More and more homes are switching to streaming, and it’s not hard to see why. Watching via the web is easier and far more convenient than an aerial or dish, plus it offers access to way more content via on-demand platforms. As long as users have a decent Wi-Fi connection, there’s very little wrong with viewing shows and movies online, but the same can’t be said for sports.
One of the biggest gripes for football, F1, and rugby fans is the very noticeable delay when streaming a match online. It’s often as much as 40 seconds behind a standard broadcast, and that can make things hugely frustrating, especially if the family WhatsApp group starts pinging or the local pub roars when a goal is scored.
Sky’s latest Glass TVs and Stream boxes have now managed to get that latency down to just a few seconds – in fact, it’s almost as fast as a satellite signal.
Now the BBC is attempting to bring a similar experience to its users, including those with Fire TV Sticks, Sony tellies and BT Pro devices. Sky’s Glass TV is also part of the trial as well.
The service had already been running trials of low-latency streaming, but that’s now being extended.
“We’re expanding our low latency streaming trial on BBC iPlayer beta, increasing the number of supported devices and extending the testing period. This next phase will allow us to measure more precisely how well low latency streaming performs outside of our lab and in people’s homes, across different networks and conditions,” Melissa Darragh, Senior R&D Engineer explained.
The BBC hopes that by extending this trial, more users will get a better experience when watching live events.
That includes breaking news, sports, concerts and more.
The BBC now wants more homes to get involved so it can test things further.
“If you’re on a supported device and would like to get involved, switch on iPlayer Beta and watch BBC Two live – the trial stream is currently available from 8am – 10pm BST for viewers who have set their location to England or Scotland. It is expected to run for around a month,” the BBC explained.
“Other than the reduced delay, we don’t expect that you will notice any significant differences when watching this stream. However, if you experience any issues, you can revert to a conventional stream by opting out of iPlayer beta via the Settings menu.”
Here is a list of some devices that are compatible
• Fire TV Edition 4K 2022
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen)
• BT TV Box Pro
• Sky Glass Gen 1
• Some Bush TVs, including U43F8C and U43F8V screens
• Sony TV,s including XR-A95K series and XR-X90K series
• Some Toshiba TVs, including 43UV2363DB and 50UV2363DB models