This topic

BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

Doric — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 18:14:37 GMT

BT Sport mobile app, iOS (tablet and phone). Can someone please tell me how it is possible to know that one is receiving HD versions of the BT Sports channels? I would expect to see BT Sport 1HD, BT Sport 2HD shown in the channel listings, or those channel names overlaid on the content on playback. Personally, I'm not.

A screenshot from the app from another user, ideally on a tablet, showing the HD identifiers, would be perfect.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

DarrenDev — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 18:17:00 GMT

The apps ONLY have the HD channels, but the actual quality you see will depend on the speed of your connection.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

Doric — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 18:35:21 GMT

Thanks @DarrenDev But how come the channel identifier doesn't say <BT Sport 1HD> etc? To illustrate, here's an image from the AppStore, followed by a screenshot of what I actually see on my mobile app today.

I have a full fibre (900Mbps) connection, and the picture quality looks very ordinary, not HD at all.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

DarrenDev — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 19:31:58 GMT

The on screen logos were changed last year to remove the HD suffix. The quality is still the same though.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

Brucemeister5 — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 08:59:26 GMT

The HD suffix has been removed from the DOGs on the BT Sport channels on BTTV too. So if that’s where the app gets its feed from it would explain it. However, BTTV has both SD & HD channels, although the EPG does label them as SD & HD. There’s an additional charge for HD/UHD on BTTV and there’s usually a green button link to point you in the direction of a higher quality picture .The green button isn’t always there though and the link for UHD always takes you to Ch.433 rather than Ch. 465.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

Doric — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 12:12:17 GMT

Thank you @Brucemeister5 My interest is purely in the app (on iPad and iPhone) and I confess I'm surprised if, as you suggest, there is no visual indicator at all to confirm to the user that they are viewing HD content. (And yes, I pay for BT Sport Ultimate with LRG screen). PS what does the acronym DOG stand for?

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

DarrenDev — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 12:16:01 GMT

In the apps, the video is broadcast at 7 different quality levels. Every 6 seconds, the app decides which level to use based on the screen resolution, the speed of the broadband, and how fast the device is able to display the video. If there was an on screen HD indicator, it could potentially flash on and off every 6 seconds. That would be annoying.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

gomezz — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 12:46:47 GMT

The HD/Resolution indicator could be added to the play-bar display where it could be checked on demand by the user.

And you could argue that a frequent ever-changing streaming rate could be indicative of a potential problem with the user's connection which they need to investigate - of course if out and about relying on mobile signal and / or wi-fi hotspots then it may be expected to happen.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

David500 — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 13:07:27 GMT

DOG stands for Digital Onscreen Graphics.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

Brucemeister5 — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 13:32:50 GMT

@Doric I was a BT Sport app only subscriber from the beginning in 2013 right up until April last year when I finally took the plunge and got BTTV. I was involved in the trial for BT Sport Ultimate on the Fire TV 4K stick and paid the extra to have it when it became available to all later that year.

I find that the timeline facility on the large screen app when you’re using BT Sport Ultimate to be very good for being able to watch particular incidents again. It’s something that’s not available when watching on the BTTV channel.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

Doric — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 19:38:01 GMT

I'm grateful to everyone who's tried to give informed responses to my question, thanks. In terms of feedback to BT about viewing in HD, I would suggest that users would appreciate a visible reassurance that they're seeing HD versions of BT Sport channels. Either by bringing back the on-screen channel identifiers (e.g BT Sport 1HD) or by giving users the choice to switch from SD to HD.

In fact, the first option is suggested by the current BT Help page (first image) while the second option is implied by a different but current BT Help article (second image). Neither Help article seems to be really accurate today.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

DarrenDev — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 19:55:08 GMT

In the mobile app you can choose to turn off the HD quality levels - usually to reduce data or battery usage. It makes no sense to offer this in the large screen apps, which are very unlikely to be connected to a metered data connection.
Showing HD in the DOG didn't mean you were actually watching HD - it still showed it even when you were watching the lower quality stream.
I also have to ask - if you can't tell whether you're watching in HD or not, what difference does it actually make?
One last point: SD/HD only refers to the resolution of the video - it's only a small part of what determines the quality. You also need to consider compression, encoding, frame rate, colour depth, pixel shape, etc. The important thing is that you're happy with what you're seeing. If you are, what difference does a label make?

