BBC iplayer on Android XE9005 now working with UHD and HLG HDR (sort of)

[stormyuk]

All,

For information there is a Planet Earth UHD HLG test video on the Beta iplayer which appears to work with the Android TVs. (Tested on my XE9005). Its pretty short but looks amazing. It was playing FA cup test loop video which didn't look as good and kept dropping out.

The FA Cup one just fails after about 5 seconds on my TV. Hardwired ethernet. Odd that the Planet Earth loop is fine....

Check it out.

[stormyuk]

720p (1280 x 720)

[pb1965]

So the same as mine then. I'm wondeing whether the issue here is that our sets have Youview built-in to them and this is the limiting factor? Or is it because they are using Android as the operating system?

Does anybody have a Sony TV running Android with which they are able to see the iPlayer UHD HLG test streams?

Does anybody have a Sony TV with in-built Youview with which they are able to see the iPlayer UHD HLG test streams?

[stormyuk]

The 2018 TVs listed XF8* and higher models all run Android TV with Youview. All supported. Buyer beware as always, looks like we should have waited for 2018 models.

[pb1965]

I'm at the point now where I'm going to seek legal advice with a view to rejecting this product unless Sony come back with something positive. You can't forever keep promising jam tomorrow and not come up with it. 

[stormyuk]

Yeh nievely believed all the reviews and assumed because the TV supported HLG when I bought it (as only the BBC in Europe seem to be using HLG) I was golden. Its been a complete farce ever since.

[rgledhill]

Funny how some people get all "legal" about things like this. Nowhere does it promise complete compatibility so don't waste your time . I assume you haven't sued your mobile phone company because it's not compatible with everything you try, even everything not even made when the phone came out? You get my point.

Anyway this would be really disappointing as the early HDR 4k Planet Earth 2 trials worked perfectly so the tv is perfectly capable of displaying 4k HDR streams; likewise Netflix works perfectly. It's down to the BBC to sort out the app. Let's hope they sort out whatever niggles there are, and we get support added a bit later. My money is on there being something funny in our generation TVs that causes them problems and rather than having roars of frustration over an unreliable app when the World Cup is on, they're just getting support in for the ones they can in order to get it done in time - better that than no 4k stream.

Patience is a virtue - we'll just have to wait.

No other terrestrial streaming service has even trialled 4k, remember (e.g ITV, Channel 4, UKTV, ...) so don't beat up the BBC for doing their best in public.

[pb1965]

I'm guessing you probably haven't been reading the different forums regarding this issue so let me clue you in. The Sony support website states that for this and a large number of other models, a previous version of firmware 'Introduces support for BBC iPlayer HLG HDR format (UK only)'. So yes,  Sony have said it's compatible - except it isn't. And that's not just our findings, it's the BBC's as well. Sony support insisted to me yesterday that only four Sony models were compatible yet the BBC list shows 77 are including much cheaper and older ones going back to 2016.

Who's beating up the BBC? 

You're entitled to your opinion obviously, but if I want to get 'all legal' about spending £1800 on a product, one that was lauded in the press but which seemingly works less well than an older one costing a fraction of the price, then I will.   

[pb1965]

So, having spoken to my retailer, they have contacted Sony. Surprise surprise, they say it's the BBC's fault, that their 8000 and 9000 series sets 'have the same processor inside' and it's basically just the screen which is different. They also said they sent information required by the BBC for all 2016/2017 sets 2 days ago and now it's up to them to add these to their list of authorised devices.

If, as was suggested earlier, that XE9005s could previously access the Blue Planet II stream, then perhaps this will get resolved quickly. We shall see what happens!  

[rgledhill]

All I'm saying is that if I had a pound for every time someone mentioned legal action, I'd be rich It doesn't mean I don't sympathise, because I do. My old Onkyo amplifier and Panasonic TV argued endlessly about sound/video lip sync, which I never resolved. Technology doesn't always work properly, software always has bugs, and just because previous versions worked doesn't mean future ones will. Annoying, but there we are.

Anyway, the hardware is clearly capable, so we just need to wait for the BBC app team to sort out reliable support for our generation of TVs.

[rgledhill]

Plus it's doubly annoying when my previous £400 Panasonic 4k HDR TV worked perfectly with it AND didn't suffer from problems playing YouTube streams at 60fps! C'est la vie...