Sky Q

Niemoj

Anyone else watching Sky's livestream found here?

So far all they've announced is something called Sky Q with "Fluid Viewing", most likely a 4K box with several tuners.

**Didn't know where else to put this, not even sure if it uses Satellite anymore.**

Sky wrote:

Sky Q will be available for customers in the UK and Ireland early in 2016. We’ll announce the exact date and details of pricing nearer the time

Looks like we're included in this, wahoo!

Niemoj

Quite a nice looking box they've announced, 2TB too!



It allows you to pause a programme in one room and pick up in another, and they've a box which turns the SkyQ boxes into a wifi hotspot but no word on if it only works with Sky Broadband or not just yet.

Niemoj

There's going to be a Vevo app and also YouTube and you can also stream Spotify or other music via bluetooth/airplay.

4K/UHD content from next year also.

afatbollix

Did they say anything how it would get from dish to sky box? The 4 recording channels was that via broadband or all via dish?

New remote looks good. I wonder will it be rechargeable or battery powered?

afatbollix

Niemoj

afatbollix wrote: »

Did they say anything how it would get from dish to sky box? The 4 recording channels was that via broadband or all via dish?

New remote looks good. I wonder will it be rechargeable or battery powered?

Seems to be a mix given it still has tuners.

Regular tele via satellite OnDemand stuff/YouTube will use broadband perhaps?

Niemoj

Ye have to admit, Sky know how to make some pretty equipment!

JDxtra

Looks like this will have 2 x standard F connectors as the sat inputs. How can this record 4 channels?

JDxtra

...serious piece of kit. On the face of it, blows everything else out of the water.

retweet

Similar to VM/UPC Horizon but done properly. Happy I made the switch and look forward to getting this!

Niemoj

JDxtra wrote: »

Looks like this will have 2 x standard F connectors as the sat inputs. How can this record 4 channels?

2 SD channels recorded via Satellite and 2 HD/UHD via internet?

So like an IPTV/Satellite hybrid? I'm purely speculating here.

ftakeith

http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/television/news/a774430/sky-q-unveiled-as-new-high-end-pay-tv-service-to-rival-netflix-in-and-out-of-the-home/

This will solve clash recording problems for many people.
UHD content will interest many but not me so far

humax freesat freetime is a better receiver than the the sky Q box
Showcase on Freesat recommends the next 7 days on Freesat.
Sky's version of Showcase is all over the place.
In December 2015, Netflix app could be available on Humax Freesat Freetime

Maysa07

I am wondering what the cost is going to be? and would exciting sky customers upgrade? or would it pull people back?

icdg

This is an interesting one. Forget the pretty face/nice interface, people will be asked to pay extra, so what's the killer app that will persuade people to part with cash? So far I see the extra tuners (which I admit I could use, but I'm not sure I want to pay extra for) and 4K UHD (which I don't own a compatible TV for, won't be shelling out the serious cash to buy one any time soon, and even I did there is just one UK part time UHD channel that isn't even offered on Sky). So what's the selling point, Sky?

helimachoptor

the "fluid viewing" is the killer app, seamlessly watch your content around the house and on the go

Niemoj

icdg wrote: »

This is an interesting one. Forget the pretty face/nice interface, people will be asked to pay extra, so what's the killer app that will persuade people to part with cash? So far I see the extra tuners (which I admit I could use, but I'm not sure I want to pay extra for) and 4K UHD (which I don't own a compatible TV for, won't be shelling out the serious cash to buy one any time soon, and even I did there is just one UK part time UHD channel that isn't even offered on Sky). So what's the selling point, Sky?

They're playing catch up in a lot of regards to UPC it seems but Sky are masters in marketing so no doubt this'll sell well.

MBSnr

^^^
In post #5 flyer for the box - "2160p to be added in a future update"

So if there was a 4K channel it wouldn't, at present, be actually outputting a UHD signal to your TV....