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

Doric — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 20:54:28 GMT

Hi @DarrenDev , yes, it’s precisely because I don’t believe that I’m getting the same HD experience that I used to, that I’m asking the question about how to check I’m receiving HD in the app. For the last few weeks - since annual renewal in fact - the image for e.g Premier League match looks very low res & grainy, especially when cast to my 55” display. So, in troubleshooting the issue I naturally wanted to see if I’m still receiving the Sports channels in HD that I know I did before. You’ve told me that the on-screen channel identifier has dropped the HD suffix which doesn’t help troubleshooting. But my eyes know the difference between SD and HD. (And before you ask, nothing else in my setup has changed: 900Mbps full fibre, hardware or software).

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

DarrenDev — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 20:57:32 GMT

Select the cog in the top right. Then the device checker. It'll tell you what your device is capable of.

Also, feel free to send me a DM with the BT ID you're using and I'll check the quality you're seeing when I'm at my desk tomorrow.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

Doric — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 10:44:51 GMT

Thanks @DarrenDev - I've sent my BT ID via DM.

But as for the cog that you reference - where is it? These are my screens on iPhone (11 Pro, iOS 16.2) and iPad (5th generation).

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

DarrenDev — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 10:59:53 GMT

Sorry, I misread your original post - I thought you were watching on Apple TV. We don't have a device checker in the mobile/tablet app.
Our logs for the last 7 days show that you rarely watch anything for more than 30 seconds before switching to something else. Most of your sessions manage to reach peak quality just before you quit the player.
You've mentioned casting - make sure you using the icon within the BT Sport app to send the video to your TV, rather than mirroring your entire screen. This will ensure maximum quality.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

gomezz — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 11:10:48 GMT

I can confirm that most streaming services can take several seconds to settle down to the best streaming quality that can be supported. For me, the big clue is the on-screen score-bar or channel logo which goes from being blurry to becoming sharp. Even so a fast moving ball, especially a cricket ball can still look a bit like a swarm of bees as it rockets to the boundary.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

Doric — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 11:16:27 GMT

Thanks, @DarrenDev I watched most of the Liverpool game on Saturday (12.30 - 2.30) casting to my LG 55" OLED, using the cast button in the Standard Player of the BT Sport App, via my Apple TV box. Briefly during that time I was offered BT Sport Ultimate which is obviously 4k and I realise not all programmes are on Ultimate. But when Ultimate was working, the picture was of course very good indeed.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

DarrenDev — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 16:12:42 GMT

Sorry, but our logs don't show that, so I can't confirm what quality you saw - I've got someone investigating whether there could be a fault in the apps.

Our logs show, for the Liverpool v Chelsea match:

From your iPAD:

12:28 - watch for 7 minutes in HD, then stop

Between 12:35 and 12:39, click the match to watch it 5 times but quit the player before it has a chance to start

12:39 - watch for 1 minute in HD, then stop

12:41 - watch for 5 minutes in HD, then stop

13:02 - click the match to watch, but quit before it starts

13:03 - watch for 1 minute in HD, then stop

13:47 - watch for 30 seconds, then stop

From your iPhone:

Between 12:46 and 14:54 - 27 separate launches of the HD, 4K or enhanced players. Some started, some quit before the player was allowed to start. No errors reported. The longest session on your phone was 3 minutes 2 seconds, watching on BT Sport Ultimate in the standard player.

Re: BT Sport mobile app - how can I tell if I'm seeing BT Sport in HD?

Carlusha — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 17:37:02 GMT

@Doricwrote:
Thanks, @DarrenDev I watched most of the Liverpool game on Saturday (12.30 - 2.30) casting to my LG 55" OLED, using the cast button in the Standard Player of the BT Sport App, via my Apple TV box. Briefly during that time I was offered BT Sport Ultimate which is obviously 4k and I realise not all programmes are on Ultimate. But when Ultimate was working, the picture was of course very good indeed.

@Doric Apologies if I am missing some sort of point here BUT if you have a LG 55" OLED, then surely you can download the BT Sport app on to the TV itself.
We have a Sony and a Samsung and both perform brilliantly using the BT Sport App.