HoseHeads.com | HoseHeads Classifieds | Racer's Auction
Home | Register | Contact | Verify Email | FAQ |
Blogs | Photo Gallery | Press Release | Results | HoseheadsClassifieds.com


Welcome Guest. Already registered? Please Login

 

Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead


Records per page
 
Topic: Quality of picture on FLO? Email this topic to a friend | Subscribe to this TopicReport this Topic to Moderator
Page 1 of 2   of  35 replies
Stroker_Race
February 06, 2020 at 10:46:22 AM
Joined: 01/11/2013
Posts: 394
Reply

So I tuned in last night for the first time ever on FLO.  I was wondering if anyone else's video quality was more on the poor side than that good side?  I also had the Late Models from East Bay going on another provider and their video quality was much better than the FLO video.  I am just looking for input from anyone else that may have been watching last night.  I will also say that the quality of video that dirtvision provides is much sharper than what FLO provides also in my opinion.  I am not cheap-shotting or insulting FLO, but am instead wondering if anyone else had the same thoughts or if maybe I need to fine tune my settings somehow to improve the FLO broadcast.  Thanks to all in advance for your advice.




StanM
MyResults MyPressRelease
February 06, 2020 at 10:59:59 AM
Joined: 11/07/2006
Posts: 5548
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: Stroker_Race on February 06 2020 at 10:46:22 AM

So I tuned in last night for the first time ever on FLO.  I was wondering if anyone else's video quality was more on the poor side than that good side?  I also had the Late Models from East Bay going on another provider and their video quality was much better than the FLO video.  I am just looking for input from anyone else that may have been watching last night.  I will also say that the quality of video that dirtvision provides is much sharper than what FLO provides also in my opinion.  I am not cheap-shotting or insulting FLO, but am instead wondering if anyone else had the same thoughts or if maybe I need to fine tune my settings somehow to improve the FLO broadcast.  Thanks to all in advance for your advice.



I just got it for the first time last night.  At first I started watching through the Fire Stick browser and noticed that the resolution was lower than I'm accustomed to with pixel blotches or whatever they're called on the screen at times.  After watching for a while I was checking out their website on the laptop and saw that they had a Roku app.  I switched from the firestick that streams on our wifi to the Roku app on my TV hard wired to ethernet and resolution was the same.  I couldn't say whether it was even 720p as it seemed like it could have even been lower.  I'm guessing that the various tracks are going to come in at different quality depending on who's doing the video and the quality of their gear and the track connection.  I've seen better but even if the lower resolution ends up being consistent for every broadcast I'm still happy to be able to watch from home.  The prohibitive cost of owning two road worthy cars (my hauling vehicle is a high miles rust bucket), traveling alone and footing the entire bill limits what I can afford to see live anymore.  I'm happy with the price point, the number of broadcasts and how much money it saves me while still being able to follow the sport.  Probably everyone doesn't feel that way as people are used to high resolution, in my case my TV is 4k and I wouldn't accept the lower resolution for anything other than racing.  We're all racing addicts so we're a pretty forgiving fan base.


Stan Meissner

Jake B.
February 06, 2020 at 11:26:59 AM
Joined: 10/21/2005
Posts: 526
Reply
This message was edited on February 06, 2020 at 12:59:18 PM by Jake B.

I'm also a newbie to Flo, and I also noticed the picture wasn't as sharp as it could have been.  I was streaming/casting from the app on my phone so that could have had something to do with it.  I'm not an expert on these things so I'm not sure what to do to make it better.


Signature here.


StanM
MyResults MyPressRelease
February 06, 2020 at 02:04:35 PM
Joined: 11/07/2006
Posts: 5548
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: Jake B. on February 06 2020 at 11:26:59 AM

I'm also a newbie to Flo, and I also noticed the picture wasn't as sharp as it could have been.  I was streaming/casting from the app on my phone so that could have had something to do with it.  I'm not an expert on these things so I'm not sure what to do to make it better.



