Spark Sport - jerky video through Chrome on PC

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mattyb

254 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#280346 10-Dec-2020 08:10

Having very little luck with Spark Sport customer service so thought I'd try here.

I've bought a Spark Sport subscription so I can watch the Black Caps cricket and it works well on my android phone and tablet, but for main viewing I have a media PC and want to run it through a Chrome browser but the video is fair to very poor. No buffering, just the video is jerky and seems to skip lots of frames. Pretty much unwatchable. I feel like I've read on here previously about this issue during the Rugby World Cup last year, but couldn't find any fixes. Anyone got any ideas?

I'm on Spark fibre 100/20 and get close to that consistently, my PC isn't knew but it streams netflix HD with no problems. I've tried all the standard customer service responses; clearing cache/cookies, updating browser to latest version etc. But nothing seems to work.

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#2619086 10-Dec-2020 08:38

Tried another browser to to confirm if it's the machine or something with the browser?

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Kim587

130 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 36

#2619088 10-Dec-2020 08:41

Could you try a different browser? Sometimes the browser itself can cause performance issues with playing video. It might be worth experimenting with something like Firefox or Edge just to be sure.

Also is it possible that your tv has some motion smoothing settings which are causing the problem or could be adjusted to help prevent it? Judder seems to be more obvious with sport than it is on Netflix so you might not have noticed it before even if it was there.

mattyb

254 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#2619089 10-Dec-2020 08:42

davidcole:
Tried another browser to to confirm if it's the machine or something with the browser?

Yep, tried Firefox and Edge and both the same

mattyb

254 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#2619092 10-Dec-2020 08:45

Kim587:
Could you try a different browser? Sometimes the browser itself can cause performance issues with playing video. It might be worth experimenting with something like Firefox or Edge just to be sure.

Also is it possible that your tv has some motion smoothing settings which are causing the problem or could be adjusted to help prevent it? Judder seems to be more obvious with sport than it is on Netflix so you might not have noticed it before even if it was there.

I watched the Rugby World Cup 2019 on the same setup and it worked ok. I've also streamed with Skygo successfully. Though now that I think about it I haven't tried either of those for a while - will give it a go tonight.

Kim587

130 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 36

#2619110 10-Dec-2020 08:56

That would be good to figure out if its a performance issue with the computer or specifically a Spark Sport issue.

Also do you have another streaming device available that you can plug into the TV, perhaps a Chromecast? Just to narrow down whether the problem occurs on multiple devices (probably an issue with the service, or possibly the TV settings) or only one specific device. The phone/tablet isn't necessarily the best comparison because the smaller screen might not show up these errors.

rlevis

355 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 33

#2619450 10-Dec-2020 13:55

I have some feedback. I signed up to Spark Sport for the free 7 day trial just before the 2nd T20 and watched this live delayed on a Windows 10 home theatre PC in the lounge using the Chrome browser. The computer video card is set in Windows to a refresh rate of 50 for Freeview viewing via a TV tuner card. The live T20 stream at 1080p was perfect with smooth panning, etc, so it was obviously in 25/50fps. But if I go back and watch any highlights streams, they are very jerky and horrible to watch, bad on the eyes trying to follow the ball. I tried a refresh rate of 30 and it seemed a little better but still looked more like 10 fps. Then tested watching day one of the first test and it was perfect. So it seems that their live streams are good (at least for my 50 fps setup) but their highlights editing is stuffing up the fps. This is with Fibre internet at 1080p and a new fast computer with 4k/60 video card.

Surely they test what it looks like after editing and are happy with it?!

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Tzoi

425 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

#2619500 10-Dec-2020 14:46

Do you have hardware acceleration turned on in the browser?

Talkiet

4819 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3934

Trusted

#2619503 10-Dec-2020 14:50

What are the PC specs?

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

rlevis

355 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 33

#2619517 10-Dec-2020 15:19

mattyb, do you find live streams look mainly fine and it is only the highlights that are very jerky, like me?

I also checked on my workstation with a 60hz video card with the same results. I haven't changed any hardware acceleration settings. The HTPC is a fanless AMD 3000G processor at 3.5Ghz (Radeon Vega 3 Graphics build-in), Windows 10 64-bit, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD drive.

mattyb

254 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#2619528 10-Dec-2020 15:59

rlevis:
I have some feedback. I signed up to Spark Sport for the free 7 day trial just before the 2nd T20 and watched this live delayed on a Windows 10 home theatre PC in the lounge using the Chrome browser. The computer video card is set in Windows to a refresh rate of 50 for Freeview viewing via a TV tuner card. The live T20 stream at 1080p was perfect with smooth panning, etc, so it was obviously in 25/50fps. But if I go back and watch any highlights streams, they are very jerky and horrible to watch, bad on the eyes trying to follow the ball. I tried a refresh rate of 30 and it seemed a little better but still looked more like 10 fps. Then tested watching day one of the first test and it was perfect. So it seems that their live streams are good (at least for my 50 fps setup) but their highlights editing is stuffing up the fps. This is with Fibre internet at 1080p and a new fast computer with 4k/60 video card.

Surely they test what it looks like after editing and are happy with it?!

Good info, thanks very much. Come to think of it I have been trying to watch mostly highlights so it could be similar. I'll check tonight. Just checking when you tested watching day one of the test were you watching live or ondemand?

mattyb

254 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#2619529 10-Dec-2020 16:00

Kim587:
That would be good to figure out if its a performance issue with the computer or specifically a Spark Sport issue.

Also do you have another streaming device available that you can plug into the TV, perhaps a Chromecast? Just to narrow down whether the problem occurs on multiple devices (probably an issue with the service, or possibly the TV settings) or only one specific device. The phone/tablet isn't necessarily the best comparison because the smaller screen might not show up these errors.

Unfortunately I don't have any other streaming device, no Chromecast. Thanks though.

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mattyb

254 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#2619533 10-Dec-2020 16:03

Talkiet:
What are the PC specs?

N

Processor: AMD A8-3870 APU with Radeon HD Graphics, 3GHz
RAM: 8GB
Windows 10 Home (OS Build 19041.630)

Talkiet

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#2619545 10-Dec-2020 16:32

mattyb:
Talkiet:

What are the PC specs?

N

Processor: AMD A8-3870 APU with Radeon HD Graphics, 3GHz
RAM: 8GB
Windows 10 Home (OS Build 19041.630)

That's a very old CPU. I would pop open task manager while playing something and see if the CPU or GPU is pegged at or near 100%.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

rlevis

355 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 33

#2619585 10-Dec-2020 18:00

mattyb:
Good info, thanks very much. Come to think of it I have been trying to watch mostly highlights so it could be similar. I'll check tonight. Just checking when you tested watching day one of the test were you watching live or ondemand?

It was Live but delayed, ie, "Watch from the Beginning".

mattyb

254 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#2619618 10-Dec-2020 19:04

That's a very old CPU. I would pop open task manager while playing something and see if the CPU or GPU is pegged at or near 100%.

Cheers - N

Yes it does get to 97-98%. CPU is circa 2012 so its had a good run. Seemed to work fine watching the 2019 rugby world cup though, and hasn't struggled with anything else I've tried.

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