Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
1 | ... | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | ... | 45
Jaxson
8017 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #1562508 30-May-2016 17:44
Send private message

tdgeek:

 

 

 

I dont think its outdated at all. The cost to provide satellite is outdated. If Sky keep satellite it will only be because Optus get with the times. Im sure its all now a sunk cost. It doesnt require an app to be reinstalled when it fails, as my Netflix app did the other night,no connection, everything else was fine. Te STB wont freeze as often as a computer based device will. I don't recall my long held MySky ever freezing. It can output once to everyone, that solves the congestion issue. Yes, they can have less SD and more HD. Its a fine and capable delivery system. The quality that you get from say a rugger game or movie in HD will always be like that, no glitches, no buffering. 

 

The boxing issue was the rights holder yelling and screaming, and I assume they held the rights to be Sky PPV only. 

 

 

 

 

Just to be clear, I'm not saying the satellite delivery method is outdated.  It's very reliable from a consumer point of view, and doesn't suffer the bandwidth choking issues associated with the broadband offerings at peak times.

I was meaning the business model of only offering content to existing subscribers.


 
 
 

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).
tdgeek
29631 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1562514 30-May-2016 17:59
Send private message

Jaxson:

 

tdgeek:

 

 

 

I dont think its outdated at all. The cost to provide satellite is outdated. If Sky keep satellite it will only be because Optus get with the times. Im sure its all now a sunk cost. It doesnt require an app to be reinstalled when it fails, as my Netflix app did the other night,no connection, everything else was fine. Te STB wont freeze as often as a computer based device will. I don't recall my long held MySky ever freezing. It can output once to everyone, that solves the congestion issue. Yes, they can have less SD and more HD. Its a fine and capable delivery system. The quality that you get from say a rugger game or movie in HD will always be like that, no glitches, no buffering. 

 

The boxing issue was the rights holder yelling and screaming, and I assume they held the rights to be Sky PPV only. 

 

 

 

 

Just to be clear, I'm not saying the satellite delivery method is outdated.  It's very reliable from a consumer point of view, and doesn't suffer the bandwidth choking issues associated with the broadband offerings at peak times.

I was meaning the business model of only offering content to existing subscribers.

 

 

Ah ok, fair comment. I feel the boxing was a Duco issue. They offer Fanpass for non subscribers. They also added a $5 Friday pass which went down well on another thread. 

 

I can see more of that happening, as it has to. The ideal scenario is a large decrease in what they pay Optus in 2019. Between now and then they may target non subscribers more. In a transition you cant add new options without some level of cannibalisation, so they have to ask themselves, what do we want by end of 2019? Or they may potter along till early 2019 or 2018 when negotiations have to take place. In that timeframe they will lose numbers, add new revenue from bits and pieces, but until they sit down with Optus in 2018, they wont know where to steer the ship. So holding pattern, add new options from now on to keep it simmering. 

 

 


Benoire
2765 posts

Uber Geek


  #1562516 30-May-2016 18:02
Send private message

It will be interesting to see whether Optus can shift on their satellite price given the age of the satellites and the cost to keep them up in the air effectively, plus the cost of a replacement if required... If not, Sky will surely be moving to an internet based distribution... the HDI boxes can already do so using their Ethernet port although I wonder whether they would keep with the linear style delivery or rely on the new ondemand approach.




tdgeek
29631 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1562536 30-May-2016 18:23
Send private message

Benoire:

 

It will be interesting to see whether Optus can shift on their satellite price given the age of the satellites and the cost to keep them up in the air effectively, plus the cost of a replacement if required... If not, Sky will surely be moving to an internet based distribution... the HDI boxes can already do so using their Ethernet port although I wonder whether they would keep with the linear style delivery or rely on the new ondemand approach.

 

 

Thats a good point. IMHO the only way forward is a lower price to provide content so they can provide a lower price to the consumer. Theoretically retaining profitability, by earning the same profit on a lower cost and lower selling price regime. If they went partly OD and partly satellite, the latter would be linear. But you have a choice at same price point. 


DjShadow
4071 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted

  #1562540 30-May-2016 18:39
Send private message

Been wondering if Sky would follow Vodafone's approach and use Multicast to get the signal around (have it universal across all ISPs)


Benoire
2765 posts

Uber Geek


  #1562549 30-May-2016 18:56
Send private message

DjShadow:

 

Been wondering if Sky would follow Vodafone's approach and use Multicast to get the signal around (have it universal across all ISPs)

 

 

If they went linear delivery then they probably would, still retain their normal viewing setup for those that are interested.  Another question, would Sky be liable for data transmitted per GB from a datacentre for example (e.g. star citizen pays out for every GB downloaded) or would they simply buy a transit rate, i.e. 10gbps


richms
28038 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1562550 30-May-2016 18:56
Send private message

Jaxson:

 

Just to be clear, I'm not saying the satellite delivery method is outdated.  It's very reliable from a consumer point of view, and doesn't suffer the bandwidth choking issues associated with the broadband offerings at peak times.

 

I was meaning the business model of only offering content to existing subscribers.

 

 

It has huge bandwidth issues, it is full which is why they are compressing the hell out of their streams, sending them in a non square pixel anamorphic resolution etc.

 

DVBS2 will help, h264 will help, but its a shame its not h265 so they are rolling out an already obsolete technology with the new boxes. The optus sat doesnt have the space needed for dozens of HD channels. Fiber does.





Richard rich.ms



Benoire
2765 posts

Uber Geek


  #1562553 30-May-2016 19:04
Send private message

richms:

 

Jaxson:

 

Just to be clear, I'm not saying the satellite delivery method is outdated.  It's very reliable from a consumer point of view, and doesn't suffer the bandwidth choking issues associated with the broadband offerings at peak times.

