Broadcast delay

[Automate]

I have new SkyAngel IPTV service which I am generally happy with. Since I currently still have Comcast Cable service (non HD) I was comparing the video quality (SkyAngel is slighly better) and I noticed a significant delay in the SkyAngel broadcast. I was expecting a few seconds delay similar to the delay when you change channels but instead found that the delay was 24 to 25 seconds between the Comcast signal and the SkyAngel signal. I only checked Fox News and The Discovery Channel but I assume that at least all of the Family channels have the same delay.

In most cases the 25 second delay should not make a different but I can think of a couple situations where it might be annoying. What if you wanted to watch the same show as someone in a different location and talk to them on the phone about what you are viewing. They would be seeing and trying to talk about things that happen 25 seconds before you see them.

In the past when watching sports I have sometimes watched an event on TV but turned the TV volume down and listened to a local radio station because I preferred the announcing of the local radio person. This would not work with SkyAngel.

It might also bug someone to know that when watching a breaking news event that they hear about it 25 seconds after everyone else.

Has anybody else noticed this? Is the delay on the SkyAngel radio stations the same as the TV stations?

 

[jholland]

I used to have two Comcast digital boxes, one in my living room, one in my computer room. I noticed that if I had both on the same program, one was several seconds behind the other.

 

[Pepper]

any media sent in a digital format is going to be delayed, by the encoding at the source, decoding at your end, and whatever is in between. In this case "the Internet" is in between and buffering a large amount of data before beginning playback is the price you have to pay to get something decent that doesn't drop out constantly.

 

[RevJimbo]

I have two Sky Angel IPTV boxes. One of the boxes is directly connected to the TV in the den, and it has a 75-foot ethernet cable. The other box is in the bedroom, and it has an RF-modulator connected to it, and from there, coax cable running all over the house to the other TVs. That box has a 100-foot ethernet cable.

If I turn the den TV and the kitchen TV to the same Sky Angel channel, there is a delay between the two. Some possible reasons:

* Longer ethernet cable, causing the signal to be slightly delayed to that box.

* 75-ft coax run to the kitchen TV, possibly adding some delay.

* Maybe the two boxes are receiving their programming from different servers.

In the past, when I lived in Houston and had Sky Angel satellite, there was a delay between listening to KSBJ radio over the radio, and listening to it over the satellite.

In short, the path that the programming takes when it travels one path is very different than when it travels the other path. That's why there's a delay.

 

[Automate]

I used to have two Comcast digital boxes, one in my living room, one in my computer room. I noticed that if I had both on the same program, one was several seconds behind the other.

I compared an over-the-air channel and the same channel on Comcast and they were within a second of each other. Comcast uses different equipment in different areas so it may depend upon which Comcast system you are on.

 

[Automate]

any media sent in a digital format is going to be delayed, by the encoding at the source, decoding at your end, and whatever is in between. In this case "the Internet" is in between and buffering a large amount of data before beginning playback is the price you have to pay to get something decent that doesn't drop out constantly.

Yes but the internet/set top box buffering delay isn't any more than the delay between selecting a new channel and seeing the new channel which for me is about 3 seconds.
The rest of the delay (over 20 seconds) must be in Sky Angles servers. Considering the price of the service I can understand that they can't afford the fastest equipment.

 

[Automate]

I have two Sky Angel IPTV boxes. One of the boxes is directly connected to the TV in the den, and it has a 75-foot ethernet cable. The other box is in the bedroom, and it has an RF-modulator connected to it, and from there, coax cable running all over the house to the other TVs. That box has a 100-foot ethernet cable.

If I turn the den TV and the kitchen TV to the same Sky Angel channel, there is a delay between the two. Some possible reasons:

* Longer ethernet cable, causing the signal to be slightly delayed to that box.

* 75-ft coax run to the kitchen TV, possibly adding some delay.

* Maybe the two boxes are receiving their programming from different servers.

In the past, when I lived in Houston and had Sky Angel satellite, there was a delay between listening to KSBJ radio over the radio, and listening to it over the satellite.

In short, the path that the programming takes when it travels one path is very different than when it travels the other path. That's why there's a delay.

Since the speed of the signal on the Ethernet and coax cables is near the speed of light I don't think that is causing the difference. It could be like you say the two boxes are getting their signals from different servers or it could be the RF-modulator is adding a slight delay.