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Xbox One TV Integration is apparently 'broken' For UK & Europe: Sky 50Hz Stutter

dmr87

Member
Update - Less than ideal workaround

There's a potential workaround for the Xbox One TV integration judder issue.

HDTVTest, which spotted the problem with UK Xbox One's earlier this week, disovered a way to force the Xbox One to output a 50Hz signal - matching the TV signal pumped into the console through the HDMI-in port.

As the site explains, to do this you need to set your Xbox One to auto-detect HDMI from within the display settings, then toggle the resolution from 1080p to 720p or vice versa. This triggers a prompt asking if you'd like to keep the new resolution. Select no.

Apparently this tricks the Xbox One into thinking your TV isn't compatible with a 60Hz signal and forces a 50Hz output.

Unfortunately, this workaround isn't ideal. It makes everything 50Hz, including video games. So there may be stutter when playing games. You can of course manually switch back to 60Hz to play games.

Microsoft is yet to comment on the issue.

____

Feel free to share your experience if you have any similar issues, or if you have this exact problem yourself.

Microsoft’s Xbox One next-generation console launched to great fanfare yesterday, with more than 1 million units sold within 24 hours. One of the most heavily advertised features of the Xbox One is its ability to integrate live TV feed from your set-top box, be it terrestrial (Freeview HD), satellite (Freesat or Sky) or cable (Virgin Media) broadcast. However, since receiving their consoles yesterday, a number of British owners have complained about the TV integration feature being broken, due to the introduction of judder with 50Hz content.

Before delving into why this is happening, first let us explain how the TV integration feature on the Xbox One works. Essentially the home entertainment console acts as a HDMI passthrough device: its HDMI input port will accept the output from a set-top box (for example, a Sky+HD box), and then display the content on your TV either in full-screen mode, within the dashboard, or together with other apps using the Xbox One’s multitasking capability (dubbed “Snap” by Microsoft).

The problem is that the native frame rate of the Xbox One is 60Hz, but the United Kingdom and Europe use a 50hz broadcasting system, which is the result of the historical use of PAL and SECAM analogue broadcasting systems. To display a 50Hz video signal on a 60Hz system, a process called frame rate conversion (FRC) needs to take place, which at the best of times will incur some judder. Depending on the implementation and also the original resolution (720p or 1080i), viewers may notice dropped/skipped frames or stutter especially during panning shots in fast-action sports material such as live football broadcast.

Roger Tinsley, a web developer in Northern Ireland, told HDTVTest about his experience when watching Sky Sports through his shiny new Xbox One:

"The score ticker was juddery during Soccer Saturday, and Spanish football was dropping frames when the camera was panning."

While users in the USA won’t be affected by this issue since their NTSC broadcast system is 60Hz-based, UK and European owners of the Xbox One will be hoping that Microsoft will soon release a software update to at least enable judder-free display of 50Hz broadcast material in full-screen mode, even though this may entail some sort of re-handshake with the TV. It’s very unlikely that the “Snapped” mode can be totally smooth when 50Hz content is used as one of the sources, because ultimately the screen can only display at one refresh rate which is more likely than not to be 60Hz.

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/xbox-50hz-201311233468.htm
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-25-xbox-one-tv-integration-suffers-noticeable-judder-in-uk
 

MThanded

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
Interesting. Yeah this is going to be a problem for snapped TV over there as they said in the bottom portion of the quoted text. If the input is 50hz and the game is running at 60hz then you can only display one refresh rate.

The question is how did they not see this in testing? Seems like it would be pretty easy to find in QA.
 

Oppo

Member
That seems like kind of a big oversight on Microsoft's part. The PAL situation is not exactly new.

More comments about it being a "American centric box" inbound, no doubt. (Edit: too late)
 

Marvel

could never
Can't say I'll be using TV features myself, however it really should be addressed for those who want to. I have a separate HD TV for my sky HD viewing, happy like that.
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
That seems like kind of a big oversight on Microsoft's part. The PAL situation is not exactly new.

More comments about it being a "American centric box" inbound, no doubt. (Edit: too late)

Are you saying those comments aren't completely justified?
 

DemonNite

Member
Interesting. Yeah this is going to be a problem for snapped TV over there as they said in the bottom portion of the quoted text. If the input is 50hz and the game is running at 60hz then you can only display one refresh rate.

The question is how did they not see this in testing? Seems like it would be pretty easy to find in QA.

Tier 2 countries
 

Zafir

Member
Can't say I'll be using TV features myself, however it really should be addressed for those who want to. I have a separate HD TV for my sky HD viewing, happy like that.
Pretty much.

Can't believe they didn't think of this honestly. It's not like we suddenly started using 50Hz broadcasting, we've had it for decades.
 

