How is the neighbours live TV ahead of ours?

JustAnotherSaver

Before you suggest ask them, we don't talk.

Still, it shouldn't be too much to find out since i doubt we're the only set of neighbours in the land that experience this.

I tried Google searching but i'm clearly using the wrong terminology as i'm getting results for the Australian soap!!

Take tonight for example - we're watching the Euro final and I knew what penalty had been scored and missed as the guy on our TV was starting his run up to kick the ball. We don't watch a lot of football ourselves but i remember watching a game a year or so ago and the same happened then - i knew what chances ended up in goals and what didn't before they actually ended up in a goal or not.

We're with BT. From doing WiFi searches when messing with my laptop, I think they may be TalkTalk or Sky but really that could be any house near enough for my laptop to pick up a signal.

I'm sure someone reading this will know what the actual answer is as to why this happens?

Elmer_BeFuddled

Digital (Aerial) TV is faster than HDM (box) TV.

Neil49

We have one TV connected via freeview with a roof mounted aerial and a second one which is connected via the Internet and runs through a Now tv box. 

The TV connected via the Internet runs about 2 minutes behind the freeview connected set simply because the air transmission doesn't have to go through the whole Internet connectivity process.

How is your TV connected? 

Neil_Jones

Different platforms have different levels of delay.  Internet streams can be significantly delayed (many minutes in some cases).

KxMx

I found this out a good few years ago when I was cheering goals (Freeview) at least a minute before my neighbours who were watching via Sky. 

coffeehound

Old analogue TV through the aerial was quicker again than digital.  Still, that's progress for you.

nick74

Once whilst watching terrestrial BBC I was talking on the phone to a lovely but slightly ditzy friend in Cyprus who had exactly the same BBC channel on in the background via satellite. I could hear that their sound was a few seconds behind mine, and I mentioned the satellite delay. This threw her completely  "But...I thought Cyprus was 2 hours ahead of the UK?".
I tried to explain but gave up in the end!

Neil_Jones

The digital delay is about 8-12 seconds on average over analogue TV.  Internet TV could be minutes behind the live action, and where you can pause the streaming could be further behind still.  When viewed live the delay shouldn't be more than about three seconds across all (non internet/streaming) platforms, but remember thanks to Sky+ and TiVo one can be as far behind as they like.

Of course its probably not a good idea to watch live sport broadcasts on a timeshift basis, especially if there is a good chance your neighbours will be watching too.  In this day and age it seems to be only football that generates loud cheers across blocks (sometimes rugby too, but usually football), so for most other sports you can often timeshift until the cows come home and not have a risk of somebody else cheering their head off through the walls/floor/ceiling.

matelodave

Satellite TV will be significantly slower than terrestrial partially because of the digital processing thats done in the transmitter and the satellite receiver but also because the signal has a lot further to travel.

Most terrestrial transmitters are less than 100 miles away from the TV receiver whereas the satellites are some 22,500 miles above the equater. Therefore the signal has to travel double that, 22,500 there and 22,500 back again.  

You can even hear the affect of digital signal processing delays if you listen to the radio. Listen for the time signal on FM as well as a digital radio and you'll hear it first on FM. Or try listening to the radio on FM and simultaneously on your computer or mobile phone.

Using the internet means that the signal has to travel a considerable distance and pass through lots of equipement and lots of cable, optical fibres or even space on it's journey between the source and whatever you are using to decode and recive it.

Each item, whether it's distance,  cable, optical fibre or equipment will add a finite amount of delay which all adds up to several seconds or more.

J_B

Also ...

BBC1 SD is faster than BBC1 HD

[Deleted User]

And ITV +1 is waaaay behind standard ITV.......