Sky has started rolling out a key update to the Sky Entertainment OS that powers its branded Sky Glass LCD TVs, which is said to deliver a “transformative” upgrade in picture quality.
The update is meant to address some criticism over the quality of pictures that were leveled at the Sky Glass TVs when they first launched. At the time, Sky had a bit of a PR nightmare, with numerous complaints that the on-screen images appeared “washed out” and “lacking in vibrancy”, among other claims.
Sky now says it has solved these issues via a firmware update that’s focused on the TVs’ local dimming engine. It’s believed that this is what is responsible for artificially brightening and darkening the content in certain scenes. It was reportedly also guilty of struggling to combine bright and dark picture elements simultaneously, leading to rather grey and dull images at times.
Sky said the “Aurora Display” picture update is being rolled out now and will be made available to all customers by the end of the week. It promised that the update will enhance the existing “Vivid Mode”, which is accessible from the Options menu, treating users to a “punchier picture with higher levels of contrast and colour saturation - for colours that pop”.
As a result, customers should benefit from an improved viewing experience for both live and on-demand content, as well as all of their streaming apps. They’ll be able to enjoy movies and shows as they’re designed to look, and experience sports as if they’re actually present at the event.
WhatHiFi’s Tom Parsons reported that during a demo of the update back in October, he saw an “obvious improvement in terms of contrast, with deep blacks and punchy, vibrant highlights combining more readily.” He added that the picture was vastly more impactful and impressive compared to the original Sky Glass TV.
That said, there’s no guarantee that the update will work as well in the real world as it did in the demo. But at least Sky Glass TV owners can now be optimistic that their picture quality will soon be improved.
While Sky’s press release mentioned that the Aurora Display update will improve the pictures in “Vivid Mode”, the company has since confirmed that it will be applied to all TV modes.
Besides the improved pictures, Sky said there’s a new feature that may come in handy for those who have a tendency to misplace their remote controls. With the update, users will be able to say “Hello Sky, where’s my remote” and activate a beeping noise from the zapper, making it easier to locate.
Sky also said that the new ITVX app that was recently added to Sky Glass and Sky Stream will soon be coming to Sky Q users too.
