If YOU Could Write the Software...

[grabbi]

...What would you include in the version?

What I hope this thread will do is show the capabilities of the V+ Device, what is possible in future updates, and possibly present this to Virgin Media in an attempt to get a better service from the company.

If this company can listen to its customers when they threaten to leave it, then surely they can make things better for customers, making the stay a little less painful.

Obviously, we know there are bugs and creases that need ironing... but that's not what Im really on about.

Ill start off here.

Permanently enable the Third Tuner.
Firstly, we know that the tuners in the V+ are a fair few (Ive been told 4, but I believe there are 3 for TV and 1 for Data?) so what I propose here is more usage from the third tuner.

Instead of Live TV, make it permanently able to record whilst in standby, allowing 3 programs to be recorded WITH padding, without hassle.

How? Easy. If you book in three things to record, then I would say that a box should appear, stating that if the box is in Standby before the recordings start, then they will record.

More Space for Recordings.
Next, I propose that external Hard Disk Drives are enabled, by Sata or USB.

This is also a pretty simple thing to implement. Extra storage space (something you CAN do with Sky+, be replacing the existing HDD with a new one) means more recording's and that makes a happy customer.

Interactive.
Also, I would like all available Interactive features to be enabled on all channels WITHOUT interruption.

Now, maybe this is a contractual thing, but when your viewing Sky Movies or Sports, you are unable to access Interactive features, such as BBC News and Sport (IE pressing Home - 7 - 4 - 1 will make the picture turn to the Virgin Media Logo, stating this is to "Protect" us?). This needs sorting. If not sorted, then we need a reason WHY it cant happen.

On Demand.
Another pet peeve, is the On Demand issue. Why cant we watch a TV Channel when your browsing the On Demand library? You should be able to, instead of listening to the same adverts play over and over. I dont know about anyone else, but I view a lot of On Demand at night (when it works! Another thing that should be sorted.) and the Film Flex ad over and over takes the Michael Jackson. (Of course, this happens on the original STB also.)

Fast-Forwarding and Re-winding.
This one is about Skipping whilst watching Recordings. I believe that it COULD be possible to go 64x at the most, instead of 32x. Also, time-skip should be enabled in some way. I propose that in the options screen, you select how much a Skip will take off the time, IE one touch of the FF button skips 5 Min's. (This could be changed to the Users satisfaction.) Personally, I would make it 3 Min's, because Adverts usually last an average of 3-3 Minutes 30 Seconds.

HD Content.
This isn't a request to add content. Its a request for Average TVs to be able to view HD content via Scart or Coax.

Reboot Combination.
Getting up to Reboot the box takes the pi...never mind. A simple Key Combo should do the trick nicely. Lets so, oh, The Red Button and Standby?

Play list.
This is more of an On Demand request. Play listing Music Videos and On Demand content, without the need to scroll through, watch a program, scroll through, watch a program... etc.

EPG.
In the Cable TV Forum, Im told TiVo has a 3 week EPG!? I would like something a little more than 7 Days. Maybe a week and a half? Not a high priority, that one, though.

Energy Saving/Eco Friendly.
A final one for now, which I believe is important. Some sort of Intelligence inside the V+ looks to see if there are recordings during the night and day, and if the box is inactive (IE It isn't turned on) then it goes into Sleep Mode, and the built-in clock wakes up when there's a recording coming up.

[ikthius]

some of your requests are not software problems......

they are hardware problems.

[ShadowTD]

V+ can downscale HD (at least, broadcast HD) to the SCART socket. I do it all the time.

I'd like to see the ability to move recordings from the live buffer to a proper recording the way Sky+ does ie if you've been watching a program and half way through you have to go out so you press record, when you watch the recording it's the *whole* program.

There's no good reason why the eSata port isn't enabled - it is on some US versions of the same box.

Given the horsepower in the box, I'll dig up the old chestnut of PORT TiVO!

[higgsfield]

I think it's 98% there as it stands. Very good implementation. But if I have a wishlist, it's:-

#1. Support for external drives is definitely the number 1 priority. This way, if the box has to go back faulty, you can keep your recordings.

I note the comment above that some US versions enable the eSATA port for this purpose. Perhaps the best way of implementing this would be removable drives though.

#2. Fix the HDMI/SCART confusion. How many folks struggle with this? All ports always on please.

#3. disable those crescent lights when in standby!!!

[SeacroftWhite]

Originally Posted by grabbi

On Demand.
Another pet peeve, is the On Demand issue. Why cant we watch a TV Channel when your browsing the On Demand library? You should be able to, instead of listening to the same adverts play over and over. I dont know about anyone else, but I view a lot of On Demand at night (when it works! Another thing that should be sorted.) and the Film Flex ad over and over takes the Michael Jackson. (Of course, this happens on the original STB also.)

Play list.
This is more of an On Demand request. Play listing Music Videos and On Demand content, without the need to scroll through, watch a program, scroll through, watch a program... etc.

They are both good ideas, also if there was some way of removing adverts from the recordings, that would be a MAJOR plus. Also the speed of changing the channels must be improved but as I understand it, that will be done with the next update.

[Stuart C]

Originally Posted by SeacroftWhite

They are both good ideas, also if there was some way of removing adverts from the recordings, that would be a MAJOR plus.

Would be nice. However, seeing as 95% of our TV is at least partally funded by ads, is unlikely to happen.

---------- Post added at 11:27 ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 ----------

Originally Posted by grabbi

More Space for Recordings.
Next, I propose that external Hard Disk Drives are enabled, by Sata or USB.

This is also a pretty simple thing to implement. Extra storage space (something you CAN do with Sky+, be replacing the existing HDD with a new one) means more recording's and that makes a happy customer.