I looked and couldn't find any way that adjust the resolution on the watch screen.  I'm streaming through the same hardware that I watch pristine 4k broadcasts sharp enough to spot a hair on a gnats ass a block away so there aren't any issues on my end.  I'll reserve my opinion of broadcast quality until I have seen races from a variety of tracks.  Actually, I'll probably check out some of the races in their archives to see how they compare to Volusia.  My observation is that dirt track broadcasts tend to lag behind other forms of streaming content in quality and reliability.  If I want a perfect picture I'll watch something in 4k on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Showtime, AT&T Now, or CBS All Access, all services that we subscribe to that deliver a perfect viewing experience.  If I want Sprint Car racing I lower my standards and accept buffering, lower resolution, audio problems , and auto membership  renewal that must be watched closely.  That is the nature of the beast.


Stan Meissner

Moparcar250
February 06, 2020 at 02:51:54 PM
Joined: 12/04/2018
Posts: 113
Reply

i just subscribed to flo yesterday for the first time. i watched the whole thing on my phone (becuase of remodeling going on right now) but the picture was awesome. not sure if it was better because it was on my phone or not. I did buy a new 70 inch for the races though this year



mcweld
February 06, 2020 at 03:53:09 PM
Joined: 03/11/2008
Posts: 93
Reply

I borrowed a buddy's log in info and was not impressed with it. I am spoiled with DirtVision I guess. 


Gary Allbuagh


Hooper31
February 06, 2020 at 05:23:57 PM
Joined: 09/03/2017
Posts: 364
Reply

Streaming mine onto my TV. Lots of pixelization in gthe screen. When they interview guys I kept wondering if there was something wrong with their face. Is that sunburn? Crazy skin burns? Just sketchy quality. 

Meh. It's racing. I'm glad to have it on my TV. 



billw39
February 06, 2020 at 05:27:44 PM
Joined: 12/13/2011
Posts: 70
Reply

i had flo for usac last year. most of the year i thought it was better than what they had last night. still not dv quality though



miledirtfan
February 06, 2020 at 05:55:28 PM
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 739
Reply

picture last night was not as good as it usually is 




polish2
February 06, 2020 at 06:00:31 PM
Joined: 03/03/2013
Posts: 33
Reply

I had the same video issues, but am very dissapointed with all the down time. Am not a fan of support divisions but 8 e mod heats with little going on was very dissapointing. It was on 1/3 of the screen with no audio, messaged them and tweeted them with no response.



SprintFan16
MyWebsite
February 06, 2020 at 06:09:01 PM
Joined: 05/03/2007
Posts: 1612
Reply

I bit the bullet and thank god there's a ton of races, this quality is pretty bad. Audio cutouts and tiling all over the place - it's just flat out consistent. Have had a few video blips as well, and good lord does the tiling get bad when that happens.



Centralpa410
February 06, 2020 at 06:26:48 PM
Joined: 12/06/2015
Posts: 183
Reply

Video and audio was horrible last night, and worse tonight, Thursday (Volusia).

i literally turned it off and didn’t watch the feature Wednesday, and also because the racing was non existent.

speedShift and DirtVision are incrementally better than this.

questioning my purchase, but $150 isn’t the end of the world.

just shows how good DV and SpeedShift really are.

 

 




StanM
MyResults MyPressRelease
February 06, 2020 at 06:39:48 PM
Joined: 11/07/2006
Posts: 5548
Reply

I'm watching night two and based on some of the low quality video I have streamed on my 55" Roku 4k TV my guess is that this resolution can't be more than 480p.  It's grainy as hell and keeps stopping for a split second and I'm hard wired to the router that streams local network affiliates every night in pristine HD.  As a matter of fact I'll be watching Star Trek PIcard later and the picture and sound are like sitting in a theater.  

I believe that this is the fifth PPV channel I have used and if these two nights are any indication it's the worst resolution and buffering of any I have seen recently.  The videographers surely have higher resolution cameras so there must be another issue that prevents them from broadcasting in at least 720p.  Photography and submitting to magazines was part of my gig not that many years ago so I have a pretty good understanding about resolution.  As a matter of fact I created a video slide show of our Norway trip in 1080p and posted to my personal YouTube channel along with some miscellaneous videos that I edited.  I don't claim to be an expert but I know enough about photo and video resolution to keep up my end of the conversation.

