Sky with Sports or Now TV Sports

SpartanKiller

Hi,

Moving into new house. Thinking of getting Sky TV and BB.

Is Ultra HD worth it or HD?

Also I like a lot of sports, but thinking about just signing up to Now TV separately month on / month off for either Sports Membership or Sports Extra Membership, depending what games are on / different tournaments etc.

Is this the best way to go about it?

Thanks
Eoin

tranquilo

I use Now TV now all the time for Sky Sports and Sports Extra. They usually have good offers. Most recently got both Sky Sports and Sports Extra together for €36.50 a month for 6 months. Delighted with that. When you go to cancel then they usually offer you a lower price to try get you to stay. I use it on my PS4 and the quality is good enough for me.

I'm not a sky TV customer though and don't have sky broadband, so if you have sky tv and sky broadband I know that sky themselves sometimes do offers too where you could get both for €40 a month, but from past experience I remember sky used to charge me extra each month just to have HD, which if is still the case in 2021 is a joke

SpartanKiller

Yeah they charge €8 for HD and €12 for UHD pm.

Basic Tv and BB is €55pm initially rising to €96pm after 6 months.

I wonder is it worth getting the basic tv at all. Just get saorview and freeview, one time installation fee.

icdg

Now TV has its advantages - it has a very good new customer deal at the moment for sports at €36.50 for Sky Sports, BT Sports, and Premier Sports. You don’t need to take any basic cable package which is getting less and less good value as some of the non-Sky channels move towards streaming platforms or go FTA. In fact if you don’t want Sky One/Atlantic/Comedy or the Nickelodeon/CN kids channels, basic cable isn’t really a necessity any more providing you can put up a dish. (I am taking it that if you’re considering Sky that’s not a problem)

Disadvantages: No HD let alone UHD. HD has been launched in the U.K. so it will probably arrive af some point. No PVR features (pause/resume or recording - this may be an issue if you watch prime time US games). Streaming delay.

FRIENDO

icdg wrote: »

Disadvantages: No HD let alone UHD. HD has been launched in the U.K. so it will probably arrive af some point. No PVR features (pause/resume or recording - this may be an issue if you watch prime time US games). Streaming delay.

Now TV is HD, just not full HD

As far as I know Now is 720p HD which is a hell of alot better than standard Digital

They also have a tempting offer of the Sky Sports channels for 19.50 a month for 6 months

swoofer

I got the sports extra and if I had known it was not HD I would have declined. Why its not hd is beyond me, Its normally 34 a month for non hd is a ripp off. And the galling part the announcers keep referring to BT sport hd. Not surprisingly the ads are better quality than the actual programmes. I got it for 17 euro so not too much of a loss but be warned.

FRIENDO

swoofer wrote: »

I got the sports extra and if I had known it was not HD I would have declined. Why its not hd is beyond me, Its normally 34 a month for non hd is a ripp off. And the galling part the announcers keep referring to BT sport hd. Not surprisingly the ads are better quality than the actual programmes. I got it for 17 euro so not too much of a loss but be warned.

It is HD

It's 720p HD

In the UK a person can subscribe to a NOW TV booster, which brings the picture to full HD quality at 1080p.

However in Ireland that's not an option at this time. So we have 720p HD for now.

Acosta

When watching Now TV on a laptop or TV, does the picture routinely go blurry as it often does when watching on Sky Go?

swoofer

Its not HD it may be upscaled to 720p but its SD. I have full HD and its night and day but if it looks good to you then really that's all that matters.

CJmasgrande

swoofer wrote: »

Its not HD it may be upscaled to 720p but its SD. I have full HD and its night and day but if it looks good to you then really that's all that matters.

That's an incorrect statement.

It's definitely 720p HD.

No way is is upscaled SD.

A lot on prole are very content with the picture but from being used to full HD on a big tv it's difficult to accept and go back to 720p

I've been badgering Now TV Ireland about no full HD option like UK and they said we will have it before end of this year.

lertsnim

I wonder why they can't enable that option now.

