Poor picture quality

[SR]

I’m hoping someone more knowledgeable than I can help.
I’ve got a Sony Bravia KDL-50W tv and the picture when viewing the web is very pixelated and occasionally buffers. The picture quality is much improved when watching through the PlayStation.
Any ideas please for improvement or do I need to look for a new tv?
The sound is pretty muffled too, are sound bars worthwhile?
Many thanks for any suggestions.

[Mr Pointy]

Is one using a wired network connection & the other wireless?

Sound bars or a sound base will give better sound quality & you can often hook up a subwoofer as well.

[joropug]

Probably more the resolution of the app on your tv.

My first 4k tv had built in apps that were 1080p only ! Well annoying, had to buy a 4k Amazon box to get the benefit.

[frisbee]

Is there a dedicated TV app for what you are trying to watch in the web browser?

I would imagine a TV web browser isn't very optimised for video performance.

[Gren]

Could just be down to wifi signal - assuming not wired.

Before I upgraded to a mesh system my Virgin box used to be able to stream far better than my Sony TV. Exact same shows - both through Amazon Prime. Both connected by wifi to the same router, the TV was above the Virgin box.

Seems the TV was less able to cope with weaker signals.

[SR]

Many thanks for all your replies.
I’m not very technically minded, both the tv and PlayStation are wireless.
The picture problem seems to be worst with 4k.
I have uploaded a few 4k vids to YouTube and if I view through the PlayStation they are fine but viewed on the tv very pixelated and buffering. I think the suggestion that the tv is 1080 rather than 4k? may be the problem?

[carl_w]

SR said:

Many thanks for all your replies.
I’m not very technically minded, both the tv and PlayStation are wireless.
The picture problem seems to be worst with 4k.
I have uploaded a few 4k vids to YouTube and if I view through the PlayStation they are fine but viewed on the tv very pixelated and buffering. I think the suggestion that the tv is 1080 rather than 4k? may be the problem?

Sounds to me like the WiFi connexion to the TV is weak. You may need a WiFi booster or some Homeplug plugs.

[595Heaven]

Do you know the exact model number? I looked up KDL-50W and the first hit shows a Full HD TV, not 4k.

Does your YouTube app have a Settings menu? On my Samsung TV this menu has a 'Stas for Nerds' setting that will show you the actual frame rate and amount of dropped frames etc which is useful to see if it it the network causing an issue

[Carl_Manchester]

Could do with the full model number of the telly.

[SR]

595Heaven said:

Do you know the exact model number? I looked up KDL-50W and the first hit shows a Full HD TV, not 4k.

Does your YouTube app have a Settings menu? On my Samsung TV this menu has a 'Stas for Nerds' setting that will show you the actual frame rate and amount of dropped frames etc which is useful to see if it it the network causing an issue

As I said I’m not too tech savvy and may well have got HD confused with 4k.
I think the serial number is KDL50WF6xx.
Methinks I’m looking for a new 4k tv with a sound bar

[carl_w]

SR said:

As I said I’m not too tech savvy and may well have got HD confused with 4k.
I think the serial number is KDL50WF6xx.
Methinks I’m looking for a new 4k tv with a sound bar

If it looks OK through the Playstation (presumably connected to the same TV) then the TV display itself can't be the problem.

[Carl_Manchester]

I think, with Sony TV's in general, the in-built software/hardware on the telly's themselves, to run YouTube and other streaming services has been pretty crap.

Even on a 2,500 grand 65inch Sony OLED (2017), I ended up buying an Apple TV box to do YouTube streaming.

[OutInTheShed]

SR said:

I’m hoping someone more knowledgeable than I can help.
I’ve got a Sony Bravia KDL-50W tv and the picture when viewing the web is very pixelated and occasionally buffers. The picture quality is much improved when watching through the PlayStation.
Any ideas please for improvement or do I need to look for a new tv?
The sound is pretty muffled too, are sound bars worthwhile?
Many thanks for any suggestions.

Can you get an ethernet cable which will go from the TV to your internet router, even temporarily?
If this improves the picture, then working on sorting the wifi could solve your problem.

[Lucid_AV]

SR said:

As I said I’m not too tech savvy and may well have got HD confused with 4k.
I think the serial number is KDL50WF6xx.
Methinks I’m looking for a new 4k tv with a sound bar

Your TV picture problems when viewing streaming content partly relate to Wi-Fi speed but mostly relate to the TV's capabilities when it comes to the world of streaming.

