UHD on Sky Stream Pucks

[nigea99]

Place holder for a moved post

[HuliKaBalbon]

Good day all, i finally found a thread that pretty much sums up the head scratching experience i've had since changing to Sky Stream from Sky Q 3 weeks back.

As per my Sky Q experience, for example on the movie channels (e.g.301, 302, etc), Sky Q TV guide itself indicates that the movie is UHD, HDR (if supported) and all the other details on that line like duration, parental guidance rating etc,. in addition to the channel itself being called SkyCinema. When i set up my Sky Stream puck, i noticed that the move channels in the TV Guide show SkyCinemaHD,a nd all the details above only reflect HD. 

Now i read others have posted here that there is some sort of smart switching, e.g. the content you're watching should switch to UHD if you have the pack enabled. But i continue to watch movies in HD versus UHD if watching something from the TV Guide. I actually tested this theory of "smart switching" when Dune Part 2 was showing on the TV Guide so fired that up and wathc a few scenes, then manually searched for the UHD version of the same film (and the search results show the usual expected indicators in the title like UHD HDR etc) amd watch the same scenes, and i can see a massive difference both in audio and video quality - and this then tells me that the movies you watch via the TV Guide DO NOT change into the UHD version at all. 

I've had 3 separate calls (one each week) with Sky agents, whom i assumed understood my predicament, and they suggested that they will liaise internally wiht another team to resend the signal. Assuming they have, it's been 3 weeks since the first call and i still have the same problem. Am i stuck then with having to manually search for UHD movies versus watching whats being shown on the TV Guide? 

For guidance, i work in technology and more than tech literate and have:

• set the picture resolution to 2160p on the Sky Stream puck
• set the default streaming format to UHD on the Sky Stream puck
• recently bought a 2024 Samsung S93D TV that covers the 4k/UHD requirement on the hardware
• ensured relevant settings on the tv are set / enabled for UDH content 

[nigea99]

hi @HuliKaBalbon 

Sorry I can't help you & I applaud you for searching for a an existing discussion to post on but I think your problems with UHD  on your  SKY Stream pucks are different to those on SKY Q boxes and you are more likely to get help here in the SKY Stream group 

[Ellie_TV]

@HuliKaBalbon 

I'm afraid that yes, you do need to search for UHD Movies on demand with Sky Stream. The Sky Movies live channel streams are all only ever in HD and there is no way to link from them directly to the UHD on demand stream.

If there is a movie that catches your eye on the TV Guide then it's probably quickest to use voice control to search for it on demand. This will then bring up the option to view it on demand in UHD with HDR & Atmos (if available) on your Sky Stream puck.

[lettice]

The live 'linear' Sky movie channels only broadcast in hd and do not broadcast in uhd/hdr.

For a live Sky Cinema film you see to watch in your tv guide also will only ever be in hd.

Only two live broadcast channels show live uhd/HDR content; Sky Sports Main event and Sky Sports F1

Other live Sports like Cricket, football and from Eurosport for Tennis and the Olympics are served on screen via a uhd button(like Sky Qred button link), from three UHD/HDR channels in the 900s (only 906 is currently today visible as a live channel) for Sport only.

If you want to watch a Sky Cinema film in uhd/hdr;

Do a voice search for it or search for it manually

Scan the Sky Cinema all rail from Home >Movies

Plus add the film to your playlist from the tv guide or other rails within Sky Stream menus.

Then just play the found tile or your playlisted one, where it will show uhd/hdr, if available ( most Sky Cinema films are).

[HuliKaBalbon]

Firstly, thank you @nigea99 for moving my post here, didn't realise the thread was on a Sky Q section as opposed to here correctly on the Sky Stream section. 

And thanks to @Ellie_TV and @lettice for your repsonses. I was afraid that i would have to manually search (voice or otherwise) for UHD versions for the linear movie channels. Why the Sky agents could not provide this response, i can only scratch my head in disbelief.

Now the techie in me screams that surely, this is an operating system / software issue that, if possible and done on Sky Q, then said software can also be amended to behave very similarly to the Sky Stream puck hardware. I just cannot see the technical difficulty in doing this. 

[nigea99]

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@HuliKaBalbon wrote:

Firstly, thank you @nigea99 for moving my post here, didn't realise the thread was on a Sky Q section as opposed to here correctly on the Sky Stream section. 

And thanks to @Ellie_TV and @lettice for your repsonses. I was afraid that i would have to manually search (voice or otherwise) for UHD versions for the linear movie channels. Why the Sky agents could not provide this response, i can only scratch my head in disbelief.

Now the techie in me screams that surely, this is an operating system / software issue that, if possible and done on Sky Q, then said software can also be amended to behave very similarly to the Sky Stream puck hardware. I just cannot see the technical difficulty in doing this. 

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@HuliKaBalbon 

I suspect there are a few reasons why it is not done (or at least as yet) .

One of the key ones I think is that SKY Stream is kind of a hyvrid system dealing with Linear channels rather than other streaming services which are effectively just on demand  & I think the 'Smart Switching' i slimited to providing these linear channels in a similar way to Q. 

I suspect  if you didn't have/use  a TV Guide  you would be more likely to be preented with the UHD versions you are expecting.   

The ex IT person in me agrees that it should be possible but I think there are Systems Design choices that are more likely to be the reasons it has not been done - although it may be something they will consider in the future I wouldn't hold my breath -

I thus encourage you to consider  getting more used to searching for content rather than rely on the TV Guide that really is from a different technology (even though I admit I still use it a lot on Q)

[HuliKaBalbon]

Thanks @nigea99 - i know i can search but sometimes i just want a quick fix so just watching something from the tv guide would have sufficed. But yeah i guess that's the limitations i face now as mover from Q to Stream.

ex-IT - you're done with the industry? 😄 I'ms till stuck in it lol. 

[nigea99]

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@HuliKaBalbon wrote:

Thanks @nigea99 - i know i can search but sometimes i just want a quick fix so just watching something from the tv guide would have sufficed. But yeah i guess that's the limitations i face now as mover from Q to Stream.

ex-IT - you're done with the industry? 😄 I'ms till stuck in it lol. 

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I admit I often find on Q I record in HD from the TV guide as a reminder to download the next episode when it is availble in UHD

Now fully retired, although initially it was early retirement from my IT job  when  all my team's jobs  were offshored. .

[Chrisee]

@HuliKaBalbon the linesr movie channels are really not required with Stream as all movies are available on demand.

The easiest way to ensure you get the UHD version of any movie on demand is to set the default streaming quality in the Picture Settings to UHD. So if you want to watch a movie either use voice search or select it from the movies section on the same rail as Playlist and if the movie is in UHD that is the version that should come up. 

[HuliKaBalbon · Accepted solution]

Thanks @Chrisee your config suggestions have been done at the first instance, but did not resolve.

Anyhow, not sure how i flag this thread as Answered, perhaps @nigea99 can do it as you created the thread? I can't find the option as presumably i didn't "start" the thread". 

Again,. thanks all for the replies that Sky agents could not provide. Much appreciated. I will help out in the community too.