Ohh I'll take two....!

jones

Looks very interest! Price will be a big factor...the ability to record 4 things at once is nice. Good to see the video output at 1080p and not just the 1080i the current sky boxes are capable of.

The Ayatolla

MBSnr wrote: »

^^^
In post #5 flyer for the box - "2160p to be added in a future update"

So if there was a 4K channel it wouldn't, at present, be actually outputting a UHD signal to your TV....

Ohh I'll take two....!

:rolleyes: They're hardly gonna launch a UHD channel without the box being enabled to handle it....

MBSnr

The Ayatolla wrote: »

:rolleyes: They're hardly gonna launch a UHD channel without the box being enabled to handle it....

Well so far they launched a box that can do 1080p....on 1080i channels...

The Ayatolla

MBSnr wrote: »

Well so far they launched a box that can do 1080p....on 1080i channels...

But not 1080p channels on a 1080i box which is the same as what you're suggesting they'll do here with UHD.

Back on topic, will be interesting to see the price. Predicting 199 for the box for existing customers and a new 12 month contract, with the multiroom boxes going for 99 and an extra sub per month. Handy that the multiroom boxes also act as Wifi hotspots. Wonder will the multiroom ones also support 4k?

MBSnr

^^^

I was laughing at their web page that says the box comes 4K ready*
http://www.sky.com/ireland/tv/sky-q/overview?DCMP=KNC-ROISearch

*to be added in a future update

if that flyer is recent.

Kristopherus

Niemoj wrote: »

2 SD channels recorded via Satellite and 2 HD/UHD via internet?

So like an IPTV/Satellite hybrid? I'm purely speculating here.

They'll be using Homeplugs to fire the BB around the gaff. Of course they have dressed that up in marketing blurb and called it powerline technology.

dubred

As an existing customer, one barrier to upgrading will be the content that is already recorded on my current Sky box(es), it will never be empty.

A content migration facility would be useful.

ThisRegard

The Ayatolla wrote: »

with the multiroom boxes going for 99 and an extra sub per month. Handy that the multiroom boxes also act as Wifi hotspots. Wonder will the multiroom ones also support 4k?

The extra sub would make no sense if you were just using it to stream from your base box, I wouldn't shell out for it.

And it reads to me that the mini box only acts as a WiFi hotspot with Skys broadband hub.

Niemoj

The icons are very Apple-esque.

notahappycamper

Wonder how the multi room will work in reality- is it streaming live tv from the main box and will there be a delay/is it dependant on your infrastructure/solid walls other wifi in your house and quality of your wiring for the powerline adaptors to work?

The Ayatolla

Even after launch, i'll definitely be in the "wait and see" bucket. This is one of these things where early adopters could be in for a bumpy ride.

My contract with Sky is up in April next year so I'll wait and see what the craic is around then.

JDxtra

dubred wrote: »

As an existing customer, one barrier to upgrading will be the content that is already recorded on my current Sky box(es), it will never be empty. A content migration facility would be useful.

I can imagine that would be very difficult to implement and support. It means having two boxes on your network at the same time. If the source box is pretty full, it could take hours/days for content to move. An install engineer is not going to wait around. Far easier for Sky to say, sorry - we can't support that.

Personally, I've always regarded recordings as somewhat disposable. Largely items are watched and deleted. For some items, recordings are kept (like kids shows or movies) - but as the hard drive could fail at any stage so they are not really for permanent storage.

ECO_Mental

Looking at pic of the specs it doesn't have a gigabit ethernet connection only 10/100 if they are looking at doing 4k I would have thought this would be a min spec if you want to stream 4k (not necessary but helpful)

ECO_Mental

Ah here!... the USB connections are 2.0 as well, its this penny pinching that would drive you crazy

bored_stupid

it won,t be worth the money sky will be asking for this box they can,t even give us free hd as standard and with all there price hikes .

Android tv with sat & soarview tuners that will do me now.

No rte player or rte hd yet [ still waiting ].

