Sky Glass customers have complained of screen flickering, out-of-sync sound and video lag just weeks after the launch of the broadcaster’s new streaming television.
Sky’s first TV, which is available from £39/month, features Built-in streaming services that customers don’t need to have a satellite dish.
However, many customers took to Sky’s forum to vent their frustrations less than a week after the sale.
The pay TV giant is now set to release a software update later this week to address the problems.
Sky Glass TV customers complain about screen flickering and out-of-sync sounds. The Sky Glass TV is pictured
One user wrote, “I just got my 55″ glass yesterday. A flickering at top right of screen?” Is there a way to fix it?
Another added: “My elderly inlaws just got Sky Glass TV and their picture keeps freezing about every 20 seconds.”
Customers report a flashing screen and sound problems as well as patchy images when using the ‘puck’ device that streams Glass to TVs elsewhere.
One customer posted on the forum, “Still waiting for Sky to fix the pucks constantly dropping out and speeding up, needling restarts after sleep (despite being disabled by settings).”
Another user said, “I get weird white flickering lines in blocks across my screen.”
Some customers reported that they returned their Sky Glass televisions because of technical issues.
However, many also praised streaming TV on the community forum.
One customer wrote that he was utterly delighted with his purchase after reading negative reviews.
“Everything I have seen has been amazing in terms of sound quality and picture quality.”
Sky spokesmen stated that they have seen a huge demand for Sky Glass ever since it was launched, and received fantastic feedback from many customers.
“A very small number have reported flickering. We have a software update scheduled for this week that will fix this.
“We’ll be following up like always with regular updates to add features and fix issues.
Sky Glass has been billed as a way to ‘buy your TV like you buy your mobile phone’, with the Ultra HD television available in five colours and three sizes.
The 4K Ultra HD Quantum Dot television works over a Wi-Fi connection and is the ‘only TV in the world with Sky inside’, Sky boss Dana Strong said at the launch event in London.
The product’s purpose is to simplify the way people watch TV. It integrates hardware, software, and content into a single device. Instead of customers having to purchase Sky TV with a box or dish, it will allow them to simply watch TV.
It also gives some homes that currently can’t have satellite dishes — such as listed buildings or properties on short-term rental agreements — access to Sky.
Sky Glass is available in five colours: ceramic white, ocean blue (pictured), racing green, dusky rose, anthracite and ceramic white. Also available is a matching colour stand
Customers can create a personal playlist of their favorite shows and films by pressing a new button on their remote. A live’restart function allows you to watch content starting from the beginning.
A Sky Glass TV can be purchased either up front, from £649, or via interest-free payments from £13 a month.
However, customers still have to pay for the Sky Ultimate TV package to get the basic content and Netflix to watch, which costs £26 a month, bringing the cheapest package to £39 a month.
By comparison, Sky Q costs £26 a month for 18 months — with up to £49 in setup fees.
Sky Cinema and Sky Sports cost an extra £11 a month and £25 a month, respectively, while customers wanting to increase the size of their TV from the 43″ one included in the £39 deal have to pay £4 more a month for the 55″ (or £849 upfront) and £8 more monthly for the 65″ TV (£1,049 upfront).
Sky Stream pucks, which cost £50 each upfront, can be purchased as an add-on to Sky Glass to allow content to be streamed in other rooms — similar to the current multiscreen offering — but these also require a £10 monthly subscription on top.
Sky has stated that 10Mbps is required to stream HD content on a Sky Glass TV and 25Mbps are required for 4K. The minimum connection for Netflix is also 10Mbps.
Sky also announced that it will be first TV manufacturer in the World to offer a swap program. This allows customers to trade in Sky Glass TVs as they become available for newer models.
Customers can use the same method to talk to their smart TV as they can to Alexa and Google Assistant. They simply need to say “Hello Sky” to ask for a show/film that they are interested in.
The company hasn’t yet explained how this will work, but it is likely that the TV will be available to subscribers who pay monthly rather than upfront.
Customers can also use the smart TV to talk to it in a similar manner to Google Assistant and Alexa, which allows them to say “Hello Sky” and ask for a specific show or film.
This is similar to how Sky Q’s voice remote works, but Sky Glass allows you to control the volume, turn on the TV and switch to other connected devices like an Xbox console.
It now has a new home page, which includes content from Sky, BBC iPlayer, All4, Netflix, Disney+, ITV Hub, Spotify and Pelton.
Customers can also create a customized offer. Personal Playlist of their favorite films and shows using a new button on your remote. Live’restart’ function allows viewers to rewind or rewatch content from the beginning if they are unable to see it.
The broadcaster was launched in 1989 as Britain’s first satellite TV service. It had four channels: Sky Channel (Sky News), Sky Movies, and Eurosport.
It first announced plans for a “no satellite dish” version of its subscription service in 2017. It hoped to launch it the next year. However, that was delayed until last month.
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