Sky Glass questions from a Now TV user

Brenster1

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Long term NowTV subscriber (Entertainment Pass via Apple TV 4K & iPad Pro). NowTV has been ok at best in the lounge, with the 720p picture on a Sony 55 XF9005 looking fairly soft. Likewise the 2.0 soundtracks play ok via a Denon 5.1.2 AVR/speakers, but would never be mistaken for 5.1 or better. All non-lounge viewing has been via iPad Pro, which is fine for downloading & travelling but soon becomes a pain when wanting to watch something in bed. Also subscribed to Prime, Netflix, Disney+ & Apple TV+ & a huge iTunes movie & TV library.

We're considering Glass 43" for the bedroom, figuring the TV itself is 'good enough' all-in-one for casual watching, as any serious watching would still be in the lounge. We're also considering a Puck for the lounge in order to get 1080/4K & 5.1/Atmos, losing NowTV on the Apple TV in order to do so.

Got a couple of questions though:

  1. If we cancel our existing Netflix subscription and go with the Sky Glass integrated Netflix, can we still use this integrated NF account with the regular iPad/iPhone Netlix apps?
  2. Is Sky Go, for the iPad, included in the Glass subscription? If so, can we download shows for travelling or is that an extra add-on? Sky's site isn't terribly clear on Glass & Go. (We do make use of the download function for NowTV on the iPad)
  3. Is the 4K/HDR/Atmos £5 add-on required to unlock 4K/HDR/DV/Atmos on Netflix, Disney+ etc, or can we use 4K etc on these services whilst the Sky stuff is restricted to HD/5.1?
  4. We're fine with the Sky content subscription side being a 30/31 day rolling contract. Can these (Entertainment, Cinema, Sky 4K/Atmos etc) be subscribed to/cancelled online easily as per NowTV, Netflix etc, or does it require a phone call to Sky with the usual retentions routine?
  5. Is Peacock (the channel) content in 5.1 via Glass? I do remember Sky transmitting the Battlestar Galactica remake in 5.1 on its original transmission, hoping that the same show on Peacock might retain 5.1.
Appreciate any help.clarifications in advance.
 
1. Yes, but the bundled NF is only the basic pack, so you'd need to pay to upgrade it to HD or UHD.
2. Yes.
3. Only needed for Sky content.
4. It needs a phone call at the moment, but they're apparently working on a way of managing subs on the device.
5. Can't help on that one, I'm afraid.


If I were you, I'd wait for the standalone Pick service (Sky Stream) , get two pucks and a decent normal TV.
 
1. Yes, but the bundled NF is only the basic pack, so you'd need to pay to upgrade it to HD or UHD.
2. Yes.
3. Only needed for Sky content.
4. It needs a phone call at the moment, but they're apparently working on a way of managing subs on the device.
5. Can't help on that one, I'm afraid.


If I were you, I'd wait for the standalone Pick service (Sky Stream) , get two pucks and a decent normal TV.
rs101,

Appreciate your reply/answers! All sounding most promising, especially on the Netflix front. The £8 4K tier is cheaper than our current £10.99 HD tier.

I have considered a separate TV & AppleTV for the bedroom, but I'd likely want a sounder (on-board TV set sound has been mostly downhill since the days of Panasonic 32" CRT sets); I'm not sure Mrs Brenster1 would go for it though - much of the appeal of the Sky Glass set is 1) it's an all in one unit, not separate with separate remotes & power on/off routines) and 2) it comes in Dusky Pink and agrees with her choice of room decor.

Cheers again :)
 
On the cusp of ordering a dusky pink 43" Glass & puck now. Last question: does both the Glass TV and Puck handle 4:3 material correctly? ie does it maintain the original aspect ratio and add black bars left and right to do so?

4:3 content on NowTV (Stargate SG1 on Sky max, Pink Floyd/Venice on Sky Arts &) looks fine via the NowTV app on Apple TV 4K, as does pre-Enterprise Star Trek on Netflix. Want to be sure Glass TB & Puck do not either crop or distort classic/vintage 4:3 material to artificially fill 16:9 displays.
 
Yep, it does. Black borders where needed rather than stretch the image.
 
