Is sky stream good quality?

doopydug

doopydug

doopydug

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Guys - we are moving house soon and , for the first time in years, we are able to get fast fibre (other than Virgin).

We were considering going back to SKY for broadband and TV as the old sky dish used to give better pic quality than my Virgin box however, it seems Sky are only offering Sky stream now?

Whats the picture quality like compared to a sky dish and is it better than Virgin or just the same?

Both are offering very good packages that i quite like
 
doopydug said:
Guys - we are moving house soon and , for the first time in years, we are able to get fast fibre (other than Virgin).

We were considering going back to SKY for broadband and TV as the old sky dish used to give better pic quality than my Virgin box however, it seems Sky are only offering Sky stream now?

Whats the picture quality like compared to a sky dish and is it better than Virgin or just the same?

Both are offering very good packages that i quite like
Click to expand...

Picture quality is better on stream than it is Q. You also get passthrough audio and the box also supports Dolby vision so can use the apps like netflix, Disney etc and make it all a seamless experience. The last version fixed loads of bugs and I personally haven't had an issue with it since.

If I had the choice, I wouldn't go back to Sky Q at all. Stream is definitely the better platform for me.
 
I watch a lot of football, NFL, NBA, etc, but I don't necessarily watch it live, I'd watch it half an hour - a few hours after it starts, or the following day. I can't see how that's possible with Sky Stream. As far as I can see, there's no DVR functionality, and they seem to see iPlayer, ITVx, Apple TV+ etc as direct replacements for people recording the telly. There doesn't seem to be an accommodation for sport unless you still have Sky Q or Virgin 360. Am I wrong?
 
Yes, Sky Stream does not record, so basically you are going back in time 25 years to before the invention of the PVR and have to watch everything live, the assumption is you will use apps instead, but obviously that means you have to deal with the extra hassle of navigating multiple apps, un-skippable ads, limited time to view things before they get removed etc. and less functionality for watching slightly behind the original broadcast etc. I'm also pretty sure that not everything that is shown on the broadcast channels is even available on an app. I believe there's also a fairly significant delay in the stream behind regular TV, so if England score, hope your neighbours don't cheer too loudly!

As I basically haven't watched TV live since I got a TiVo around 2000 I see absolutely no point to any of these live stream services like Sky Stream, Virgin Stream and the new Freely system, if I'm going to have to watch on an app then I might as well just get an AppleTV\Roku\Firestick (or similar) and use that without the need for a subscription.
 
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I've just moved 3 weeks ago into a new house. I had Virgin Media TV and 1gb Internet in the old house but wasn't available at my new address so went for Sky Stream and 900mb Fibre as I didnt want to put holes through walls on a brand new house for a Sat Dish.
In terms of picture quality so far its been absolutely fine, I cant tell the difference honestly, it doesn't feel much different to watching a broadcast over the air tbh so in general its fine.

The wife missed the recording facility at first but now has learned to use the 'playlist' facility, be aware though that if you dont pay for the 'Skip Ads' option you cant skip them like you could on recordings which is of course shady as hell imo but is what it is.
My biggest bugbear honestly is Sky's TV Guide layout and operation, its terrible compared to Virgins but I'll get used it eventually.
 
Sky Stream is DREADFUL. It's functional at a very basic level and does have good picture quality but it's a VERY basic streaming device, still riddled with reliability issues 3 years after launch.
It's entirely server based - all the third party apps are hosted on the server so there's added latency in everything you do. Lip sync can be very inconsistent between apps, there's no frame rate matching, no app store, and the pucks send spurious CEC commands over HDMI which can interfere with other devices connected to your TV/Soundbar/AVR.
I had it for a year and tried to give it a chance but Sky are just way out of their depth with this. If you want Sky content then use the NOW app with Ultra Boost on a half decent streaming device (which the Stream puck isn't) and you'll have a much better experience.
 
I’ve had Sky Stream for about a year and a half and while it was a bit temperamental at first, it’s been fine for a while now. There is no built-in PVR functionality but it does “cloud” based recording. Add something to your playlist and you can watch it after it’s been on.

I didn’t want a dish on my wall so I waited until this was available. I only really use it for F1 these days but the picture is excellent with HDR.
 
sparkymark75 said:
I’ve had Sky Stream for about a year and a half and while it was a bit temperamental at first, it’s been fine for a while now. There is no built-in PVR functionality but it does “cloud” based recording. Add something to your playlist and you can watch it after it’s been on.

