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-   Virgin Media TV Service (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/forumdisplay.php?f=11)
-   -   Freeview and Interactive (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=33618117)

dragon 21-07-2007 23:23
Re: Freeview and Interactive
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mick Fisher (Post 34356590)
My TV has an integrated Freeview tuner that has never needed a reboot in the year that I have used it. PQ and audio is better than VM.
My VM STB needs at least a daily reboot to be useable but still pulls up with "you are not subscribed" or the EPG just fails to load except for the now/next occaisionly.
My understanding is that glitches/freezes with freeview STB's/PVR's are a lot to do with the quality of the signal.
The same reasoning "may" be applicable to VM's service. I live in an old comtel/cabletel? area and I have heard that the cabling may be substandard. The odd thing is my BB is solid so I don't know if that rules out the signal problem theory? My signal levels are OK BTW but there may be more to a signal than just a strength measurement?
Yes quality is a big part as well

You could have a heavily amplified signal so the strengh could be though the roof however the problem is that the noise gets amplified as well causing the SNR to be poor

often a weaker but high quality signal is better

smiffing 22-07-2007 02:41
Re: Freeview and Interactive
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solventcandy (Post 34355191)
they are totally different platforms, it would be like comparing the £ and the $!!

:)
You mean the £ and the $ that get compared every day at least a hundred times on various news/financial channels?

Begize 22-07-2007 08:46
Re: Freeview and Interactive
 
Having just bought a new TV with built in Freeview, I too was amazed that it just works. You press the red button, wait a few seconds, it appears. I've been loving the News 24 multiscreen for one.

I don't really have major problems with interactive on VM but it is very very very slow (press red button, wait 60 seconds, it usually appears). Being honest, it is more reliable now but it does still crash occasionally.

During Wimbledon, just for a test, I tried to access the multiscreen options on Freeview and VM. Freeview was in and working as soon as pressed the button. VM thought about it, thought about it some more, crashed, was rebooted, thought about it, thought about it, came on with no sound, waited, waited, no sound still so rebooted again, thought about it, thought about it, came on with sound and worked.

The difference in getting in was about 5 minutes. That is an extreme case and I know that there were problems with interactive all over Wimbledon and all platforms.

It's all very well saying that there's no On Demand on Freeview etc but that's not the point. Why is it that interactive on Freeview is fast and reliable and VM isn't?

To the poster who mentioned Sky interactive. Hmmm. I too thought it was quick and reliable till I tried it at the brother in laws house when watching a match on Sky Sports. It's just as slow as VM and crashed once whilst I was using it meaning a box reboot. He tells me it's normally OK but slow and they don't use it because they got fed up with the speed.

dragon 22-07-2007 14:06
Re: Freeview and Interactive
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Begize (Post 34356680)
Having just bought a new TV with built in Freeview, I too was amazed that it just works. You press the red button, wait a few seconds, it appears. I've been loving the News 24 multiscreen for one.

I don't really have major problems with interactive on VM but it is very very very slow (press red button, wait 60 seconds, it usually appears). Being honest, it is more reliable now but it does still crash occasionally.

During Wimbledon, just for a test, I tried to access the multiscreen options on Freeview and VM. Freeview was in and working as soon as pressed the button. VM thought about it, thought about it some more, crashed, was rebooted, thought about it, thought about it, came on with no sound, waited, waited, no sound still so rebooted again, thought about it, thought about it, came on with sound and worked.

The difference in getting in was about 5 minutes. That is an extreme case and I know that there were problems with interactive all over Wimbledon and all platforms.

It's all very well saying that there's no On Demand on Freeview etc but that's not the point. Why is it that interactive on Freeview is fast and reliable and VM isn't?

To the poster who mentioned Sky interactive. Hmmm. I too thought it was quick and reliable till I tried it at the brother in laws house when watching a match on Sky Sports. It's just as slow as VM and crashed once whilst I was using it meaning a box reboot. He tells me it's normally OK but slow and they don't use it because they got fed up with the speed.
How new is the box,

The interactive on my sky is usually reasonably quick but then my sky box is under a year old so probably has better specifications with regards to processing power/memory compared to say one of the older boxes.

Bit like with virgin media, my parents have an old Pace box and its quite slow to respond, my Nan has a samsung stb and it seems to respond quicker than my parents one (probably because its a newer generation of STB)

KenK 22-07-2007 21:00
Re: Freeview and Interactive
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Begize (Post 34356680)
To the poster who mentioned Sky interactive. Hmmm. I too thought it was quick and reliable till I tried it at the brother in laws house when watching a match on Sky Sports. It's just as slow as VM and crashed once whilst I was using it meaning a box reboot. He tells me it's normally OK but slow and they don't use it because they got fed up with the speed.
The person who compared Sky to Cable used to be a ntl customer, but had to switch when they moved house. While visiting during an attempt at getting multiscreen for Wimbledon, he commented on remembering how slow cable interactive is.

Begize 23-07-2007 12:25
Re: Freeview and Interactive
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dragon (Post 34356848)
How new is the box,

The interactive on my sky is usually reasonably quick but then my sky box is under a year old so probably has better specifications with regards to processing power/memory compared to say one of the older boxes.

Bit like with virgin media, my parents have an old Pace box and its quite slow to respond, my Nan has a samsung stb and it seems to respond quicker than my parents one (probably because its a newer generation of STB)
The Sky box in question is a new HD+ one, less than 12 months old afaik.

Our VM STB is a new V+ box (the one I tried using for Wimbledon). Before that we had a Samsung 2100 which had similar speed issues but did usually work. Before that we had a Pace which just didn't work at all - just crashed all the time.

dragon 23-07-2007 16:56
Re: Freeview and Interactive
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Begize (Post 34357494)
The Sky box in question is a new HD+ one, less than 12 months old afaik.

Our VM STB is a new V+ box (the one I tried using for Wimbledon). Before that we had a Samsung 2100 which had similar speed issues but did usually work. Before that we had a Pace which just didn't work at all - just crashed all the time.
I'll be honest I hardly bother with the interactive features on digital TV generally I put the tv on to watch something rather than mess around with the interactive stuff.

Those press Red prompts get right on my nerves tho :rolleyes:


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