Sky outbid for EPL rights (Premier League Pass discussion)

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6434 posts

Uber Geek

#868688 30-Jul-2013 16:36

Dororke: are you on VF VDSL2 trial, or did you switch ISPs?

I happened to speak to one of the Chorus guys a few weeks back when I saw some work going on in my cabinet. Always curious to know when fibre was going to become available I asked him what he was installing. He told me new ISAM cards to deliver VDSL2 to existing customers. So I rang Telecom and lo and behold they were rolling out this new service in my area (Dannemora, Manakau, East Auckland). It's officially on their web site now and there's a finder app that will tell you whether your address is covered.

I didn't have to change ISPs. The service was a free upgrade to my plan (I'm on the 500GB $119 per month thing) but there was a choice of a $99 charge for the new modem if you signed a new 12 month contract (which I took) or $300 if you went free of contract.

For the improved upload speed alone this was worth it for me - especially if you make Skype video calls. Very happy so far but still waiting for fibre. The new router also has a decent wireless which is much improved over the previous ADSL modem/router/wireless combo.

ah, sorry, I misread your post when you said you were doing the speedtest to VF servers. I read it that you were a VF customers

richardgnz

64 posts

Master Geek

#868692 30-Jul-2013 16:40

NonprayingMantis:
richardgnz:
NonprayingMantis:
richardgnz:
Sphyre:
BigMal: Can someone do a visual comparison to the NFL games which also stream via Akami?

you can check them out yourself for free: http://gamepass.nfl.com

I just had a look at the NFL stream and overrode the default best setting and hard coded the 3000kbps stream. On my 55" screen this looked terrible. I then tried the 4500kbps stream and this was better but still nothing I would describe as HD or even close to HD.

There is no chance that PLP will be providing a 4500kbps stream and even if they were it would not be good enough. The only acceptable stream for me would be a minimum of 9000kbps.

I can only hope that PLP fail to convince enough people to sign up and they go out of business. If somehow their business succeeds then the beautiful game will be anything but.... At least in New Zealand for the next three years.

I doubt they will be going out of business that quickly - they have billionaire backers so will be giving it a shot for at least 3 years.

I'm curious, how did you ever watch football before about 5 years ago when Sky launched HD? It must have been sheer agony for you watching everything in the unacceptable SD quality.

I lived in london for 8 years and watched the premier league in HD. I then moved back home to New Zealand in 2009, ordered MySky HD and continued to watch the premier league in HD.

Pretty impressive considering Sky UK didn't launch HD services until 2006, 5 years after you managed to start using them in 2001.

OK.... Let me rephrase.... For the last 7 years I have watched the premier league in HD.

djrm

191 posts

Master Geek

#868698 30-Jul-2013 16:44

Dororke: are you on VF VDSL2 trial, or did you switch ISPs?

I happened to speak to one of the Chorus guys a few weeks back when I saw some work going on in my cabinet. Always curious to know when fibre was going to become available I asked him what he was installing. He told me new ISAM cards to deliver VDSL2 to existing customers. So I rang Telecom and lo and behold they were rolling out this new service in my area (Dannemora, Manakau, East Auckland). It's officially on their web site now and there's a finder app that will tell you whether your address is covered.

I didn't have to change ISPs. The service was a free upgrade to my plan (I'm on the 500GB $119 per month thing) but there was a choice of a $99 charge for the new modem if you signed a new 12 month contract (which I took) or $300 if you went free of contract.

For the improved upload speed alone this was worth it for me - especially if you make Skype video calls. Very happy so far but still waiting for fibre. The new router also has a decent wireless which is much improved over the previous ADSL modem/router/wireless combo.

Sorry just to confirm: the router/modem supplied for VDSL is wireless? JUst doesn't say wireless on the Telecom site.

TA

Dororke

94 posts

Master Geek

#868721 30-Jul-2013 16:54

"Sky doesn't do 1080p or 12Mbps, so if you could get that it would be superior to sky."

What do they do for the extra $10 just out of interest. It was always a subjective thing to me, and I signed up for the $10 HD option believing it to be superior; but I can't recall it ever making things that much better after the upgrade.

richardgnz

64 posts

Master Geek

#868725 30-Jul-2013 16:57

Dororke: "Sky doesn't do 1080p or 12Mbps, so if you could get that it would be superior to sky."

What do they do for the extra $10 just out of interest. It was always a subjective thing to me, and I signed up for the $10 HD option believing it to be superior; but I can't recall it ever making things that much better after the upgrade.

If you have a large screen and it has been calibrated correctly then it makes a massive difference.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#868726 30-Jul-2013 16:58

Dororke: "Sky doesn't do 1080p or 12Mbps, so if you could get that it would be superior to sky."

What do they do for the extra $10 just out of interest. It was always a subjective thing to me, and I signed up for the $10 HD option believing it to be superior; but I can't recall it ever making things that much better after the upgrade.