Oppo

Member
Are you saying those comments aren't completely justified?

No I'm not, they are justified.

And yeah you called it, MontyMole. Although I would have assumed at the time that MS would surely address it. I would have been wrong.
 

GeoGonzo

Member
Good heavens, at times one could think that this console isn't completely optimized for its use ouside the USA. But no, no... impossible.
 

MThanded

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
Sure, whenever you guys get around to using the metric system, k?
33165x8.gif


As a USAer I totally agree. Metric is superior.
 

Ubersnug

Member
Is it not a case of 'the TV functionality is not ready for Europe'. Once they sort out their deals, with whatever broadcasters they need to, they would implement full 50Hz support.

As it stands, the aimed to get It working for the US for launch.
 

Alx

Member
I'm pretty sure I saw an option to select either 50Hz or 60Hz during the setup... (*edit : or was it on the TV box itself ? I'm not sure, since I set both up in the same week)
Anyway I have no issue with the TV streaming through the X1 (I'm currently watching it actually), except that my TV box is not supported yet so I can't access the programs nor channel surf through the Xbox.
 
Could they at least act like they care about the rest of the world? Seriously, such a laser focus on one territory cannot be a good strategy.
 

DBT85

Member
Huh? I thought that HDMI standards only had 60Hz or 24Hz framerates. 50Hz is still a thing, even for digital media, in Europe?

HDMI can go as low as 25 and upto silly numbers.

Somewhat stunned this was overlooked, but no THAT stunned. Xbox America indeed.
 
Yes. Let's change an entire continent's broadcasting system to accommodate Xbox.
Ha!
American focused or not, it would be complete fuck up on MSs part not to have made sure this was a non issue. The fact is the console was released globally making its focused design irrelevant.
Honestly, there's no way around it. 50hz can't go in to 60hz without judder. The only compromise is for it to switch the refresh to 50hz for full screen content. Even then, you've still got the problem of manually switching Game Mode on and off wherever you live in the world. The all in one box was a good idea in theory but flawed in reality.

That said, the general public don't know what judder or game mode is anyway, so MS will probably have no issues outside of people like me.
 
Isn't it about time we all start using 60 hz?

When it comes to broadcast all countries use legacy standards. Our TV's can handle 60hz but broadcasts will always be 50.

Microsoft definitely knew about this as it's a standards thing. I think they simply ignored it as there isn't really a workaround for this issue.
 

Marvel

could never
Yes. Let's change an entire continent's broadcasting system to accommodate Xbox.

To be honest its not just about Xbox dude... 50HZ is a blurry fucking mess I've hated for decades. I'd like 60HZ (or more obviously) period. Makes watching sports and movies on Sky/Virgin shit even on a nice plasma.

Whole system is ancient.
 
OT, but why doesn't Europe just adopt a 60 Hz model? Is it too complicated and costly to do? In my mind it sounds too easy, so I am sure I am missing something lol
 

EGM1966

Member
Another sign the console (or at least the OS and TV integration) was a little rushed?

I struggle to believe they simply forgot about this so I'm assuming it's more the result of either MS speeding up plans to launch in 2014 with all this sorted out due to Sony launching this year and not getting all the kinks sorted out or MS not being able to complete everything needed in time and include all the work for the 180s in the OS with the result stuff like this is flaky.

I know for those just using it as a home console it's not an issue but it's a nasty dent in the pitch the XB1 is more than a games console - at least outside of US.

They should get this fixed as best they can as fast as they can really.
 

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
For Blu-Ray playback of 24hz-movies, you can select in the settings if you want to play them at 24hz or convert them to 60hz. If you chose the former the screen will blackout for a second when you change from another app/game into the playback and change the refresh rate. (In addition, UI animations will run at 24fps) If you chose the latter, you won't have that short blackout, but the playback will have judder for those who notice such things.

I expect them to add a similar option for TV and 50hz/60hz.
 
How about when my TV feed just crashes and requires a total power cycle of the system to work again? Are they going to fix that shit because that is super annoying.
 
Is it not a case of 'the TV functionality is not ready for Europe'. Once they sort out their deals, with whatever broadcasters they need to, they would implement full 50Hz support.

As it stands, the aimed to get It working for the US for launch.

What good is that to purchasers in the UK now?

If it wasn't ready for the territory, it shouldn't have launched there yet.
 

kitsuneyo

Member
To be honest its not just about Xbox dude... 50HZ is a blurry fucking mess I've hated for decades. I'd like 60HZ (or more obviously) period. Makes watching sports and movies on Sky/Virgin shit even on a nice plasma.

Whole system is ancient.

What does a slightly lower refresh rate have to do with blurriness? PAL has always kicked NTSC's arse for picture quality.
 
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