There still rip off merchants but with a better PR team .

Clad i cancel now .

The Ayatolla

ECO_Mental wrote: »

Ah here!... the USB connections are 2.0 as well, its this penny pinching that would drive you crazy

They could always release yearly/bi-yearly iterations of the box with these kind of improvements (USB3, gigabit; if needed), similar to the improved HD+ boxes.

reboot

Sorry, but I only picked this up on the Broadcasting threads. Would not have made the important 4k connection from the heading, seems the STB way ahead of most TV models.

The Ayatolla

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057524114

snaps

Im sure i read a statement from sky somewhere saying "this will be the premium product priced at a premium, running slongside the old standard priced system"

So if hd system is 100€ or so a month heaven knows what the sub will be for that!

reboot

bored_stupid wrote: »

it won,t be worth the money sky will be asking for this box they can,t even give us free hd as standard and with all there price hikes .

Android tv with sat & soarview tuners that will do me now.

No rte player or rte hd yet [ still waiting ].

There still rip off merchants but with a better PR team .

Clad i cancel now .

You are right of course,but don't forget, lots of the country do not have access to any other signal than Sky. Parts of the Mournes in Co Down have no internet,(Up to 1 mbit),no mobile service,(2g, Outside the building),No fm signal,no Dab, but lots of Snow soon.

reboot

The Ayatolla wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057524114

Thanks I know that, I was just trying to flag up the 4k aspect. The Broadcast thread mentioned the new Sky 4k box in relation to a question I posed regarding UHD, UHD ready and 21/9 in respect of "The Last Panthers" on Sky. Obviously with the advent of smart TVs, the subjects may be related and various.

icdg

Merged

STB.

4K Ready eh.... to be implemented with an "update"

It was only a matter of time before someone invented the term.

reboot

STB. wrote: »

4K Ready eh.... to be implemented with an "update"

It was only a matter of time before someone invented the term.

On the Samsung TV ads I am seeing,"UHD Ready",no mention in the whole ad of 4k, no wonder confused .com.

Chris_Bradley

No Netflix on this either, nothing genuinely amazing seems to jump out from this as of yet.

JDxtra

Netflix is the competition - you'll never see it on a Sky device.

mikeym

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34855857

Sky has launched a new service called Sky Q that blends live and on-demand TV as it tries to compete with the likes of Netflix.
It will showcase Ultra HD 4K on the platform, which it described as its most significant product launch since HD and "a new way to watch TV".
The package will comprise a set-top box and a "super premium package" and will be separate from Sky's Now TV on-demand service.
Experts questioned what it would cost.

ftakeith

mikeym wrote: »

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34855857

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34855317

another review by bbc's rory

bk

ECO_Mental wrote: »

Looking at pic of the specs it doesn't have a gigabit ethernet connection only 10/100 if they are looking at doing 4k I would have thought this would be a min spec if you want to stream 4k (not necessary but helpful)

While a bit cheap of them not to include Gigabit ethernet, it isn't strictly needed for what they are doing here.

4k is likely to use only about 15 to 20Mb/s. For example Netflix 4K streams are only 16Mb/s.

So you could fit up to 6 x 4k streams coming from this box and go to other devices (Sky Q Minibox, Sky Q App, etc.) over the 100Mb/s ethernet.

notahappycamper wrote: »

Wonder how the multi room will work in reality- is it streaming live tv from the main box and will there be a delay/is it dependant on your infrastructure/solid walls other wifi in your house and quality of your wiring for the powerline adaptors to work?

Delays would be measured in milliseconds, unlikely to be noticeable.

With it supporting both 802.11ac wifi and powerline, I don't expect it will have any issues with walls, etc. except perhaps in the most extreme cases (i.e. massive mansions).

They mention it will be able to use either the wifi or powerline depending on which is better. A very clever idea. But I wonder if they will go a step further and actually combine the bandwidth of the wifi and powerline to give even greater throughput.

