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Help Sound delay when watching Netflix

T

Tony407

Newbie
As the title says, I'm getting an audio delay whenever I'm watching Netflix (via Netflix app). All audio is behind about a half second or so. It's really annoying because it looks like everything is dubbed really poorly. It doesn't seem to matter whether or not I'm using 4G LTE or Wifi, and it happens whenever I use Bluetooth or wired headphones, but NOT when using the Galaxy's built-in speaker. Bluetooth seems the worse and wired headphones are less of a delay, but still present.

Anyone else out there having this problem or know of any fixes?

Tony
 
In the UK I am using Netflix via 3G on the train in the morning and I don't have these issues at all. Apart from a reinstal of the app I am not sure what to suggest.
 
Yes, I have this same problem. I have scoured several forums and have never seen posts that talk about fixes of any kind. Apparently we just have to suck it up! ;)

I suspect that Samsung and Netflix just don't play well together in this case, and neither has sufficient financial motivation to investigate which one needs to make some type of change to correct the problem.

I even went to the Samsung Store at Best Buy, and tried casting to a Samsung TV using the Samsung Direct WiFi casting (mirroring) and the audio sync was even worse.

The guy working there, said that he used his Note 3 at home, casting to his Samsung TV using direct WiFi and it works great all the time no problems. So I asked him to demo his phone there in the store. Lo and Behold!! He tried streaming Netflix to the TV in the store and had the same exact results that I have!

I have tried the MHL 2.0 adapter, the Samsung allshare hub and direct WiFi to a Samsung TV... all have unacceptable audio delays of at least 1 and sometimes 2 seconds.

Even on the phone itself, not streaming to anything at all, there is the delay that you talked about OP.

Which is it: Netflix or Samsung at fault... the world may never know.

Disappointing on such an otherwise terrific phone.
 
Tony407 said:
As the title says, I'm getting an audio delay whenever I'm watching Netflix (via Netflix app). All audio is behind about a half second or so. It's really annoying because it looks like everything is dubbed really poorly. It doesn't seem to matter whether or not I'm using 4G LTE or Wifi, and it happens whenever I use Bluetooth or wired headphones, but NOT when using the Galaxy's built-in speaker. Bluetooth seems the worse and wired headphones are less of a delay, but still present.

Anyone else out there having this problem or know of any fixes?

Tony
Click to expand...

Some Netflix material itself has an inherent lip-sync issue that will show up no matter what you play it back with.

However, there is also a known lip-sync delay bug with the Android Netflix client and Bluetooth audio devices. I have tried the following Android devices:
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 (Android 4.4.2)
    Nexus 7 2013 (rev2) (Android 5.0.2)
    Hisense Sero 7 Pro (Android 4.2.1)
with the following Bluetooth audio devices:
  • Monoprice 11947 On-The-Ear Headphones
  • Monoprice 10585 Premium On-The-Ear Headphones
  • Creative D80 Portable Speaker
There is a significant lip-sync delay (anywhere from 1/4s to 1/2s) with the Android Netflix client with all combinations of these that I have tried. With these same Android devices and Bluetooth audio devices, the following apps play back perfectly with no lip-sync issues:
  • Amazon Video
  • Hulu
  • TiVo Roamio Streaming
  • YouTube
  • Native Android video players
  • Other Android apps (games, etc.)
The only combination with a lip-sync delay is the Android Netflix client with a Bluetooth audio device. Wired headphones are fine. I also tried the iPhone Netflix app with the Bluetooth audio devices and that plays back fine, so this is a problem only with their Android client.

Bluetooth itself has a 3ms latency; the delay is not a Bluetooth problem. In games with sound effects, they happen immediately through Bluetooth audio.

I called into Netflix customer service department so many times. Every time, the same script - clear the app cache, restart the Android device, charge the battery in the Bluetooth device, power-cycle the router and cablemodem, unpair and repair the devices, etc. Some customer service reps told me it was normal Bluetooth behavior (it is not - the latency is 3ms), most told me it was the Bluetooth interfering with the Wifi connection (wat?). I repeatedly explained my testing results (long) and how it entirely points to a software issue. After many calls, I begged the rep to contact the next-level support to report this as a bug, and finally got confirmation that their Android client "has some issues" with Bluetooth audio, but no mention of a fix.

So there you have it. Call into Netflix customer support, repeatedly! Maybe we can get them to fix the problem.
 
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