Sky absolutely need to support framerate matching

[Henry-Case]

Sky have positioned themselves to be the number one platform / aggregator of all the main streaming apps. I think they do a good job - questionable hardware and performance bugs not withstanding. 

At present Sky stream only support two framerates:

50 or 59.94 (when judder reduction is enabled). This was fine historically as modern TVs can work with that to enable smooth playback given the prevalence of film and NTSC content shot at 23.97 (the so called 3:2 pulldown)

Now to the problem - there is a real push among the streamers and their production houses to standardize on 24.0 fps. Netflix, Disney and Amazon Prime are big on this with almost all of their content shot at this framerate. 

This causes stutter / frame hitches due to the uneven cadence; the 3:2 pulldown solution no longer does its job given 24 down not divide cleanly into 59.94. You will absolutely notice this - a few examples for you to try:

Mandalorian and Grogu (Disney)

The Witcher (Netflix)

The Ring of Power (Prime)

Watch a minute of it and you will see.  This is not a "bug" as such that can be patched out. There is no solution other than Sky adding the ability to match framerate just like other streaming devices. 

Otherwise it's a tad awkward for Sky to position itself as the central platform for viewing content given it does not support playback of the content which it is actively bundling with your subscription. 

I really hope Sky developers take note of this as it's really impacting the platform

[Henry-Case]

Can't edit my original post - just to clarify I meant to say almost all of the streamer's new content is being shot at 24.0fps and thus cannot be played back on Sky Stream without significant frame skips and stutters

[mancsmark]

Completely agree with this. Another example is Silo on Apple TV, it's unwatchable for me using the Puck because of the judder.

My Apple TV box has a match framerate option, it would be great if the Stream Puck could do this too. For me the whole sell of using Sky Stream is content aggregation and being able to watch everything in one place which I can't do at present...

[Henry-Case]

I can maybe help you with Silo. I was having trouble with it too but not for the same reason as my original post. 

Maybe your internet connection is at fault? (Kidding!)

do you have a soundbar attached via earc by any chance?

what worked for me on my tv was to make sure Sky audio setting was set to passthrough and also the TVs own audio setting also set to passthrough. The last thing I changed was to set AV sync on the tv to OFF. 

silo has been playing flawlessly for me since

[Angel_Aka]

It's not just a Sky issue. There are many streaming devices and OSs which do not fully support FRM, and developers who code the apps for them also need to enable it universally.

FireTV, Roku, TiVo OS, Android and Google TV all have versions of the popular apps which are locked to just 50 or 60Hz with no true 24P output. 

The fact of the matter is that the mass market, for whom most of these devices, including Sky Stream are aimed, don't care about frame rates. Sky's own Chief Product Officer Fraser Stirling even said as much during the launch of Sky Glass back in 2021. 

The mass market just want to consume content as easily as possible. They don't care about judder. If there were proper frame rate matching on all devicest they'd probably moan about the blank screens their TVs would start giving during the HDMI handshake as the frame rate output changes. 

Until there comes a point where all TVs have QMS (Quick Media Switching) and the app & OS developers enable FRM universally, you're better off using an Apple TV box for the widest range of apps which will output correct frame rates. 

Sky are still a 50Hz/25fps broadcaster. All their own TV content is shot at this frame rate, as is content made for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, etc. There's not going to be a sudden switch to 24fps in the UK. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Henry-Case wrote:

Otherwise it's a tad awkward for Sky to position itself as the central platform for viewing content given it does not support playback of the content which it is actively bundling with your subscription. 

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Unless most of the audience doesn't care....

[Henry-Case]

The level of cope here from the [removed] is shocking. 
"Most people won't notice it" - do me a favour. 

Sky have plastered Mandalorian and Grogu all over their advertising when promoting the Disney bundle. You cannot watch that movie on Sky Stream. I'm not talking about subtle judder here. I'm talking the frames will jump / drop and at times the framerate will absolutely tank for a few seconds. This will happen every 10-15 seconds. 

Moderator Actions: Removed inappropriate comment

[Henry-Case]

What do you mean it's not a Sky problem? It's their OS!