Sleeper12

FRIENDO wrote:

Now TV is HD, just not full HD

It's the same as Sky TV. Neither are full HD

ctlsleh

Sleeper12 wrote: »

It's the same as Sky TV. Neither are full HD

HD resolutions

720p - 1280 pixels x 720 pixels
Progressive scan: Draws all pixels at once.
Lowest Resolution, not much better than SD

1080i - 1920 pixels x 1080 lines
Interlaced: Split into two groups of 540 lines each.
Better Resolution

1080p. - 1920 x 1080 pixels
Progressive scan: Draws all pixels at once.
Best Resolution

Sleeper12

ctlsleh wrote:

1080p. - 1920 x 1080 pixels Progressive scan: Draws all pixels at once. Best Resolution

I only use now every few months. When I do I use boost but its 3 pounds a month. That is a lot to pay

awec

Now TV is definitely HD, but if it's like Sky Go then the framerate will be a lower compared to satellite so it won't look as smooth. I used to find this very noticable.

lertsnim

awec wrote: »

Now TV is definitely HD, but if it's like Sky Go then the framerate will be a lower compared to satellite so it won't look as smooth. I used to find this very noticable.

Yeah it still is very noticable on some sports. Its inexcusable these days as some providers do give double the framerate of what Sky do.

swoofer

I dont want to get too technical here but what channels are you watching that are in HD?? All I have is a sports extra offer of 17 euro for one month and those channels are NOT in HD.

And I am finding the stick very ifffy. Loosing internet and then reconnecting. I am practising with it today and its now stuck on BT sport 3 SD and wont respond to the remote.

It says my download is 60mbs. I'm not far from router.

awec

swoofer wrote: »

I dont want to get too technical here but what channels are you watching that are in HD?? All I have is a sports extra offer of 17 euro for one month and those channels are NOT in HD.

Now TV is 720p, which is HD. It's only 25fps though (normally tv is 50fps I think) which makes it look a bit jittery. It's also only stereo sound.

So it is HD, but it will be a lower quality picture than say Netflix, or HD content via satellite. I don't think NowTV even has an SD offering.

FRIENDO

swoofer wrote: »

I dont want to get too technical here but what channels are you watching that are in HD?? All I have is a sports extra offer of 17 euro for one month and those channels are NOT in HD.

And I am finding the stick very ifffy. Loosing internet and then reconnecting. I am practising with it today and its now stuck on BT sport 3 SD and wont respond to the remote.

I've also found the stick iffy for all Now channels.

It says my download is 60mbs. I'm not far from router.

I also found the Now stick iffy, you could try

1. That the Now plug is plugged into a wall socket and not an extension lead.


You could also try:
My Hitachi TV has two USB connections, I also found the Now Stick working alot better if I power the Now Stick from the the TV USB connection.

I have found Now working much better on my Firestick also

CJmasgrande

FRIENDO wrote: »

I also found the Now stick iffy, you could try

1. That the Now plug is plugged into a wall socket and not an extension lead.


You could also try:
My Hitachi TV has two USB connections, I also found the Now Stick working alot better if I power the Now Stick from the the TV USB connection.

I have found Now working much better on my Firestick also

It works excellent on apple tv 4k box

swoofer

i cant get it to work onapple tv 4k, when I try to sign in it says " no known account"!!!

Bingo I tweked the Apple Tv and now tv works and a lot better than the stick.

Delighted, thanks for the tip.

Foootie tomorrow and Saturday.

FRIENDO

swoofer wrote: »

i cant get it to work onapple tv 4k, when I try to sign in it says " no known account"!!!

Bingo I tweked the Apple Tv and now tv works and a lot better than the stick.

Delighted, thanks for the tip.

Foootie tomorrow and Saturday.

Signed up for Entertainment pack, the family wanted to see the Friends Reunion.

Got it for 7.50 a month for 6 month offer

speedbird834

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I only use now every few months. When I do I use boost but its 3 pounds a month. That is a lot to pay

Probably likely to be 5 euro a month with the "Paddy Tax" when it launches here

icdg

One thing I neglected to mention, in case it’s important to the OP, is that LaLiga TV is only on the Sky platform and not Now TV.