How to upgrade to a BT TV UHD 4K box ?

[saicho]

Hi everyone

For the past few days i have been trying in vain to understand how to upgrade from BT TV G4(youview )to a BT TV UHD 4K G5 box

I have been going round in circles from guide  to guide  but there is no clear path and what are the steps to upgrade.

For example this guide https://www.bt.com/help/tv/learn-about-tv/hd-and-ultra-hd/bt-4k-ultra-hd-tv just sends you back to bt.com. Just unbelievable. 

Currently i am on a flexible package on the basic entertainment pack with NOW TV subscription added and the reasons i want to switch is so i can watch programs from ALL4 and ITV HUB  apps in better quality. The picture quality on these apps is quite poor. Not only that but there are no subtitles. 

Apart from BBC iplayer which has a good picture quality and subtitles, all the rest, ALL4, ITV HUB and NOW TV have no subtitles. Another peculiarity is that NOW TV app does not allow you to watch SKY NEWS HD. I can only access Sky News NON-HD via the guide. 

So for now if i want to watch programs from the above apps in HD i have to switch to the amazon stick which on top of  good quality picture has the subtitle option.

Soon after i subscribed to bt tv i added the HD add-on and at that time on the same offer page, after the HD add-on there was an option to tick if i wanted to upgrade to BT TV UHD 4K box but i decided not to do it. But now that option has disappeared. 

I am just stunned By all of this. How everything is so random.

And if upgrading the box requires i change to a package that is supported by this box why is this not properly explained? Is this what it is? That in order to get a UHD 4K box i would have to change to a different tv package ?

And one last question, an important question . Will this UHD 4K box actually upgrade the picture quality and add subtitles to the above mentioned apps ? Or have i misunderstood the purpose of this box ?

Thank you. 

[garybs29]

I strongly suspect the new box wouldn't change anything as content available on the box is down to the relevant broadcasters

[saicho]

Thank you for your reply. 

The implication from your reply is that somehow  All4, ITV HUB and NOW TV decided not to allow high def content and subs  on BT boxes but they allow such content if is played through amazon stick or native apps on my LG tv or any other top boxes or sticks  

I find this utterly ridiculous.  Right now i need a good reason why i should stay with BT. 

[NigelB72]

@saicho All4 etc are only in Standard Definition as the HD content is behind a pay wall. The only one that offers UHD content is BBC iPlayer. The UHD boxes are only given out with the top sports packs for BT Sport Ultimate. If you want access to UHD Netflix etc, I'd recommend buying a Firestick 4K, Roku Streaming Stick or Apple TV etc

[saicho]

Thank you Nigel.
As i mentioned above i already own a amazon stick and yes it is a 4k one and i use it every time i want to watch programs with higher quality picture. You say that the HD content on all the apps mentioned is behind a pay wall but is there a way to pay for it trough BT ?
And if it is behind a paywall how come the fire stick and the native apps on my LG tv for example all show hd content plus subs? I find this baffling. At what point did i pay for the HD content ?
Thanks

[Hunter2660]

I think you are expecting too much from the apps on the Youview box. They are slow. I have the 1st generation Amazon Fire TV box and I use that alongside some apps on our Sony TV for most, NowTV, BT Sport, ITV Hub+ through Amazon, Discovery+, Britbox. Our Youview box is pretty much redundant now.

[Les-Gibson]

The lack of subtitles on the NowTV app has been well discussed on this customer forum where only the moderators work for BT

The app is the property of NowTv not BT and therefore BT are powerless to do anything but wait until NowTV decide to address the issue

[NigelB72]

All4, ITV Player app etc are native to all Youview boxes including the retail ones that you could walk into any electronics shop and buy off the shelf. They're not exclusive to BT. As a result, the App owners only make SD content available. If you have HD access through your LG tv, LG would have paid a licensing fee to the channel owners to make available the HD feed. The same would apply to Amazon if they're HD through your Firestick. Youview obviously didn't make that commitment as Youview was launched as a cost free (other than retail cost) platform for people who wanted PVR and catch-up functions. Things have moved on since then but if BT pay for the license, they would have to pay a licence fee for every Youview box in operation throughout the UK, even the ones used by non BT TV subscribers. 

[stereohaven]

iPlayer and All4 are the only catch up players that I am aware of that provide HD quality without a subscription (All4 has ads though). 

ITVHub only provides SD quality on any device unless you have an ITVHub+ subscription (£39.99 a year), which enables HD and removes all ads from catch up content.

ITV say that the only devices which do not support HD via a ITVHub+ subscription are:

• Freesat (hilarious considering they own half of it!)
• Roku
• Some Samsung smart TVs

So the app on YouView should support HD if you are prepared to pay for it, try the 7 day free trial and see what happens.

All4+ has a 14 day trial if you also want to test that, as far as I can see their help guides say that all versions of the app will provide HD if your broadband speed is fast enough.

My5 is a lost cause, don't even bother.

By the way, a 4K BT YouView box used will cost you less than £50 on eBay at the moment and it is much faster than the standard box, so a worthy upgrade. You can buy one and swap it for the existing version, just confirm it is your new main box during set up when it says "too many boxes on your broadband".

Then, when the new BT box comes out later this year you can discuss getting one if you recontract.