BBC iPlayer 4k support in time for the World cup?

[ajwool]

So, will we finally get Bbc iPlayer support in time for the World Cup? Announcement coming imminently:

https://www.whathifi.com/news/bbc-4k-hdr-world-cup-confirmation-week-away

[rod_hull]

Interestingly, I don't believe iPlayer (or any of the catch-up apps) are indeed actual Android apps in the traditional sense.

Via an adb shell (over IP), a "pm list packages" shows nothing approaching mention of iPlayer, ITV etc.

Looking at the bravia-youview-launchers (the app I have spoken of elsewhere in this forum that allows homescreen launcher access to the catch-up apps without YouView being enabled) the apk that actually initiates the catch-up apps (including iPlayer) is "com.sony.dtv.hbbtvlauncher".

All this seems to do is create a webview to each player's respective webapp.

For the iPlayer app (on my 65" XD93 at least) iPlayer really points to: https://www.live.bbctvapps.co.uk/tap/iplayer/?origin=portal

It would be VERY interesting to see for a TV that has the 4K trial working exactly what URL it is pointing to.

It could well be that the BBC site is merely checking the user agent string (and perhaps some other flag of capability) to determine which view to display (and whether to offer the 4K trial content).

I have used the user-agent spoofer extension in Chrome to set my browser to imitate a generic Nougat AndroidTV's user agent and I can display the EXACT same iPlayer UI in a Chrome tab that my Sony XD93 uses.

If my theory is correct and we could find out what the user-agent string a working 4K trial member TVs are passing (and what URL is being accessed) I bet an APK could be easily crafted to see if us with "unsupported" TVs could access the 4K trial too...

Of course, all this could be moot if those working 4K trial TVs are accessing iPlayer in a different way, checks are being performed differently, or even if they're actually using a "real" iPlayer APK (but in this case, it could be easily extracted with "adb pull" and shared to the community).

[jan.hansen957]

Finally someone with some technical skills ! 

Perhaps that is why I can’t even find the iPlayer app. I bought my XD80 and Norway and I have moved to the U.K. Play Store is now the UK one, but I can’t find the iPlayer app. 

I will try opening your link in Chrome on my XD80 and see what happens. I’ve previously tried to download an iPlayer shield APK, but because it runs arm v8 it diesn’g work. I’ve got the iPlayer mobile version installed though, but it is horrible

Edit:

Rod_hull, what was the exact agent spoofer you used? could you copy paste it?

[rod_hull]

Not in front of the machine I did it from (and the extension's settings don't sync it appears). I'll post it later certainly.

A quicker way perhaps is to try the app I mentioned (search Google for "bravia-youview-launchers" - it should take you to the author's Github site).

You'll need to sideload it (the fastest way I have found is to use the XPlore file manager app (in the Android TV Play Store) connecting to my Google Drive for things like this).

Really interested if anyone similarly technical-minded (who also has a TV supported by the 4K trial) could do some digging on discovering what their TV is actually connecting to and sharing it here for others to play with...

[BigUglyGac]

well not typing it all out again but alas seems the mods have woken up on here and deleted one of my posts which showed how inept the cust service reps are and the chances of a straight answer out of them is null. 

all il say is when you get a email back stating you can watch the world cup in full hd (4k) then witin 10 mins a 2nd one saying they made a mistake and it now reads (2k) you have to wonder how informed these technical support people are. and that was from the supervisor !? 

[MartiB47]

Hi All,

Just watched the first World Cup match in UHD HDR on a 49XF9005 and the picture was excellent, certainly better than HD. Only issue which required me to switch to HD was very regular buffering, every few minutes. I have a Virgin 200Mbs connection and everything is wired at 1GB (TV only has 100Mb ethernet connection), so should be getting the required 40Mb for the best quality (Speedtest on PC was 205Mbs). I don't know what the actual streaming rate is but Netflix and Amazon Prime UHD HDR streams (15.1 Mbs) are fine. Nothing else was using the broadband connection.

Just wandering what experience others were having?

[Fruitcake3]

No World Cup support for Sony A1.The most expensive oled out there.In a word crap.Where is the Sony technical support for the BBC.Happen about as quick as Dolby Vision I suppose.

[romipat]

  got the  Spain Portugal game on using the iplayer app on my Virgin V6 box. BBC UHD caption on  top right and  picture settings on my xe 9305 show that HDR mode was detected and set. External player is the only way to go  until Sony sort tings out.

[clayton63]

I have the latest update V6-5603, 200mb + internet connection but cant get bbc iplayer 4k. In fact i can't even get HD content, is this down to my TV or is it down to BBC?

[romipat]

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@clayton63 wrote:

I have the latest update V6-5603, 200mb + internet connection but cant get bbc iplayer 4k. In fact i can't even get HD content, is this down to my TV or is it down to BBC?

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not sure which tv you have but i posted the  criteria necessary to get  the WC in UHD HDR  via the i player app on the  V6 box. If your tv  is like mine wheresome  hdmi  ports are only  30 HZ then make sue you  have  your V6  box connectedto the faster  60 HZ  hdmi  port I hasd mine in  a  slower port and ddnt get the  hdr option  fr thr  wc in the  V6 iplayerapp I  then plugged it into the faser port and as soon as i   launched the  iplayer   app on the v6 box i got  the option to watch the game in  UHD

[clayton63]

Thanks for the info. I have the KD-49XE8396 I'm using HDMI 2 which is the designated port for HDR. I can view 4k videos from youtube with ease, on the virgin app for iplayer I can also view the "trial" for 4k in settings but when it comes to watching any programmes or live games it only appears to be in SD. My tv isn't listed in the comparable tv list on BBC web page but sony say it's capable.