Saw a pirated version, then saw it on a paid service. The pirated version looked lovely. The paid one was almost unwatchable and we had to pause it and dick around with the TV settings until we could see something.
Exactly my experience; I watched a downloaded version first on my PC, then my wife and I watched the version on our local streamed station (Fox, in Estonia), and we thought it looked terrible. It was so bad we were wondering if they dialed down the quality to account for demand. Ended up giving her our iPad to watch the pirated version on.
The best pirated versions are from Amazon streaming, which apparently has a higher bitrate. I’m surprised that Amazon would get a high quality master from HBO that they can re-encode, but supposedly that is the case.
However, I actually checked all the pirated versions to make sure I wasn’t crazy, and for me, all versions looked abysmal.
I was at a friends house and we had to wait until it finished being shown in the US and then we had to wait about 20 minutes before we could see it, I didn't ask which service it was through, but I do know that it wasn't an official one, could have been a torrent even. I could see people's faces in that version and didn't notice any banding. I then saw it again that evening, through my housemates paid account, which I think is NowTV, and couldn't see peoples faces and banding was everywhere.
I meant that the pirated version originates from some of the streaming services. I just downloaded the best version I could find (Amazon 1080p) and it didn't seem to be any better than the HBO streamed version, which I originally watched. To me the quality is just fine, but banding is visible in some scenes and I have to watch it in a dark room to see all the details.
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Saw a pirated version, then saw it on a paid service. The pirated version looked lovely. The paid one was almost unwatchable and we had to pause it and dick around with the TV settings until we could see something.
Exactly my experience; I watched a downloaded version first on my PC, then my wife and I watched the version on our local streamed station (Fox, in Estonia), and we thought it looked terrible. It was so bad we were wondering if they dialed down the quality to account for demand. Ended up giving her our iPad to watch the pirated version on.
The best pirated versions are from Amazon streaming, which apparently has a higher bitrate. I’m surprised that Amazon would get a high quality master from HBO that they can re-encode, but supposedly that is the case.
However, I actually checked all the pirated versions to make sure I wasn’t crazy, and for me, all versions looked abysmal.
What's the source of the pirated version?
The internet.
I don't think there are sources other than streaming services.. So it's impossible that the quality would be better.
I was at a friends house and we had to wait until it finished being shown in the US and then we had to wait about 20 minutes before we could see it, I didn't ask which service it was through, but I do know that it wasn't an official one, could have been a torrent even. I could see people's faces in that version and didn't notice any banding. I then saw it again that evening, through my housemates paid account, which I think is NowTV, and couldn't see peoples faces and banding was everywhere.
I meant that the pirated version originates from some of the streaming services. I just downloaded the best version I could find (Amazon 1080p) and it didn't seem to be any better than the HBO streamed version, which I originally watched. To me the quality is just fine, but banding is visible in some scenes and I have to watch it in a dark room to see all the details.