720p/1080i 9Mbps

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#868728 30-Jul-2013 17:00

richardgnz:
NonprayingMantis:
richardgnz:
NonprayingMantis:
richardgnz:
Sphyre:
BigMal: Can someone do a visual comparison to the NFL games which also stream via Akami?

you can check them out yourself for free: http://gamepass.nfl.com

I just had a look at the NFL stream and overrode the default best setting and hard coded the 3000kbps stream. On my 55" screen this looked terrible. I then tried the 4500kbps stream and this was better but still nothing I would describe as HD or even close to HD.

There is no chance that PLP will be providing a 4500kbps stream and even if they were it would not be good enough. The only acceptable stream for me would be a minimum of 9000kbps.

I can only hope that PLP fail to convince enough people to sign up and they go out of business. If somehow their business succeeds then the beautiful game will be anything but.... At least in New Zealand for the next three years.

I doubt they will be going out of business that quickly - they have billionaire backers so will be giving it a shot for at least 3 years.

I'm curious, how did you ever watch football before about 5 years ago when Sky launched HD? It must have been sheer agony for you watching everything in the unacceptable SD quality.

I lived in london for 8 years and watched the premier league in HD. I then moved back home to New Zealand in 2009, ordered MySky HD and continued to watch the premier league in HD.

Pretty impressive considering Sky UK didn't launch HD services until 2006, 5 years after you managed to start using them in 2001.

OK.... Let me rephrase.... For the last 7 years I have watched the premier league in HD.

fair enough.

and how did you cope before that when the picture quality was totally unacceptable?

Tradepub

Free professional, reference and technical white papers (affiliate link).

Dororke

94 posts

Master Geek

#868729 30-Jul-2013 17:01

"Sorry just to confirm: the router/modem supplied for VDSL is wireless? JUst doesn't say wireless on the Telecom site."

Yes it is a combo unit - most are these days I fancy. Still the same TG crowd that supply all their equipment just a more recent model which is capable of VDSL2 & ADSL2 as a backdrop. I tracked the wirelss performance around my house on an Android app that measured the signal and it was a much improved coverage as compared to the older ADSL2 combo unit, albeit still only on a single 2.4Ghz band and 802.11n - no AC or anything fancy.

Dororke

94 posts

Master Geek

#868731 30-Jul-2013 17:03

"720p/1080i 9Mbps"

and if you don't pay the $10 what do you get?

richardgnz

64 posts

Master Geek

#868737 30-Jul-2013 17:07

NonprayingMantis:
richardgnz:
NonprayingMantis:
richardgnz:
NonprayingMantis:
richardgnz:
Sphyre:
BigMal: Can someone do a visual comparison to the NFL games which also stream via Akami?

you can check them out yourself for free: http://gamepass.nfl.com

I just had a look at the NFL stream and overrode the default best setting and hard coded the 3000kbps stream. On my 55" screen this looked terrible. I then tried the 4500kbps stream and this was better but still nothing I would describe as HD or even close to HD.

There is no chance that PLP will be providing a 4500kbps stream and even if they were it would not be good enough. The only acceptable stream for me would be a minimum of 9000kbps.

I can only hope that PLP fail to convince enough people to sign up and they go out of business. If somehow their business succeeds then the beautiful game will be anything but.... At least in New Zealand for the next three years.

I doubt they will be going out of business that quickly - they have billionaire backers so will be giving it a shot for at least 3 years.

I'm curious, how did you ever watch football before about 5 years ago when Sky launched HD? It must have been sheer agony for you watching everything in the unacceptable SD quality.

I lived in london for 8 years and watched the premier league in HD. I then moved back home to New Zealand in 2009, ordered MySky HD and continued to watch the premier league in HD.

Pretty impressive considering Sky UK didn't launch HD services until 2006, 5 years after you managed to start using them in 2001.

OK.... Let me rephrase.... For the last 7 years I have watched the premier league in HD.

fair enough.

and how did you cope before that when the picture quality was totally unacceptable?

Well, before HD the picture quality was acceptable because that was the best we had. HD was then introduced and it looked amazing. Now in 2013 we will be watching the football in worse than SD (especially when displayed on a 55" LED)

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#868762 30-Jul-2013 17:54

Dororke: "720p/1080i 9Mbps"

and if you don't pay the $10 what do you get?

Standard definition. 480p or worse (depending on how you connected up your box) not sure of bitrate. It would depend on the programme, but be between 2 and 5Mbos most likely I think.

Dororke

94 posts

Master Geek

#868802 30-Jul-2013 18:40

NonprayingMantis:
Dororke: "720p/1080i 9Mbps"

and if you don't pay the $10 what do you get?

Standard definition. 480p or worse (depending on how you connected up your box) not sure of bitrate. It would depend on the programme, but be between 2 and 5Mbos most likely I think.

Odd, but I can never remember thinking wow that's much better when I first got HD. I kind of convinced myself it must be better cos I'm paying an extra $10. Thing is that I paid the fee one day and the service was connected another so I never really saw the improvement.

