Virgin Media Community

[davidpalmer]

I have had the new 360 box for a week now and am starting to get used to new interface and begining to appreciate some of the benefits it will offer compared to the old V6 particularly in searching for new content to watch and I really like the scanning forward and back options.  It's great to be able to set up different users too.

Some series link functionality is 'work in progress' for example trying to delete future episodes I have series linked only gives me the option of deleting the whole series link and I'm never sure what channels will be preferred when I set up my series link meaning I often watch with sign language when that wouldn't be my preference. 

I've never been a fan of voice control but must admit that I've used it a couple of times and it works really well.

By biggest issue and the only thing I now regret losing the old V6 box for is the picture quality.  I have a 4k tv (hisense H65U8BUK) which displayed a stunning picture with the V6 box.  With the 360 box although the picture is sharp the colours are way off with reds in particular very dull and lifeless.  I have found the HDMI settings and using the Automatic & 4K settings there is no improvement.  If I change to 1080p the colour is as I would hope but with a corresponding reduction in the overall picture quality. Is this an area that will likely be improved or is there anything I can do to improve the situation.

Currently I resolve the issue by watching iplayer and All4 directly through the TVs apps which gives me the same stunning picture I used to enjoy with my V6 box but in a perfect world I would prefer to use the 360 box as the hub for all of my TV viewing.

Any help or advice gratefully received

David.. 

[ozsat]

With the V6 I found the best video outputs were 2160p (both) and 1080p - so the tv did the final upscaling.

But the 360 does all the upscaling. I would prefer the tv does it as it does a better job - but currently it is not an option.

As a test - try changing the 360 video output to 1080p instead of automatic.

[deans6571]

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@ozsat wrote:

With the V6 I found the best video outputs were 2160p (both) and 1080p - so the tv did the final upscaling.

But the 360 does all the upscaling. I would prefer the tv does it as it does a better job - but currently it is not an option.

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......that's quite a massive flaw then, no?

If there is no option to make the TV upscale, (and lets be honest, a lot of TVs actually do a far better job) then users are stuck watching a far less superior picture than they would have if they had stuck with the V6 - that doesn't sound like progress to me...?!!!?!

IIRC, it was years before the V6 Video Output settings were updated to actually work properly and correctly - sounds like the 360 could be following the same route.....

[davidpalmer]

Thanks for getting back to me Ozsat and especially for confirming that there has been a fundamental change in picture processing with the new 360 box and not necessarily for the better. 

I've tried changing video output to 1080 and 780 and this does improve the colour being displayed but obviously these resolutions don't, as you would expect, look as good as 4k.

I guess I should try changing the settings on my TV to see if it can make better use of the signal it is receiving from the 360.  I hate touching the TV settings once I get the picture I like as it's a bit like getting your car seat just right and then putting the car in for a service and they move the seat and it takes months to find the perfect settings again 🙂  

Thanks again for the response

David

[ozsat]

I agree it is - I want the box to let the tv upscale.

But the 360 (currently) is the same as SkyQ and the output is fixed.

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@deans6571 wrote:

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@ozsat wrote:

With the V6 I found the best video outputs were 2160p (both) and 1080p - so the tv did the final upscaling.

But the 360 does all the upscaling. I would prefer the tv does it as it does a better job - but currently it is not an option.

---

......that's quite a massive flaw then, no?

If there is no option to make the TV upscale, (and lets be honest, a lot of TVs actually do a far better job) then users are stuck watching a far less superior picture than they would have if they had stuck with the V6 - that doesn't sound like progress to me...?!!!?!

IIRC, it was years before the V6 Video Output settings were updated to actually work properly and correctly - sounds like the 360 could be following the same route.....

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[scott_kelly1977]

So glad I found this.

I got my 360 box about 4 weeks ago. Interface is certainly something to get used to but with time I'm sure will be improved.

I noticed within as few days that the colours were 'off'. As you said David, just dull and not really red. Same with yellow. Just a manky version of what Yellow is supposed to be.

As seems to be the issue, my setting were set to 4K. I spent HOURS with my TV settings trying to improve it, be which should never be the case in the first instance, but still it wasn't right.

If I hadn't found this post I probably would have kept changing my TV settings. I have now changed it to 1080p and voila! Bright beautiful reds and yellows as it should be.

VM need to fix this issue before mass rollout.

Thanks for sharing this fix as well but wonder how many other 360 users are wasting time trying to fix an issue that really shouldn't be an issue.

[Peter_D]

My experience of 360 Box so far is it is full of issues that shouldn't be issues at all

[davidpalmer]

I think that the 360 will be a decent bit of kit when it is complete.  I was happy with the V6 box and perhaps should have been more wary when I got the invitation to switch to the 360.  The marketing suggested I would be getting some unspecified additional functionality (plus voice control) I naively thought it would be at least as good as the old box and although I think that it will eventually be better it is currently quite a bit worse with the picture quality the biggest disappointment.  Given my time again I wouldn't change to the 360 box at this stage for the picture issues alone.

That said, changes do seem to be happening on a fairly regular basis so I'm hopeful that eventually these things will be resolved although I find the vague communication and scant details around the 360 and its development frustrating.  If the picture issue is ever resolved I'm not sure how I will ever find out and reset the box from 1080p back to 4k.  I just hope that when this happens they will force a reset back to the automatic picture setting but who knows.  At this stage I'm not even sure if the picture issue is on the fix list.  I guess this the price to pay for being an early adopter.

[deans6571]

...I still can't understand why this is available when there are so many issues with the box?

Surely it should have remained with the testers until user issues were patched with firmware updates..??!

[kirk1690]

Why am I not surprised.im sticking with V6 through experience.old tivo was better picture as well .