Vu+ Ultimo Vix 2.3 & Blackhole 1.7.2 Test

[digicon]

Hello Forum members,


Ok then first off just wanted to make this clear this post is NOT a Vix or Blackhole Image Bashing thread it has clearly been spelt out on numerous occasions of each to there own so to speak.

Anyway a little background info having owned the Ultimo since release date i have been running Blackhole image on the receiver from incantation 1.7.0 up to 1.7.2, Anyway Wed evening had a little spare time so decided after not having tried Vix since last year on my old ET9000 i thought i would see how Vix had come on since version 2.0.

Ok i did a nice clean install of the Vix 2.3 Build 204 Kernel 3.1.1 onto my Ultimo from USB, everything went as planned and i proceeded to setup each individual setting as i would have done for blackhole leaving Picture settings at Default and no scanning for services these to be added after with Dreamboxedit.

Ok everything set and i am on the main Vix bootscreen so far so good press menu got about image info to check the version, First crash no problem let it reboot and try again this time no problem. So i now go to settings and check for any updates click the update check and no problem image is latest build and no updates available.

So I now start to mount my internal 1gb hard drive and USB stick on the rear no problems all done so next job is to setup Crossepg for USB stick and OpenTv download again no problems all is AOK, So next step FTP over Cateyes settings and reboot enigma again all ok no problems so now to have a test while the image is still pretty much in what i would call raw stage so i try and select BBCHD from the SkyUK/HD bouquet where i am greeted with my second crash, again no problem let it reboot and try again second time success all free channels are working.

Stage 3 is to now install the Vix IPK cams which go without a hitch CCcam 2.2.1 and Mgcamd 1.35a all installed and tested working no problems, Currently on the Vix Night skin which is very nice indeed so i thought i would try another Skin so i go to to the skin feeds and download a skin to try all goes according to plan and new skin is installed, I now go to menu and Skin settings to activate the new skin and i am greeted with a 3rd crash, again no problem just get on with it and see what else happens.

Stage 4 is to see what Picture quality is like on Sky and some of the other providers from different sats as Garry1312 and satlover276 have experienced differing quality with the Vix image on there ET9200 machines. Now lets not forget i am running this on an ultimo but it does have the same Broadcom 7413 chipset so should be slightly different with the VU drivers. I try the Footie on 0.8? west and make a sample recording while viewing, Well all i can say is it is either my eyes are playing up or i have a different TV what i am actually seeing can only be described as what i would call an Over Saturation of colour on screen, The grass is like Luminous green and the players have what i would call a shimmering Halo round them, I then try a few other HD channels on other sats and it appears to be the same outcome in what i can only describe as over bloated colours on everything.

Stage 5. I decide to go back to my Backup of Blackhole which was made earlier so i can make a comparison of the picture quality while it is still fresh in my mind. With Blackhole back on i go to the recording i made of the Footie match, well well i thought it was my TV on the blink, Colours back to normal and no Halo's surrounding the player's. It does appear even on a different machine but still with the same Chipset that picture problems can occur with different images.


Conclusion :

I need to get this straight before anyone says other wise first off i am not Vix image bashing in anyway or form secondly i am also not sideing in anyway with Garry1312 or satlover276 or even any other member who may have experienced Picture quality issues with Vix, This test was done for my own benefit and just to see what all the Fuss was about, My findings above can only relate to myself and my own setup as other members have different components in there system and so could experience different problems with different images.

After having tried Vix 2.3 on my Ultimo i must admit it does have some great features and a nice feel to it which i had forgotten about in nearly over a Year the EPG layout is excellent and definitely one of a kind, Also i believe they are working on refineing the Blindscan feature which would probably interest me more as at the moment Blindscan is exactly the same as what it is on the Blackhole image.

The only downfall i see is there is something in the Picture quality of the image and this needs sorting out, also 3 crashes even before a Fully setup system something i have yet to see on Blackhole.

And finally i have not written of Vix in any way or form but in its present state its just not workable for me, I will revisit Vix once the next release comes out and give it another whirl you never know the next one could be perfect and i do look forward to that new blindscan feature. But for now i shall be sticking with the more Stable Blackhole 1.7.2 and i may even try the new BlackPole which is the Blackhole,OpenPLI hybrid image.

Watch this space

Regards

[dell_xps]

Good write up Digi, I can only say I've not had many crashes at all with my Ultimo, picture quality seems fine to me.
I did try BH image the other month and found it complicated to navigate around.
Each to there own m8, good write up though !! :-)

[digicon]

Hi Dell,

My initial feeling towards Vix stemmed from the early 2.0 release last year on my ET9000 before the 3.1.1 kenel and i must admit i really liked it only the odd crash now and again but nothing major to upset the applecart so to speak, I did really need to try this for myself again as you can see from the post its been a good 12 months since i last used Vix.

Like you say each to there own and you yourself say you have not had many crashes in all honesty with Blackhole i have had since using it on my Ultimo ZERO crashes which to me speaks volumes to how well the BH team have made the image, Its not to everyones liking but i can set it up in less than 10 mins to how i prefer it.

Like i say when the next Vix comes out i shall give that a whirl to see if its anymore stable than what 2.3 is now.

Regards

[redondo5]

Im looking at getting an ultimo and love the old vix 2.2 on my duo. But recently i have updated my duo to 2.3 and also think my PQ was not what it was. A little fine tuning using the adjustments screen does improve PQ a bit. But after reading your review i think i might just put vti or blackhole on my ultimo when it arrives, obviously will look out for vix but will be more open to change

[nolano]

Yesterday I tried the latest Vix2.3 on my Ultimo

The biggest isue that i have with VIX is that the OSD seems to be bigger than what can be viewed on my SONY Widescreen tv.

I used (as always) the HDMI 1080i setting

Why must the coloured buttons that you need for adjusting settings be placed at the edges or at the bottomline of the screen?

For one thing it's plain ugly and also very unpractical.

I removed VIX 2.3 and downloaded the beta Nightly build OpenVix to see if this didn't have the same issues as the other VIX 2.3, but unfortunately it's the same story.

After this VIX experience I wanted to return to OpenPli but decided to give the SIF team latest release a try.

Personally i prefer this image over all the others that I tried before,

It looks & works great!

regards,
nolano

[RuberDuck]

Yesterday I tried the latest Vix2.3 on my Ultimo

The biggest isue that i have with VIX is that the OSD seems to be bigger than what can be viewed on my SONY Widescreen tv.



regards,
nolano

Then you should turn off overscan on your TV as your TV is stretching every pixel to 1.5 times their true size also giving poorer Picture quality. if you cant turn off overscan adjust the OSD position to fit the TV screen via menu> setup> system> OSD> OSD position setup.