I canceled Sky Sports service recently when I found out there was no EPL (sorry - have to admit being a hard nut fan) and I also canceled the HD $10 subscription at the same time. The sky representative tried to talk me out of this saying that I'd notice a lower quality for all the other HD channels, and she rattled off a few including Channel 1. Truth is I can't say now looking at them that I notice any difference. So now I'm starting to wonder whether (as someone else in the thread mentioned), there's something that needed to be calibrated in my TV too perhaps to reap the benefit of a HD stream, and that maybe all that time I was paying for a service that I never got any benefit out of???

With Sky you don't get that nice little slider to choose the speed so you can compare; instead, you get a nice voice at the end of a telephone line telling you you now have HD.

Might I have missed something?

richardgnz

64 posts

Master Geek

#868807 30-Jul-2013 18:54

Dororke:
NonprayingMantis:
Dororke: "720p/1080i 9Mbps"

and if you don't pay the $10 what do you get?

Standard definition. 480p or worse (depending on how you connected up your box) not sure of bitrate. It would depend on the programme, but be between 2 and 5Mbos most likely I think.

Odd, but I can never remember thinking wow that's much better when I first got HD. I kind of convinced myself it must be better cos I'm paying an extra $10. Thing is that I paid the fee one day and the service was connected another so I never really saw the improvement.

I canceled Sky Sports service recently when I found out there was no EPL (sorry - have to admit being a hard nut fan) and I also canceled the HD $10 subscription at the same time. The sky representative tried to talk me out of this saying that I'd notice a lower quality for all the other HD channels, and she rattled off a few including Channel 1. Truth is I can't say now looking at them that I notice any difference. So now I'm starting to wonder whether (as someone else in the thread mentioned), there's something that needed to be calibrated in my TV too perhaps to reap the benefit of a HD stream, and that maybe all that time I was paying for a service that I never got any benefit out of???

With Sky you don't get that nice little slider to choose the speed so you can compare; instead, you get a nice voice at the end of a telephone line telling you you now have HD.

Might I have missed something?

A good place to start would be the following forum http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-led-lcd-tvs/

Most TVs are configured out of the box to be displayed in a brightly lit store with the colours as vivid as possible to try and stand out against all the other tvs in the showroom.... These settings might catch your eye but when used in a darkish living room the defaults are almost never good.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#868812 30-Jul-2013 19:02

Dororke:
NonprayingMantis:
Dororke: "720p/1080i 9Mbps"

and if you don't pay the $10 what do you get?

Standard definition. 480p or worse (depending on how you connected up your box) not sure of bitrate. It would depend on the programme, but be between 2 and 5Mbos most likely I think.

Odd, but I can never remember thinking wow that's much better when I first got HD. I kind of convinced myself it must be better cos I'm paying an extra $10. Thing is that I paid the fee one day and the service was connected another so I never really saw the improvement.

I canceled Sky Sports service recently when I found out there was no EPL (sorry - have to admit being a hard nut fan) and I also canceled the HD $10 subscription at the same time. The sky representative tried to talk me out of this saying that I'd notice a lower quality for all the other HD channels, and she rattled off a few including Channel 1. Truth is I can't say now looking at them that I notice any difference. So now I'm starting to wonder whether (as someone else in the thread mentioned), there's something that needed to be calibrated in my TV too perhaps to reap the benefit of a HD stream, and that maybe all that time I was paying for a service that I never got any benefit out of???

With Sky you don't get that nice little slider to choose the speed so you can compare; instead, you get a nice voice at the end of a telephone line telling you you now have HD.

Might I have missed something?

A friendof mine had a similar situation - complaining that his 'HD' picture looked no better than before.

Turns out he had sky installed, and they provide an HDMI cable for that. Then he bought a home theatre in a box, which came with no HDMI. then he used his HDMI to connect the HTIB to his TV, and reverted back to component cables (or maybe even composite!) to connect his sky box!

Dororke

94 posts

Master Geek

#868876 30-Jul-2013 20:50

"A friendof mine had a similar situation - complaining that his 'HD' picture looked no better than before.

Turns out he had sky installed, and they provide an HDMI cable for that. Then he bought a home theatre in a box, which came with no HDMI. then he used his HDMI to connect the HTIB to his TV, and reverted back to component cables (or maybe even composite!) to connect his sky box! "

And did this convoluted array end up with an improved picture?

I did a recheck of the wiring behind the TV to ensure everything is as it should be and all would seem well a glance. (So much for the wireless world we live in when I take a look behind the back of my TV). There's nothing obvious in the TV settings of my early model Full HD Panasonic 2009 Sierra panel that needs to be altered to accept a higher resolution. All seems to suggest it is auto defaulted.

I had a cunning plan to persuade my better half that the advent of EPL streaming would require us to upgrade our TV to a smart version and reap the reward of an internet panel. But sadly I can't argue that position now that Samsung won't be able to decode the feed as yet.

Oh well. I'm $10 a month better off (plus whatever Sky Sports used to cost per year) and don't notice the difference. When I fork out the $150 for EPL I have reluctantly accepted that the quality will be initially inferior to what I had become accustomed too, but not quite back as far as the diplodocus era that some paint. I have every hope that with enough subscriptions the funding will become available to improve the quality and expand the capture zone.

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