I don't think you can do it on Sky and keep your warranty. Technically, I believe you can also do it on V+, but you would violate the terms and conditions of service.

HD Content.
This isn't a request to add content. Its a request for Average TVs to be able to view HD content via Scart or Coax.

You can. I've watched BBC HD via Scart many times. The On Demand stuff doesn't work though, as generally where they carry something in HD, they carry it in SD as well, so watching the HD version would be pointless.

Reboot Combination.
Getting up to Reboot the box takes the pi...never mind. A simple Key Combo should do the trick nicely. Lets so, oh, The Red Button and Standby?

TBH, the box shouldn't need rebooting enough that having to get up to do it is a major problem.

EPG.
In the Cable TV Forum, Im told TiVo has a 3 week EPG!? I would like something a little more than 7 Days. Maybe a week and a half? Not a high priority, that one, though.

Tivo's guide is superior to the V+ one in almost every way imaginable. It's larger (3 weeks), easier to search, has series links that can work across channels (important if, say, you need to video something on a +1 channel because all the tuners are in use earlier), and is a lot faster. Add the TivoWeb hack and a suitably configured router and you can do the lot over the web too.

Energy Saving/Eco Friendly.
A final one for now, which I believe is important. Some sort of Intelligence inside the V+ looks to see if there are recordings during the night and day, and if the box is inactive (IE It isn't turned on) then it goes into Sleep Mode, and the built-in clock wakes up when there's a recording coming up.

Fairly certain it used to do this, and VM removed the function.

---------- Post added at 11:37 ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 ----------

My wishlist? Pretty much the same as the above..

I wish Virgin would include a guide that is comparable to the Tivo guide (it's technically comparable now, but only in so far as you can say "Tivo is better in this way").

I'd like to see better power saving (something that actually *does* reduce the power consumption in standby).

I'd like to see faster Fast Forward and Rewind scanning in On demand stuff (it's ridiculous having to spend 10 minutes fast forwarding through an episode of Casualty just to get to the end scene that you missed for whatever reason).

I'd like to see support for external hard drives (both USB and eSata).

I'd like to see a full web-based interface, so you can set recordings remotely.

I'd also like to see full mediaserver functionality. This is something which the newer Tivos (which, sadly, aren't available here) already have. You can store your media on the Tivo, and watch it either on the TV attached to the Tivo, or stream it to any PC in the house.

[lostandconfused]

The thing about fastforwarding the ondemand was brought up in one of the internal thingy's a while ago, and they did say they were looking to implement it. So it may be on the next update

[higgsfield]

Originally Posted by Stuart C

Would be nice. However, seeing as 95% of our TV is at least partally funded by ads, is unlikely to happen.

I was surprised to see the feature advertised in this Harmon Kardon Blu-ray disc recorder:- http://whathifi.com/hi-fi/archive/20...k-blu-ray.aspx

[Bob]

Originally Posted by higgsfield

#2. Fix the HDMI/SCART confusion. How many folks struggle with this? All ports always on please.

In some instances this isn't possible because it's hardware rather than software related.

The box automatically disables the TV scart output when HDMI/Component is selected and this is a hardware 'feature' that cannot be changed as far as I aware.

As for the VCR scart being active all the time and not just during archiving, then that can be done again, as it was available before

[Stuart C]

Originally Posted by higgsfield

I was surprised to see the feature advertised in this Harmon Kardon Blu-ray disc recorder:- http://whathifi.com/hi-fi/archive/20...k-blu-ray.aspx

Yeah, but Harmon Kardon don't have to try and keep the TV stations happy.. Virgin do.

[higgsfield]

Originally Posted by Bob

The box automatically disables the TV scart output when HDMI/Component is selected and this is a hardware 'feature' that cannot be changed as far as I aware.

Well - there is no physical switch to select between the two - therefore the firmware is controlling these. However, I accept that there may be a hardware issue (i.e. perhaps there is a power consumption issue if both outputs are active, or perhaps it involves re-configuring the same portion of circuitry to provide either of these), but we have no information whether this is the case, so there is no reason to jump to either conclusion..

[ShadowTD]

ISTR that Losttheplot covered this in a response to something I said a little while ago. While the MPEG2 decoder can work to multiple resolutions simultaneously (ie HD & SD) the graphics engine can't. That's why the VCR scart can be enable while the box is outputting HD, because it has no graphics overlay.

[grabbi]

Originally Posted by Stuart C

I'd like to see faster Fast Forward and Rewind scanning in On demand stuff (it's ridiculous having to spend 10 minutes fast forwarding through an episode of Casualty just to get to the end scene that you missed for whatever reason).

Oooooh! Nice! I never thought of that.

My other half had to do that yesterday with Eastenders, because Eastenders ends after 27 Mins, and chops the end off.

FastForwarding to the end of the program take too long!

[MonTheFish]

more of a 'why I still have my tivo' list

1- A search by name function so when I see a coming soon advert I can actually find it!!!
2- EPG that spans more than 7 days.
3- Web interface so I can check my 'To Do' list and any conflicts remotely as well as set up new recordings.
4- A button which gives you a 30 second advance.
5- When using the advance function x32 or whatever jumping back to the previous point before you pressed play....cause thats actually where you wanted it to be!!!!
6- proper pause and buffer recording functions that are always on and allow you to record what the buffer has in it (an hour would be great).

I'm sure I'll think of more when I'm not so tired and the next time I jump on the tivo for 10 mins!!!!

[grabbi]

Another good one.

A "Search By Initial" Program finder.

Thats what Id like... Would you agree MonTheFish?