Poor picture quality on Channel 4 on demand

[mattybake]

Is anyone else having similar problems? The picture quality watching programmes on Channel 4 on demand is terrible. It's nowhere near HD. 

Live TV on channel 4 and recordings of channel 4 are fine, but on demand is rubbish!

[nelix01]

Interesting update around Channel 4 removal of SD.  It highlights that SD will remain on Freeview and YouView

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertainment/channel-4-sd-channels-close-exclusive-newsupdate/

[Midnight_Voice]

@nelix01 

That’s their live channels only that they are talking about there, though.

Nothing about their On Demand services😢

[nelix01]

You are correct, but to me that just shows that Channel 4's services  on the YouView platform are not their #1 priority.  

I tend to use Apple TV when streaming Channel 4 as the HD steam is much better.  But for iPlayer, I will use the BT Pro Box as it offers UHD content where on Apple TV, the steam is HD only.

[Midnight_Voice]

@nelix01 

I’ve also found that the iPlayer app on Apple TV seems to lack the channel/schedule functionality I rely on.

(Pick a channel, scroll to the bottom, pick a day, scroll vertically through the day’s programmes, pick what you want to watch).

Or if it’s there, I haven’t found it yet 😢

[nelix01]

@Midnight_Voice I think you are correct in regards to the iPlayer TV Schedule.  

Personal opinion, but I think that Apple TV is the most well-rounded streaming box. Apple UI is excellent, speed is good, and it very rarely crashes. The latest update includes enhanced dialogue, which is really good.  

[Midnight_Voice]

@nelix01 

My opinion too - I use the Apple TV+ in preference to anything else when I can, even for the BBC iPlayer when I don’t need that schedule.

The EETV version should be a winner for EETV, for everyone who doesn’t mind not being able to record.

[dan_garotta]

I have just spoken with one of the EE TV support team.  I am told that because there is a mixture of old BT TV/EE TV boxes which don't support HD, the CH4 OD stream which is being sent to everyone is Standard Definition.

The box im currently using is the newer EE TV box pro (received 10 days ago).   There is an intention by EE to upgrade customers who want to upgrade to the new boxes that will support HD - that remains for EE to work this through and collaborate with ch4 to provide the HD stream.

I did suggest that EE  perhaps CH4 could make a small code change on the CH4 app running on the EETV boxes to recognise which box is capable to stream HD so that people with the newer boxes get HD streams on demand/live TV.

Needless to say that I don't get  the same issues on my  AppleTV the ch4 player does stream full HD/4k without issues.

[Tycow]

So, I've finally had a reply to the email I sent to Channel 4 on 18th October 2024; you can see the email I sent on 18th October 2024 quoted above.

I've obscured some private details such as names, but here was the Channel 4 response:

Dear Mr XXXXXXXX,

Thank you for your email regarding Channel 4+.

We must advise that we have escalated this on your behalf and have been advised that this is not something we would be able to assist with and that this would be a question for EE. If you are not able to access the service on any other devices and would no longer like to continue with the service could you please respond to this email and let us know.

Thank you for taking the time to contact Channel 4+.

Kind regards,

XXXXXXXXX
Channel 4+ Enquiries

Thoughts?

[Profile closed]

My thoughts are that the best mix of hardware to get the most out of EE TV is a TV Box Pro and your own Apple TV 4K, using the Pro Box to record anything on the Channel 5 suite of channels and watching live TV, with the Apple TV handling all on demand and app viewing.

If you do not need to record and don’t have an aerial, then the Apple TV 4K supplied by EE is as good as it gets for one box at the moment IMHO.

Relying on content providers and EE to make the right decisions so we have the best experience in one box is (after 7 years of using YouView), pointless.

[Midnight_Voice]

@Profile closed 

“One box to rule them all”, our mantra from the early days of YouView, never came to fruition 😛

I’m intrigued why you singled out Channel 5, though? They have My5 for catchup, it’s on the boxes, top row between Channel Four and Now, so why record them, and only them?