Stream Reliability in Decline?

[Johndm1957]

Had stream for a couple of years, used to be pretty good, only needing the occasional power cycle to keep it happy.

However,, over the last few months it freezes up regularly, playback stutters at random , and the apps are terrible compared to other equipment.

I have a rock solid 945 meg internet service, and all my equipment is connected with high quality cat 6 Ethernet leads and high quality latest spec HDMI leads.

I have therefore decided to use my stream box for live TV and Sky content only, as it seems to behave doing that, but am now using my far superior Apple TV 4K box for everything else..

The Apple TV 4K streams on demand content from ITV X, C4, C5, iPlayer, Netflix, Apple and Disney seamlessly and with a far superior picture than from stream.

I've therefore stopped my subscription to ad free and 4k Atmos as there is little content available on Sky anyway (not a sports subscriber) to keep my monthly bill as low as possible.

I was very close to cancelling my service altogether, but lve been a subscriber since the beginning in 1989., will give it a while to see if things improve.

I don't think that the stream box is powerful enough to do all its asked properly, and wondering if there is a newer MK 2 box with better processing power on the horizon?

Better improve soon, or even as a subscriber for 35 years, I'm beginning to lose faith.

[Exiled-in-HH]

Why don't you switch to NOWTV to access Sky live channels and ondemand?

[Johndm1957]

I did briefly look at Now TV, looked like all content was only 720p?

I would lose the Sky included heavily discounted Netflix Premium, so would need to pay full price for that, and it looked like any savings would be small if I wanted to retain my current Sky channels 

[DantheSwan]

I mostly agree with you but what keeps me enduring the Sky Stream for now is the superior picture quality on live TV

I have the Nvidia Shield , 4k fire stick and the apple box , Freesat HD and Freeview HD but not one of them is as good as the Sky stream for normal live TV picture quality

I'm very particular about picture quality and I've never seen such superb quality as I get on the Stream, this opinion is only valid for actual live channels though not On-demand content 

[Fothergill1]

@DantheSwan  I fully agree 👍.  With a decent TV and stream puck the picture quality is outstanding.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Johndm1957 wrote:

I don't think that the stream box is powerful enough to do all its asked properly, and wondering if there is a newer MK 2 box with better processing power on the horizon?

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No such announcement has been made.  Given that Stream pucks distributed since February 2023 are on loan, there's an obvious significant cost to release a 'better' v2 version because all the current users would almost certainly start demanding it (and replacing existing functional hardware would be contrary to the stated environmental ambitions of Sky Group)

[Mister_Dalek]

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@DantheSwan wrote:

I mostly agree with you but what keeps me enduring the Sky Stream for now is the superior picture quality on live TV

I have the Nvidia Shield , 4k fire stick and the apple box , Freesat HD and Freeview HD but not one of them is as good as the Sky stream for normal live TV picture quality

I'm very particular about picture quality and I've never seen such superb quality as I get on the Stream, this opinion is only valid for actual live channels though not On-demand content 

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Sky Stream outputting native 1080i live channel streams is hard to beat in terms of picture quality. I compared it directly to the native 1080i Freeview HD on my Panasonic OLED and both were pin sharp and impossible to distinguish from one another. 

Changing the output of the puck to 2160P created some very minor but noticeable artefacting on upscaled 1080i content, but I'm talking very minor and not noticeable to most folk unless you're looking for it.

Native 2160P UHD content from the puck is excellent. 

Personally, due to the fact we no longer watch any live TV, bar the odd news bulletin, we found it to be much easier and cheaper to use Freeview HD on the TV with a USB flash drive attached. That way we can record the few shows we still watch on FTA TV and skip easily through the ads (for free!) and get full 5.1 audio when available, rather than a compressed stereo catch up stream from an app. 

All other Sky content we now get from the NOW TV app. I've got a £3.99pm Entertainment sub for 6 months with Boost at £2pm. There's so little native UHD Entertainment content we want to watch so that's perfectly adequate for us. I can get Ultra Boost for a month if ever there is something that would benefit from it. 

This new era of Sky is good for the customer because it's finally offering some choice.

If you want the whole Sky service you can get it from Stream. If you want it in a TV you can get it with Glass. If you just want Sky programmes without the hardware you can get it with NOW.

You can choose what works best for you. 

[Gincap]

Now TV is UHD on Apple TV not 720p. Also Now is so much cheaper that Netflix cost can soon be covered. 

For movies and entertainment in UHD with AD free I pay £12 per month. That also covers 3 devices so no whole home charges either. 

Bonus news Talking Pictures TV also coming to Apple TV. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Gincap wrote:

Bonus news Talking Pictures TV also coming to Apple TV. 

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Although presumably rather little of their content is native UHD ; )

[Gincap]

@TimmyBGood 

I guess zero content UHD for Talking Pictures possibly some movies but until the app is released who knows 🤔

[TimmyBGood]

@Gincap 

Vintage 35mm film stock can absolutely sustain a 4K (or even 8K from 70mm) scan, but the problem is finding an audience big enough to cover the cost of both the process itself and the digital restoration typically required afterwards.

[Gincap]

@TimmyBGood 

Yes I know but not sure where this conversation is going 🤔.  Best get back on thread for the OP. 

In that case seeing you have Apple TV take a look again at the Now app. Do your homework personally for me Apple wins with quality, performance etc etc. but Sky Stream  is preferable for many subscribers so horses for courses 😉

[Exiled-in-HH]

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@Johndm1957 wrote:

I did briefly look at Now TV, looked like all content was only 720p?

I would lose the Sky included heavily discounted Netflix Premium, so would need to pay full price for that, and it looked like any savings would be small if I wanted to retain my current Sky channels 

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You are mistaken NOWTV supports UHD😉

Only Netflix with ads is included via Sky Stream, additional payments are required for premium🤔

[Johndm1957]

Yes. I pay £8 per month extra for Netflix Permium.

I will look to see what Now TV prices are at present 🙂

[Exiled-in-HH]

As a guide as discounts are easily available ... I pay £2.99 for Entertainment and £2 for Boost ... while I frequently get offered Cinema for £4.99 and Sports for £19.99 ... all per month😉