HD downloads on BTV - big speed improvements

wwwebber · 02-09-2011, 16:15

Decided to try another HD download today on BTVision and was very surprised at howmuch faster the downloads have got.

If I hadnt got any Lovefilm blurays to watch then I'd usually download one from the PS3 store which allowed me to start watching it after 20mins or so when enough had downloaded.

I'd heard that BT had boosted the download speeds of HD content so I thought I'd give it a try. You can download in advance without paying which is good. After 5- 10 mins enough had had downloaded to allow me to watch it - now that is a massive improvement - usually this took hours !!.

Of course this is subject to your line speed & time of day etc but that is the same for the PS3 downloads too. But there is no doubt that BT has got ontop of this these days. Add this to the fact that BTV now offers over 85 HD films instead of the paltry 4 or 5 that they used to have then this becomes a useable and useful service.

I'll now be using BTV instead of my PS3 for adhoc HD film viewing

AndrewBurley · 03-09-2011, 01:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwwebber

Decided to try another HD download today on BTVision and was very surprised at howmuch faster the downloads have got.

If I hadnt got any Lovefilm blurays to watch then I'd usually download one from the PS3 store which allowed me to start watching it after 20mins or so when enough had downloaded.

I'd heard that BT had boosted the download speeds of HD content so I thought I'd give it a try. You can download in advance without paying which is good. After 5- 10 mins enough had had downloaded to allow me to watch it - now that is a massive improvement - usually this took hours !!.

Of course this is subject to your line speed & time of day etc but that is the same for the PS3 downloads too. But there is no doubt that BT has got ontop of this these days. Add this to the fact that BTV now offers over 85 HD films instead of the paltry 4 or 5 that they used to have then this becomes a useable and useful service.

I'll now be using BTV instead of my PS3 for adhoc HD film viewing

For £5 a go? I'd rather buy the blu ray.

shug15 · 03-09-2011, 19:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewBurley

For £5 a go? I'd rather buy the blu ray.

You have that choice.

scotty2808 · 03-09-2011, 22:07

The speed improvement is great - during daytime hours I can get films to stream almost instantly. I click download - goto the Downloads section on the menu and it's ready to play.

In the evening it's about 10mins - that's on a standard ADSL line.

Pure Genius · 03-09-2011, 22:21

1080p streaming on xbox is within 3 mins and 720p streaming on Apple TV is instantaneous.

Not sure why BTV HD being 'less awful than before' is something to shout about

wwwebber · 04-09-2011, 11:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pure Genius

1080p streaming on xbox is within 3 mins and 720p streaming on Apple TV is instantaneous.

Not sure why BTV HD being 'less awful than before' is something to shout about

I don't have an Xbox or Apple TV nor do I want or need them. Neither provide guaranteed streams / QOS which renders them utterly useless in my household.

wwwebber · 04-09-2011, 11:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewBurley

For £5 a go? I'd rather buy the blu ray.

That's your choice but It doesn't fulfil the "I want to watch something now in HD" requirement.

AndrewBurley · 04-09-2011, 21:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwwebber

That's your choice but It doesn't fulfil the "I want to watch something now in HD" requirement.

But just renting the blu ray is cheaper and much better quality.

Don't get me wrong, I am a very happy BT Vision customer who thinks the TV packs are great value but £5 for a HD rental is a disgrace.

stuntmaster · 05-09-2011, 00:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pure Genius

1080p streaming on xbox is within 3 mins and 720p streaming on Apple TV is instantaneous.

Not sure why BTV HD being 'less awful than before' is something to shout about

Well I think they throttled it to err on the side of caution.

Pure Genius · 08-09-2011, 22:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwwebber

I don't have an Xbox or Apple TV nor do I want or need them. Neither provide guaranteed streams / QOS which renders them utterly useless in my household.

but waiting 10 minutes is now a good thing??

good luck with your data on PS3 too.

Hope you protectively CIFAS registered yourself.