Wi-Fi is the speed of the radio communications between the wireless router and the devices in your home. It's separate from (although in part influenced by-) the speed of your broadband service (BB). You don't need a blistering BB speed package in order to stream HD content, or even UHD. As I'm typing this there's a fault on my line. The BT engineer is due later today. Right now, my BB speed is currently crawling along at 3-4 Mbps, yet last night I was able to stream Attenborough's Blue Planet II in stunning UHD resolution from BBC iPlayer. Content from Disney+ and Amazon Prime will still stream in UHD too, but I'll get the little buffering circle and the picture will be a bit pixelated for a few seconds until the 'reservoir' fills up enough.

Even when I was running at normal speed 36-38Mbps there'd always be a small delay when starting a new streamed programme. That's the delay for the servers to get the stream coming too me once I made the choice. However, it rarely gave me a pixelated image, so you have a bottleneck somewhere.

Wi-Fi uses two radio frequencies. 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The lower frequency has been in use for at least 20 years. It's widely supported on gear, and has good range. It even supports decent speeds in theory. 2.4GHz wireless G has a theoretical maximum speed of 54Mbps. In the real world though it'll never hit that. There might be times when it hits 20Mbps, but other times it could be limping along at 5-10Mbps.

The Achilles heel for 2.4GHz is interference from other stuff that bleeds in to the 2.4GHz band. Some of that is other 2.4Ghz devices. When you're walking around with your mobile in your pocket at home then it'll connect on 5Ghz when close enough to the router, but drop back to 2.4Ghz when the signal speed drops as you get further away. Other stuff affects 2.4GHz too. Your microwave oven bleeds interference when it's running. Cordless home phones, baby cams, wireless smart door bells... all sorts of stuff.

5GHz is less prone to interference, and supports higher speeds if used with the right gear, but it's more restricted in range. For example, my Fire TV stick can run on 2.4GHz or 5Ghz and frequency hops to whichever offers the better connection. The stick is at the other end of the house to the router. Sometimes I get 5Ghz, but other times it drops to 2.4

According to the manual, your Sony TV only runs on 2.4Ghz. Good range, reasonable speed, but subject to breaks in service from interference. Some pixilation could be just from the slower speeds or service breaks. Mostly though I think it'll be the TV apps themselves.

We've had 5GHz Wi-Fi available for about 10 years. It has made it into TVs, but not all tellies have it. High end TVs definitely will. Midrange sets probably do. But sets aimed at lower parts of the market are far less likely to support it. Sorry to say, but your KDL-50WF6xx as a 1080p HDR TV from 2017/2018 sits in that lower segment. It lacks 4K res, and it doesn't have 5Ghz Wi-Fi if the manual is to be believed.

A side consequence is that very little money will have been spent on the processor chips and memory to run the TV's apps. This could be why they're struggling. As the apps themselves get updated, the gap between what they need to run and what your TV can provide starts to open up.

Changing the TV - particularly for another budget set - is likely just to be a temporary fix.

If the TV is fine for other use except streaming then look at buying a Fire TV stick or a Roku stick. These are both capable of being used as replacements for the TV's streaming features. No subscriptions are required. If you already pay for Amazon Prime then you'll get access to all of Amazon's content at no extra cost. If you or someone else in the house has a Netflix account then it can be accessed via the Fire TV stick too.

Sound on most TVs sucks. There's not enough space on modern wafer-thin TVs to fit decent speakers. A sound bar is the obvious answer.

Some of the money you saved by not buying a TV + sound bar could be diverted to buying a better sound bar. Denon is a good brand. It makes high-end audio gear so a lot of that knowledge filters down into their more accessible products. Look at sound bars with a HDMI ARC connection. This will allow the TV remote to operte the sound bar volume, and it will synchronise power on/off.

[SR]

Once again, many thanks for all your replies.
I will ponder buying a newer tv but will definitely be getting a sound bar, my hearing is not the best so anything to try and improve the muffled sound I’m currently experiencing will be a boon.

[Lucid_AV]

A sound bar and a Fire TV stick or Roku stick and all your problems are solved.

[Digger]

For sound another leftfield option is an HDMI audio extractor & a pair of inexpensive monitor speakers - can be fiddly to setup though! Set me back under £100 & happy with the results.