Will i see a difference?

[TheV]

Currently using humax aura box with 4k uhd tv. Apart from a couple of things on netflix and disney+ I'm not that impressed with the picture. For freeview the sound in my surround speakers is poor. 

Looking at the current Sky Q offer with the 1TB which sky tell me is uhd.

Would i see and hear difference in quality if i switch? Keep reading conflicting things for example the Disney plus app and apple TV plus apl on sky Q can't do uhd which i find very odd.

I won't subscribe to the sky uhd bolt on as i won't be taking their channels. 

Any help gratefully received. 

[fizzdisco]

---

@TheV wrote:

Currently using humax aura box with 4k uhd tv. Apart from a couple of things on netflix and disney+ I'm not that impressed with the picture. For freeview the sound in my surround speakers is poor. 

Looking at the current Sky Q offer with the 1TB which sky tell me is uhd.

Would i see and hear difference in quality if i switch? Keep reading conflicting things for example the Disney plus app and apple TV plus apl on sky Q can't do uhd which i find very odd.

I won't subscribe to the sky uhd bolt on as i won't be taking their channels. 

Any help gratefully received. 

---

Short answer, no, you won't see much, if any, difference in quality. 

if you're not subscribing to UHD then it's pretty pointless switching to Sky. The apps on the Q box are adequate at best and frequently unreliable. 

[Chodley]

So it's the standard HD broadcast stuff that doesn't look any better when upscaled to 4k by the humax? That isn't going to change with a Q box, unless the humax is really bad at it which seems unlikely. You just need 4k and ideally also HDR content (like the disney & netflix stuff) to get the most out of a 4k TV.

Which TV is it?

[TheV]

I see, thank you. A 4k uhd 65" Toshiba.

An animated movie on disney + did look amazing as does some netflix content. I guess it's more the HD content on freeview / iplayer etc that doesn't look great. 

[TheV]

Just realised my soundbar is connected to my tv not the aura (as didn't think i could connect xbox to aura?).

Will this affect sound quality? 

[Chodley]

No, the TV should pass through whatever sound signal it gets to the soundbar. As long as they are all configured to send multi channel audio that should be fine.

Try setting the output on the humax to 1080i or 1080p and see if the TV can do a better job of the upscaling.

[TheV]

Really useful, thanks. I just put the aerial directly into the TV and tuned it, bypassing the Humax. 

The HD picture isn't tver great. Back to my original question i didn't know if a sky Q signal would improve it but sounds like it wouldn't. 

[nigea99]

hi @TheV as others have said apps wise you will probably do better via the TVs native apps & it is unlikely that SKY's apps will be any better than via the Aura box - although it is possible that it may be

The one thing you may gain benefit by using SKY is the number of HD channels available - I don't think the Auara box has Freesat & Freeview only has a handful of HD channels

One thing you need to bear in mind with the Aura box is that apart from BBC Iplayer I think the other Catch up apps ( ITV Hub, C4, My 5 etc) also don't use full HD

As I & others say, for Disney + , prime, Netflix youmay not be any better on SKY   

Personally for apps  I use my TV's own apps or a Firestick 4k Max  which are both excellent

[TheV]

Thank's that's really useful. It's a mindfield - Humax Aura is billed as 4k UHD so i thought the apps on that would work accordingly.  So strange that I'd need to now invest in an Amazon Fire stick - however this is really useful to know, thanks.

[nigea99]

---

@TheV wrote:

Thank's that's really useful. It's a mindfield - Humax Aura is billed as 4k UHD so i thought the apps on that would work accordingly.  So strange that I'd need to now invest in an Amazon Fire stick - however this is really useful to know, thanks.

---

hi @TheV a Firestick  may not be any better than your Humax box  - I was just letting you know I find it very good.

One reason I use the Firestick 4K max is that does seem to get the latest & better versions of the apps - I can get Dolby Atmos & Dolby Vision on those that use them whereas the apps on SKY for instance don't (some have Atmos others don't) 

Of course it depends on the capabilities of your TV  & sound bar etc

[TheV]

It's really useful - Apple TV+ app doesnt work on Humax Aura any more and you can only get NOW TV on it via chromecast. Amazon stick sounds like the solution.

[fizzdisco]

@TheV 

One thing to note is that you have a 65" TV - that's quite big.

All HD content is going to be upscaled to 4K so will always look a bit rough round the edges, regardless of whether it's coming from a Humax, the TV tuner or Sky Q. Native 4K content will look better but again, it depends on the quality of your screen, how far you sit from it, how much picture processing you are using, etc.

Also remember that to get UHD on Netflix you need to pay for the premium subscription.

I would agree with the idea of getting a Firestick Max for reliable, good quality apps - they're great little bits of kit and are often discounted on Amazon. 

[TheV]

Really helpful, thank you. The 4k stick does look great, else im going between the tv apps, the humax and the playstation as none of them have all of them on! 

Agree re big screen.  The HD doesnt look great on the regular channels - i tried it on GMB this morning (itv hd) and the image wasnt sharp at all.

I pay for netflix UHD and it looks amazing as does disney+

[TheV]

Thank you I think you've all saved me money. Sounds like there's little point in getting sky Q or an amazom 4k stick. 

[DipDipDipam]

If you're not an Amazon person like myself, then the Google TV stick is a good alternative option.