Pure Genius · 08-09-2011, 22:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwwebber

That's your choice but It doesn't fulfil the "I want to watch something now in HD" requirement.

watch something now = 10 to 20 min initial download?

when comparison service are virtually instantaneous?

Pure Genius · 08-09-2011, 22:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by stuntmaster

Well I think they throttled it to err on the side of caution.

you mean they had no confidence in their ability to provide a continually high quality service?

guess what..?

I agree with them!

wwwebber · 08-09-2011, 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pure Genius

watch something now = 10 to 20 min initial download?

when comparison service are virtually instantaneous?

Yes - and I dont care about comparison services because if I wanted them I would have them.

wwwebber · 08-09-2011, 23:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pure Genius

good luck with your data on PS3 too.

Hope you protectively CIFAS registered yourself.

Care to explain ?

Pure Genius · 08-09-2011, 23:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwwebber

Care to explain ?

Did you miss the PS3 data breach?

Google will help you with the rest.

MostynDS · 09-09-2011, 19:17

This thread opens up a few questions for me, both technical and demographic.

Firstly, how has this amazing boost in upload speed been achieved? Has the source been moved closer to the end user? Or has The box's ability to download been improved? Or has the resolution of the stream been reduced? Or the bitrate?

This is clearly a great improvement, but there's no such thing as a free lunch, so who's paying for it?...

Then we come back to the On demand model. I (happily) pay over £100 per month to my phone, BB and TV supplier for a service I enjoy, but even though they're on offer, the thought wouldn't even cross my mind to pay another £5 for a HD movie.

Are many of the £4 per month BTV croud likely to?

wwwebber · 10-09-2011, 07:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by MostynDS

This thread opens up a few questions for me, both technical and demographic.

Firstly, how has this amazing boost in upload speed been achieved? Has the source been moved closer to the end user? Or has The box's ability to download been improved? Or has the resolution of the stream been reduced? Or the bitrate?

This is clearly a great improvement, but there's no such thing as a free lunch, so who's paying for it?...

Then we come back to the On demand model. I (happily) pay over £100 per month to my phone, BB and TV supplier for a service I enjoy, but even though they're on offer, the thought wouldn't even cross my mind to pay another £5 for a HD movie.

Are many of the £4 per month BTV croud likely to?

Its faster. End of.

I would be absolutely disgusted to pay £100 a month for triple play. I can well afford to pay it if I want to but I have other priorities. Dont get me wrong though - I've no problem with others that are willing to pay.

MostynDS · 10-09-2011, 16:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwwebber

Its faster. End of.

I would be absolutely disgusted to pay £100 a month for triple play. I can well afford to pay it if I want to but I have other priorities. Dont get me wrong though - I've no problem with others that are willing to pay.

Thanks for the response. And I'm heartened to hear that you have no problem with me or others like me. I understand that there is a huge market for 'budget+' TV services and that Vision attempts to address this demand.

But despite your unilateral declaration of 'end of' I'm still fascinated to learn how this massive increase in download time has been achieved over the same BB connection.

This is probably better answered by one of our more tech savvy contributers. Has the resolution been reduced? Has the pallet been reduced? Has the bitrate been reduced? Has the CoDec been changed? Has the source been moved closer to the destination?

Can anyone else confirm this increase?

Just interested, that's all...

wwwebber · 10-09-2011, 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by MostynDS

Thanks for the response. And I'm heartened to hear that you have no problem with me or others like me. I understand that there is a huge market for 'budget+' TV services and that Vision attempts to address this demand.

But despite your unilateral declaration of 'end of' I'm still fascinated to learn how this massive increase in download time has been achieved over the same BB connection.

This is probably better answered by one of our more tech savvy contributers. Has the resolution been reduced? Has the pallet been reduced? Has the bitrate been reduced? Has the CoDec been changed? Has the source been moved closer to the destination?

Can anyone else confirm this increase?

Just interested, that's all...

