Sky outbid for EPL rights (Premier League Pass discussion)

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10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#874171 8-Aug-2013 20:08

invisibleman18: With some more discussion today about which games will/won't be on demand, the below I posted yesterday seems to have gone a bit unnoticed. Anyone managed to get this confirmed by anyone else?

invisibleman18: Regarding the confusion over the on-demand availability of 130 games and what happens when you lose connection and have to start again, a guy over on the Yellow Fever forums managed to get through to someone on the live chat and this is part of the conversation he copy and pasted:

14:17Julio B.: yes 250 games will be available all season, 130 games will be available on-demand in full only until the start of the next round

14:18Keegan Check: alright cheers. Also with those 130 games can you only view them once? If so, what happens if your internet cuts out halfway through a game, or you wish to watch half a game at a time? Or are they available to view multiple times, but only until the next match round?

14:19Julio B.: you can view them as many times as you can until the next round starts

This is different to what the FAQ suggests, that 130 can only be viewed once. This says that they can be viewed as many times as you want but only until the next round, while the other 250 are available all season. The PLP guy may have got it wrong but if true it would be good for those who want to share a membership with someone who may want to watch the same game separately.

I can't confirm it, but that would seem sensible. They are going to have a whole lot of dissatisfied customers if you can't watch the first half, say, in the morning and the 2nd in the evening, or whatever.

I would say they'd be less enthusiastic about the idea of sharing a membership though.

Handsomedan

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#874182 8-Aug-2013 20:25

So...in terms of quality...

I have just watched the sample stream for about the 8th time.

This time I Airplayed it from my iMac to my Apple TV, which is connected to a 5 year old 32" Panasonic LCD TV.

It looked as good as the non-HD footage I watched for most of last season.
Some blurring at high speed, but sharper than I expected it to be and certainly better picture than some of the stuff that's been on Sommet.

I'm actually satisfied with the quality. I'm just not happy about the lack of convenience. It's not easy to just "switch it on".

Maybe the iOS app will change that...I certainly hope so, but overall I'm still on the fence.

Handsome Dan Has Spoken.
Handsome Dan needs to stop adding three dots to every sentence...

Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

*Gladly accepting donations...

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#874206 8-Aug-2013 20:44

Hi Dan,

Do you have a bigger device than a 32"? I'm still curious to know how the stream looks on a 50" or bigger now that you can access the streams and not just the samples.

Chris

Handsomedan

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#874279 8-Aug-2013 22:21

Unfortunately not.
32" is as big as it gets in my home.

Handsome Dan Has Spoken.
Handsome Dan needs to stop adding three dots to every sentence...

Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

*Gladly accepting donations...

StarBlazer

961 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#874368 9-Aug-2013 09:23

So did a bit of testing yesterday and this morning;

At home - Vodafone Cable 40gig plan with a very good connection speed (over 9 Mbps)
Test 1 - 4-5 year old Toshiba laptop connected through VGA to 2.5 year old Samsung 40": 7-8/10 - there was no buffering but the picture was not completely fluid on any bit rates - not as bad as a drop frame on an NTSC to PAL conversion.
Test 2 - 2 year old PC (onboard graphics) connected through VGA to 2.5 year old Samsung 40": 8-9/10 - very fluid as long as the PC wasn't doing anything else
Test 3 - 2 year old PC (onboard graphics) connected through HDMI to 2.5 year old Samsung 40": 9/10 - Better option as the audio also passed through - more fluid picture

At work
Test 4 - New i5 Toshiba Laptop connected to 1 year old overhead projector using VGA: 9/10
Test 5 - New i5 Toshiba Laptop connected to 1 year old overhead projector using HDMI: 9/10

To me the results show that if you are watching a big picture on an old machine - expect some reduction in quality.

Resolution on all was great - sound was obviously consistent throughout.

On all tests I would say that the picture was better than SD but not as good as HD - certainly better than what we see on the poorer Sky channels.

I hope that the CDN stands up to the demand on match day :) I will let you know for those who are holding out.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#874371 9-Aug-2013 09:32

Hi Star Blazer,

What is the native resolution of the 40" TV, is it LCD or Plasma? Are the actual streams and better than the test samples we've seen to date? Did you have HD before or SD?

StarBlazer

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#874374 9-Aug-2013 09:37

Benoire: Hi Star Blazer,

What is the native resolution of the 40" TV, is it LCD or Plasma? Are the actual streams and better than the test samples we've seen to date? Did you have HD before or SD?

TV is a 1920x1080 (1080p) LCD Series 5 I think.

Didn't try the test samples at home just watched some of the Man City vs Sunderland match - although personally I found the test sample on the main page okay. You have to let it settle and perform its bit rate analysis.

