Virgin Media Community

[FGM]

Quite possibly.
I have done (and still do occasionally) calibration of screens and projectors in professional and academic environments. 
I’ve rarely had to do this much tweaking to get an acceptable picture on any modern screen, and some of the settings I have to dial in are more extreme than normal. 
All my other sources - Blu-Ray player, DVD player with both PAL and NTSC playback, antenna and the old Virgin TiVo box when I had it are able to provide good base-level images that I can calibrate easily - maybe fuss over a bit to my personal liking - but this new box has been a challenge.

It very well may be the ability of the box and whatever decoding chip it is using.
 

[Tom_W1]

Hi @FGM, thanks for your post and I'm sorry to hear you're having picture issues with your TV360.

You've obviously already searched through community posts and used your own knowledge to try and sort this, unfortunately with little success.

In terms of the TV360 box being unreachable as discussed in the other thread you'd posted in, this could be something as simple as the box being turned off or in stand by when we run our diagnotics - it does need to be turned on in order for us to accurately identify any issues.

Are you able to take a photograph of your TV so this can help us to identify any faults with your picture and resolve it accordingly?

Also @jamesredfearn, can you please provide more detail as to what the issue with your picture is and I'll do my best to help?

Regards

[FGM]

Hello Tom, 

yes, I have taken a lot of time to sort this out. Every time I’m asked to turn on the box here I do it and then a day goes by and no word, only to be told it wasn’t reachable and asked to turn it on. Around and around we go. 
I’ve asked for a specific time for it to be on but that request was not answered or addressed. The box times out after inactivity. Now I’m being asked to take a picture - a still - to send to you. What good is a still going to do? 
It is the quality of the decoding, I just don’t t think the chip in these boxes are up to the job. 
I have dealt with this for weeks now to the point of being past my cooling off period, coincidentally. So I guess I’m stuck with it. On top of all this, I’m being charged a £50 activation fee - for what? I had to instal it myself, update the firmware and deal with this back and forth “we cannot connect to the box”. I’ve done everything on my end to help the techs and service team there. 

[jamesredfern]

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@Tom_W1 wrote:

Also @jamesredfearn, can you please provide more detail as to what the issue with your picture is and I'll do my best to help?

Regards

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Its is a general comment on the quality of the video being sent out from the box.  Comparing to other sources the 360 box has subpar picture quality.  The quality of the HD channels is no where near as good as other sources, even my old SKY+HD box (currently used as freesat) which outputs 720p has a lot better picture and sound for that matter, and that box it nearly 15 years old.  Comparing the same HD channels between the 2 the Sky box looks like 4k and the 360 box somewhere between SD and HD.  I'm not talking about pixelization or picture breakup. This was apparent when I forst had Virgin installed to replace my SKY subscription.  I had both running side by side for a month.  Sky Sports for example was dire compared to Skys broadcast.

[Mcgaz]

It seems unlikely you're going to get what you want here as it looks like you'll need to call in to get help & the average customer service representative won't know anything about this.

A while back, my box struggled to pick the correct resolution, but I think it's old firmware so may not be relevant now. You've said that you have set it to 1080i, but if your TV is 4k capable, it should be set to 2160p. It's in the settings under video output. That's all I can offer!

[FGM]

Thank you for the response. 

As far as what resolution is best to have the box set to its a matter of which device has the superior upconversion. I did have the Virgin box set to 2160 for my 4K Samsung. The quality was inferior and why I had changed to 1080i - to let the Samsung do the upconversion, not only in resolution but from interlaced to progressive scan - it does this better than the Virgin box does if the box is set to 2160. Still, if the source is sub-standard then even choosing the kit with the superior conversion will not make it suddenly the best quality. Garbage in, garbage out.
As I mentioned, the older TiVo box, even at 1080p at it’s max resolution was superior and my Samsung upscaled this and it was more than acceptable.
It’s as good as it’s going to get I’m afraid. They really need to revisit the chipset they are using, that is if they care. Apparently Sky TV sure does care and I will likely make the switch. 

[smartn]

I find I'm happy with the quality of BT Sport but I find Sky Sports quality not so good which to me suggests the box is capable of better on the Sky channels.

[Paulina_Z]

Hi @FGM,

Thank you for coming back to us. As my colleague previously asked, are you able to provide an image of your TV box when it is on, so we can see if this can help us identify the issue? 

Please keep us updated.

Thank you.

[jamesredfern]

I don't think taking a picture will display what the issue is.  Its not the picture is breaking up, its the quality of the channel being sent to us, or how the box decodes the signal.  All a picture will do is give you a still image taken by a camera which will not show the detail, and not be a true image of what people are watching.

[newapollo]

Hi @jamesredfern 

You can take a video, there's a link between the camera icon and the numbered list icon when you reply so you can insert a video (just enter the video url)