No difference at all from what I can see and I have a top of the range (in 2010) Sony to view it on so I should be able to tell if there's any difference. In terms of server location - I doubt anyone here know's that. I reckon they've simply thrown more servers at the HD download service.

stuntmaster · 10-09-2011, 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwwebber

No difference at all from what I can see and I have a top of the range (in 2010) Sony to view it on so I should be able to tell if there's any difference. In terms of server location - I doubt anyone here know's that. I reckon they've simply thrown more servers at the HD download service.

Or moved it closer to the end user. who knows, pre multicasting being enabled?

or perhaps the BT P2P lockdown affected downloads too? who knows.

I've noticed it's faster too.... and that my box is now refusing to record again.

Press R..... Recording.... no light comes on and guide says will record...

-OR-

Press R..... Recording...... 5 hours later..... Recording..... 24 hours later..... Recording...... presses R.... HANG CRASH REBOOT.

Tis very weird, started happening when I got the iplayer software. I have almost hardly any series links set. Rebooting box does not cure it. wiping Disk clean does not cure it either. and this is my 2nd box now that does it. (had a silver before, now got black)

MostynDS · 10-09-2011, 21:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by stuntmaster

Or moved it closer to the end user. who knows, pre multicasting being enabled?

or perhaps the BT P2P lockdown affected downloads too? who knows.

I've noticed it's faster too.... and that my box is now refusing to record again.

Press R..... Recording.... no light comes on and guide says will record...

-OR-

Press R..... Recording...... 5 hours later..... Recording..... 24 hours later..... Recording...... presses R.... HANG CRASH REBOOT.

Tis very weird, started happening when I got the iplayer software. I have almost hardly any series links set. Rebooting box does not cure it. wiping Disk clean does not cure it either. and this is my 2nd box now that does it. (had a silver before, now got black)

Nice to get some sense. Maybe the source has been moved closer to the destination. Pity others here underestimate you...

scotty2808 · 14-09-2011, 15:46

Compared to how it was previously - I think HD downloads work outside the standard QoS arrangement and attempt to utilise as much bandwidth as possible.

Fairly certain there's a stat on bandwidth allowance in the settings. Not 100% sure but I think the figure there is a lot higher than it used to be too. Almost as if the box was self regulating itself from gorging on any available bandwidgth... ?

MostynDS · 14-09-2011, 16:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by scotty2808

Compared to how it was previously - I think HD downloads work outside the standard QoS arrangement and attempt to utilise as much bandwidth as possible.

Fairly certain there's a stat on bandwidth allowance in the settings. Not 100% sure but I think the figure there is a lot higher than it used to be too. Almost as if the box was self regulating itself from gorging on any available bandwidgth... ?

Interesting theory. But if the box is now allowed to step outside the bounds of the provided QoS, does it have sensitivity to all other nodes on the network in order to self-regulate itself, or is it just a superuser that drags everyone else down?

Food for thought though, thanks...

stuntmaster · 14-09-2011, 20:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by MostynDS

Interesting theory. But if the box is now allowed to step outside the bounds of the provided QoS, does it have sensitivity to all other nodes on the network in order to self-regulate itself, or is it just a superuser that drags everyone else down?

Food for thought though, thanks...

well thats what I thought, but could this not have an effect on us as a user? as if you download heavily during peak we know BT traffic shape. (first time ever I triggered it the other day - linux updates sent my 12MB down to around 5/6 ish.)

so will BT now shape if we download to many HD Vision films?

02-09-2011, 16:15	#1
wwwebber Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Nottingham Posts: 3,536	HD downloads on BTV - big speed improvements Decided to try another HD download today on BTVision and was very surprised at howmuch faster the downloads have got. If I hadnt got any Lovefilm blurays to watch then I'd usually download one from the PS3 store which allowed me to start watching it after 20mins or so when enough had downloaded. I'd heard that BT had boosted the download speeds of HD content so I thought I'd give it a try. You can download in advance without paying which is good. After 5- 10 mins enough had had downloaded to allow me to watch it - now that is a massive improvement - usually this took hours !!. Of course this is subject to your line speed & time of day etc but that is the same for the PS3 downloads too. But there is no doubt that BT has got ontop of this these days. Add this to the fact that BTV now offers over 85 HD films instead of the paltry 4 or 5 that they used to have then this becomes a useable and useful service. I'll now be using BTV instead of my PS3 for adhoc HD film viewing