Anyways, it's Sprint Car racing in my home theater, I'm saving a ton of money and it's good enough to make out the car numbers.  Hell, our first television when I was a kid was a round black & white with knobs the size of saucers and three channels that signed off at midnight.  I'm not going to complain about the service but it does seem odd that any PPV service nowadays would offer up what appears to be no more than 480p.  I mean, you can't even purchase cameras that shoot that low of quality anymore.  That boggles my mind.


Stan Meissner

Centralpa410
February 06, 2020 at 07:16:09 PM
Joined: 12/06/2015
Posts: 183
Reply

Obviously Tony Stewart isn’t cheap at all, so I wonder what made them switch from SpeedShift.

SpeedShift service was great, as is DV.

im guessing Flo got a spike in sales the past 10 days, wonder what they’ll do.

This reminds me of Periscope.

 



StanM
MyResults MyPressRelease
February 06, 2020 at 07:48:36 PM
Joined: 11/07/2006
Posts: 5548
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: Centralpa410 on February 06 2020 at 07:16:09 PM

Obviously Tony Stewart isn’t cheap at all, so I wonder what made them switch from SpeedShift.

SpeedShift service was great, as is DV.

im guessing Flo got a spike in sales the past 10 days, wonder what they’ll do.

This reminds me of Periscope.

 



The quality at this point reminds me of some of the first PPV broadcasts that were so fuzzy I had a hard time making out the car numbers.  I am working off a grand total of two nights experience from one specific track so I will withold any sweeping opinions until I see more.  Going by the earlier posts in this thread I had assumed that the resolution was comparable with other services but so far that has not been the case.  Nevertheless, it's still great to be able to watch racing and at this price it would still be a good deal if I had to use binoculars to see it from across the family room.  Non-racing-fans in my family who are accustomed to full HD wouldn't agree but the only other one in the room is a cat who doesn't give a damn so...

One suggestion I would make after watching the moving All Stars logo for a half hour would be to give an ETA on when racing will resume so we can watch something else until it resumes.  This is still a good deal and I suspect there will be better broadcasts during the course of the season. 

 


Stan Meissner


MichaelDoDFlo
February 06, 2020 at 10:50:42 PM
Joined: 02/06/2020
Posts: 2
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: StanM on February 06 2020 at 07:48:36 PM

The quality at this point reminds me of some of the first PPV broadcasts that were so fuzzy I had a hard time making out the car numbers.  I am working off a grand total of two nights experience from one specific track so I will withold any sweeping opinions until I see more.  Going by the earlier posts in this thread I had assumed that the resolution was comparable with other services but so far that has not been the case.  Nevertheless, it's still great to be able to watch racing and at this price it would still be a good deal if I had to use binoculars to see it from across the family room.  Non-racing-fans in my family who are accustomed to full HD wouldn't agree but the only other one in the room is a cat who doesn't give a damn so...

One suggestion I would make after watching the moving All Stars logo for a half hour would be to give an ETA on when racing will resume so we can watch something else until it resumes.  This is still a good deal and I suspect there will be better broadcasts during the course of the season. 

 



Hey all,

Really appreciate the feedback/criticism, etc. etc. Much of it is warranted. 

Many of you may not know me ... but my name is Michael Rigsby, and I'm the new GM of Flo Racing. I was the owner and operator of DirtonDirt.com for 13 years, and if any of you are late model fans you know that our track record at DoD was sparkling, and whether it was the World 100, Knoxville Late Model Nationals, the Dream, the Gateway Dirt Nationals, or over 300 other LIVE events, we built a hell of a reputation as one of the best streaming platforms in the United States. 

Now I have a new challenge with FloRacing, but one I'm very much looking forward to tackling. From USAC to the All-Stars ... to Tony trusting us with Eldora, we are beyond excited. 

