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[Football] Now TV is shit. Never trust em



kevo

Well-known member
Mar 8, 2008
9,800
Funnilly enough, although I've had massive issues with them in the past - including the end of last season - due to very poor streaming quality, pixelisation, freezing, etc, tonight was the first time ever Now TV has worked (fairly) seamlessly for me. Still froze a few times, but believe me that is an improvement. In contrast, I've never experienced any issues at all with the BT Sport app, which works like a dream.
 






portlock seagull

Well-known member
Jul 28, 2003
17,776


Beanstalk

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2017
3,029
London
The behind thing is about compression and decompression of the feed.

When video is streamed online it is broken up into small packets, which are reassembled by the recipient's device.
If each segment is very short, processing them becomes inefficient. However, if they are too long, there is more of a delay between the TV broadcast and online stream.

The BBC basically have found a way to fix this, and I think they were due to trial it during the Euros but of course that hasn't happened.

I would highly recommend using your phone's Do Not Disturb feature during games and lying it face down and out of your hands.
 


Beanstalk

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2017
3,029
London
Funnilly enough, although I've had massive issues with them in the past - including the end of last season - due to very poor streaming quality, pixelisation, freezing, etc, tonight was the first time ever Now TV has worked (fairly) seamlessly for me. Still froze a few times, but believe me that is an improvement. In contrast, I've never experienced any issues at all with the BT Sport app, which works like a dream.

Do you have internet with BT by any chance?

We had a real problem with their built in firewall (you can't turn it off manually FFS) and Sky. Essentially it was throttling the incoming downloads (the stream) as it saw it as a large download from an unreliable source - meant for freezing at best, and unwatchable quality at worst.

Phoned up BT had a bit of a go and they sent out their new hub that works like a dream. Worth looking into.
 




Terry Butcher Tribute Act

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2013
3,672
I think it's fantastic apart from not being able to use phone during games!

Activated a week free 'boost' last night (usually £3 per month). Didn't seem much different though.



Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 


hans kraay fan club

The voice of reason.
Helpful Moderator
Mar 16, 2005
62,759
Chandlers Ford
Have no issues with it.

Sunday afternoon, my lads were watching the Premier League game on the TV, via the NowTV app on their PS4, whilst i was watching the cricket on one Ipad, and my wife was watching the Grand Prix on another.

All simultaneous. All via the same NowTv account. All seamless.

No complaints here.
 


LlcoolJ

Mama said knock you out.
Oct 14, 2009
12,982
Sheffield
I've had an AppleTV for years and it has always just worked amazingly for everything.

Maybe other stuff works better, but I can't imagine how. I'll not be changing anytime in the near future.
That's surprising.

I have a mate who, if you packaged some dogshit up in a fancy box and marketed it as "Apple Pate", he'd spend £200 on it and insist that it was the best food in the world.
 




portlock seagull

Well-known member
Jul 28, 2003
17,776
Interesting to see people’s experiences. I guess we’re all marked by our own. I shall stick to PUBS, helping the economy, being part of a community and drowning sorrow when the inevitable defeat against Chelsea happens :)
 


kevo

Well-known member
Mar 8, 2008
9,800
Do you have internet with BT by any chance?

We had a real problem with their built in firewall (you can't turn it off manually FFS) and Sky. Essentially it was throttling the incoming downloads (the stream) as it saw it as a large download from an unreliable source - meant for freezing at best, and unwatchable quality at worst.

Phoned up BT had a bit of a go and they sent out their new hub that works like a dream. Worth looking into.

No, I'm on Virgin. I hook my TV up to my PC. Downloaded the BT Sport app and the quality is perfect, no issues whatsoever. Using NOW for Sky, by contrast, via the NOW 'TV Player' app, has been consistently awful - sometimes completely unwatchable. Last night it was mostly OK for some reason, though.
 


Beanstalk

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2017
3,029
London
No, I'm on Virgin. I hook my TV up to my PC. Downloaded the BT Sport app and the quality is perfect, no issues whatsoever. Using NOW for Sky, by contrast, via the NOW 'TV Player' app, has been consistently awful - sometimes completely unwatchable. Last night it was mostly OK for some reason, though.

Really odd. Might be worth checking your firewall settings on your hub regardless. It is much easier on Virgin and if you have fibre you should not have any issues regarding streaming.

It is pretty clear if you are able to stream BT Sport without issue (BT Sport streams at a much higher resolution) then it is not your internet speed that is causing the problem but more likely a fixable issue with the provider and/or hub itself.
 




Arthritic Toe

Well-known member
Nov 25, 2005
2,484
Swindon
Now TV has always been faultless for me via Roku and prior to that, a NowTV box. I've only ever bothered with the standard HD resolution.
 


Green Cross Code Man

Wunt be druv
Mar 30, 2006
20,740
Eastbourne
Now TV has always been faultless for me via Roku and prior to that, a NowTV box. I've only ever bothered with the standard HD resolution.
Now TV broadcasts in 720p which was the only resolution up until earlier this year and now full hd at 1080p and with double the framerate. The 720 version is vastly inferior and on a large TV will not look terribly smooth most the time. It is also not HD.
 


portlock seagull

Well-known member
Jul 28, 2003
17,776
Ah...you see you missed that vital piece of info in your rant.

Good for you.

He’s probably dumping you off the account as I type.

Sorry. I didn’t provide my DOB and bank details either, Mr Judgey!
 




thedonkeycentrehalf

Moved back to wear the gloves (again)
Jul 7, 2003
9,340
First world problems of the highest degree!

The more technology involved. the less 'live' sport becomes. Compared to being at the ground, analogue radio is quicker than DAB, Sky/BT SD is usually just ahead of Sky/BT HD. If you then add in a another platform, such as Now TV or even Sky GO, it will be further behind.

If you were to watch a game on TV in the US for example, they are usually around 45 seconds to a minute behind the UK TV.

When I watch NFL using their GamePass app, I know I am usually at least a minute behind the live action.

As someone else said, if you get that wound up about the delay meaning you get alerts, either turn your alerts off, turn the phone off or just listen to an old fashioned radio.
 


kevo

Well-known member
Mar 8, 2008
9,800
Used to live right next to Highbury and there were a few times when I'd be watching a live match on TV and I'd hear the crowd 'roar' before the goal went in on the telly. So, say if Arsenal got a corner, I'd know they were gonna score!

It made me wonder if there was a delay in live in-play betting which, presumably, is based on TV streams - so you might be able to always correctly 'predict' the next scorer, especially if you were attending a match in the Czech league Division 2 or something.
 










portlock seagull

Well-known member
Jul 28, 2003
17,776
Used to live right next to Highbury and there were a few times when I'd be watching a live match on TV and I'd hear the crowd 'roar' before the goal went in on the telly. So, say if Arsenal got a corner, I'd know they were gonna score!

It made me wonder if there was a delay in live in-play betting which, presumably, is based on TV streams - so you might be able to always correctly 'predict' the next scorer, especially if you were attending a match in the Czech league Division 2 or something.

That's so funny! Never thought of that. I had the digital version of that last night. I was texting 'get in!' when we scored, and immediately getting 'FFS' in return from several quarters, which I couldn't understand as our lot were celebrating on my screen. 100 seconds later...I understood what this meant and realised there was a significant time delay.
 


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