[Angel_Aka]

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@Henry-Case wrote:

The level of cope here from the paid shills is shocking. 
"Most people won't notice it" - do me a favour. 

Sky have plastered Mandalorian and Grogu all over their advertising when promoting the Disney bundle. You cannot watch that movie on Sky Stream. I'm not talking about subtle judder here. I'm talking the frames will jump / drop and at times the framerate will absolutely tank for a few seconds. This will happen every 10-15 seconds. 

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I assure you, I'm about as far from a 'paid shill' as you can get. I stopped being a Sky customer a while ago as I don't rate the Sky Stream puck as a serious streaming device at all and I have issues with the server-based nature of SkyOS too. 

Disney+ is a memory hungry app - which the Sky platform and hardware doesn't have much of. 

But seriously. If more people noticed frame rate issues then there would be endless moaning about it on this very forum, but there's not. Most Sky customers watch sport, which is at 50Hz. The odd time they stick on a streamer's 24fps show they'll have their phone out, messing about on TikTok or WhatsApping their mates... they simply don't notice or don't care. 

If, like me, you are OCD about frame rates and find yourself predominantly watching content shot at 24fps from third party streaming services, then Sky is very easy to get rid of. 

[Gincap]

Sky Stream is a mass market product let's be real here many users are still getting their heads around HD, FHD 4K/UHD. As for frame rates they won't know and don't care, so long as corrie is there the world is good and that's not to demean those viewers it's just what they want an all in one place to view that provides a decent picture. I'd even go so far as most take Disney at the intro level of HD with ADS alongside HBO and Netflix.  

You can't knock Sky for bringing to the market like stream a one for all product. The puck is probably hooked up to a mid range TV anyway. 

If your needs are more towards viewing as the director intended with perfect clarity and sound Apple is probably the way to go connected to your high end OLED, RGB or SQD

As with anything horses for courses, I know which I go for,  time to Surprise and Shine. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Henry-Case wrote:

The level of cope here from the paid shills is shocking. 
"Most people won't notice it" - do me a favour. 

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The absence of posts on the topic might rather indicate that's the case.

In fact the overwhelming majority of threads suggest that Stream never works well enough for users to spot the issue anyway ; )

Would be nice to get paid though....

[GD1]

@Henry-Case  2 things for you to read before you start the name calling:  

https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Get-Started/bd-p/flow?step=4 and https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Meet-the-Community/ct-p/meet-the-community

[Henry-Case]

This has nothing to do with colour accuracy or directors intent. Stop gaslighting me. It's not an unreasonable request for me a paying customer to expect that my content plays back without the framerate tanking or frames dropping. It's got nothing to do with picture quality, oled vs led, hdr vs sdr etc. 

it's demeaning and insulting to Sky's customers that they think "ah they'll not care"

[Gincap]

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@Henry-Case wrote:

This has nothing to do with colour accuracy or directors intent. Stop gaslighting me. It's not an unreasonable request for me a paying customer to expect that my content plays back without the framerate tanking or frames dropping. It's got nothing to do with picture quality, oled vs led, hdr vs sdr etc. 

it's demeaning and insulting to Sky's customers that they think "ah they'll not care"

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So in your rage you've totally misunderstood me and that's fine. If the Sky Stream product is so abhorrent to you and your needs then walk away nobody is forcing you to subscribe to it and use it. 

Did you not bother to check technical abilities before signing up if it's so important to you, silly mistake. 

Im not a massive fan and so I use other products to meet my needs, there is no need to direct your anger at other users like you we too have our views and a right to put them forward. 

I suggest you put in writing to Sky directly your concerns as here it is only customers not Sky. 

Have a pleasant day. 

[Kiero84]

Thank-you for the technical explanation. This issue has been driving mad in the last couple of weeks. I purchased a new tv and signed up to Sky stream, it was a problem I noticed straight away. I though it may have been my tv settings of the telly itself. It's now become clear it is an issue with Sky. As a result I'm seriously considering dumping Sky and getting myself Apple TV.