New to EE TV - a few issues

[imacken]

I am trialling EE TV with a view to ending my 23 year relationship with Sky, and I can't say I'm too impressed so far.

Now, some of these may be fixable, and if so, any help appreciated.

1) Can't easily skip adverts on ITV recordings, although I realise this can be avoided if I use the box in hybrid aerial/internet mode.

2) on the iPhone/iPad app, there does not seem to be a way of watching channels like BBC1, Sky Sports, etc.

3) can't watch recordings on the app, or make them.

4) the mini-box seems to be a standalone device with no connection to main box, so no access to recordings etc.

5) the 'What's On now' live TV bar only highlights SD channels, so seems like a waste of time.

6) only seem to get surround sound from Sky channels, not on BBC1, etc.

7) if I select a programme to 'series record', all versions of the programme, e.g. on +1 channels, get recorded.

Any help or comments on this would be appreciate.  At the moment, I am thinking of returning to Sky.

[Midnight_Voice]

@imacken 

Do we think that if you run your Pro box in IP mode, it will do the same?

=====================================

Crone: Yes, we can!

Macbeth: I hear you can tell the future?

(ISIRTA parody of the Scottish Play).

[imacken]

I could give it a go, but doing a factory reset would be a bit of a pain with losing all recordings, logins etc. 

[Weerab2024]

In IP mode on the pro box it does revert to BBC1HD by default, as expected

[imacken]

Good news!

Down side is no skipping ads on ITV. 

[imacken]

Just going back to point 6), I am confused.

When I view BBC1 etc. there is no sound from my surround channels.  Every Sky channel - movies, sport, entertainment, etc. - has sound coming from the surround channels.

Now, I appreciate that channels don't always broadcast in surround, but on Sky Q, any stereo channel was processed as Dolby PL by my receiver to produce pseudo surround.   This isn't happening on EE TV.

Another weird thing is that even if a programme is listed as 5.1, I only get stereo if I am watching 'on-demand', whereas if I record the same programme on the Live Channel Guide, I get surround sound.

Any advice appreciated.

[Midnight_Voice]

@imacken 

The BBC iPlayer, perhaps inexplicably, broadcasts only in stereo at present.

What do you mean by ‘your receiver’? Is this a separate box, an AV receiver possibly, that takes it on itself to turn a stereo signal into a pseudo-surround one?

In which case, one conjecture is that you have your Pro box set to output surround, and that it outputs stereo as the L and R of a 5.1 L,C,R,LR,RR.SW signal with the other channels silent, and your receiver faithfully reproduces that as a genuine surround signal. Try setting the Pro box to Stereo, as an experiment, and see if this will restore your pseudo-surround.

In this case, of course, shame about genuine surround.

But my LG GX soundbar has a head-spinning two pages of what you get with various signals and various settings on the soundbar, and it’s possible to get genuine surround when there is genuine surround, with pseudo-surround when there isn’t; or to get exactly what is being sent, whatever it is.

[imacken]

Thanks for that.

Yes, I mean an AV Receiver, and yes, you are right that on EE TV it takes a stereo signal  and outputs to only L and R.  I tried setting to Stereo from Surround, and that made no difference.

Looking into this further, it would seem to be  the Freeview channels that are output in stereo only. Any Sky Channels - entertainment, sport or movies - are output to all 5.1 channels even the stereo ones.

On Sky Q, all channels were automatically output to DPL (if stereo) and DD5.1 if surround.

I'm still confused as to why watching on demand, e.g. a Sky movie, is in stereo even though it is showing as 5.1, yet, the same film/programme, if recorded from the Live Channel Guide is in 5.1.

[imacken]

Can anyone shed any light on my comments above, particularly the last one?

Thanks. 

[Midnight_Voice]

@imacken 

I can’t, because it isn’t clear what exactly you are doing. Also, because I now have Ultraboost, so I’m a bit ahead of you.

On Demand, I imagine, must be coming from the Now app on the Pro box, though that may not necessarily be the case.

And recording from the Live Channel Guide must, I guess, be from the extra channels in the EPG of the Pro box.

But I don’t know if you have Now Boost or not; maybe you have said above, I’ll check. If you don’t have Now Boost, then you won’t get HD or 5.1, but I wouldn’t except it to say the movie is in  5.1 (though maybe it doesn’t say it on screen, and you just read it somewhere?) Or maybe you have Boost, but haven’t activated 5.1 in the Now app Settings? As you seem to be getting 5.1 on the Live Channels?

But all I can say is that I’ve been playing House of the Dragon through my surround system, and it says it’s Dolby Atmos, and my soundbar says it’s Dolby Atmos.

So exactly what movie, played exactly how, with what Settings in the Now app, shows 5.1 where, but is reported as stereo where, and does that agree with what your ears say about what’s coming out of your speakers?

I am happy to try to reproduce your issue with an HD/5.1 presentation of a Now movie by using the Now app on my T4000, or on a Box Mini, but obviously I’d like to be sure that I will be most closely replicating what you are actually doing.

[imacken]

Thanks for that. 
I’m afraid there are so many things I am confused by here. All I have done is move from (the easy to understand) Sky service after 22 years to the Full Works package on EE TV. 

I don’t know anything about Now, or Boost, or Ultraboost. I use EE TV in the same way as Sky, i.e. I look at the TV guide schedule and press record. Or, I do a search and press record. 

I will try some stuff in a while and give you specifics to try yourself. But, afaics, no Freeview channels produce any sound from C, SL or SR speakers. Same with iPlayer and TNT Sport. All Sky channels do, however. 

No one from EE has mentioned Boost or Ultraboost to me. How do I find out about that? Also, I have never knowingly used the Now app. Wouldn’t know any login info.