V6 box poor picture compared to TiVo box

snooper

Prominent Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
1,282
Reaction score
187
Points
285
Age
56
Hi just re-negotiated my package and swapped one of my tivos for a v6 box and not happy with picture quality. It’s noticeabley noisier/grainier and worse on recordings, particularly anything with a lot of dark scenes in. Is this a trait of the v6 box, as it’s nowt to do wi settings etc. I am considering asking for a TiVo back tbh. I know the v6 is quicker and more functional etc but it’s about pic quality for me. I am considering getting a 55 inch OLED later this year but if pic poor on my 42 inch plasma, it will only look worse on a bigger set. Anyone else experienced this going from TiVo to v6. Thanks
 
The box has a different scaler in it than that associated with the HD TiVo box. The V6 is able to scale video all the way up to 2160p (4K), but this isn't to say it can do it with any degree of finess or to a standard you'd rate it highly for.

It is what it is, a cheap box incorporating a cheap off the shelf video processor.

The worst aspect of this is if you actually want to use it to output native 4K then you've to configure it to scale everything to 2160p. This means that the poor scaler effects everything you access with a lesser resolution. There's no video setting to bypass the scaling to give you the native lesser resolution video sans processing.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply pal if you’d just had virgin installed you wouldn’t know any difference but it’s not good if you’ve been with them for years. It seems it’s all about getting new customers now surely more people have noticed the V6 pic is inferior to a TiVo. Had a google and on virgins own forums & it’s mentioned a lot. I wish I had read them before tbh. Do you know if sky q is a better pic than the V6. This may have to be an option long term, unless they get a better box to replace the V6. Also can I go back to a TiVo only had the swap just over a week ago. Seriously disappointed with pic on it. Obviously not tested properly before it was released I think.
 
We recently got a V6 box to replace an old HD Box, so I decided to put the V6 in the lounge in place of the TiVo and moved the TiVo to the bedroom where the HD Box was.

I've found the V6 picture slightly better than the TiVo on the same 1080p TV. I guess this is because the V6 can output 1080p, whereas the closest the TiVo can get is 720p or 1080i.
 
The majority of HD channels broadcast a 1080i signal. Virgin doesn't even distribute 1080p HD broadcasts. No channel in the UK uses 720p.

The scaler only comes into play when the broadcast is a lesser resolution than what the bx has had its output set to. The issue is that not much that is broadcast will be 2160p in nature, but if wanting to be able to output this then you'd have to set the V6 box's output to 2160p. This means that almost everything you watch will be scaled by the STB.

The TiVo isn't able to handle 4K and cannot scaled to this resolution anyway.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom