FandangoNow UHD quality?

[gregr]

Sorry if there's already a thread for this - I searched for a while, and couldn't find anything.

I was thinking about buying some UHD movies on FN for the first time. How is the quality there, compared to e.g. iTunes? The movies I want aren't available on iTunes or elsewhere in UHD, so it's not like I can compare them directly - but I'm hoping someone here has a general feel for how the 4K movies from FN are looking?

I think I'll be streaming them from the FN app on a LG OLED, which seems to be the only version of their app I have that supports 4K streaming...

Thanks!

[crackedknee]

I've used FN for UHD and it looks great to me. I even compared a few items to Vudu UHD and they looked equal. Though I can't speak to iTunes UHD.

And yes, the UHD looked much better than HD (at least, as far as the colors were concerned).

I am using a Roku Ultra to stream UHD to a Sony 4K TV (930D, the closest I could get to an OLED). I must admit the picture is superb with this TV, and an OLED would be just that much better.

[gregr]

Originally Posted by crackedknee

I've used FN for UHD and it looks great to me. I even compared a few items to Vudu UHD and they looked equal. Though I can't speak to iTunes UHD.

And yes, the UHD looked much better than HD (at least, as far as the colors were concerned).

I’m happy to hear others have had a good experience with them...for me, it didn’t go so well.

Last night, I bought the Pitch Perfect movies in UHD, and started to watch PP3. Every minute or so I’d see a full-screen pink flash of junk, and when it wasn’t doing that, the video noise was absolutely terrible. Skin was super blotchy - and this isn’t me being picky, literally anyone would have noticed this. It was especially noticeable in a night club scene, where the ambient light was blue - the colors on faces were all over the place. Almost looked like a jpg image that’s been way over-compressed. It was terrible.

Maybe it’s the FN app on the LG - not sure. But in any case, in this instance, it was unwatchable. I’ve been excited to watch this movie for weeks, and I quit after about 12 minutes. Asked FN for a refund on the whole trilogy - hopefully they will come through, and I’ll just buy the 4K blu-rays in a few weeks when they come out.

[crackedknee]

One thing I HAVE noticed is that if I fast forward, that will exceed the processor's memory, I assume within the Roku vs the speed at which FN is delivering the signal (vs the speed that happens from my provider and the length of my cable). So the screen flashes out as you say, mine goes green though.

The pixelated images have happened to me in Amazon when the video stream processing was slow (seems to be a systems error, as if I restart, it corrects itself).

It is NOT impossible that Pitch Perfect (1) was not well transferred to UHD, a movie like that might have been hyper-processed. Hard to tell without seeing a review on this site yet, about the tech details. However, you might be seeing enough problems that it could be an FN problem, or LG, or both (or the provider's signal strength, etc).

[gregr]

Originally Posted by crackedknee

It is NOT impossible that Pitch Perfect (1) was not well transferred to UHD, a movie like that might have been hyper-processed. Hard to tell without seeing a review on this site yet, about the tech details. However, you might be seeing enough problems that it could be an FN problem, or LG, or both (or the provider's signal strength, etc).

Certainly not impossible...but I was trying to watch Pitch Perfect 3 which was a recent, $175M grossing movie - hard to imagine a technically terrible transfer like this. If it had just been soft, or poor colors or something, I could have looked past it and watched the movie - but this was something else altogether.

I think it must have something to do with an issue in the app, or a technical issue of some sort between FN and me.

[crackedknee]

Yeah, if PP3 was like that, I would say something technical

[crackedknee]

I just checked ET the Extra Terrestrial on FN, and looks great, very film like and no macro-blocking or anything, or weird colors, looks very natural.

[gregr]

Darn it. Tempted to pick up a Roku just to see if it’s better.

I wish FN would have a 4K app for Apple TV. Or Xbox One.

[crackedknee]

Mine is Roku Ultra 4640, the newer one is 4660. I've heard, but yet to confirm, that the newer one (4660) has a better processor, and works better for UHD/4K stuff. And yes, my current 4640 does seem to have the same problems people talk about (will seize up and fail on occasion, I have to restart, audio will drop out, have to restart). Pretty minor, but does happen from time to time. Supposedly the 4660 model handles it all much better.

[Greyman]

Originally Posted by gregr

I’m happy to hear others have had a good experience with them...for me, it didn’t go so well.

Last night, I bought the Pitch Perfect movies in UHD, and started to watch PP3. Every minute or so I’d see a full-screen pink flash of junk, and when it wasn’t doing that, the video noise was absolutely terrible. Skin was super blotchy - and this isn’t me being picky, literally anyone would have noticed this. It was especially noticeable in a night club scene, where the ambient light was blue - the colors on faces were all over the place. Almost looked like a jpg image that’s been way over-compressed. It was terrible.

Maybe it’s the FN app on the LG - not sure. But in any case, in this instance, it was unwatchable. I’ve been excited to watch this movie for weeks, and I quit after about 12 minutes. Asked FN for a refund on the whole trilogy - hopefully they will come through, and I’ll just buy the 4K blu-rays in a few weeks when they come out.

How is your internet connection?

[gregr]

Originally Posted by Greyman

How is your internet connection?

Wired ethernet to TV. Throughput on my internet connection usually about 290 Mbps. No issues streaming (via Apple TV) 4K movies from iTunes or Amazon.

All symptoms point to a crappy connection - but I think if that’s the case it’s happening outside my network. But it’s possible it was just an intermittent thing - I’ll give it another try and see if maybe it’s fixed itself.

[gregr]

Originally Posted by gregr

Wired ethernet to TV. Throughput on my internet connection usually about 290 Mbps. No issues streaming (via Apple TV) 4K movies from iTunes or Amazon.

All symptoms point to a crappy connection - but I think if that’s the case it’s happening outside my network. But it’s possible it was just an intermittent thing - I’ll give it another try and see if maybe it’s fixed itself.

Just did some testing on my laptop with the actual ethernet cable plugged into the TV - no detectable issues with the network. FN video quality on the TV unfortunately still poor, similar to last night. Signs seem to point to maybe the FN app on the TV at this point...bummed!