Neon - same Sky, different clothes

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sen8or

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#2914362 16-May-2022 08:45

1080P HD is acceptable for most content, sure 4k HDR looks much better, but given most of the streaming services have a mix of 4k and "HD" material, I wouldn't hang them out on that alone (but agree that it should be an included option).

Sound is the big one for me, no 5.1 is simply a disgrace. There is no excuse for this and for me this demonstrates Sky's sheer arrogance of its market position, that it doesn't strive to deliver best product they can for the market simply what is they deem is okay. I asked on their facebook and via email a few years ago if 5.1 was coming and "it was on their radar". Just shows that unless they are motivated by a decline in revenue / profit AND that decline can be attributed to their piss poor products, the won't do anything about it.

alasta

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#2914466 16-May-2022 10:56

I am about to cancel my Neon subscription as I find the software really clunky compared with something like Apple TV+.

I think Neon's main point of difference is that they are an NZ orientated service, but in reality they have very limited NZ content in their catalogue. Neon will be toast when Discovery eventually get their act together and launch a paid ad-free implementation of their global platform with a decent amount of NZ content.

invisibleman18

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#2914468 16-May-2022 11:04

Movieman:

I read that a new "Sky Box" is coming in the middle of the year. Reportedly, it will be 4K HDR compatible, and provide a way to access all of your apps.

It will basically be an upgraded My Sky box with a 1Tb HDD on board. The difference is, users will have to buy it instead of renting it. Most recent smart TV's would give users the same options, except perhaps, the 1Tb hard drive.

Have you a got a link to where you saw users would buy it rather than rent it? I'm on Vodafone TV and still plan on keeping Sky for sport so am awaiting the details of the new box with interest and hadn't seen that kind of info announced anywhere yet.

eracode

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#2914471 16-May-2022 11:15

invisibleman18:

Have you a got a link to where you saw users would buy it rather than rent it? I'm on Vodafone TV and still plan on keeping Sky for sport so am awaiting the details of the new box with interest and hadn't seen that kind of info announced anywhere yet.

This story is pretty old and Sky may have changed their mind on this - there doesn’t seem to be anything more recent. I’m hoping it’s still correct because I would rather buy than subscribe.

Says: “The next gen Sky box will run on Google's Android software, cost $199 upfront or $19 a month over a year.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/new-sky-tv-box-on-the-way-the-good-news-and-the-bad-news/X2FLAGQMTUMCIIZDNHA4UWVT7M/

Edit: I originally read this as buy or rent but looking again it appears to be buy outright or buy over a year - no rent/subscribe.

(This getting a bit OT because the thread is about Neon.)

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lchiu7

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#2919695 28-May-2022 15:15

Well I also just signed up for Neon recently but it was a free month trial courtesy of 2D as part of moving my Internet to them (also got 6 months of Amazon Prime which is of less use since I am already a Prime member).

My main media player is a Chromecast with Google TV. Neon wasn't in the Play Store so I had to sideload.

The UI is okay but a big laggy but no problems so far with PQ - but then I only have a HD, not 4K set. Did notice that some current movies available like Death on the Nile which you have to pay for on other services apart from Disney+.

But the most annoying thing for me (and this is probably the same for any NZ based streaming service) is the 4% speed for source originating in the US so probably shot in 60P (or multiples of) or transferred from 24fps and then sped-up to our 50p standard (shades of the NTSC PAL days).

I must be very sensitive to this since I find the pitch change annoying and not really necessary these days. But I am guessing for TVNZ, TV3 and possibly Neon (Sky) since they are broadcasting OTA they need those versions to be compatible with their broadcastequipment and it's probably not cost-effective to acquire two different versions, one for broadcast and one for streaming. And the majority of viewers don't care.

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gzt

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#2919722 28-May-2022 15:42

lchiu7: My main media player is a Chromecast with Google TV. Neon wasn't in the Play Store so I had to sideload.

That's odd. I have the same player. I have Neon from the store. Region settings or something like that?

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lchiu7

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#2919725 28-May-2022 15:54

gzt:
lchiu7: My main media player is a Chromecast with Google TV. Neon wasn't in the Play Store so I had to sideload.

That's odd. I have the same player. I have Neon from the store. Region settings or something like that?

US Play Store account I think.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

CutCutCut

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#2919781 28-May-2022 17:54

sen8or:

1080P HD is acceptable for most content, sure 4k HDR looks much better, but given most of the streaming services have a mix of 4k and "HD" material, I wouldn't hang them out on that alone (but agree that it should be an included option).

Sound is the big one for me, no 5.1 is simply a disgrace. There is no excuse for this and for me this demonstrates Sky's sheer arrogance of its market position, that it doesn't strive to deliver best product they can for the market simply what is they deem is okay. I asked on their facebook and via email a few years ago if 5.1 was coming and "it was on their radar". Just shows that unless they are motivated by a decline in revenue / profit AND that decline can be attributed to their piss poor products, the won't do anything about it.

I feel you here. We got Neon free for a year, and I've been reasonably impressed with some of the content. My TV is not HDR capable so I can live without 4K HDR but it is really disappointing that there is no 5.1. I've enjoyed the first season of yellowstone but am now tempted to source it elsewhere for the 5.1 audio. If they charge a premium price for the service they should be able to do better than stereo sound.

Edit - oh and no XBOX app is really annoying.

grolschie

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#2919793 28-May-2022 18:32

rugrat:

I think they don’t want it to complete against their satellite product.

It's been like that since when it was Lightbox. Also, people have been asking for 5.1 audio since Lightbox days also I believe.

dougierydal

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#2920321 30-May-2022 11:21

I've been hassling them to support the remote for the 'new' Apple TV 4K which was released over a year ago. They replied to a tweet of mine about it with this...

"We did indeed make a fix/update that had some minor improvements but, there’s more work to do to resolve completely! Unfortunately we haven’t had a chance to jump back onto it recently as we are a small kiwi-based team, but we assure you, it's high on our list"

So hard to imagine any tweaks or major updates come along too often, with a 'small Kiwi based team'.

Pretty poor for a subscription based service.

cddt

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#2920331 30-May-2022 11:54

Ajkiwi001:

I will always tend to record news, sports, and NZ TV, rather than stream, simply for the ad-free experience.

Yep we prefer to watch TVNZ content (or on the odd occasion the news...) after it's screened. If we watch live there are ads, if we wait an hour then watch it there are no ads!

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