 

I was meaning the business model of only offering content to existing subscribers.

 

 

It has huge bandwidth issues, it is full which is why they are compressing the hell out of their streams, sending them in a non square pixel anamorphic resolution etc.

 

DVBS2 will help, h264 will help, but its a shame its not h265 so they are rolling out an already obsolete technology with the new boxes. The optus sat doesnt have the space needed for dozens of HD channels. Fiber does.

 

 

I'm not actually sure Fibre does really, Chorus have guaranteed only something like 2mbps per user for tagged traffic (voice, certain types of data) but all other is contested at a much lower CIR I believe; certainly xDSL is something like 192kbps CIR... That is your uncontested, guaranteed data rate at times of congestion... Unless this has changed, everyone using the backbones at once would get that performance and then you might get a bit of bursty speed but nothing like the 4mbps to get a decent HD stream...

 

I could be wrong but I think that those are the numbers...


richms
28038 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1562555 30-May-2016 19:08
Send private message

Benoire:

 

I'm not actually sure Fibre does really, Chorus have guaranteed only something like 2mbps per user for tagged traffic (voice, certain types of data) but all other is contested at a much lower CIR I believe; certainly xDSL is something like 192kbps CIR... That is your uncontested, guaranteed data rate at times of congestion... Unless this has changed, everyone using the backbones at once would get that performance and then you might get a bit of bursty speed but nothing like the 4mbps to get a decent HD stream...

 

I could be wrong but I think that those are the numbers...

 

 

If that ends up being a problem then it can be solved easily by negotiating better access. NZ has not had the problem of whiners about net neutrality so commercially they can go in there with an offer to chorus to get the speeds and access they need to get the bits to their customers.





Richard rich.ms

Benoire
2765 posts

Uber Geek


  #1562567 30-May-2016 19:38
Send private message

What I mean by that is that Chorus has sized the internal backbone haulage to this rate; just negotiating better access is impossible if the network cannot be improved without adding more trunk capacity and changing the CIR.  Of course, I am slightly speculating and perhaps using the wrong CIRs but basically, Chorus has specced fibre for a max rate per connection that is less than an HD stream and at saturation that is all you would get.


Jaxson
8017 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #1562625 30-May-2016 20:23
Send private message

Richms, I mean the satellite signal doesn't degrade as more people want to view it.

Agree it's compressed, but that's another story.

richms
28038 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1562631 30-May-2016 20:28
Send private message

Jaxson: Richms, I mean the satellite signal doesn't degrade as more people want to view it.

Agree it's compressed, but that's another story.

 

Neither does multicast IP which if sky were to go to a fiber video provider they would probably want to use for all the linear stuff like vodafone do for their fiber tv product. Negotiating that access would be a challange to them but I am sure if they talked to the other big ISPs they could get onboard.

 

If everyone starts doing HD on demand viewing then it could be an issue, but that would be because the idiot designers of fiber minimum specs were 10 years behind in usage, like when they dimensioned ADSL backhaul etc. It might make things become like a wellington cable network in the evenings where nothing works, but that would be a dimensioning problem not a fiber problem.





Richard rich.ms

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek


  #1563004 31-May-2016 14:03
Send private message

SkyGo crashes during every big event right? 

 

Apparently has just crashed for todays OKC thunder game. 

 

 

 

Gotta laugh, sky-go crashes for all of the people when they most want to use it. 


Jaxson
8017 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #1563051 31-May-2016 14:58
Send private message

SkyGo should be dumped, with subscribers directed to free FanPass accounts.

 

It's another challenge for Sky to manage, with SkyGo primarily used by friends of Sky account holders and genuine Sky subscribers at work and away from their satellite decoder boxes at home.


Davy
196 posts

Master Geek


  #1563179 31-May-2016 16:27
Send private message

Jaxson: Richms, I mean the satellite signal doesn't degrade as more people want to view it.

Agree it's compressed, but that's another story.


Wow, you're right about that! Game of Thrones on SoHo has appalling image quality. I'm going to be getting rid of it if things don't pick up soon.

1 | ... | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | ... | 45
View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic





News and reviews »

Bolt Launches in New Zealand
Posted 11-Jun-2025 00:00


Suunto Run Review
Posted 10-Jun-2025 10:44


Freeview Satellite TV Brings HD Viewing to More New Zealanders
Posted 5-Jun-2025 11:50


HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14-inch Review
Posted 3-Jun-2025 14:40


Flip Phones Are Back as HMD Reimagines an Iconic Style
Posted 30-May-2025 17:06


Hundreds of School Students Receive Laptops Through Spark Partnership With Quadrent's Green Lease
Posted 30-May-2025 16:57


AI Report Reveals Trust Is Key to Unlocking Its Potential in Aotearoa
Posted 30-May-2025 16:55


Galaxy Tab S10 FE Series Brings Intelligent Experiences to the Forefront with Premium, Versatile Design
Posted 30-May-2025 16:14


New OPPO Watch X2 Launches in New Zealand
Posted 29-May-2025 16:08


Synology Premiers a New Lineup of Advanced Data Management Solutions
Posted 29-May-2025 16:04


Dyson Launches Its Slimmest Vaccum Cleaner PencilVac
Posted 29-May-2025 15:50


OPPO Reno13 Pro 5G Review 
Posted 29-May-2025 15:33


Logitech Introduces New G522 Gaming Headset
Posted 21-May-2025 19:01


LG Announces New Ultragear OLED Range for 2025
Posted 20-May-2025 16:35


Sandisk Raises the Bar With WD_BLACK SN8100 NVME SSD
Posted 20-May-2025 16:29









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.







Backblaze unlimited backup