03-09-2011, 01:46	#2
AndrewBurley Inactive Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,402	Quote: Originally Posted by wwwebber Decided to try another HD download today on BTVision and was very surprised at howmuch faster the downloads have got. If I hadnt got any Lovefilm blurays to watch then I'd usually download one from the PS3 store which allowed me to start watching it after 20mins or so when enough had downloaded. I'd heard that BT had boosted the download speeds of HD content so I thought I'd give it a try. You can download in advance without paying which is good. After 5- 10 mins enough had had downloaded to allow me to watch it - now that is a massive improvement - usually this took hours !!. Of course this is subject to your line speed & time of day etc but that is the same for the PS3 downloads too. But there is no doubt that BT has got ontop of this these days. Add this to the fact that BTV now offers over 85 HD films instead of the paltry 4 or 5 that they used to have then this becomes a useable and useful service. I'll now be using BTV instead of my PS3 for adhoc HD film viewing For £5 a go? I'd rather buy the blu ray.

03-09-2011, 19:34	#3
shug15 Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 201	Quote: Originally Posted by AndrewBurley For £5 a go? I'd rather buy the blu ray. You have that choice.

03-09-2011, 22:07	#4
scotty2808 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 435	The speed improvement is great - during daytime hours I can get films to stream almost instantly. I click download - goto the Downloads section on the menu and it's ready to play. In the evening it's about 10mins - that's on a standard ADSL line.

03-09-2011, 22:21	#5
Pure Genius Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: N.of Sheffield, S. of N'castle Posts: 265	1080p streaming on xbox is within 3 mins and 720p streaming on Apple TV is instantaneous. Not sure why BTV HD being 'less awful than before' is something to shout about

04-09-2011, 11:05	#6
wwwebber Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Nottingham Posts: 3,536	Quote: Originally Posted by Pure Genius 1080p streaming on xbox is within 3 mins and 720p streaming on Apple TV is instantaneous. Not sure why BTV HD being 'less awful than before' is something to shout about I don't have an Xbox or Apple TV nor do I want or need them. Neither provide guaranteed streams / QOS which renders them utterly useless in my household.

04-09-2011, 11:07	#7
wwwebber Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Nottingham Posts: 3,536	Quote: Originally Posted by AndrewBurley For £5 a go? I'd rather buy the blu ray. That's your choice but It doesn't fulfil the "I want to watch something now in HD" requirement.

04-09-2011, 21:18	#8
AndrewBurley Inactive Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,402	Quote: Originally Posted by wwwebber That's your choice but It doesn't fulfil the "I want to watch something now in HD" requirement. But just renting the blu ray is cheaper and much better quality. Don't get me wrong, I am a very happy BT Vision customer who thinks the TV packs are great value but £5 for a HD rental is a disgrace.

05-09-2011, 00:14	#9
stuntmaster Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Southampton - Hannington - TX Posts: 4,878	Quote: Originally Posted by Pure Genius 1080p streaming on xbox is within 3 mins and 720p streaming on Apple TV is instantaneous. Not sure why BTV HD being 'less awful than before' is something to shout about Well I think they throttled it to err on the side of caution.

08-09-2011, 22:05	#10
Pure Genius Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: N.of Sheffield, S. of N'castle Posts: 265	Quote: Originally Posted by wwwebber I don't have an Xbox or Apple TV nor do I want or need them. Neither provide guaranteed streams / QOS which renders them utterly useless in my household. but waiting 10 minutes is now a good thing?? good luck with your data on PS3 too. Hope you protectively CIFAS registered yourself.

08-09-2011, 22:06	#11
Pure Genius Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: N.of Sheffield, S. of N'castle Posts: 265	Quote: Originally Posted by wwwebber That's your choice but It doesn't fulfil the "I want to watch something now in HD" requirement. watch something now = 10 to 20 min initial download? when comparison service are virtually instantaneous?

