TiVo - Page 253

mattboothers · 07-03-2011, 15:18

Am I right in thinking the people who didnt win the raffle have been screwed over and wont get early access to the TiVO and will have to wait until it goes public?

muppetman11 · 07-03-2011, 15:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattboothers

Am I right in thinking the people who didnt win the raffle have been screwed over and wont get early access to the TiVO and will have to wait until it goes public?

No you will get an email at the end of March telling you how you can order it.

Perfect Choice · 07-03-2011, 15:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy C

I agree. The difference in the SD picture hit me in the face as soon as the TiVo was first booted up. The SD picture is very soft whereas with the SA V+ is was crisp and some higher bitrate shows on the likes on the BBC almost looked HD in quality. Infact with the V+ some people could hardly tell the difference between SD and HD on my set. I currently have Panasonics flagship 42" plasma so it's not like I've got a cheap, inferior TV.

Even watching downloaded xvids streamed via the PS3 which it upscales to 1080p are so much sharper than the SD on TiVo.

It's the only downside of the box, otherwise it's a great bit of kit.

A.

Has anybody determined whether the Tivo box has the chip set to upscaling and it is activated in the software? I really do wonder about this since I used to read here that VM pushed the upscaling of V+ and how good it was when there was only BBC HD on VM.

With Tivo, there is evidence that this advantage has gone and VM have shot themselves in the foot, as there are plenty of SD channels with good programmes out there so it will be very clear to new Tivo users. Like Andy, BBC1 SD looks very high quality on my SA V+ box that my wife doesn't see what all the fuss is about with HD. That view will soon change when I get a Tivo box but that is hardly positive on VM!!

This doesn’t seem to be an issue of the TV as wasn't there with the SA/Samsung V+ boxes, but something seems to just not be there with the Tivo? There have just been too many posts saying the SD PQ is not as good on the Tivo.

Andy C · 07-03-2011, 15:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfect Choice

Has anybody determined whether the Tivo box has the chip set to upscaling and it is activated in the software? I really do wonder about this since I used to read here that VM pushed the upscaling of V+ and how good it was when there was only BBC HD on VM.

I don't think the TiVo does any internal upscaling no, it just leaves it to the TV. To me it appears it's just being zoomed to the desired resolution as even the SD menus are soft with no defined edges on text.

I watch the repeat of The Wright Stuff on Fiver (erm, Five Star) so there's no HD option unless I record the HD airing on Five earlier. The SD showing on the V+ was sharp, not it's very, very soft.

muppetman11 · 07-03-2011, 15:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy C

I don't think the TiVo does any internal upscaling no, it just leaves it to the TV. To me it appears it's just being zoomed to the desired resolution as even the SD menus are soft with no defined edges on text.

I watch the repeat of The Wright Stuff on Fiver (erm, Five Star) so there's no HD option unless I record the HD airing on Five earlier. The SD showing on the V+ was sharp, not it's very, very soft.

To be fair on TIVO , the Sky+HD box is poor on SD however this isn't a major problem when you have access to over 50 HD channels.

BenJSmyth · 07-03-2011, 15:39

The other things that may perhaps enhance the view of SD being inferior is that the menus are now all HD. Therefore, when selecting an SD programme the contrast between the UI and the programme is now a lot greater.

I'm not saying there aren't people with issues (I personally don't have the issue) but it may be more obvious because of the UI quality.

Perfect Choice · 07-03-2011, 15:47

Well let ask the question another way, do the SA/Samsung V+ boxes have the chip set to upscale on the box before transmitting to the TV? I believe the answer of that is yes, so what the TV can do is less critical since it will receive an upscaled signal from the box?

But with Tivo, it does seem this is not the case unless anybody who has detailed knowledge of the Tivo specification can confirm otherwise, so it is down to the capability of your TV to do the job your V+ box previously did? I suspect some TVs may not be so good as others on doing this and so the issue some people are seeing and too many IMHO. Big mistake if that is the case since no amount of features will replace a less than acceptable picture and it will take at least 2 or 3 years for VM to build up their HD channel list, which in some cases is down to the channel provider anyway e.g. we enjoy watching Being Human on BBC3 but I don't think it is available on the BBC HD 187 channel (never bothered to check but might have to now!).

mattboothers · 07-03-2011, 15:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11

No you will get an email at the end of March telling you how you can order it.

