Sky Q Problems

[AndrewSmith20.07]

Why can you not download on Sky Glass. Streaming in HD and especially 4K just isn't reliable. First of all it has to be compressed to high heaven so that they will play. This degrades the picture a lot on HD and 4K. When I watch something on BBC iPlayer I always download it first and have no problems whatsoever. Last week I watched a programme that was only 30 minutes but forgot to click "download" at the beginning. Halfway through it started buffering for 7-8 seconds when I realised what I'd not done. This was at 1080p or i (whatever BBC iPlayer use. My internet connection is around 110Mbps all the time which is very fast. If it happened on my phone connected to the TV it could just as easily have done the same on Sky Glass. With HD movies and especially 4K movies again the picture is compressed heavily which takes away detail in the picture and you don't even have the space to use a lossless sound system in 2.0 or 5.1. All you can use is Dolby Digital + which is heavily compressed as well. Where's DTS-HD Master Audio, DolbyTrueHD, Dolby Atmos or DTS:X? All lossless compression formats, which means they are compressed but sound identical to if they weren't compressed. There's PCM Audio as well which is uncompressed. You can use any of these because they don't fit on a high demand streaming service. If you could download these films first (or at least have the choice) you could use everything that's on a 4K Blu-ray. Much less compression both with the picture and sound and you'd be able to use all those audio formats I've just mentioned. The download would only take around 8 minutes especially if you could start watching before the download has finished. As it is at the moment Sky Glass hasn't got a thing on standard Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray and I will definitely be sticking to them as I want to see movies in their natural HD or 4K. Sky Glass compression is 04-09Mbps. Both Blu-ray formats are 35-41Mbps (this is both on average). You need a download service that has the same space as a 4K Blu-ray disc. They'll be no demand although it will download as quick as possible which will result in the movie looking like it should in HD or 4K. I don't know what Sky Q use for their downloads but they're as clear as the broadcast picture. All of this includes TV programmes as well and anything else that's shown on your station. I was offered Sky Glass and I'm so glad I did my research on it. This is why physical media is still very big (despite what you hear). Streaming just ain't good enough and I'll be staying well away from Sky Glass and sticking with Sky Q.

[BenJoBanjo]

OK. 

[GD1]

@AndrewSmith20.07  Apart from your very long rant which I have not read as it's just a mass of text with no line breaks or paragraphs to make it easier to read, what problems are you having with Sky Q?

[MarkGoldsmith]

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@AndrewSmith20.07 wrote:
Why can you not download on Sky Glass. 

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Simply because there is no hard drive for content to be downloaded onto.

Streaming platforms don't want content to be downloaded and for people to then keep the content for as long as they want, as it significantly reduces the revenue and income, which is critical for those production companies due to the dwindling advertising revenue market. Most of these platforms offer a compromise that allows the downloading of content to mobile devices like phones and tablets (for a limited time) so that content can be watched on the go. 

With the national rollout of full fibre broadband, the typical broadband speed will be more than enough for people to stream content without issues. What's typically the biggest cause of buffering issues will end up being the WIFI signal in an individual's home ( and not broadband speed). WIFI is incredibly susceptible to interference, which will weaken the signal and thus the download speed to a device. The best ways to negate that issue are either to upgrade the home WIFI network and use better routers or a mesh system, or to connect key streaming devices like the Sky Glass via an Ethernet cable instead.

[AndrewSmith20.07]

An Ethernet cable wouldn't make any difference. How does Sky multi-room work if all the boxes are connected with an Ethernet cable. On Sky Q you can start watching a download (not streaming) at around about 12 seconds after you have started the download. It downloads the rest whist you're watching the beginning. A 30 minute programme on Sky takes around 30 to 40 seconds to download completely depending on the resolution. 1080p is only slightly more. I don't have 4K yet but that can't be much longer than 1080p. Even all the streaming services give you the chance to temporarily download their material as they know what problems can arise from streaming (not on Sky Glass). BBC iPlayer buffered for 8 seconds the other night at 1080p. I'd forgotten to download it first which I usually do. Do Virgin Media offer downloads without tonnes of compression? If you really want to immerse yourself in HD or 4K stick with physical media. It has all the space for the high quality audio systems and the compression is about 35-42Mbps. On Sky Glass streaming it's 06-12Mbps.