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After a week using SkyShowtime, these are the five things I would improve

Last Tuesday, after making a lot of noise, SkyShowtime premiered. This is the new streaming video platform that came at an ideal time: a storm due to Netflix’s policy with shared accounts and a groundbreaking launch offer: 2.99 euros.

This price is tricky, but for less than three euros I subscribed and I’ve been using the service to the fullest for a few days. I have found a platform that works well and has a large catalogue. I like it, to tell you the truth, but also It has five things that should be improved sooner rather than later.

4K resolution should be mandatory by 2023

Let’s go with the first point because, in addition, it is the one that I consider most important. Except Netflix, all platforms offer 4K content in their subscription. Netflix here is a separate case because it is the only one that has several steps in its subscription and it should also start to forget the 720p resolution, but in the middle of 2023, SkyShowtime should have 4K resolution.

I’m sure they will add it in the future and call me picky, but movies like ‘Mission Impossible Fallout’ in 1080p take me out of the experience. And if we go to series, I do not understand that one like Halo, which is one of the most recent, is not broadcast in 4K either. And we don’t even talk about HDR.

I know it costs 2.99 euros (actually 5.99 euros, but there is the succulent introductory offer), but 4K should be the standard. I imagine that, in time, they will implement this resolutionbut I don’t understand why it hasn’t come up with it when bandwidth, as we’ll see below, isn’t a problem.

Oh, the compression methods…

And, this point is closely related to the previous one. The compression method is outdated and that causes the image to not have the quality it should (even for FullHD) and there are elements of it that have artifacts, such as shadows.

SkyShowtime uses the H.264 codec yes, it is widespread, but it has fallen behind the new and more efficient H.265. The bitrate is good and it has 10 Mbps, triple that of HBO before it became HBO Max and broadcast in 4K, but it is totally inefficient.

Halo Skyshowtime Series

Still from ‘Halo’

I go back to before: could broadcast in 4K with a more efficient codec without consuming much more bandwidth than they currently occupy, and furthermore, compression at 1080p would be better if they used a newer codec, removing image artifacts.

And be careful, I repeat that the quality of it is not bad, but it could be better both for resolution and for the compression technique. If you see it on the mobile, yes, this is a point that will not bother you so much because those artifacts are less noticeable.

The sound on the mobile complies, but on TV not so much

This point may or may not be important depending on the source. Considering the limitation in resolution, I didn’t expect Dolby Atmos, but I did expect Dolby Digitalsomething that is not present at the moment.

I have to say that this week I have seen SkyShowtime 50% on TV and another 50% on my mobile, the latter being the device in which this deficiency is made up thanks to the surround sound “simulator” of the device itself. On the television it is more noticeable, since we are left with the stereo of a lifetime and there are productions for which the surround simulation fits like a glove.

To all of them, actually. Any content is better with good sound.

About the app on the Fire TV, please

This is something that half annoys me. In the living room and in the kitchen I have Chromecast, both the version with Google TV, so I have both the application and the possibility of

However, in the office I have a “dumb TV” with a Fire TV 4K that has very good image quality, but I can’t

The same thing happens with HBO Max back in the day, so it’s time to download the app via APK -our colleagues from Xataka Home tell you how to do it- and it’s not easy for many users. I have a couple of family members who have asked me for help with this and let’s not kid ourselves, it’s a bummer.

SkyShowtime on Fire TV Stick

I don’t know if the ball is in SkyShowtime’s or Amazon’s court (I lean towards the latter taking into account precedents), but it is something that should not happen because, in addition, andl Fire TV Stick has millions of devices deployed due to its very low price. Right now you have the Fire TV Stick Lite with the new remote for 35 euros, but in offers it is on the ground.

Catalog with gaps and without any hit

The last point is the catalog. It has a lot of productions, but it is inconsistent. The sagas are missing some of ‘Fast and Furious’ or ‘Jurassic Park’, for example, but we also don’t have some new Showtime series, classics from the production companies that have set up the platform or the promised ‘Frasier’ and ‘Twin Peaks’.

This last one seems great to me in its first season and soporific in the next two, but I wanted to give it another chance. The most important thing is that there is no series that is a hitthat series that makes you want to subscribe to the service yes or yes.

There is no ‘Stranger Things’, ‘The Last of Us’ or ‘The Rings of Power’. Yes, ‘Yellowstone’ is great and you have both the ‘Star Trek’ series and the ‘Halo’ series, but the feeling I have is that I have an app to watch “classics”.

One more thing…

And, in the end, the feeling is precisely that, which is an application that could not be my main stream right now. HBO and, above all, Netflix, although the shared subscriptions hurt me, they have a catalog to spare with periodic news that maintains that it is a platform that you can have as your only subscription.

I love Apple TV+ for the level of its productions (‘Severance’ is a true wonder, you should watch it) but like Prime Video or SkyShowtime, I see that as a complement to one of the other two. The same thing happens to me as with WiiU back in the day having a PS3 or an Xbox 360.

There is potential, yes, since behind SkyShowtime there are many production companies and renowned studios, so I hope they improve the technique and add new content, but right now he has stayed to review old classics.

And I tell you something, for 3 euros a month I don’t care at allsince the “closet background” catalogue, the one you’ve seen 27 times, but it’s never bad for a new pass, seems very good to me.

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