Virgin V6 box announcement

Vertigo

Vertigo

Vertigo

Soldato
Joined
28 Dec 2003
Posts
16,518
https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/30/virgin-media-v6/

Is it just me or is this a hopeless load of rubbish compared to Sky Q?

I was fully expecting them to launch a very similar system, with streaming satellite boxes and so forth, but all they've announced is a slight breathed-on version of their old junk.

Looks like they won't even be doing broadcast 4K either, instead touting it as a 4K Netflix solution, yet anyone with a 4K TV will already have Netflix built into it so what's the point?

Utterly hopeless VM.
 
Looks pathetic. Could they not have refreshed the UI at all?

Says it's underpinned by the same TiVo software, so does that mean it'll be dog slow after a month?
 
Virgin media Tivo has been so crap for years now. I've never understood how Sky could be so far ahead of them.

God knows who is behind their junk.
 
They made a big deal earlier this year of how they'd neglected their TV service in their push of Internet connectivity and that they were going to remedy this situation.

If this is all they can come up with then they're totally lost and I bet Sky are rubbing their hands with glee. Virgin seem content to keep pushing an inferior service and relying on cheaper prices to retain their market share rather than actually competing on functionality and features.
 
Journey said:
Which is desperately needed because of all of the HDR content available.
Click to expand...

I really don't understand why there isn't more of a push with HDR. No word from Sky on if or when they'll support it. Netflix and Amazon Prime both tout it but the former hardly has anything using it and the latter's HDR stuff is all paid-for on top of the base subscription.

It's a shame as, done well, it's amazing. I've been watching X-Men Apocalypse in 4K HDR and it's utterly stunning.
 
Defending virgin, although box development costs might not be that high, since media consumption is moving away from the tv to desktop/mobile (>50% for 18-34 usa) concentrating on Mb/s cable infrastructure and not boxes, or cross-subsidising expensive 4k sport/movie licensing, maybe wiser strategy.

Six tuners, and similarly for sky, seems like overkill if families are on facebook etc. money would be better spent on good uspscaling for the poor bitrate sd/fhd channels.
The sky q mini-box is a good/unique idea but that has teething problems too, like virgin's missing hdr.

btw - does the box have the latest 'integrated' freeview catchup facilities ?
 
Last edited:
The 4k content on sky q is lacking. Mars is impressive but really is the first thing to premiere in 4k with the normal air date but again it's a download.

This new box from virgin says it will get a hdr update. Also it says its tiny and lightning fast and is only £50 to subscribers. Sounds alright and provides a 4k solution where you can have 2 4k boxes unlike sky Q with its terrible bitrate on the Q mini. That 14" family tv tablet focus device looks interesting.
 
not 100% clear if Virgin TV Anywhere app allows TV box recording to be watched on any tablet, if so they could release an app for smart tv's too - this strategy would do away with Q mini idea
[just need secure/adequate (what?) content protection ]

But I suppose you can also buy a multi-tuner freeview box that will store recordings for plex/dnla wireless distribution in your house.

[ ref , ref seems the tivo has inbuilt hevc encoder. ]
 
Spare a thought for me using one of the older TiVo boxes, its dog slow, infuriatingly so!

Had a play with a v6 box at my mates and at least they are lightning quick running the TiVo software.
 
jpaul said:
not 100% clear if Virgin TV Anywhere app allows TV box recording to be watched on any tablet, if so they could release an app for smart tv's too - this strategy would do away with Q mini idea
Click to expand...

Except any TV app is going to be very shoddy compared to the experience of a Q mini. They may be much maligned but, provided the connectivity is solid, the mini boxes are a very neat and quite powerful solution. I doubt any TV could run anywhere near as slick an interface.

Interestingly, they're also the only streaming solution I've ever used which can actually fast forward and rewind properly. Every other system I've tried breaks down rapidly when you try to do this, but the minis operate exactly as the main Q box does and is perfectly usable.
 
Vertigo1 said:
Except any TV app is going to be very shoddy compared to the experience of a Q mini. They may be much maligned but, provided the connectivity is solid, the mini boxes are a very neat and quite powerful solution. I doubt any TV could run anywhere near as slick an interface.

Interestingly, they're also the only streaming solution I've ever used which can actually fast forward and rewind properly. Every other system I've tried breaks down rapidly when you try to do this, but the minis operate exactly as the main Q box does and is perfectly usable.
Click to expand...

Image quality is poo though. It's like watching a 576p video from a ps2 media player with macroblocking everywhere.
 
On the Q-Mini front : apparently it is the original broadcast stream (except for 4k material) that is sent to the mini boxes, with transcoding for tablets - curiously could not find many discussions on this though, or a q box teardown
 
jpaul said:
On the Q-Mini front : apparently it is the original broadcast stream (except for 4k material) that is sent to the mini boxes, with transcoding for tablets - curiously could not find many discussions on this though, or a q box teardown
Click to expand...

Of course it will be. The hardware in the minis is very similar to the main box so can easily deal with the original broadcast stream and avoids any transcoding issues.

You can see this by tuning in the same live channel on a mini and a tablet or phone. The latter lags a few seconds behind due to the transcoding delay.
 
Vertigo1 said:
I really don't understand why there isn't more of a push with HDR. No word from Sky on if or when they'll support it. Netflix and Amazon Prime both tout it but the former hardly has anything using it and the latter's HDR stuff is all paid-for on top of the base subscription.

It's a shame as, done well, it's amazing. I've been watching X-Men Apocalypse in 4K HDR and it's utterly stunning.
Click to expand...

Because people with HDR enabled sets are still very much in the minority. Poll 100 people on the high street and the vast majority wouldn't know what HDR is or does...
 
FurryLemon said:
Because people with HDR enabled sets are still very much in the minority. Poll 100 people on the high street and the vast majority wouldn't know what HDR is or does...
Click to expand...

But then content usually pushes technology rather than the other way around. Provide more HDR content and delivery options and it'll increase uptake of HDR sets.

Besides, in a year or so, pretty much every TV sold will be a 4K HDR one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom