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Anonymous User
Not applicable

Now TV HD Boost for non live TV

I am looking at moving from Sky To Now TV Entertainment as Sky want another 20% at my renewla next month!

I would want the HD Boost as I absolutely wouldnt wnat to watch just SD quality TV

Looking at the Now web site it suggests that I would only get Entertainment in HD if I watched a show live.  But if I watched the show by streaming as a catch up,  it would not be in HD.  Is this correct as if it is its a showstopper and I may have to look at going the BT TV route, as their set top box does allow for HD recording of NOW TV

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
nst
Elite

Can I give you a little bit of advice..?

Ive gone on record many many times here about Boost... but in the context of the AppleTV app.

I paid for boost for well over a year waiting, and waiting for AppleTV to fully support it.  In my case all I was getting was 1080p apparently... but NOT 5.1 surround sound.

I, like you, came from another Sky service before saving myself a small fortune ditching SkyQ and using Now instead.  I too, like you, thought that I would not, under any circumstances, go back to "SD" TV.

Now... here's the rub.  I cancelled my Sky Cinema Pass.  I cancelled my Boost pass out of principle that they charge for not supplying 5.1 on the AppleTV (I felt that £5 a month was pushing their luck anyway but thats another story...). I retained the entertainment pass as I watch a decent amount of content.

BUT....... 

My TV is a decent 65" 4K OLED.  Like all 4K TVs it upscales SD content.  My sound system is a SONOS arc with sub and rear surrounds.....  It does a decent job of making a 2.0 sound signal appear more surround-y than it is....

AND..... im being 100% honest with you - ive not noticed ANY difference from when I had boost.  certainly not from the Picture Quality perspective.  Sure, the 5.1 isn't 5.1 but I wasnt getting that anyway from the AppleTV TV app.  I can assure you that you will not, at any point, feel you are watching "SD" content without the boost pass.

My advice to you is this:  Move to Now... you are totally correct... BUT,  before you try the boost free trial (which is very enticing).. STOP.. and see what you think of the SD content (OK its dependant on your TV..) - then try the boost pass - if you feel it makes a difference then go for it... but if not and you cant tell the difference as I cant... you are saving yourself even more money.

Oh and yes, catchup is always HD/5.1 on most things just as movies is.... to answer your question.

View solution in original post

11 REPLIES 11
redchiz1
Champion 2

The majority of Entertainment "box sets" as they tend to refer to such On Demand content is available in HD, have no worries on that score. 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Thanks for that

 

OK so box sets are in HD.  But what about catch up? 

Say I missed the live broadcast of an HD episode and wanted to watch it the next day by streaming on 'catch up'.  Is that possible and on what quality?

 

gavs82008
Legend 5
Legend 5

@Anonymous User 

Have a nosy at this link 
https://help.nowtv.com/article/what-is-now-boost

From my experience all content I have watched is in 1080p. On most Smart TV and streaming sticks the content will indicate what picture and sound is available for output.

FYI that I do not work for NOW, just a NOW customer trying to help
nst
Elite

Can I give you a little bit of advice..?

Ive gone on record many many times here about Boost... but in the context of the AppleTV app.

I paid for boost for well over a year waiting, and waiting for AppleTV to fully support it.  In my case all I was getting was 1080p apparently... but NOT 5.1 surround sound.

I, like you, came from another Sky service before saving myself a small fortune ditching SkyQ and using Now instead.  I too, like you, thought that I would not, under any circumstances, go back to "SD" TV.

Now... here's the rub.  I cancelled my Sky Cinema Pass.  I cancelled my Boost pass out of principle that they charge for not supplying 5.1 on the AppleTV (I felt that £5 a month was pushing their luck anyway but thats another story...). I retained the entertainment pass as I watch a decent amount of content.

BUT....... 

My TV is a decent 65" 4K OLED.  Like all 4K TVs it upscales SD content.  My sound system is a SONOS arc with sub and rear surrounds.....  It does a decent job of making a 2.0 sound signal appear more surround-y than it is....

AND..... im being 100% honest with you - ive not noticed ANY difference from when I had boost.  certainly not from the Picture Quality perspective.  Sure, the 5.1 isn't 5.1 but I wasnt getting that anyway from the AppleTV TV app.  I can assure you that you will not, at any point, feel you are watching "SD" content without the boost pass.

My advice to you is this:  Move to Now... you are totally correct... BUT,  before you try the boost free trial (which is very enticing).. STOP.. and see what you think of the SD content (OK its dependant on your TV..) - then try the boost pass - if you feel it makes a difference then go for it... but if not and you cant tell the difference as I cant... you are saving yourself even more money.

Oh and yes, catchup is always HD/5.1 on most things just as movies is.... to answer your question.

redchiz1
Champion 2

Can I give you a little bit of advice? It's not "SD," it's 720p.  😉

nst
Elite

not sure why my reply so upset you that you had to ape my opening phrase with some really sarcastic passive aggressive point-scoring.....

You might want to address your super useful correction to @Anonymous User 

I stand by everything I said, and I hope that @Anonymous User found it more useful than you obviously didnt.

redchiz1
Champion 2

@nst Hey, you're the one who seems upset? I couldn't help myself but repeat your somewhat patronising opening phrase in my further clarification, it was only intended light-heartedly.

And I do hope that @Anonymous User finds it useful to know.

Personally, I would advise anyone taking out NOW for the first time to avail themselves of one of the free trials and see how you get on with the regular streaming quality. I could live with it to be honest, but then I like the multiple device feature which the Boost also provides. 

nst
Elite

I was indeed yes.  Trying to give some genuine advice to someone with a genuine query and ive been in the same position myself.... so the phrase "can I give you some advice" is a perfectly normal, understandable phrase in the English language where, in my case at least there was zero intent to patronise merely to offer help.

So, you found it patronising.. well thats all very well but I wasnt replying to you was i.

And, your last paragraph you and I can definitely agree on.  The point I was making was do not try boost until you have tried it without as you may well be pleasantly surprised at the picture quality rather than assume boost is a necessity.

RoyB
Legend

@nst 

The only reason I didn’t reply much as @redchiz1 is that he beat me to it 😛

@Anonymous User 

Standard Now is 720p, i.e. HD Ready.

Here’s a table showing the various resolutions:-

https://www.image-engineering.de/library/technotes/991-separating-sd-hd-full-hd-4k-and-8k
                          SD      HD   Full    UHD

Mega-Pixel0,410,922,078,29

(Their HD is our HD Ready)

You can see it is more than twice as good as SD.

What’s indicative here is how many pixels the upscaling engine has to invent to show the picture on a UHD screen:-

HD              12 in every 16

HD Ready 14 in every 16

SD              15 in every 16

The engines make quite a good fist of HD, and many do well with HD Ready as well, but SD is a bridge too far.

It’s an enduring mystery with me why upscaling engines don’t have an option to make bigger blocks of pixels instead of trying to interpolate.

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.