Watching Spark Sport (including launch and pricing)

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2390 posts

Uber Geek

#2198834 15-Mar-2019 15:59

I'm watching the SATELLITE "tata f1 world" feed via intelsat 19

The videos specs are HD @ 17mbits 4:2:2 10 bit video 1920x1080 with 5 or 6 audio tracks

smcc

205 posts

Master Geek

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#2198837 15-Mar-2019 16:02

hio77:

smcc:

Some Feedback, Working well in Browser (Ethernet attached PC), however casting from my phone to TV is buffering frequently, not such a nice experience on the Big Screen.

What's the conectivity between the tv and router like?

Gigabit Ethernet via a 24 port gigabit switch (6 active ports) phone on wifi.

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#2198842 15-Mar-2019 16:03

How do we get access to fp1 now it's finished? Can't find it in the app at all; missed the last 30 due to kid pickup. It's not sowing under motorsport or anywhere else.

under

11 posts

Geek

#2198856 15-Mar-2019 16:21

Just tested the live stream for the last part of FP1, as well as some pre-recorded footage. Overall not too bad. Below is some constructive feedback.

I tested using two devices: (a) desktop browser: Linux, Firefox, 16:10 monitor; and (b) iPad app, chromecast to TV.

Video: I'm on ADSL and the connection speed is sufficient (though only *just*). But picture quality is good on both devices. There is more noticeable judder on the desktop, while the ipad looks smoother even though it is via wifi. There is occasional judder on the TV chromecast, just not very frequent and far less noticeable. Towards the end of the FP1 session the picture started breaking up for a split second a few times, and once there was a brief pause (2-3 secs) then jumped ahead to live again. Could just be my internet connection.

Sound: Two issues:

(1) As already mentioned above, the sound is not the right mix of the commentator feed and the "track feed" (the one where you hear the cars and team radio). I know this has already been noted, I'd just like to point out that this same issue (hearing one of these sound feeds only rather than a mix of the two, at the *correct* relative volume levels) happened many times also back in the Sky NZ days of F1 coverage.

(2) Maybe as a consequence of (1), in the live FP1 stream, the sound is ahead by at least 1 second (not just 0.5s as someone said before). This is annoying for all sports, because you know what's about to happen before you can see it. This was also a common problem back in the Sky NZ days of F1 coverage.

User interfaces/Functionality: A few issues:

(1) Am I supposed to able to rewind a live stream? I hope I can, because if I missed something I want to go back a few seconds. I can't see a seek bar on the iPad or the desktop browser. I can pause and then on the TV I see a seek bar but of course I can't interact with that.

(2) Related to (1) above: I tested some pre-recorded (On Demand) shows, and here you can rewind with the seek bar (on both iPad and browser), but I find it very fiddly to use. I hope you can enhance this by introducing a new "rewind X seconds" button as part of the controls, where X=10 seems to be a good number, because very often if you missed something you just wanted to re-watch the last few seconds. If you wanted to rewind a bit more (say 30 seconds) then you could just press the button a few times, and anything more than that a seek bar would be more appropriate. But certainly for the vast majority of use cases (for me anyway), I'd just like to be able to pause and/or rewind 10-20 seconds. Please consider introducing this functionality, and apply it also to live streams (if it is supposed to work).

(3) This has been mentioned before: There is no indication, and one can't choose, the current quality (bitrate) setting. I know auto works well, and that's what I'd use, but it'd be good to at least see what quality setting I'm on, and be able to override it if I choose to (e.g., bring it down a notch intentionally so others sharing the same poor internet connection can do their stuff too).

That's all for now. Overall it's quite good, so keep it up, and I hope that Spark Sport will take the above feedback on board and perhaps implement some changes. Thanks.

Edited: various typos.

smidon

91 posts

Master Geek

#2198861 15-Mar-2019 16:26

Am I being a klutz or what? I was watching FP1 live, went away and now I'm back. It's over of course, so I want to rewatch on-demand. Where is the on-demand edition of FP1?

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#2198864 15-Mar-2019 16:27

It's not there see my post above, it's not showing anywhere

smidon

91 posts

Master Geek

#2198865 15-Mar-2019 16:30

Oh, well that sucks. If Spark thinks I'm watching F1 live, have another think about that! Have just found it in TVNZ on demand

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Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#2198866 15-Mar-2019 16:34

Spark couldn't even answer that when I asked if it would be on demand with tvnz

smidon

91 posts

Master Geek

#2198868 15-Mar-2019 16:37

email from a Spark employee to me answering that very question, Thu 7 March

Hi Don,

Yes, live content on Spark Sport will also be available on demand – no late nights/ early mornings required! Generally, content will stay on the site for 14 days.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

name

hio77

12999 posts

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Lizard Networks

#2198871 15-Mar-2019 16:43

smidon:

Oh, well that sucks. If Spark thinks I'm watching F1 live, have another think about that! Have just found it in TVNZ on demand

it will be on demand, this is just a hickup.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

Jase2985

13462 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#2198922 15-Mar-2019 17:32

remember its BETA testing

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#2198942 15-Mar-2019 17:50

Of the first race weekend. This should have all been sorted before fp1 so I'm personally not giving spark much leeway as a result.

Jase2985

13462 posts

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#2198951 15-Mar-2019 18:06

Benoire: Of the first race weekend. This should have all been sorted before fp1 so I'm personally not giving spark much leeway as a result.

give it a rest, you got the android app, you take the good with the bad.

not everything is as easy as you make it out to be.

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#2198963 15-Mar-2019 18:17

Talkiet:
Quick clarification. After the event it may take up to 4 hours for the VOD asset to be created.

You can however watch the event from the start if you join while it's still running.

Cheers - N

Well that's pretty crap to be honest. I used to record over night and watch before work (get up around 5), if it takes up to 4 hours then I'll be needing to go to work by the time it's ready and then I won't get it until home by which point I'll know results and also won't have time.

Live sport vod needs to be ready straight away otherwise you've lost the impact, this actually makes me unhappy.

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#2198968 15-Mar-2019 18:22

Jase2985:

Benoire: Of the first race weekend. This should have all been sorted before fp1 so I'm personally not giving spark much leeway as a result.

give it a rest, you got the android app, you take the good with the bad.

not everything is as easy as you make it out to be.

No I'm going to hold Spark to account here, they bought the rights to a major motorsport series and did not get the platform ready and fully tested prior to the start of the first race weekend let alone the sports that where already underway... Spark knew what they had to do, and sure its not easy but they had time and if they didn't have the experience they could have purchased it to get it done before hand; just because its a new platform doesn't stop me being critical of their delivery.

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