How would you improve the V+?

[Ruck and Maul]

I've submitted a few ideas already, first obviously being more HD content!

But I thought it would be nice also to have an option to delete adverts from records, whether they could be during recording or later when your watching it back later?


Any ideas?

[punky]

Some of the US cable cos (BrightHouse) have a nice feature, which is caller ID which is dsplayed on your TV. Saves you having to get up if its someone annoying.

Scrub that, just caller ID would be nice

Other than that, i'd like a web interface to the V+ box so I can schedule records and alter/delete them (scheduled and recorded), from anywhere with an Internet connection.

[popper]

hmmm, were to begin
scrap the TVdrive would be my prefered option to begin building/buying in a totally new core platform full of options the users want to pay for and stay with VM and lets not forget being able to advocate the future VM services to your friends etc.

weres the plan for the next 5 years, are we still going to be useing these boxs then seeing as NTL/tw signed massive contracts for crumby liberate installed STBs?.

its coming to something when a simple SOC (System On a Chip)DVB-T STB can outclass and out function samsungs VM cable STB.
http://www.samsung.com/PressCenter/P...319_0000330033
"About Samsung’s STB.
The SMT-H6155 is a hybrid set-top box that combines IP and DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial) reception capabilities.

It fully supports the delivery of HD contents over the IP network, and enables various interactive functions like VoD and IP multi-casting. The cutting-edge SMT-H6155 combines MPEG-4 AVC/H264/C1 capabilities on a single chipset produced using STMicroelectronics' SoC platform, and supports Wireless Digital Video home Networking using 802.11n.

About STMicroelectronics’ STi7109
The STi7109 is a single-chip MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 decoder that embeds all the major functions of a set-top box in a single device, including a high-performance CPU, video-decoding circuitry, a wide range of peripheral devices, advanced connectivity features and support for emerging security standards.

About Metalink’s WLANPlusTM
The WLAN Plus family consists of the company's MtW8170 baseband device and the MtW8150 radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC). A combination of features enables Metalink's WLAN Plus family to deliver multiple HDTV streams to any location within a radius of 100 feet, while maintaining full QoS performance.

Innovative packet-aggregation techniques boost media access control (MAC) efficiency with double the effective throughput of other solutions. The inclusion of 2x3 real Multiple-In Multiple-Out (real MIMO) technology further improves throughput and QoS, and the use of sophisticated channel-bonding and antenna-loading techniques in the 5 GHz frequency band provide critical additional video-distribution performance.

The WLAN Plus chipset also includes a full implementation of an integrated lower and upper MAC, reducing dramatically the required processing power and memory allocation from the host application processor.

This simplifies the integration with consumer electronics devices and reduces the total product cost. Additionally, Advanced Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) forward error-correction (FEC) coding significantly boosts coverage range and signal robustness as compared to previous approaches. The chipset also fully supports 802.11i security features and the 802.11e QoS standard, both of which are critical for high-priority voice and video services. "


so whats the equivalant current cable STB in the samsung armory, surely not the 2100c and the TVdrive....

the current firmware in the 2100c NEEDS some sound options for user selectable st/mono at the very least as my sound is just plain bad with its current default sound over scart that puts the background soundtrack at a far higher volum than the vocal soundtrack, bad programming of the internal sound chip is the problem but onone wants to fix that for the users.

---------- Post added at 00:02 ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 23:10 ----------

heres another basic STB that shows what the future holds and it exists today.
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS5189647857.html

[JMcB]

- access to set the time like on the old analog STB's
- Support of conecting V+ STB to computer.
- use External ard drives with SATA or USB

[12noon]

What about a bigger hard drive or the ability to add another hard drive and to be able to record about 5 channels at a time.

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by 12noon

What about a bigger hard drive or the ability to add another hard drive and to be able to record about 5 channels at a time.

I'm with you on that one.