I didn’t want a dish on my wall so I waited until this was available. I only really use it for F1 these days but the picture is excellent with HDR.
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It does 'cloud' based recording for some content, not all. Usually only selected Sky content and certain things from obscure channels which don't have their own streaming app.
You are never told when you add something to your playlist whether it will play back from a cloud recording or a streaming app, or when it will be available to view, or for how long it will be available (if at all.)
It's not like a 'proper' cloud DVR where you can clearly see a list of cloud recordings and delete them when you like. Sky Stream is an aggregator of content from multiple apps. All BBC shows added to playlists will playback from iPlayer, all Channel 4 shows will play back from the Channel 4 app, etc, but only for as long as that content is made available on those apps.
If all you want Sky for is Sports then you can now get it in UHD with HDR & Atmos via the NOW app and the Ultra Boost add-on. You then don't need to pay for any other channels you don't want or need.
 
I’ve had sky stream for about 6 months now and its been really good. Picture quality is great ,UI is easy to navigate.

I particularly like that you get paramount + and 2 VUE cinema tickets with sky movies for £9 a month.
 
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DiscoFizz said:
Sky Stream is DREADFUL. It's functional at a very basic level and does have good picture quality but it's a VERY basic streaming device, still riddled with reliability issues 3 years after launch.
It's entirely server based - all the third party apps are hosted on the server so there's added latency in everything you do. Lip sync can be very inconsistent between apps, there's no frame rate matching, no app store, and the pucks send spurious CEC commands over HDMI which can interfere with other devices connected to your TV/Soundbar/AVR.
I had it for a year and tried to give it a chance but Sky are just way out of their depth with this. If you want Sky content then use the NOW app with Ultra Boost on a half decent streaming device (which the Stream puck isn't) and you'll have a much better experience.
Click to expand...

When did you last use it?

There was a fairly big update about 4 months ago that sorted out a big long list of issues, as I was in same boat, it was slow, sluggish and constantly having to reboot it etc. Since that new update haven't had any issues and haven't had to reboot it either.
 
Let me put it this way - if sky stream was just an app that I could use on my Apple TV or Nvidia shield devices, I'd actually probably consider giving up Sky Q; but I won't because the puck is laggy hot garbage.
 
DiscoFizz said:
If all you want Sky for is Sports then you can now get it in UHD with HDR & Atmos via the NOW app and the Ultra Boost add-on. You then don't need to pay for any other channels you don't want or need.
Click to expand...
Up until late last year i had Sky Q and all i ever really watched was F1 and Sky history. When i dumped Q i watched the F1 highlights on channel 4 and Sky History as and add on with Prime.
As the year has gone on, F1 has become better, so i was thinking about Sky Stream to be able to watch F1 live. As Now started to do Ultra boost with Atmos and HDR for £35 a month it really was a no brainer for me, even adding on entertainment only brought is to £42 a month.
That's £30 a month less than i was paying for the same on Sky Q last year. I would say both picture and sound quality is actually better than Sky Q, so a brucie bonus all round.
 
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Haggisman said:
Pretty sure you can still get Sky Q, but it's quite hidden away on the site.
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It's not really hidden away.

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But just in case anybody is looking for it: https://www.sky.com/tv/sky-q
 
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eldergeek said:
Let me put it this way - if sky stream was just an app that I could use on my Apple TV or Nvidia shield devices, I'd actually probably consider giving up Sky Q; but I won't because the puck is laggy hot garbage.
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Weird, I've had it now for about 2 months and while I hate the TV Guide and overall UI, I don't get any lag at all, I don't know whether its gets hot or not, its on the other side of the room.
My Nvidia Shield has seen zero minutes use since I've had the Stream box so I've unplugged it.

Yes the Shield is brilliant and I'm sure the Shield does better upscaling and delivers better picture quality when compared side by side but as someone that just wants to sit and watch stuff and doesn't really care about pixel level detail, the Stream box has been totally hassle free so far.
 
eldergeek said:
Let me put it this way - if sky stream was just an app that I could use on my Apple TV or Nvidia shield devices, I'd actually probably consider giving up Sky Q; but I won't because the puck is laggy hot garbage.
Click to expand...

I've had no issues with lag or freezes since the last update.
 
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