Virgin Media Community

[FGM]

Hello,

I only just finally made the jump from my old Virgin TiVo box to the new 360 software on a V6 box. Quite pleased with it so far after a bit of a learning curve. 

One sort of issue I have is with the picture quality. The issue is I feel the overall picture seems a bit washed out. I have readjusted the settings on my Samsung UHD television which helped somewhat, but I just can’t escape the feeling  blacks are not real black and picture seems a little less well-defined from when I had the TiVo box. Now, I’ve searched the forums and changed the output resolution (now on Automatic) and put the follow frame rate setting to On. I assume previously my television was doing the upscaling from the 1080p of the TiVo box. All this gets me a little closer to quality I’m looking for, but still not quite how I had easily achieved it with the TiVo box, even if I set the V6 to output 1080p and let the Samsung upscale from there (I assume). 
Even the mauve colour of the guide doesn’t have a nice contrast like it had (though this may be more the new design). 

I have worked in AV most of my life, and still do, which included calibrating panels and projectors, so I know what results I’m trying to achieve.

My question to those who might know, when you went from the old TiVo box to the V6 did you notice any difference in picture quality for better or worse? Or now with the new 360 software which has taken away the ability to choose pass-through on the HDMI output resolution from what I’ve read, has that made any difference to your picture quality? 

Many thanks in advance for any insights. 

[japitts]

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@FGM wrote:

I only just finally made the jump from my old Virgin TiVo box to the new 360 software on a V6 box. Quite pleased with it so far after a bit of a learning curve.

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Just to clarify, have you swapped a TiVo for a 360? Or converted a V6 into a 360. I think you mean the former, but worth checking now.

There's pictures of the boxes here - whilst a V6 & 360 are the same hardware, the software is different hence the common parlance.

[FGM]

Hi jappits and thank you for the response. 

What I was sent was the ‘new 360’ box to replace the TiVo.
As far as I can tell it looks to be the same hardware as the V6 (as you mentioned) but from what I’ve researched there is a new ‘Humax’ box, whether that is exactly the same chassis as the V6 built by Humax I am confused about as I read there is a new smaller form factor box available? 

Hope that makes sense. 

[japitts]

I use a V6 so can't help with the software side of the 360 but I'll help with the background...

TiVo refers to both the software platform which drives TiVo & V6 boxes, as well as the legacy TiVo-box. If you have VM's multiroom service with more than one TV box in different rooms, this is one crucial difference between the TiVo & 360-software platforms.

In 360-land, multiroom installs have one "master" box with a hard drive, and then "mini-boxes" that are half the height of the master box because they don't have a hard drive. All their recording functionality is streamed from the master box. In TiVo/V6-land, all multiroom boxes are fully functional without this limitation. If you convert V6 into 360, they retain their hard drives. But a TiVo can't convert and will be replaced - either with a 360-master (for your main box) or a 360-mini (if it's an additional)

Humax & Arris are VM's two hardware suppliers for the boxes, but for "on the ground" functional purposes, make no difference and references to this can often cause confusion.

[FGM]

Thank you for the insights, jappits. 

As I was researching all this after getting the new box I found myself getting confused because all the jargon was used so interchangeably, partly my interpretation, partly some of the public. 
So, good to get the proper lowdown. 

So, referring to the TiVo legacy box vs the V6 box with TiVo software has anyone seen a difference in video quality between the two hardware platforms when they initially switched? I’m curious if one had superior processing, like perhaps the legacy TiVo box and this might be what I’m seeing. 
or… has anyone noticed a difference in PQ when the 360 software was installed from previous TiVo software on the V6 box? I can’t imagine software making a difference in PQ except for removing the ability to chose ‘pass-through’ and let the panel do the scaling. To be clear, I’m not seeing macro-blocking, jumping or obvious artifacting, just a sort of a general lack of punch or something - can’t put my finger on it - almost like the black levels are off - no matter how much I adjust settings on my TV panel to correct for it. Maybe I’m just being too picky - but had no issues with the old TiVo box in this regard.  
I’m on firmware 4.36 by the way.   

[jamesredfern]

I agree the picture quality of the 360 isn't great. I just don't think it does a particularly good job at upscale to 4k. The best results I've had it setting the box to 720p and let the tv upscale to 4k. The picture for me looks a lot better (even though it shouldn't, I know)

[FGM]

Thank you for the reply, James. 
Glad to see it’s not just me. 
Interestingly, about an hour before seeing your reply I set the box to 1080i and noticed an improvement. This way my TV will also convert from interlaced to progressive and it made a big difference. It’s now more what I expected to see. 

I had done this initially when I was playing with settings to try and get some sort of semblance of a picture I know it should be, but hadn’t done a thorough tweak of my TV settings, yet. I really had to work at getting good and accurate contrast, black level and colour. With the old TiVo box it was easier to get the picture more accurate and then tweak to my own preferences. With this new box it was a challenge. 

I’ll see how it goes with keeping the box at 1080i  - so far, so good - not perfect but now more acceptable. 

[Kath_F]

Hi FGM, 

Thanks for your post and apologies to hear you've been having an issue with the quality of the picture since upgrading your box. 

I'm glad you've been able to find a setting that suits you better. 

I've not been able to locate your account using your Forum credentials to be able to check your box so if you would like me to double check your box levels, please reply to the private message I have just sent you. Just click on the little plum envelope at the top right-hand side of the page to access your inbox.

Thanks, 

[Kath_F]

Hi FGM, 

Thanks for coming back to me via private message with your details. 

I have taken a look at your 360 box but currently no stats are showing as the box is unreachable. This suggests the box is switched off. 

Can you turn the box on, pop a post here to let us know it's on and then leave on until me, or another member of the team are able to test the box. This will allow us to check things further for you. 

Many thanks, 

[FGM]

Hello. 

I’ve turned it on now.