4K Foxtel and AFL Games

[Vred]

So it seems like Foxtel and Fox are set to broadcast about 20-30 AFL games next year in full 4K to those with the IQ4 box, has / is anyone upgrading to take advantage of this? And thoughts about the upgrade?

It's a noticeable difference going from channel 7 to Fox, it almost makes the free-to-air broadcast unwatchable, I'd like to think the further upgraded resolution would make watching even better.

[bornadog]

I have the 4k box and watch the cricket and it is crystal clear.

You will need to have a 4k TV as well if you are going to to upgrade.

[Axe Man]

So it seems like Foxtel and Fox are set to broadcast about 20-30 AFL games next year in full 4K to those with the IQ4 box, has / is anyone upgrading to take advantage of this? And thoughts about the upgrade?

It's a noticeable difference going from channel 7 to Fox, it almost makes the free-to-air broadcast unwatchable, I'd like to think the further upgraded resolution would make watching even better.

I don't have HD on Fox so 7HD is much better than SD Fox for me. Is Fox HD that much better than 7HD?

[Vred]

I don't have HD on Fox so 7HD is much better than SD Fox for me. Is Fox HD that much better than 7HD?

I believe 7HD is 720p whilst FOX HD is 1080p, on my 4k TV I notice a very noticeable difference switching between the two.

[bornadog]

I believe 7HD is 720p whilst FOX HD is 1080p, on my 4k TV I notice a very noticeable difference switching between the two.

Not 100% true. If we just talk footy, then 7HD is broadcast in 1080i. All AFL games are shot and produced in HD by both 7 and Foxtel. That means that all games on Foxtel are HD but things get more difficult with FTA. Basically if the channel it airs on is HD it will be HD, the main difference is the bitrates. 7HD like all FTA HD is starved for bitrate and looks the worst. Foxtel Now looks a little better and traditional Foxtel looks by far the best.

[Twodogs]

Gee there are a lot of TVs/screens around these days. I can remember starting work around the time that we won the America's Cup in 1984 and we had a telly actually in the office so we could watch the races. The big problem is you had to be in place at around 4 in the morning to watch the start of the race and then still be ready to start work at 9, work until 5 and stay nice. It wasn't simple. Then the telly disappeared for a couple of months until the LA Olympics started and then it came out again. Nowadays they are everywhere you look.


i had an old tube telly until a couple of years ago when my parents turned up at my front door with a new one. My kids had rung them and said "Nanna, do you reckon you could get us a new telly? This one we've got is crap!'' I could see their point. The graphics were crap with their PS4 for a start.

[bornadog]

Gee there are a lot of TVs/screens around these days. I can remember starting work around the time that we won the America's Cup in 1984 and we had a telly actually in the office so we could watch the races. The big problem is you had to be in place at around 4 in the morning to watch the start of the race and then still be ready to start work at 9, work until 5 and stay nice. It wasn't simple. Then the telly disappeared for a couple of months until the LA Olympics started and then it came out again. Nowadays they are everywhere you look.


i had an old tube telly until a couple of years ago when my parents turned up at my front door with a new one. My kids had rung them and said "Nanna, do you reckon you could get us a new telly? This one we've got is crap!'' I could see their point. The graphics were crap with their PS4 for a start.

Quality sure has come a long way. In Australia we are behind the rest of the world with HD and 4K. The best way to get some 4K content is through Netflix. Foxtel only have the one channel, but I am sure it will expand at some stage.

8K is already here, but your telly needs to be 75" or bigger otherwise there is no benefit.

[Axe Man]

It's crazy that 20-30 years ago most people were probably watching a screen around 50cms and were happy if the reception was relatively clear. Now we whinge if it's not 4K on a 75 inch screen!

[Vred]

Not 100% true. If we just talk footy, then 7HD is broadcast in 1080i. All AFL games are shot and produced in HD by both 7 and Foxtel. That means that all games on Foxtel are HD but things get more difficult with FTA. Basically if the channel it airs on is HD it will be HD, the main difference is the bitrates. 7HD like all FTA HD is starved for bitrate and looks the worst. Foxtel Now looks a little better and traditional Foxtel looks by far the best.

