Will 23.98 and 24p playback on Sky Stream apps ever be improved or should I stop asking...

[Bluegiraffe]

I noted that there is now a 'Smoothing' option in the Settings that does seem to help/eliminate the judder in non 25p content. It does look a lot better (I does require that the screen supports it, so nothing new on the puck)

So a cuatious thumbs up on that

[Mister_Dalek]

---

@Bluegiraffe wrote:

I noted that there is now a 'Smoothing' option in the Settings that does seem to help/eliminate the judder in non 25p content. It does look a lot better (I does require that the screen supports it, so nothing new on the puck)

So a cuatious thumbs up on that

---

Where exactly is this 'Smoothing' option? On your TV's picture settings?

Any form of 'smoothing' setting on a TV is to be avoided IMHO. It introduces what is known as the soap opera effect - ie it uses interpolation to make content shot at 24 fps and output at 50 or 60Hz look smoother and therefore more artificial. There are of course many people who like this look and that's fine, but the Stream puck still does not currently output native frame rates. 

All Sky channel content which has originated from a 24fps master has been sped up to 25fps to avoid judder. All third party app content (Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+ etc) which outputs 24fps content can only be done so at 50Hz or 60Hz (with judder reduction turned on.) 

[Bluegiraffe]

It's in the puck settings  - I turn all enhancements off in the TV - NR, Smoothing and all the rest - this does not seem to have a negative effect so far

[Mister_Dalek]

---

@Bluegiraffe wrote:

It's in the puck settings  - I turn all enhancements off in the TV - NR, Smoothing and all the rest - this does not seem to have a negative effect so far

---

Oh, interesting. Under the picture settings I presume? 

[Panmat]

Nowhere to be seen in my puck settings?

[Dazzasky]

---

@Panmat wrote:

Nowhere to be seen in my puck settings?

---

That's because it's not. 

[Bluegiraffe]

Sorry, it's called Judder reduction

In Settings -> Picture and Sound

 

[Mister_Dalek]

---

@Bluegiraffe wrote:

Sorry, it's called Judder reduction

In Settings -> Picture and Sound

 

---

Yes, that's been there since Sky Stream launched 3 years ago. It's also been present on Sky Q for years. All it does it switch the video output on app-based content from 50Hz (off) to 60Hz (on) which makes 24fps content appear smoother. 

[Bluegiraffe]

Well no one pointed this out when I started this thread a long time ago - it does make a difference to the specific issue so I guess it's still valid advice?

[TechMaster]

The judder reduction does seem to help for some app content, I think it depends what your are watching on it, I don't know if it should be on for Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+ for movies, do they all need to be 60Hz?

I find that having it on for movies seems to help, but on Amazon Prime watching live sport (football) is jerky with 60Hz on, so I have to go back to 50hz for that which is a pain. I wish they had some sort of frame matching opton. (Or I just use the TV app which just works correctly)

[Mister_Dalek]

---

@TechMaster wrote:

The judder reduction does seem to help for some app content, I think it depends what your are watching on it, I don't know if it should be on for Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+ for movies, do they all need to be 60Hz?

I find that having it on for movies seems to help, but on Amazon Prime watching live sport (football) is jerky with 60Hz on, so I have to go back to 50hz for that which is a pain. I wish they had some sort of frame matching opton. (Or I just use the TV app which just works correctly)

---

As a general rule of thumb, the vast majority of movies and US-produced drama series on Netflix, Prime, Disney+ and Apple TV+ are shot at 24fps so will benefit from having judder reduction turned on and the ouput switching to 60Hz. 

Some content on these apps, like live sport and UK produced drama, will be shot at 25fps so you're better off with 50Hz for those, but the apps won't tell you the native frame rate.  

Worth noting that the UK-based catch-up apps like iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 and My5 will all be forced to the non-native 60Hz if you jave judder reduction turned on, only BBC iPlayer has an in-built check and it will force the output to the correct 50Hz for its content. 

Some people are more sensitive to the difference in output, others may not notice it at all.