F1 4K UHD on NOW TV Smart Box?

[Kenny Powers]

Hello gents. As per title - if I were to purchase NOW TV’s 4K Smart Box, and the Sky Sports £195 season bundle, would I be able to watch the F1 in 4K? The box is allegedly 4K, and I know that Sky broadcast the season in 4K through Sky Q, but it’s not clear if the races will be so endowed on the smart box. Last season I purchased the season pass and watched it via the app on my Apple TV 4K but, annoyingly, the app on that device only showed the races in 720p. If my proposed combo will allow me to watch the season in UHD then I may purchase. Otherwise I’ll just stick with the Channel 4 highlights.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully some of you kind chaps can offer your thoughts.

[TheDeuce]

I have the nowTV app on my LG 4k TV, and it only streams the sky channels in 1080p. There is no technical reason they couldn't stream in 4k via the app, or the stick - but if they have chosen not to do it via the app, I'd be surprised if they haven't also limited the stream via the stick to the same. It may simply come down to bandwidth costs for the nowTV subsidiary of sky.

It would be interesting to know for sure though, perhaps asking nowTV via their own support channels would be a good idea.

[Kenny Powers]

Thanks for your response. I’m not talking about the stick. The Smart Box is specifically marketed as streaming 4K, but I can’t find any information as to the scope of this. My suspicion is that it only covers Netflix and Prime Video or the like, and not the Sky channels.

[TheDeuce]

Kenny Powers said:

Thanks for your response. I’m not talking about the stick. The Smart Box is specifically marketed as streaming 4K, but I can’t find any information as to the scope of this. My suspicion is that it only covers Netflix and Prime Video or the like, and not the Sky channels.

Sorry, I meant the box, not stick. The same applies though.

It is slightly odd that they would market their own box as 4k and then not stream nowTV through it in 4k... I would hope they do, but by the same token, why not also 4k via the app? It really is a question for nowTV though.

[Kenny Powers]

Yeah it’s very irritating. I will investigate further and appreciate your input.

Cheers.

[Kenny Powers]

In the interests of topic closure for anyone who stumbles upon this discussion at a later time, I found this quote from a review of the 4K Smart Box;

”...you can only watch 4K content via a limited selection of services right now: Netflix and YouTube. There’s no facility to watch live TV in 4K and Sky Sports in 4K is off the menu, too.”

So pointless for anyone wanting to watch the F1 season on this device in UHD. Certainly as of this time at least.

[TheDeuce]

Kenny Powers said:

In the interests of topic closure for anyone who stumbles upon this discussion at a later time, I found this quote from a review of the 4K Smart Box;

”...you can only watch 4K content via a limited selection of services right now: Netflix and YouTube. There’s no facility to watch live TV in 4K and Sky Sports in 4K is off the menu, too.”

So pointless for anyone wanting to watch the F1 season on this device in UHD. Certainly as of this time at least.

Thanks for sharing. A shame, but not surprised. Just disappointed.

[Kenny Powers]

Yeah it totally sucks balls.

I guess they want people locked into an expensive Sky Q subscription as a means to fund the bandwidth. Think you alluded as much yourself. Understandable to an extent but it’s not like the 4K Smart Box is free, and the NOW TV subs aren’t exactly pennies.

The whole thing comes across as miserly and taking advantage.

[Matthen]

Kenny Powers said:

Yeah it totally sucks balls.

I guess they want people locked into an expensive Sky Q subscription as a means to fund the bandwidth. Think you alluded as much yourself. Understandable to an extent but it’s not like the 4K Smart Box is free, and the NOW TV subs aren’t exactly pennies.

The whole thing comes across as miserly and taking advantage.

Pretty sure I picked up one for free at christmas. Just had to pay postage.

The sky streams often aren't even 1080p. Seems any jitter/lag at all and it immediately drops you down to 720p. Fortunately for me, my TV is so piss poor this doesn't matter.

[gred]

Dumb question, but can’t seem to figure it out on their website. If I get the NowTV package for the year, and watch through my AppleTV does the quali/race appear on catch up so I can watch it later? Or does it only appear live.

[S0 What]

gred said:

Dumb question, but can’t seem to figure it out on their website. If I get the NowTV package for the year, and watch through my AppleTV does the quali/race appear on catch up so I can watch it later? Or does it only appear live.

There is no catch up as such but the race is repeated lots on the F1 channel, also no record function and the listings are only what's on now and next, less functionality than the set top box but then it is also cheaper ?, you can rewind live TV but i find it allways crashes when you try to FF to catch back up ?

[Kenny Powers]

Also from my experience the video quality of the Apple TV app is somewhat lacking. Looks pretty poor blown up on a 65” telly. Well, poor is probably a stretch, but definitely not as good as 1080p broadcast.

This was last season though. Possibly improved since.

[gred]

Thanks, that helps.