Thanks for clarifying mate, pretty sure I'll be going Foxtel IQ4 for the games next season, hopefully we get some Doggy games broadcast in 4k and they make it a permanent thing.

[Twodogs]

It's crazy that 20-30 years ago most people were probably watching a screen around 50cms and were happy if the reception was relatively clear. Now we whinge if it's not 4K on a 75 inch screen!

Isn't it?

People won't bother getting out of bed these days if the screen isn't as big as a drive in screen. I know one guy who's screen kind of bends around in the middle. It's hard to explain.

[hujsh]

I've given Kayo a go while the cricket's on and I'll be swapping to it. Been good so far and suits me better and is cheaper

[AndrewP6]

Isn't it?

People won't bother getting out of bed these days if the screen isn't as big as a drive in screen. I know one guy who's screen kind of bends around in the middle. It's hard to explain.

Curved screen? Pretty popular.

[Twodogs]

Curved screen? Pretty popular.


Sounds right. I have seen them in the Harvey Norman catalogue I reckon. This one the guy was telling me about sounded pretty big like the size of a small cinema screen.

[Greystache]

Isn't it?

People won't bother getting out of bed these days if the screen isn't as big as a drive in screen. I know one guy who's screen kind of bends around in the middle. It's hard to explain.

I've got a 75 inch OLED hanging on the wall of my lounge room, that's 190cm in newspeak. What's really noticeable in HD (I haven't got 4K Foxtel yet because it's only available in satellite and I really like my cable service) is you can pick up detail in the periphery during live sporting events that you could simply never see before. Not just who players are but subtle little blocks, punches, or match ups. It's only a small thing but compared to those old TVs where you could only just make out the player zoomed in the centre of the screen it makes it a more immersive experience.

They probably cost a few $$ more than the basic ones but I think it's worth it.

[bornadog]

I've given Kayo a go while the cricket's on and I'll be swapping to it. Been good so far and suits me better and is cheaper

How is the quality?

[hujsh]

How is the quality?

Looks good to me. Haven't had the chance to watch a footy match which I do need to test out first before canceling the foxtel. I'll try to test it out tonight and report back.

I'm on NBN though in an area where I don't seem to have the problems other people have reported so it might not be as reliable for people in other areas.

[hujsh]

So I tried to compare the Richmond game at the end of the year between the two platforms. I noticed the Kayo version looked worse and that's because it was only at 720p. After mucking around for a fair while with support to find the cause this was the conclusion




So for the AFL, the games covered by channel 7 will be streamed in 720p as we take their feed, but the rest of the games will be live streamed in 1080p.





AH okay. Is this going to be the case going forward?





Yes, this will be the case.





Interesting. So it's reduced quality compared to the regular Foxtel coverage?
as in I believe they still show the game in 1080 on the box





Streaming the games is separate to the actual broadcast, so no stream will be at 1080p for those games.





And this is the case for the coming season at this point?





Yep it is.



So channel 7 strikes again to make AFL coverage as poor as possible it seems.

Not sure which way I should go now. Kayo suits me more and looks good in 1080p. 720 is...fine...I guess. Looks worse but is it so bad that I'd pay $10 a month extra and deal with inflexibility of not being able to cancel my subscription over Summer if I want to?

Not as simple as it seemed yesterday now.

[hujsh]

That said the for the Foxtel games I'm not sure I see any difference (which you'd expect being the same quality).

I've also not had any buffering issues on Firefox (did on Chrome when I first started on the cricket)

[The Adelaide Connection]

So I tried to compare the Richmond game at the end of the year between the two platforms. I noticed the Kayo version looked worse and that's because it was only at 720p. After mucking around for a fair while with support to find the cause this was the conclusion



So channel 7 strikes again to make AFL coverage as poor as possible it seems.

Not sure which way I should go now. Kayo suits me more and looks good in 1080p. 720 is...fine...I guess. Looks worse but is it so bad that I'd pay $10 a month extra and deal with inflexibility of not being able to cancel my subscription over Summer if I want to?