Haven't watched footy since the World Cup which was HD.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

Quic Broadband

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SwansNZ

97 posts

Master Geek

#874436 9-Aug-2013 10:44

invisibleman18: With some more discussion today about which games will/won't be on demand, the below I posted yesterday seems to have gone a bit unnoticed. Anyone managed to get this confirmed by anyone else?

invisibleman18: Regarding the confusion over the on-demand availability of 130 games and what happens when you lose connection and have to start again, a guy over on the Yellow Fever forums managed to get through to someone on the live chat and this is part of the conversation he copy and pasted:

14:17Julio B.: yes 250 games will be available all season, 130 games will be available on-demand in full only until the start of the next round

14:18Keegan Check: alright cheers. Also with those 130 games can you only view them once? If so, what happens if your internet cuts out halfway through a game, or you wish to watch half a game at a time? Or are they available to view multiple times, but only until the next match round?

14:19Julio B.: you can view them as many times as you can until the next round starts

This is different to what the FAQ suggests, that 130 can only be viewed once. This says that they can be viewed as many times as you want but only until the next round, while the other 250 are available all season. The PLP guy may have got it wrong but if true it would be good for those who want to share a membership with someone who may want to watch the same game separately.

I emailed PLP support, and they responded as below - very quick response, which is good, but of course, maybe they don't have very many members...

-------------------------------------------------
Thank you for contacting PLP Support.

All games will be archived for on demand or replay viewing but some matches will only be avaible until the start of the next round. There will be 250 matches that are available on demand or in replay for the duration of your subscription. The other 130 matches will only be available on demand or on replay until the start of the next round or about a week's time.

We can not confirm which games fall into each category at this time as that will be subject to change do to broadcasting rights.

The highest bitrate offered will be 3000Kbps.
We will be happy to pass along a request to offer a 4500Kbps bitrate stream in the future
-------------------------------------------------

So, it appears we can watch any/every game live or delayed (on-demand), at least until the next round of games.

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#874452 9-Aug-2013 11:09

Well I'm still holding out until Sky reveal who they have as they're fourth team. If it is not Man Utd then I'm going to have succomb and swollow my pride as I could not miss them play at all. I still dislike the approach PLP have taken but would sign up if there was no other choice.

LFCNZ

151 posts

Master Geek

#874453 9-Aug-2013 11:11

Pretty sure it will be Man United.

Maybe should wait till its confirmed, guess there is an outside chance it coudl be Liverpool :)

Any word on when they will announce the 4th team?

SwansNZ

97 posts

Master Geek

#874455 9-Aug-2013 11:20

LFCNZ: Pretty sure it will be Man United.

Maybe should wait till its confirmed, guess there is an outside chance it coudl be Liverpool :)

Any word on when they will announce the 4th team?

I've read here that Sommet also have a second team to go with their Chelsea games? if so, then the extra Sky and Sommet ones will no doubt be Man Utd and Liverpool - they are hardly likely to sign up Stoke and Hull :)

Benoire

2798 posts

Uber Geek

#874457 9-Aug-2013 11:23

IF Sommet have Man U then I'll have to get PLP as I don't have access to freeview! If Sky have it then I'll not get it as I can cope with delayed matches in HD on my tv easily.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#874466 9-Aug-2013 11:29

Benoire: IF Sommet have Man U then I'll have to get PLP as I don't have access to freeview! If Sky have it then I'll not get it as I can cope with delayed matches in HD on my tv easily.

If you can get Sky, then you can get freeview. Freeview is available on satellite too, all you need is a decoder, which costs $50-100

schmichael

61 posts

Master Geek

#874467 9-Aug-2013 11:29

SwansNZ:
LFCNZ: Pretty sure it will be Man United.

Maybe should wait till its confirmed, guess there is an outside chance it coudl be Liverpool :)

Any word on when they will announce the 4th team?

I've read here that Sommet also have a second team to go with their Chelsea games? if so, then the extra Sky and Sommet ones will no doubt be Man Utd and Liverpool - they are hardly likely to sign up Stoke and Hull :)

Agreed. Sommet posted on a facebook post that they had heard that Sky had Man U. If so, I expect that Sommet will have Liverpool. I hope so, I want to be able to watch Man U in HD!!

schmichael

61 posts

Master Geek

#874468 9-Aug-2013 11:31

NonprayingMantis:
Benoire: IF Sommet have Man U then I'll have to get PLP as I don't have access to freeview! If Sky have it then I'll not get it as I can cope with delayed matches in HD on my tv easily.

If you can get Sky, then you can get freeview. Freeview is available on satellite too, all you need is a decoder, which costs $50-100

Sommet only broadcast on terrestrial freeview. Something about no spare satellite frequencies.

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