I would also like to be able to sort out my favourites, a simple request I know but then I'm not to technically minded, I just want to be able to have the good bits of my old Samsung set-up back
Jo

[EssDee]

Editing capability of recordings would be good (rename, trim excess).

Being able to view recorded material even if V+ has connection problems to the network.

Enable the 3rd tuner for recording (and not just timeslip).

Auto adjustment of recording times if programmes overrun (assuming no clashes exist).

[Stuart C]

Originally Posted by popper

the current firmware in the 2100c NEEDS some sound options for user selectable st/mono at the very least as my sound is just plain bad with its current default sound over scart that puts the background soundtrack at a far higher volum than the vocal soundtrack, bad programming of the internal sound chip is the problem but onone wants to fix that for the users.

The mix is not done by the box. The box just demuxes the digital stereo (not even surround) from the signal, then converts it to an analogue stereo signal, which is output via the Scarts and Coaxial outputs.

Simple question. Sometimes, bad sound in a stereo system can simply mean the speakers are out of phase. This can be caused if one speaker is wired backward (+ve and -ve switched). Are your speakers wired corretly>

[Morden]

The ability to view what is on your V+ on another box in your house would be good.

Dont know if its possible, but seeing as the boxes all have a unique IP address, it could be technically possible, but maybe not practicle.

[EssDee]

Originally Posted by Morden

The ability to view what is on your V+ on another box in your house would be good.

Dont know if its possible, but seeing as the boxes all have a unique IP address, it could be technically possible, but maybe not practicle.

Scientific Atlanta do produce a box similar to the model badged as V+ that allows such a multiroom capability. Apparently ntl were looking at this model for deployment but settled on the 8300 family that we know and love as V+ (or TV Drive).

When you examine the issues around the early deployments, can you imagine adding more complexity? Bit of a shame though......

[clayts]

The ability to be able to press RECORD and for the box to automatically record from the start of the programme I've just switched on to (assuming it was tuned to the right channel) a la Tivo - the one thing I miss (although the much larger hard drive in V+ means I'm more cavalier with what I programme in advance !)

---------- Post added at 02:19 ---------- Previous post was at 02:17 ----------

Ooh - forgot to add, a skip forward 15 minutes button would be nice too (also like Tivo).... 32x FF is okay, but it's a bit of a pain when the remote freezes.

[Tristan]

Things I'd like to see that (I think) are possible with the current box:

1) Recording three programmes at once
2) Pressing record part-way through a programme should go all the way back to the beginning of the programme (or as far back as there is in the Live TV buffer)
3) (Bring back) the ability to rearrange channels
4) Come to think of it, the ability to change from one channel to another before the coming of the next ice age would be nice
5) The ability to set up recordings via a web/wap/SMS interface
6) TiVo-style "learning" of your programme preferences, along with automatic recording of programmes it thinks you might like. This would be a major advantage over Sky Plus.
7) External hard-disks to add capacity
8) Streaming of recorded programmes (via the Ethernet port) to other Virgin boxes. I don't know whether this is technically possible (either on the V+ or older V boxes), but it would be great if it was.
9) A new remote in the style of the fantastic NTL shark, which can control all TV functions and not just volume
10) A less ugly miniguide
11) As previously mentioned, the ability to do basic editing of stored programmes before exporting to DVD would be good.


That's pretty much all I can think of right now, I'm sure there will be more later...

[nofrills]

I'd really really like a shortcut straight into the the tv guide like in MCE, or maybe there is one already?

Would also be good to be able to record from 'replay tv'. Sometimes you want to save replays

[12noon]

Originally Posted by Ruck and Maul

I've submitted a few ideas already, first obviously being more HD content!

More high definition content would be top of most peoples lists.

Originally Posted by Ruck and Maul

But I thought it would be nice also to have an option to delete adverts from records, whether they could be during recording or later when your watching it back later?

Deleting adverts might not go down too well with the advertisers though. After all they are paying a lot of money to try and sell you things.