Ah ok thanks, thought that was just for Pre-registers who did not do the raffle.

muppetman11 · 07-03-2011, 15:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfect Choice

Well let ask the question another way, do the SA/Samsung V+ boxes have the chip set to upscale on the box before transmitting to the TV? I believe the answer of that is yes, so what the TV can do is less critical since it will receive an upscaled signal from the box?

But with Tivo, it does seem this is not the case unless anybody who has detailed knowledge of the Tivo specification can confirm otherwise, so it is down to the capability of your TV to do the job your V+ box previously did? I suspect some TVs may not be so good as others on doing this and so the issue some people are seeing and too many IMHO.

Then it could be a problem for all those people with lower end sets.

Perfect Choice · 07-03-2011, 15:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Then it could be a problem for all those people with lower end sets.

Except it isn't, the poster above has a Panasonic flagship 42" plasma and I've seen the same comment from owners of good Samsung TVs. That is what worries me as I do have a good quality TV and was hoping this issue was due to lower quality TVs who may not have the capability or best chip set for upscaling. My TV is a Sony HX803 and the only comfort I've had is that I've seen 2 posts by Sony TV owners who said they did not see a deterioration of SD PQ when the Tivo was installed. Perhaps Sony just happens to be good at auto upscaling or that is my hope at least.

Johnlouis · 07-03-2011, 16:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfect Choice

we enjoy watching Being Human on BBC3 but I don't think it is available on the BBC HD 187 channel (never bothered to check but might have to now!).

Being Human is indeed shown on BBC HD. Monday night though, quite late.

muppetman11 · 07-03-2011, 16:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfect Choice

Except it isn't, the poster above has a Panasonic flagship 42" plasma and I've seen the same comment from owners of good Samsung TVs. That is what worries me as I do have a good quality TV and was hoping this issue was due to lower quality TVs who may not have the capability or best chip set for upscaling. My TV is a Sony HX803 and the only comfort I've had is that I've seen 2 posts by Sony TV owners who said they did not see a deterioration of SD PQ when the Tivo was installed. Perhaps Sony just happens to be good at auto upscaling or that is my hope at least.

Will agree mate I'm seeing a lot of posts on forums about how poor the TIVO SD PQ is which is a bit worrying when we only get 17 HD channels on XL.

passingbat · 07-03-2011, 16:03

I do find this question mark over SD picture quality a big concern; the SA V+ box was excellent on SD.

But with only 20 hours of HD recording on the V+ box, replacing it with a Tivo with much more space is the only option to resolve lack of space issues.

The other tivo functionality is also desirable, and should be good as they add more apps over time (we need a good music service app such as We7, LastFM, spotify or Npster + plus somthing like Lovefilm)

It's a shame they didn't look at what was good on V+ --- upscaling and the way it hndles padding and incorporate it into the new box.

Perfect Choice · 07-03-2011, 16:08

"Being Human is indeed shown on BBC HD. Monday night though, quite late."

Well that is good except one of the current issues with Tivo I've read is that it seems to default to SD programme recording if you select series links, otherwise recording the series using the HD channel at whatever time (we never watch live time these days with the V+ and even less with Tivo) would be just what I am looking for when I finally do get Tivo (I think still!). Thanks.

---------- Post added at 16:08 ---------- Previous post was at 16:03 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by passingbat

I do find this question mark over SD picture quality a big concern; the SA V+ box was excellent on SD.

Agree, I have the SA V+ as well and its upscaling is excellent on SD, so have VM lost focus here and dropped a clanger with Tivo?

I would still like to know if the Cisco box has (1) the chip set (2) activated in Tivo software, but that is not an easy question to ask here I suspect.

Stephen · 07-03-2011, 16:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnlouis

Being Human is indeed shown on BBC HD. Monday night though, quite late.

Its shown on Sunday nights at the same time its on BBC Three.

I don't have any issues with SD on my TiVo unless is something like Challenge TV that seem to be lower quality anyway. Things like BBC1 look great in SD.

At the end of the day though with HD versions of the main channels I watch there is no real need for me to watch the SD versions any more.