08-09-2011, 22:07	#12
Pure Genius Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: N.of Sheffield, S. of N'castle Posts: 265	Quote: Originally Posted by stuntmaster Well I think they throttled it to err on the side of caution. you mean they had no confidence in their ability to provide a continually high quality service? guess what..? I agree with them!

08-09-2011, 23:04	#13
wwwebber Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Nottingham Posts: 3,536	Quote: Originally Posted by Pure Genius watch something now = 10 to 20 min initial download? when comparison service are virtually instantaneous? Yes - and I dont care about comparison services because if I wanted them I would have them.

08-09-2011, 23:19	#14
wwwebber Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Nottingham Posts: 3,536	Quote: Originally Posted by Pure Genius good luck with your data on PS3 too. Hope you protectively CIFAS registered yourself. Care to explain ?

08-09-2011, 23:31	#15
Pure Genius Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: N.of Sheffield, S. of N'castle Posts: 265	Quote: Originally Posted by wwwebber Care to explain ? Did you miss the PS3 data breach? Google will help you with the rest.

09-09-2011, 19:17	#16
MostynDS Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 773	This thread opens up a few questions for me, both technical and demographic. Firstly, how has this amazing boost in upload speed been achieved? Has the source been moved closer to the end user? Or has The box's ability to download been improved? Or has the resolution of the stream been reduced? Or the bitrate? This is clearly a great improvement, but there's no such thing as a free lunch, so who's paying for it?... Then we come back to the On demand model. I (happily) pay over £100 per month to my phone, BB and TV supplier for a service I enjoy, but even though they're on offer, the thought wouldn't even cross my mind to pay another £5 for a HD movie. Are many of the £4 per month BTV croud likely to?

10-09-2011, 07:37	#17
wwwebber Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Nottingham Posts: 3,536	Quote: Originally Posted by MostynDS This thread opens up a few questions for me, both technical and demographic. Firstly, how has this amazing boost in upload speed been achieved? Has the source been moved closer to the end user? Or has The box's ability to download been improved? Or has the resolution of the stream been reduced? Or the bitrate? This is clearly a great improvement, but there's no such thing as a free lunch, so who's paying for it?... Then we come back to the On demand model. I (happily) pay over £100 per month to my phone, BB and TV supplier for a service I enjoy, but even though they're on offer, the thought wouldn't even cross my mind to pay another £5 for a HD movie. Are many of the £4 per month BTV croud likely to? Its faster. End of. I would be absolutely disgusted to pay £100 a month for triple play. I can well afford to pay it if I want to but I have other priorities. Dont get me wrong though - I've no problem with others that are willing to pay.

10-09-2011, 16:13	#18
MostynDS Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 773	Quote: Originally Posted by wwwebber Its faster. End of. I would be absolutely disgusted to pay £100 a month for triple play. I can well afford to pay it if I want to but I have other priorities. Dont get me wrong though - I've no problem with others that are willing to pay. Thanks for the response. And I'm heartened to hear that you have no problem with me or others like me. I understand that there is a huge market for 'budget+' TV services and that Vision attempts to address this demand. But despite your unilateral declaration of 'end of' I'm still fascinated to learn how this massive increase in download time has been achieved over the same BB connection. This is probably better answered by one of our more tech savvy contributers. Has the resolution been reduced? Has the pallet been reduced? Has the bitrate been reduced? Has the CoDec been changed? Has the source been moved closer to the destination? Can anyone else confirm this increase? Just interested, that's all...

