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Re: TV360 - pro and cons
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter
If you really want to keep the FAST channels, they are available elsewhere for free, no need to lose the TiVo software if you don't want to.
Wonder what the viewing figures are for these channels, I thought at the time they were brought to virgin to inflate the number of channels they carry.
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No point in being pessimistic. You know it won`t work.
There's 2 types of FAST channels. There's the non-VM ones, eg Rakuten TV, Wedo Movies and the VM ones. Both types are going.
The non-VM ones are available elsewhere, and the VM ones are just bundling of on-demand content and is available anyway.
Wonder what the viewing figures are for these channels, I thought at the time they were brought to virgin to inflate the number of channels they carry.
Exactly right. They don't cost Virgin anything to carry and are there to make it look like there are more channels than there actually is, as more and more proper channels are removed for various reasons.
Virgin 360 - how much of a downgrade is it from the V6?
Starting to resign myself to the fact that downgrading to the 360 is going to have to happen at some point when Virgin finally lose their licence to operate the TiVo software. This will no doubt reduce their licencing costs - which presumably they will be passing on to customers via lower bills? Or maybe not. Is there any final date known for when this might finally be forced?
Meanwhile, back in the real world, the recordings on our V6 box are minimal at the moment so this might be the best time to bite the bullet if we are really going to have to do it. I'm fully aware any existing recordings (and sadly Series Links too) will definitely be lost, but that has been the case for a long time ever since Virgin broke the very handy Series Link backup facility on their website. I also know that I won't be able to recreate all 200+ of our current historical Series Links until such time as each programme in turn becomes available again in the upcoming Channel Guide. Grrr.
I know the downgrade will unavoidably lose the undelete functionality, the lovely reaction-time rollback when exiting from FFwd or Rewind (which is a TiVo copyright functionality), older Series Link reviewing/editing, ability to switch to a different tuner that you know already has an hour's delay cached on a different channel, single-button access to things like My Shows/Recordings, subtitles, delete item, etc. Hence my statement about it being mostly a functional downgrade not an upgrade.
I've been having play with a friend's 360, and a few questions arose, although there will probably be more. To preface, I'm not in the slightest bit interested in silly voice commands, pretty icons/graphical interfaces, or streaming channels. At all. This is just about using the box for watching and recording broadcast TV, while using a tactile remote control. We rarely use On-Demand/Catchup services if we can help it, as apart from the BBC iPlayer (which itself has an annoying added BBC logo in the upper-left) it is not possible to spool through adverts.
When Fast-Forwarding or Rewinding though a long programme, how do you jump by 15 minute increments to quickly get to (for example) the last quarter-of-an-hour of a two or three hour show? On the V6 you just tap the ">|" or "|<" buttons while winding.
Is there any way to stop the incredibly annoying action when pressing the >> or << buttons multiple times that it incrementally speeds up but then reverts back to slow winding? Currently to get to the fastest speed I just rapidly jab the >> button several times, and I certainly don't expect the scrubbing speed to drop back to very slow again if I press the button once too often. I found this dreadful logic really annoying when testing our friend's 360 remote.
When you are spooled back to watching an earlier point in a live program, how do we get back to the live broadcast again with a single action? I can't see a Stop button. In fact, the transport controls seem rather lacking all round.
Is there now any simple way to get to Shows/Recordings using a single button on the supplied remote (not some silly voice command nonsense) as that is probably the single most used operation for us?
When we have multiple episodes of a show recorded, we only ever list the show as a simple flat scrollable text list, ordered by original broadcast order (such as s01e01, s01e02, etc), with the oldest seasons/episodes at the bottom of the list and newest at the top (not by recent recording date, but broadcast series order - with the original first-broadcast date available in the info details). Can this be done with the 360, as I could only see a cumbersome list with the series numbers shown down the left hand side, and oldest stuff at the top.
We use two remote controls for our V6. My wife uses the supplied Virgin one, while I use a programmable universal IR remote with macros - the excellent XSight Touch, which hasn't been available for years but still hasn't been bettered in the meantime. My remote also controls my local file-streaming box, surround amp, BluRay player, TV, and even some room lighting, etc. I would absolutely need to program this remote with complete IR codes to control the 360, has anyone successfully done this themselves (e.g. using a "Ziggo" codeset I believe?) such as the advice in this thread https://www.avforums.com/threads/vir...-them.2347467/ . That thread also seems to imply that Recordings could be available via a single learned IR code, which would be a bonus. What about discrete power-on and power-off IR codes, which are immensely useful when programming universal macros which cannot know the current state of the equipment (everything else I own has hidden discrete on/off IR codes available).
Finally, I don't think there's a video "pass-through" option which would avoid deinterlacing 1080i or SD material, thus allowing my rather better 4K TV to do the job itself? Do Virgin actually broadcast anything in native 1080p anyway? Other than perhaps Sports or Movie channels, neither of which we watch.
Anyway, that's quite enough for now! Hopefully someone can comment on at least some of the above. Thanks.
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Re: TV360 - pro and cons
Quote:
I use a programmable universal IR remote with macros - the excellent XSight Touch.... My remote also controls my local file-streaming box, surround amp, BluRay player, TV, and even some room lighting, etc. I would absolutely need to program this remote with complete IR codes to control the 360, has anyone successfully done this themselves (e.g. using a "Ziggo" codeset I believe?) such as the advice in this thread https://www.avforums.com/threads/vir...-them.2347467/ . That thread also seems to imply that Recordings could be available via a single learned IR code, which would be a bonus. What about discrete power-on and power-off IR codes, which are immensely useful when programming universal macros which cannot know the current state of the equipment (everything else I own has hidden discrete on/off IR codes available).