Yep, it does. Black borders where needed rather than stretch the image.
Thanks - 43” dusky pink Glass TV arrived today and installed in our bedroom. Took a couple of hard resets to get through updating and setup fully (got the black screen DVT & HDMI1 isssue out of the box). Floyd concerts on Sky Arts sounding good & Muppet Show on Disney+ correctly framed. More than happy :)

Appreciate your answering my questions @rs101
 
No worries. You're a braver man than I, going for Glass at the moment :)
 
Already having regrets.

The Glass TV itself was installed in the bedroom and works just fine (as does the puck). Got all of the 'apps' logged into and running. The TV itself looks and sounds good enough for a second TV, so no competition for the Sony 4K, Denon AVR & M&K 5.1.2 speakers downstairs. Watched Dr. No on it this afternoon via Prime and had no real complaints.

The complaints are more with the Sky TV subscription itself.

  1. We bought into the Ultimate TV Subscription by itself, no Cinema or Sports, at £15pm + £4 for mid tier Netflix. No mention beforehand that this was a time limited offer - I took copies to a notes app of everything I signed up to. Going back through those notes, no mention of the Ultimate TV subscription being time limited. Ultimate TV & Netflix going up to £30 (£26+£4) after 18 months represents a huge jump over our previous Now TV+Boost+mid tier Netflix, working out to ~£300 difference/increase over the 4 years I'd crunched the numbers over.
  2. A small thing, but there is content available on NowTV that isn't on the main Sky TV package - chiefly Stargate SG1, which I'd just started watching. Sure, SG1 etc is available on Sky Go on the iPad, but part of the reason we'd bought into Sky Glass (TV & service) was to get away from having to watch content on the iPad when the lounge TV was in use.
Noodled on all this with Mrs Brenster, who's inclined to cancel & return everything, agreeing with unforeseen costs mainly whilst also agreeing with the Sky Go only content.

Will sleep on it all tonight, but currently planning on calling Sky in the morning to cancel & return.
 
I didn't know they were offering discounts - I've only ever seen it advertised at full price.
SG1 should be available on demand as it's on Sky Max. You could try emailing [email protected] about it - they're the Viewer Relations team who deal with any queries about missing content.
 
I didn't know they were offering discounts - I've only ever seen it advertised at full price.
SG1 should be available on demand as it's on Sky Max. You could try emailing [email protected] about it - they're the Viewer Relations team who deal with any queries about missing content.

SG1 is available from season 8 onwards on Sky TV itself. Seasons 1-10 on Sky Go and NowTV. Does feel like a curious omission when so many other genre TV shows (Fringe, Galactica reboot) are available in their entirety.

Sky TV Ultimate was advertised as £15pm, with the standard £26pm crossed out. I put this down to by being a long term Sky customer (former TV customer until 2012, long term broadband customer - happily so with the latter). No mention of the 'offer' being time limited prior to sign up, although I could have missed some small print despite taking the time to read through.

Called Sky this morning to cancel, who couldn't have been more gracious. Aside from a brief question as to whether I'd prefer Sky Q, they cancelled without argument and the Glass TV set & Puck are being collected on Monday.

Back to watching SG1 via NowTV via Apple TV 4K with sound via AirPods. Will stick with this and get a second Sony TV & Apple TV box for the bedroom.
 
Sky seem to be really pushing Glass again at the moment - I've seen loads of advertising on social media this week saying 'all sizes and colours in stock!'.
I read something that they might be trying to get rid of all the remaining 1st gen Glass sets as they're so bug-ridden, and that there's probably a 2nd gen model in the pipeline so they don't want to be stuck with warehouses full of duff 1st gen TVs.
There's also the puck-only subscription option which has been revealed to be coming later in the year, but not officially announced yet by Sky themselves. Most folk would be happier with a cheaper puck and their own TV so Sky probably want to sell as many Glass TVs as possible before they do the big official announcement.
 
Don’t worry about cancelling Netflix before you join. You attach the same account to your sky. Any half month or so that you haven’t used sits there as credit ready if you leave the sky situation an want to rejoin Netflix directly.
 

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