10-09-2011, 16:56	#19
wwwebber Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Nottingham Posts: 3,536	Quote: Originally Posted by MostynDS Thanks for the response. And I'm heartened to hear that you have no problem with me or others like me. I understand that there is a huge market for 'budget+' TV services and that Vision attempts to address this demand. But despite your unilateral declaration of 'end of' I'm still fascinated to learn how this massive increase in download time has been achieved over the same BB connection. This is probably better answered by one of our more tech savvy contributers. Has the resolution been reduced? Has the pallet been reduced? Has the bitrate been reduced? Has the CoDec been changed? Has the source been moved closer to the destination? Can anyone else confirm this increase? Just interested, that's all... No difference at all from what I can see and I have a top of the range (in 2010) Sony to view it on so I should be able to tell if there's any difference. In terms of server location - I doubt anyone here know's that. I reckon they've simply thrown more servers at the HD download service.

10-09-2011, 20:40	#20
stuntmaster Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Southampton - Hannington - TX Posts: 4,878	Quote: Originally Posted by wwwebber No difference at all from what I can see and I have a top of the range (in 2010) Sony to view it on so I should be able to tell if there's any difference. In terms of server location - I doubt anyone here know's that. I reckon they've simply thrown more servers at the HD download service. Or moved it closer to the end user. who knows, pre multicasting being enabled? or perhaps the BT P2P lockdown affected downloads too? who knows. I've noticed it's faster too.... and that my box is now refusing to record again. Press R..... Recording.... no light comes on and guide says will record... -OR- Press R..... Recording...... 5 hours later..... Recording..... 24 hours later..... Recording...... presses R.... HANG CRASH REBOOT. Tis very weird, started happening when I got the iplayer software. I have almost hardly any series links set. Rebooting box does not cure it. wiping Disk clean does not cure it either. and this is my 2nd box now that does it. (had a silver before, now got black)

10-09-2011, 21:54	#21
MostynDS Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 773	Quote: Originally Posted by stuntmaster Or moved it closer to the end user. who knows, pre multicasting being enabled? or perhaps the BT P2P lockdown affected downloads too? who knows. I've noticed it's faster too.... and that my box is now refusing to record again. Press R..... Recording.... no light comes on and guide says will record... -OR- Press R..... Recording...... 5 hours later..... Recording..... 24 hours later..... Recording...... presses R.... HANG CRASH REBOOT. Tis very weird, started happening when I got the iplayer software. I have almost hardly any series links set. Rebooting box does not cure it. wiping Disk clean does not cure it either. and this is my 2nd box now that does it. (had a silver before, now got black) Nice to get some sense. Maybe the source has been moved closer to the destination. Pity others here underestimate you...

DS Forums

HD downloads on BTV - big speed improvements

14-09-2011, 15:46	#22
scotty2808 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 435	Compared to how it was previously - I think HD downloads work outside the standard QoS arrangement and attempt to utilise as much bandwidth as possible. Fairly certain there's a stat on bandwidth allowance in the settings. Not 100% sure but I think the figure there is a lot higher than it used to be too. Almost as if the box was self regulating itself from gorging on any available bandwidgth... ?

14-09-2011, 16:03	#23
MostynDS Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 773	Quote: Originally Posted by scotty2808 Compared to how it was previously - I think HD downloads work outside the standard QoS arrangement and attempt to utilise as much bandwidth as possible. Fairly certain there's a stat on bandwidth allowance in the settings. Not 100% sure but I think the figure there is a lot higher than it used to be too. Almost as if the box was self regulating itself from gorging on any available bandwidgth... ? Interesting theory. But if the box is now allowed to step outside the bounds of the provided QoS, does it have sensitivity to all other nodes on the network in order to self-regulate itself, or is it just a superuser that drags everyone else down? Food for thought though, thanks...

14-09-2011, 20:57	#24
stuntmaster Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Southampton - Hannington - TX Posts: 4,878	Quote: Originally Posted by MostynDS Interesting theory. But if the box is now allowed to step outside the bounds of the provided QoS, does it have sensitivity to all other nodes on the network in order to self-regulate itself, or is it just a superuser that drags everyone else down? Food for thought though, thanks... well thats what I thought, but could this not have an effect on us as a user? as if you download heavily during peak we know BT traffic shape. (first time ever I triggered it the other day - linux updates sent my 12MB down to around 5/6 ish.) so will BT now shape if we download to many HD Vision films?