Paramount+ Paramount+ Streaming Service (Formerly CBS All Access) (1 Viewer)

[Todd Erwin]

Well, there is hope. CBS is now 5.1 on both Roku and Fire, as is Hulu.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

(I wish Hulu would get its 5.1 act together on the AppleTV)

 

[Randy Korstick]

Standard Definition on streaming looks much worse than DVD on every site I have seen so I think its currently the way it looks for streaming. But strangely HD material looks nearly as good or as good as blu ray. The audio through streaming still does not match the lossless quality of Blu Rays due to compression and sounds just a hair better than DVD.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Videotaped sitcoms never seem to get the frame rate right on streaming. When I tried CBS All Access not even the HD game shows, soaps or news were shown at the right frame rate- and they did that credit-shrinking nonsense also, but at least there was no logo bug that has plagued their broadcasts for 22 years now.

 

[aridneptune]

I can confirm that CBS All Access only outputs stereo on Xbox One. I called the support line and the CSR seemed genuinely surprised that I would care about this. Though she was happy to refund me for the service. I signed up for CBS All Access on Amazon Channels and am now getting DD 5.1.

I just do not understand why CBS would cripple its application so badly. There is really no technical reason to do so. I was totally happy to not give Amazon the 30% commission and support Picard / Star Trek as much as possible, but stereo audio was an unforgivable degradation of the experience.

 

[Lord Dalek]

CBS AllAccess is in 5.1 if you subscribe via Amazon Prime Channels.

 

[Lord Dalek]

(I wish Hulu would get its 5.1 act together on the AppleTV)

Hulu isn't even 5.1 on Roku TV.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Hulu isn't even 5.1 on Roku TV.

Hulu is now in 5.1 audio on both my Roku Premiere and Steaming Stick+.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Hulu is now in 5.1 audio on both my Roku Premiere and Steaming Stick+.

Which doesn't apply to my TCL in the slightest.

 

[Todd Erwin]

can confirm that CBS All Access only outputs stereo on Xbox One. I called the support line and the CSR seemed genuinely surprised that I would care about this

If you page back and read some of my early comments, one of the reps I spoke with seemed completely happy with the built in speakers on her TV. And that may be where part of the problem lies, reps who are not at all tech savvy. Hulu is the opposite - the reps I spoke with seemed genuinely concerned that their 5.1 device support rollout had been incredibly slow.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Videotaped sitcoms never seem to get the frame rate right on streaming. When I tried CBS All Access not even the HD game shows, soaps or news were shown at the right frame rate- and they did that credit-shrinking nonsense also, but at least there was no logo bug that has plagued their broadcasts for 22 years now.

Most streaming services are designed for 24fps progressive content. The old 29.97fps interlaced content can cause issues. If they were shot on film and then telecined with 3:2 pulldown, it's fairly easy to get back to 24p. But if they were shot on video tape, and only an interlaced source exists, that can cause problems.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I thought it was simply impossible to do video frame rates online, but YouTube has been able to for a while now. In fact, here's an old show from CBS that I upscaled to HD resolution and 60fps, it should show properly on most equipment:


I noticed the Making of Nightmare Before Christmas is at the right frame rate on Vudu in standard-def resolution. Since they no longer have the free 2 minutes anymore, I don't know if any of their TV shows are- though I got the first episode of Married With Children there for free a while ago and it's still at the wrong frame rate.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I believe all North American TVs have to play 29.97i, and most HDTVs also play 23.976p and 59.94i and 59.94p. The limitation to 24p/23.976p is the streaming platform, not the final display.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Some YouTube apps cannot display videos in high frame rate. The one on my LG TV can show some of them but not others- haven't figured out what I did with the encoding on the ones that do work. The one I linked here will show properly through it but the latest ones I've uploaded don't, hence the caveat that not everyone might actually see them in the proper frame rate. The YouTube app on my 4K Roku seems to get all of them right.

 

[Cranston37+]

And now there's word that a ViacomCBS streaming service is coming...

https://www.macrumors.com/2020/02/06/viacomcbs-streaming-service/

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It makes a ton of sense - CBS has a great library already but as you can see with All Access, there’s not really enough there to justify a subscription unless you specifically want to watch one of their exclusives, and none of those are year-round attractions. But combine the TV side with the movie side and suddenly you have an entity able to compete with the upcoming NBC/Universal and HBO/Warner services.

 

[Floydy]

CBS AllAccess is in 5.1 if you subscribe via Amazon Prime Channels.

Mind if I ask what generation Firestick are you using? I'm using the latest generation 4K and definitely not getting 5.1 pass through on any CBS All Access content. I get DD 5.1 on Netflix, Prime and other Prime Channels so its not an equipment problem. Are you sure you're getting true 5.1 pass through and not just an up-mix by your receiver? It's driving me nuts I can't get this to work!

 

[Todd Erwin]

Mind if I ask what generation Firestick are you using? I'm using the latest generation 4K and definitely not getting 5.1 pass through on any CBS All Access content. I get DD 5.1 on Netflix, Prime and other Prime Channels so its not an equipment problem. Are you sure you're getting true 5.1 pass through and not just an up-mix by your receiver? It's driving me nuts I can't get this to work!

The app on Fire Sticks is stereo (again), but if you subscribe using Amazon Channels, it's 5.1. What I dislike about Amazon Channels is that it locks you into watching CBS All Access only through a Fire device.

 

[JohnRice]

The app on Fire Sticks is stereo (again), but if you subscribe using Amazon Channels, it's 5.1. What I dislike about Amazon Channels is that it locks you into watching CBS All Access only through a Fire device.

Seriously? What a load of crap!

 

[Floydy]

The app on Fire Sticks is stereo (again), but if you subscribe using Amazon Channels, it's 5.1. What I dislike about Amazon Channels is that it locks you into watching CBS All Access only through a Fire device.

Wow, it would never have occurred to me that signing up through the CBS app on Firestick resulted in different audio capabilities than signing up through Prime Channels on Firestick. You are absolutely correct. I cancelled my current subscription and resubscribed through Prime Channels and 5.1 works as expected. You likely saved me a lot of time and frustration - thanks!!