Not as simple as it seemed yesterday now.

I have been wrestling with the worth of Foxtel which I have had for almost 10 years. I have mostly had a full package albeit at a discounted rate (usually by placing a strategic call the cancellation team). With Netflix and Stan our usage has gone from minimal to almost never and my (heavy) AFL viewing would be the only use it would usually get.

I couldn’t really keep justifying the price tag (especially with free AFL live pass via Telstra) and was looking into the Kayo and Foxtel Now options when I came across a thread on a forum somewhere where they mentioned that Foxtel will now let you put your account on hold over the post season. I rang them and sure enough you can either suspend your service or go to a $10 per month skeletal plan (that has a handful of channels from essentials) until you are ready to call up and reactivate/add packages.

[bornadog]

For a short period when I was waiting for my apartment to be completed, I was staying in a building with no Foxtel available and only ADSL for internet, so I signed up to the bare minimum of Foxtel Now ie sports plus one other package. I found the service a little frustrating and that could have been due to the slow download with ADSL ( around 13 mbps). At that stage Kayo wasn't available.

In my new building (since mid September), we have the availability of Foxtel, plus we also have NBN. I am in a trial period where Foxtel have given me everything for free and that time is almost up. Like The Adelaide Connection mentioned, we rarely watch Foxtel these days other than sport and a couple of lifestyle channels. I have an APPLE TV 4K, which allows me to download many apps and I can also access Itune movies if I want to pay as you go.

I will be staying with Foxtel, mainly for sports and the bare minimum of anything else. The 4k channel is a huge part of my decision to stay with Foxtel and not go with Kayo.

[hujsh]

I have been wrestling with the worth of Foxtel which I have had for almost 10 years. I have mostly had a full package albeit at a discounted rate (usually by placing a strategic call the cancellation team). With Netflix and Stan our usage has gone from minimal to almost never and my (heavy) AFL viewing would be the only use it would usually get.

I couldn’t really keep justifying the price tag (especially with free AFL live pass via Telstra) and was looking into the Kayo and Foxtel Now options when I came across a thread on a forum somewhere where they mentioned that Foxtel will now let you put your account on hold over the post season. I rang them and sure enough you can either suspend your service or go to a $10 per month skeletal plan (that has a handful of channels from essentials) until you are ready to call up and reactivate/add packages.

Since I never actually watch anything on Foxtel aside from the sport I use someone else's second box. That costs me $25 a month and I pay another 10 so that they have the digital channels

So unfortunately I'm not sure cancelling/suspending is an option and having to re-order the box every Summer is a bit tedious. It's a good idea though and one I'd take advantage of if I could.

[The Adelaide Connection]

Since I never actually watch anything on Foxtel aside from the sport I use someone else's second box. That costs me $25 a month and I pay another 10 so that they have the digital channels

So unfortunately I'm not sure cancelling/suspending is an option and having to re-order the box every Summer is a bit tedious. It's a good idea though and one I'd take advantage of if I could.

It may not work when using someone else’s second box, but they left me with my box even though I suspended the service and told me to ring back when I want it reactivated.

[The Adelaide Connection]

Just a heads up for those who are existing Telstra customers- they have an offer at the moment where you can get Kayo for 2 months for $5. Link Below.

https://www.telstra.com.au/tv-movies-music/kayo

If you are a mobile customer the easiest way to do it is via your Telstra 24x7 App- go to Offers>My Offers

I also discovered in this section that I can redeem 24 months of the “Essentials” Foxtel Now pack (which includes Game of Thrones).

Telstra’s service often cops a bit of a lashing and they do tend to be more expensive for mobile plans, but I ended up changing years ago due to constant issues with Optus and Vodafone coverage/data speeds. The coverage has always been good on Telstra and I now get full access to AFL, A League, NRL, Foxtel Now, and now a couple of months of Kayo for $5. Credit where credit is due, this is pretty impressive.
*The netball is also included, but I haven’t installed the app.