This could be quiet powerful and interesting when you combine that with the Sky Q boxes acting as repeater/access points. That could significantly increase wifi performance throughout a home if implemented well.

The question I have is if this new system will require a new expensive LNB setup?

The pr mentions 5 to 12 tuners, but the box only has two coax connectors and typically Sky LNBs are quad models. So will this system require a new, more expensive and sophisticated LNB that combines 5/12 * streams onto two cables?

bk

Lots of detailed information here:

https://corporate.sky.com/media-centre/skyq/product%20fact%20sheets

Some highlights:
- Only the Sky Q Silver box will support 4k (in future), the "standard" Sky Q and Sky Q mini boxes will only support 1080p HD.

- Rumour has it that the Sky Q Silver box will cost £300 to £400 plus as much as £20 per month extra sub!!

- This will require a new wideband LNB, which will in turn make your setup incompatible with old Sky boxes and Freesat boxes.

On the one hand, this all sounds very exciting, some very cool tech. On the other hand, it also feels like it maybe far too expensive and 5 years too late.

After all why have a €500 box in your living room, with 12 tuners and TB of storage, when really there isn't anything you couldn't do with a €25 FireTV type stick and cloud storage.

It all seems incredibly old fashioned and inefficient.

lertsnim

That sub is insane. It will fail miserably if that £20 per month is accurate.

enfant terrible

I crazily paid 400 euro for a HD box when they launched so I think i'll sit this one out.

The Cush

bk wrote: »

The question I have is if this new system will require a new expensive LNB setup?

The pr mentions 5 to 12 tuners, but the box only has two coax connectors and typically Sky LNBs are quad models. So will this system require a new, more expensive and sophisticated LNB that combines 5/12 * streams onto two cables?

bk wrote: »

- This will require a new wideband LNB, which will in turn make your setup incompatible with old Sky boxes and Freesat boxes.

My thoughts on it ...

On the DS forum there was speculation that the LNB could be an SCR/Unicable type but this only requires a single cable from the LNB to feed multiple tuners by allocating a single block of frequency to each tuner and feeding the selected channel's freq/band/pol down that frequency block if I understand it correctly.

The new SkyQ box has 2 inputs and a full-band tuner (290-2340 MHz), no RF inputs so no conflicts with terrestrial frequencies within the box. The guess over on the DS forum it that the new LNB will be wideband (full-band 10.7 - 12.75 GHz), so no hi/lo band 22khz tone switching required at the LNB and that each cable will carry a separate polarisation (H or V) so no voltage switching required at the LNB.

Just like a terrestrial aerial signal (1 polarisation over the full band) can be easily split, this would allow the 2 raw LNB feeds (H wideband & V wideband) to the SkyQ receiver, to be split as many times as required within the box (kinda like an internal multiswitch).

This would be a problem for legacy sat receivers within the same installation but no doubt there will be a multiswitch or splitter solution made available from the various manufacturers.

Sky Q is incompatible with existing Sky installations. When the system is launched, early 2016, subscribers will need the LNB swapped on their existing Sky dish. The cable run remains unchanged though. It’s not possible to have a mix of Sky+ and Sky Q hardware sharing the same dish feed.

http://www.insideci.co.uk/news/sky-q-unveiled-this-ain-t-yesterdays-satellite-tv.aspx

icdg

That's interesting, from the point of view that it makes downgrading from Sky to FTA a lot harder. To switch to a Freesat or generic FTA receiver will require the LNB to be swapped back to a normal one. That's all fine and dandy for some people (including I suspect many here) but others may not be so comfortable with doing it, particularly those whose dishes have been placed in a particularly high location (chimney etc). That said, arguably the type of people who will be installing SkyQ won't be about to drop Sky completely either.

The lack of support for Freesat on the same system then brings another question to mind. Will manual tuning still be supported? The specs suggest that it will, but I think this is something many Irish homes will be wanting to know before ordering.

I would wait till we see what Sky is proposing before commenting on pricing.