I don't know if they will work for you or not, but the attached picture shows Harmony codes that were posted on the Ziggo forums. See thread https://community.vodafoneziggo.nl/t...to/td-p/114252 which needs translating to English.
I use my LG Smart remote (set up as Ziggo Media box next) and also the 'One for All' 1240 which has 4 selects (tv/sat/amp/dvd) as an additional remote. The 1240 recognises the code 1582 to control the box. It need direct line of sight when setting it up.
The 'OneForAll' URC7125 also works using the SimpleSet setup process and Ziggo as the manufacturer.
I realise you aren't "interested in silly voice commands", but I prefer the voice control as I find it to be the easiest method of controlling the 360.
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Services: V6 ,Virgin L. Phone Broadband.sky go Netflix
Posts: 5,435
Re: TV360 - pro and cons
I won't copy Andrews post but with the exception of the remote, l totally think he sums up the question \ concerns l have. Thank you for taking the time to write them .
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Re: TV360 - pro and cons
When you are spooled back to watching an earlier point in a live program, how do we get back to the live broadcast again with a single action?
Press the TV button
I don't know if they will work for you or not, but the attached picture shows Harmony codes that were posted on the Ziggo forums.
Thanks for the confirmation, that's roughly what I'd gathered from Google searches but the results were a bit old. I'm sure my remote will be able to accept the Ziggo codes, there's good community support for an excellent third-party code editor package for it. I think I'll program Ziggo into a spare slot and take it round to our friend's house to try it out.
I expect a lot of people like using voice commands, but the only time I think they are sensible is for in-car use where your hands are occupied, or for a phone while you are using a headset. Disturbing other people by constantly talking to the TV seems a bit counter-productive to me. But then I also turn off any confirmation beeps etc, and would be much happier if turning the TV volume up or down didn't bring up unnecessary flashy indicator overlays on the screen, so it's probably just me.
Andre
---------- Post added at 09:17 ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1701-e
Press the TV button
Thanks, I guess that's obvious when you think about it.
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Re: Virgin 360 - how much of a downgrade is it from the V6?
Hi again Andre.
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewilley
I know the downgrade will unavoidably lose the single-button access to subtitles
You can set subtitles to be either pemanently on or off by default via Settings> Accessibility> Subtitle options
[*]When Fast-Forwarding or Rewinding though a long programme, how do you jump by 15 minute increments to quickly get to (for example) the last quarter-of-an-hour of a two or three hour show? On the V6 you just tap the ">|" or "|<" buttons while winding.
Is there any way to stop the incredibly annoying action when pressing the >> or << buttons multiple times that it incrementally speeds up but then reverts back to slow winding? Currently to get to the fastest speed I just rapidly jab the >> button several times, and I certainly don't expect the scrubbing speed to drop back to very slow again if I press the button once too often. I found this dreadful logic really annoying when testing our friend's 360 remote.
Here are a couple of playback tips when using the navigational buttons which might be useful.
The left and right arrow buttons either side of the OK button in the navigation pad skip forward 30 seconds and back 10 seconds.
Ref the >>| or |<< video control buttons buttons.
When you hit those buttons you can speed through what your watching either x2, x6, x30 or x64 times. If you hold those buttons continuously then the video will keep playing as normal but a time bar and a thumbnail should appear as you speed through – let go when you get to the point you want.
To play back in slow motion press pause then Fast Forward
[*]When you are spooled back to watching an earlier point in a live program, how do we get back to the live broadcast again with a single action? I can't see a Stop button. In fact, the transport controls seem rather lacking all round.
To switch back to 'last channel viewed' - you can either press the TV button (above and to the right of the OK button) or the Back button.
Andre
Dave
__________________ 2*TV360 boxes and 1 Stream box
The Service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth - Muhammad Ali
Regarding subtitles, just set up a profile with subs permanently on for convenience
Well that's an idea I guess, but I'm not sure whether that's any easier than pressing one button labelled "Subtitles" to quickly toggle them on and off in order to check an odd line of dialogue that you can't quite catch.
Andre
---------- Post added at 16:52 ---------- Previous post was at 16:44 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by newapollo
When you hit those buttons you can speed through what your watching either x2, x6, x30 or x64 times. If you hold those buttons continuously then the video will keep playing as normal but a time bar and a thumbnail should appear as you speed through – let go when you get to the point you want.
Thanks, I realise you can change the spooling speed, but still not pleased about the way it illogically jumps back from x64 down to x2 again when you press the >> button one too many times - it should stick on the max speed once you get there, regardless of how many extra button jabs, and only be reduced via the << button or returning to Play.
Still not quite sure how you quickly jump to, for example, 2h30 in a 3 hour movie using the buttons only. Very easy on the V6 as you can increment 15 extra minutes with one press during spooling. Does the long-press feature move very quickly through the whole timeline to allow really fast access into long programmes?
Thanks too for the -10/+30 tip with the D-pad arrows; I had manged find that one myself after a lot of messing around with the remote. Otherwise that would have been on my list of missing features too.
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Virgin 360 - how much of a downgrade is it from the V6?
Is there any final date known for when this might finally be forced?
