Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

When is the quanlity of the channels going to improve, as I speak I'm watching Sky Sports 1 & it looks like something what has been taken on a mobile phone!! (other channels are the same). Virgin must be aware of this as many people has mentioned it. I love the V+ & really want to stay with them, but if the quanlity doesn't improve soon I will have to reconsider as my 30 days are coming to a end. Has anyone had a clear answer from Virgin??

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

My V+ picture quality is great on all channels so problem must be specific to certain areas (I'm in Letchworth/Hertfordshire) or certain boxes (I have a week old black VM badged box - I know it was new because I watched the engineer unpack it).
Apart from a few VOD hiccups, I'm more than happy with my VIP 'upgrade' - V+ box/old STB in another room/Sky Sports (already had movies)/10Mb broadband (had 4Mb before), and costing me less per month than before!!
:)

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Same boat here - I have posted a few times about this. The quality is very, very bad. I love the V+ ,VOD, second box and the 10mb so there's no way I'm crawling back to Sky but there's no way I'm paying £85 a month for this quality of picture.

Engineer is coming out tomorrow but I still say it's not a problem with the box as other channels are OK.

(New black V+ Box. Ex NTL Manchester)

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

yep same here engineer out on tuesday yet again had one out this week for the same problem changed the box then but like you said there is no way a box issue as others are reporting theirs ok must be a regional issue.

im ex ntl in cardiff what about others having probs?

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Glad it's not just my eyes playing tricks then. Looks like it seems to be ex-NTL as ex Telewest are loving the quality.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

well it would be good if any ex telewest people could say if they are having these probs then we can know for sure thats its ex ntl

cheers

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

I'm ex NTL and picture quality is superb

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

My V+ picture is superb- by SD and HD

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

no probs here in wirral.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

super picture on mine.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Same here poor SD bitrates

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Where are you RS100? Just keeping a tally for the engineer tomorrow

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

So no one from Virgin has stated there is a problem then??
By the way I'm ex NTL Norwich, Black Box.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

i know one thing for sure is this isnt sorted asap i will be thinking of sky and thats not taking into account getting the basics back if i do.
i can live with the fact of not getting these on vm but bad picture quality i cannot live with.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

I am running off the cardiff headend, why is a engineer due out to your it's a network problem changeing the cable receiver will not sort it.:)

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

I know, I told them that. I mentioned that the majority of channels were more then fine - even G2 etc but they still insisted sending a bloke out for some reason <clueless>. They did say no one had reported any problems.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

My PQ seems to be awful ever since Ive had my V+ box and using the HDMI cable.

Before I started using HDMI, scart didnt seem as bad as HDMI is on non-HD channels.
Really pixelated!!!

HDMI though on BBC HD was quality may I add

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Had my box fitted last week and the picture is superb. The upscaled SD is very very good, HD is awesome.

I'm ex NTL and you shouldn't go to sky because of picture quality, there must be something wrong with your setup. Cable picture is better than Sky.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

I have had the V+ box and service since Dec '06 and haven't noticed the picture quality decrease. I use a monster HDMI cable and have a Samsung LCD HDTV. I live in an Ex-NTL area for the record. It is possible that some channels are of better quality than others and I would say that all the BBC channels tend to be of the highest quality in my opinion.

I would recommend that people with a newer HDTV refer the the users manual for adjusting the image it displays. For example the Samsung LCD HDTV I own has digital picture enhancements which can also improve the picture quality known as DNIe. Some HDTV may also use Digital Noise Reduction and Dynamic Contract controls.

Re: Awful picture quality on V+
 

I had mine installed on the 17th Feb & the quality was awesome, then about 2 weeks later I got the problems (pixelated, juttering). So I find it hard to believe it's my V+ box, it must be their end. I don't care much about losing a few channels, but I not going to put up with c**p picture quality for £85.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

There are many possible factors affecting picture quality:

1. if it's just some channels affected, then it's not your V+ box at fault.

2. different channels are transmitted on different multiplexes on different frequencies on the cable. Sub-standard signal levels might affect some frequencies more than others. This needs an engineer visit to check signal levels across the whole cable spectrum.

3. some channels are transmitted at lower bit-rates, and hence greater compression, than others. This will lead to greater perceived pixellation on movement. The "1970/80s repeats" channels are all pretty low bit-rate, while the big five terrestrial channels are all of higher quality. BBC News is of lower quality than BBC1 or BBC2, and this is very evident in MPEG artifacts around the graphics text.

4. Connection via HDMI, with its higher detail quality, can reveal more clearly poor picture quality in the original digital signal, where connection via SCART, with a redundant analogue conversion, might have smoothed over the rough edges somewhat.

