TiVo - Page 213

muppetman11 · 27-02-2011, 22:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus125

So I was right in my assumption then?

All VM + boxes upscale SD better than Sky+HD box that truly is awful.

pythagoras · 27-02-2011, 22:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by scgf

All I'm doing is comparing the same channels on two different devices - Samsung V+ and the new TiVo. All SD channels look visibly worse on the TiVo, everything else being equal.

When I moved from Sky to VM I was thrilled at how good their SD channels looked. I had aassumed it was the VM service, but now it turns out to be the boxes themselves and the built-in scaler.

I'm not happy about paying extra for a box which gives me a worse picture than I had before. I'm going to give it a few days, then maybe I'll change back to a V+ box.

I'm trying to compare tivo and v+ side by side. As I dont have two identical tvs or two cable feeds in the same room I cant

How have you managed to get around this problem?

Regards

John.

muppetman11 · 27-02-2011, 22:44

This may not be as big an issue when VM expand there HD offering further.

PLB · 27-02-2011, 23:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by scgf

All I'm doing is comparing the same channels on two different devices - Samsung V+ and the new TiVo. All SD channels look visibly worse on the TiVo, everything else being equal.

When I moved from Sky to VM I was thrilled at how good their SD channels looked. I had aassumed it was the VM service, but now it turns out to be the boxes themselves and the built-in scaler.

I'm not happy about paying extra for a box which gives me a worse picture than I had before. I'm going to give it a few days, then maybe I'll change back to a V+ box.

I recently purchased a high end 46â€ Sony TV and currently use a Samsung V+ box. I am very fussy when it comes to picture quality and find the Samsung V+ picture quality (HD/SD) to be excellent but all this talk about inferior SD picture quality is making me decidedly twitchy about obtaining the TiVo.
Could you confirm? Is there a cooling off period to enable you to return the TiVo if you are not happy with its picture performance and would Virgin Media accept this as a valid reason for return.

BenJSmyth · 27-02-2011, 23:07

I have to say that I believe the Tivo box's HD picture is far superior to that of the Samsung V+ box. I am watching on a series 7 40" Samsung LCD tv. As for the SD picture quality, that doesn't bother me so much as I now tend to record everything I can in HD. Saying that though, I haven't notice the SD picture to be inferior.

gaz2810i · 27-02-2011, 23:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

There are over 40,000 customers to contact and only a few of which use this forum. So chances are those getting called are not users of CF

But only at the end of last week I was told by two Virgin departments that no calls were being made, are they lying

BenJSmyth · 27-02-2011, 23:15

You just have to wait unfortunately. It is damn hard but I thought they had given up calling and then received a call out of the blue. In fact, the lunchtime of the day I got the call I told the misses that I was fed up of waiting and if she received the call to tell them no. I then got the call about 4 hours later and said YES!

greeninferno · 27-02-2011, 23:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11

All VM + boxes upscale SD better than Sky+HD box that truly is awful.

i concur regarding SD on SkyHD boxes - HD is great SD is pants.

the forums are awash with people complaining about the SD PQ.

With Virgin having way less HD you'd have thought that decent SD upscaling would have been a priority in the hardware spec.

Why would it take a step back? doesn't make sense.

Not even having menus in HD? that is just nonsense.

gaz2810i · 27-02-2011, 23:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenJSmyth

You just have to wait unfortunately. It is damn hard but I thought they had given up calling and then received a call out of the blue. In fact, the lunchtime of the day I got the call I told the misses that I was fed up of waiting and if she received the call to tell them no. I then got the call about 4 hours later and said YES!

My question really was are VM lying to us. I know the answer really as your response alludes to. It is just frustrating that they tell us it's not happening but it is and we know it is

Perfect Choice · 28-02-2011, 07:39

This Tivo SD issue should be straight forward. If you had a SA/Samsung HD box before and have not changed TV, then replacing your box with a Tivo shouldn’t reduce PQ, unless it is a case of settings by default not being the best for your TV so you have to adjust.

There is going to be plenty of SD programmes for several years to come even on channels who have HD channel options.

I’ve read posts that even after trying all screen options, new owners of Tivo cannot get a good quality SD picture compared to what they has before with SA/Samsung so this can only be a Tivo box issue. There have been other posts here saying the picture isn’t worse than what they had before so seems to be a mixed issue still.

Like another poster here, I find the SD upscaling on my SA V+ to be excellent and on channels like SD BBC1 I’ve had to check that I am not on channel 108 for HD BBC1 as the picture quality has been so good, my wife even comments that she does not see why people rave about HD when the picture is so good on SD when upscaled!

The last thing I want therefore is the Tivo box to look inferior with “fuzzy or soft” pictures which is certainly not the case today with my SA V+ box. While I have read a few posts on this thread saying there picture is not worse that what they had before, the fact that there is a mixed reaction to this indicates there could be an issue here.

I really think this needs to be fed back to VM to check. I thought this new Cisco box was their latest media center solution and would certainly have an adequate chip set to deliver good quality upscaling.

I have a Sony HX803 TV which gives me a fantastic picture (1080i seemed best for me on SA V+ settings) so any shortfall in this Tivo box will be spotted if true. The box will have to go back if true as I cannot contemplate a reduction in picture quality being remotely acceptable in our house hold. I noticed somebody else with a Sony TV said they were happy with the picture so fingers crossed!

This is the first time I’ve had doubts buying the Tivo as you can have as many features as you like, but if the picture is worse, then that is not good enough. In fact if this is the case, then the only way to get greater HDD storage today would be to move to Sky if their Sky+ box has better PQ (haven’t researched yet) and I would never have thought I would even be thinking of that!

gaz2810i · 28-02-2011, 08:26

Out of curiosity if you paid for a TiVo box and wanted to return it, would you get the Â£149 back. Also, assuming, you pay the Â£40 installation charge would you be entitled to that back as well. Is there like a cooling of period for all of this, say 28 days

pesty · 28-02-2011, 08:44

I think Virgin need to look into this PQ SD problem and fast, by the looks of recent threads they are loosing tivo customers pretty quickly as no one wants to loose out on picture quality on the SD channels.And that includes me.

muppetman11 · 28-02-2011, 09:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

There are over 40,000 customers to contact and only a few of which use this forum. So chances are those getting called are not users of CF

So then it becomes apparent that VM strategy in calls is not to ring on pre reg order as many on here , DS , AV Forums will have pre registered the minute the link went live. Another thing is the free winners only find out around 20th March so probably no calls until after that meaning many will only get installs in April/May.

BenMcr · 28-02-2011, 10:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by greeninferno

Not even having menus in HD? that is just nonsense.

That was a TiVo decision - they went for the 'high traffic' areas for HD first. Although they were hinting at the launch of the box in the US last year they could go back in and upgrade more screens as time went on

clinteastman · 28-02-2011, 10:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by scgf

All I'm doing is comparing the same channels on two different devices - Samsung V+ and the new TiVo. All SD channels look visibly worse on the TiVo, everything else being equal.

When I moved from Sky to VM I was thrilled at how good their SD channels looked. I had aassumed it was the VM service, but now it turns out to be the boxes themselves and the built-in scaler.

I'm not happy about paying extra for a box which gives me a worse picture than I had before. I'm going to give it a few days, then maybe I'll change back to a V+ box.

Do you have the capability to take direct grabs off the 2 boxes and post them on here? Or does anyone else for that matter?