I think the reasoning goes: if you want Sports in the best possible defintion sign a long term contract. If you want flexibility to dip in / dip out here's NowTV, but don't expect the same quality, or even the ability to record anything.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I know what you are saying but you are wrong now, the sport channels are now contract free since the shake up of the sports channel structure. Maybe its my fault, after paying full wack for the aj v wlad fight and getting a dodgy stream that cut out on the ring walk i should have learnt my lesson 🙂 

 

 

Hooba
Scholar 3

FWIW - you have a good point about bit rate. NowTV will happily advertise the service at 720p so I can see why punters are disappointed when they get 720p but with such a poor bit rate. The lack of surrounf sound isn't great either. I'm sat here now watching Watford v Man U on BT sport. Great picture, fantastic sound. But on the other hand, I'm contracted to BT for my Broadband and TV ...