No doubt ... the first 2 nights of Volusia weren't perfect. Not only are we facing some challenges with a split broadcast with Dirtvision (We thank them for allowing us to broadcast the All-Stars at their venue by the way), but with limited connectivitry on site, and a number of other "gremlins" ... things weren't perfect. Many of those gremlins forced us to lower the quality a bit to ensure the stream was able to "go out" ... but we still had some glitches no doubt. That would explain the "picture quality" issue many of you experienced. 

That also affected our ability to roll all the filler content that we did on Wednesday night. It was alot happening at once, but more "circumstance" than anything. 

There isn't a human being on the planet who's more critical of his own work and his team's work than me. I built DoD to over 20 employees that way, and am working to do the same thing now at FloRacing. 

Trust me ... we will get there. I won't allow it happening ANY other way. We will do in sprint car racing what we did in late model racing. I'm not naive ... there are many challenges we have to improve on like customer support, quality, etc. But this will end up where we want it. That I know. 

I'm looking forward to East Bay Monday and getting right back on the horse. 

If any of you have any questions you can email me directly .... [email protected] ... I'm an open book and you can reach me there. 

Thanks all, and I look forward to being very involved in sprint car racing this year and in the future. 

Michael Rigsby
GM of FloRacing









SprintFan16
MyWebsite
February 06, 2020 at 11:48:14 PM
Joined: 05/03/2007
Posts: 1612
Reply

Kind of a breath of fresh air to see this approach, thanks for posting Michael. I'm hoping limited uplink bandwidth was causing most of the issues. Kind of surprised to read about connectivity issues - I thought DV had their own production trailer with AvL VSAT on it for their uplink, unless maybe you were using that connection as well.

Here's hoping to wide pipes for you moving forward so we can see all the action is much better quality - best of luck.



BIGFISH
MyWebsite
February 07, 2020 at 01:35:31 AM
Joined: 01/02/2007
Posts: 5252
Reply

While Mike here will be waiting for the race on Monday at East Bay to get back on his horse, the Midgets will be running on Flo at the 2020 Winter Dirt Games at Ocala, both Friday and Saturday night.... StanM, you are absolutely right, the picture quality does change depending on the tracks "connection", etc. The longer the track itself has been streaming with good equipment, the better the Flo stream will be.


Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 


Moparcar250
February 07, 2020 at 08:08:54 AM
Joined: 12/04/2018
Posts: 113
Reply

i think there is a bunch of spoiled whiney babies here. my picture was fine. only thing that bothered me was during the dash , when the camera just followed the leader while there was an epic battle going on behind him that we could not see. Overall i was very happy with it 



Gunner
MyWebsite
February 07, 2020 at 09:02:57 AM
Joined: 04/27/2009
Posts: 427
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: Moparcar250 on February 07 2020 at 08:08:54 AM

i think there is a bunch of spoiled whiney babies here. my picture was fine. only thing that bothered me was during the dash , when the camera just followed the leader while there was an epic battle going on behind him that we could not see. Overall i was very happy with it 



Speaking for myself I also know the gremlins faced while streaming from a facility. A lot of tracks cant justify the cost of a hard line internet and some use satellite with a monthly limit. Even with a hard line a lot of providers limit upload speed so people can download movies. Some times I have relied on Jet Packs to get the signal out. We check for a minimum upload speed prior to any event. Problem is once all the fans show up it eats into the speed. The end result is the stream could drop after the 4 wide or parade lap because everyone wants to upload a picture or video all at once. I would rather lower my broadcast quality a bit to not risk an all out drop. Over time equipment is getting better. Remember that year no one could use cell phones at Knoxville during Nationals week?


See more racing videos at
http://www.youtube.com/user/dagunner






Post Reply
You must be logged in to Post a Message.
Not a member register Here.
Already registered? Please Login





If you have a website and would like to set up a forum here at HoseHeadForums.com
please contact us by using the contact link at the top of the page.

© 2024 HoseHeadForums.com Privacy Policy