5. it is unlikely that the VM picture quality is better or worse in principle than the Sky picture quality, as the VM digital feed for many channels comes from Sky. There might of course be individual Sky customers with poor satellite reception, and inidvidual VM customers with poor cable reception, but the picture quality from good reception on either system should be near indistinguishable.

6. the video signal processing undertaken by some consumer TVs can be counter-productive. For instance, I have found it better, on a Pioneer plasma screen, to disable all noise reduction and other video processing, such as PureCinema or whatever they call it.

Re: Awful picture quality on V+
 

Breaking News Everyone!!
Just got in touch with Virgin & was determined not to put the phone down until I got this issue resolved. After being passed from one person to another & being put on hold I finally spoke to a guy who was very helpful. He checked it out & told me that they are aware of the problem, which is affecting Sky Sports 1, ITV 1, Channel 4, Channel 5 & a few others. He said that it will be resolved on the 14th March, no need to do any reboot & by 1.00pm picture quality should be back to normal. Fingers crossed eh!!

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

well if thats true which i hope it is then it will be a waste of time for the enigineer to come out tomorrow lol
we shall see!

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Neo10 - is that just for your box or everyone? Isn't this the date of the new software?

** Anyway, might have guessed it, the engineer came as I was coming home fomr work and my wife dealt with him. Apparently he went to the green cab, checked the wiring outside, messed with the V+ Box, changed a few settings and rebooted. He did say the promblem was called 'Mpegging' (no S*** Sherlock) and he had done the best he could and couldn't get it any better.

I was a bit miffed as I had this thread printed out to show him and forgot to bring it upstairs before I left this morning :(

For the record -

downstairs we have a 32" WS Toshiba CRT with V+ Box
Upstairs we have a 28" 4:3 JVC with Samsung 2100

Just checked both and to me the V+ Box picture is just as bad while the Samsung is perfect. So... either the V+ box is awful at decoding the extra compressed channels or the Samsung is a top piece of kit.

He also mentioned that we were sitting too close to the screen which made the picture quality noticable. Also Sky would be better quality as they broadcast in HD - even my wife knew that -

1) we haven't got an HD TV
2) we never had an HD Sky box

I'm really stuffed now - No way am I back to Sky so it's either hope they can sort it out or <sniff> get rid. I really don't know whether to ring them back up or hang fire until the 14th as Neo mentioned.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

I've got a V+ box linked to 32" WS Toshiba CRT (100hz) - no pixellation or reduced picture quality.

Leeds, ex-NTL Bromley (I believe).

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

In that case, clearly your V+ box is faulty - get it exchanged. The V+ quality should look as good as or better than the Samsung.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

spankysmagicpian - No, it's not just for my box, he said it would be for everyone. I have 42" Samsung and at first the picture quality was really crisp, it's only the last couple of weeks it's gone downhill. I suggest waiting until the 14th to see if it improves, then if not, give them hell like I will. Good luck mate!!

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Cheers Fella - I will

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Yeah just to say that's my experience as well. Planet Eareth on HD was brilliant

Cheers Nashy

---------- Post added at 23:53 ---------- Previous post was at 23:51 ----------

Thanks neo......we watch and wait:tu:

Stan

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Well neo10 - how did it go... if it did at all?

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Looks like it worked, watching Man City v Chelsea as we speak & can't see any problems. Compared to the match I was watching on Sunday it's improve 100%. Now flicking through other channels & they all look pucker too. What about you mate, any improvement at your end??

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Not as yet - as you can see the engineer has been out and still the same - I'll give them a ring tomorrow. What did you say - just told them?

What did they say they would do? I'm just thinking it might help if I could give them some pointers :-)

I have spoken to a bloke a few doors down and his picture is spot on (not V+ box though)

One thing though..... I brought the Samsung box downstairs and tried that and.... the picture was as bad as the V+ so I dont know what I'm going to do to be honest. Well, I'll ring them at least.

Cheers for the reply Neo.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Well, that identifies the problem very clearly for you: it is not the V+ box at fault, it is the cable connection. So get a VM techie to check out the cable signal.

Re: Awful picture quanlity on V+
 

Yes - realised that :-)

He did all that on Monday - said he boosted the signal and he can't get it any better than that. I'm not angry - just rather disappointed / upset. I refuse to get Sky so it looks like I'll be doing without multichannel unless they can fix it.

As I mentioned - I thought it might be the encoded signal from the headend but as the bloke down the road has a great picture... it can't be that. At a loss - the only thing I haven't tried is removing all the splitters and trying the feed direct - it's split outside for the second STB and inside for the cable modem.

---------- Post added at 11:02 ---------- Previous post was at 09:46 ----------

There was a software update last night for the V+ not sure which areas? I'll have to check as this is one of the bugfixes

Video Freezing Blocking and Blanking
Network issues on certain channels can lead to the V+ box freezing, blocking
and blanking the video to a greater extent than on standard V boxes.