Smart TVs & BT Sport: 11 Answers (For Beginners)

Are you in the United Kingdom and planning on subscribing to BT Sport?

If you’re a sports enthusiast and don’t want to miss important moments during an important game, BT Sport is a good service to subscribe to, especially if you already have a BT subscription.

That said, it would be good to know more about the service before jumping on a subscription.

About Smart TVs and BT Sport.

BT Sport is a service offered by BT that allows subscribers to watch live sports channels. It has options for viewing through set-top boxes and an app for smart TVs, computers, and mobile devices.

1. Do You Need a Smart TV for BT Sport?

You don’t need a smart TV to access BT Sport.

There are six ways to watch BT Sport without having to install the app on a smart TV.

• If you are subscribed to the Sky Digital Satellite Platform, you can get the BT Sport Pack for as low as £10 a month.
• For those who subscribe to BT Broadband, you can get BT Sport at £16 a month. Without a BT broadband subscription, BT Sport will cost you £29.99.
• BT Broadband subscribers may also access BT Sport using the online player for laptops or desktops. You just need your BT ID to sign in and watch.
• You can also access BT Sport through the app for those on BT Mobile or BT Broadband.
• If you own a Microsoft Xbox, you can also download the BT Sport app on your console.
• Should your TV not be compatible with BT Sport App, you can also access its content through the Google Chromecast.

Check Also:  The demographics of NFL fans.

2. How Can You Watch BT Sport on a Smart TV?

You can watch BT Sport on a smart TV by installing the app.

BT Sport is available for:

• Apple TV
• Android TV
• NOW TV
• Amazon Fire TV OS
• Samsung
• Roku Sticks

If your smart TV does not run any of these operating systems, you can watch it through Chromecast.

3. How Do You Connect a Smart TV to BT Sport?

You only need to enter your BT ID and password to log in to your smart TV to the BT Sport app.

4. How Do You Download the BT Sport App on a Smart TV?

You can download the BT Sport app through the app store of your smart TV.

5. Does BT Sport Still Work without a Subscription?

Unfortunately, you need to subscribe to the services of BT for you to watch content from BT Sports.

If you don’t want to fully sign up for BT, you can opt to sign up for the BT Sports Monthly Pass.

• The BT Sports Monthly Pass is a 30-day renewal service that gives you access to all channels in the BT Sports service for a month.
• The BT Sports Monthly Pass costs £25 and renews automatically after 30 days.
• The nice thing about the BT Sports pass is that you may cancel anytime you want.
• The BT Sports Monthly Pass does have some limitations, primarily being an app-only service. You cannot use it to watch through a set-top box system.
• However, you don’t need to be subscribed to BT’s internet service for it to work. Any Internet subscription will do.

6. Can You Sign Up for BT Sport on Your Smart TV?

You can only sign-up for BT Sport on a computer or smartphone.

7. How Many Devices Can Use a BT Sport Account?

A total of two devices can use a single BT Sport account.

This limit is regardless of how you access the app. Thus, whether you use a smart TV, smartphone, or computer, you may only have two screens using your BT Sport account at the same time. The same can be said for the BT Sport Monthly pack.

For those who access BT Sport through a set-top box, you can have another TV running the same service, provided that it has its own BT box.

8. Why is There Screen Tearing when Watching BT Sport on TV?

Screen tearing occurs on BT Sport due to Internet connectivity issues.

In order to fully enjoy BT Sport, your connection speed must be up to speed. Having other devices connected to the same network may be tanking your speed.

While an Internet speed of 400 KB per second is the minimum for the online player, BT recommends at least 3.5 Mbps of speed.

9. Why is There Motion Blur on BT Sport?

Motion blur is a common occurrence when watching sports matches on the TV.

You can resolve this by turning on the motion smoothing feature of your TV.

Take note that, while motion smoothing fixes blur issues in games, it isn’t ideal for other content, such as movies or TV shows, so make sure to turn it off after watching the game.

10. Does BT Sport Work with All the Major Smart TV Brands?

BT Sports works with brands like Samsung, which the BT site explicitly notes. It’s also going to work with Sony since it uses the Android TV platform.

For brands like LG and Vizio, you can use the BT Sports app through Chromecast.

11. What Are the Best TVs for BT Sport?

As sports games tend to be fast-paced and spontaneous, you need to have a TV that can handle all the motion-blur and response times.

Here are some suggested TV models to look for.

Samsung Q80T

The Samsung Q80T is a QLED TV from the brand’s flagship line.

• It delivers excellent images consistently. It uses a VA panel to deliver deep blacks and a full-array local dimming to boost its performance.
• In well-lit environments, the Q80T can handle glare and reflections quite well.
• Color accuracy is excellent, and the color gamut is impressive. That makes it also ideal for HDR content, as highlights are emphasized without issues.
• Viewing angles is not much of a problem here, so you can have guests over to watch sports events like the Super Bowl.
• The only issue with the Q80T is its uniformity on the screen, although only sharp eyes will notice the problem. That said, Q80T still makes a good choice for use with BT Sport.

Sony A8H

The Sony A8H is another viable option for use with the BT Sport app, considering all the good things this smart TV brings to your living room.

• Featuring the Android TV platform, the A8H also comes with Chromecast, which can also access the BT Sport App.
• As an OLED TV, the A8H is capable of perfect blacks in dark rooms.
• It can handle the conversion of 24 fps content to 30 or 60 fps, but the A8H may stutter at low frame rates.
• The A8H also handles reflections and glare well.
• Viewing angles are superb, which makes it perfect for family night viewing.
• It also upscales content from lower resolutions.
• In instances when HDR is available, the A8H will deliver quality content. You get perfect blacks and an excellent color gamut that lets content in HDR stand out.
• The downside though is that its OLED panel is prone to burn-in, which is true of all OLED TVs. But as long as you watch a variety of content, that won’t be much of an issue.

Sony X950H

The Sony X950H is an Android TV that leans toward the mid-price range.

• It features a quick response time that smoothes fast-moving content and uses Black Frame Insertion to enhance motion, but it is prone to flickering at 120 Hz.
• Color accuracy is remarkable, so you probably won’t have to calibrate the X950H when you get it.
• The X950H also has a good contrast ratio, black uniformity, and local dimming, which is great for late-night game catch-ups.
• The X950H is weak when it comes to viewing angles. That means, if you have family or friends over to watch the games with you, they may experience some washout when watching at an angle. Considering that Sony uses the X-Wide Angle technology, it’s kind of disappointing that viewing angles are mediocre.
• For those into video games, the X950H has a low input lag and a good response time. It has 120 Hz refresh rate but does not have a variable refresh rate to prevent screen tearing.

 

Sources:

BT Sport App

BT Sport Monthly Pass

Rtings.com