BT Vision Box update D8d now officially released
wwwebber
Posts: 3,671 Forum Member
✭✭✭
This should winging its way to a box near you soon. Official details below from BT :-
New Client Details
Referred to internally as the 'D8' client there are 6 valid client versions:
Beta Versions
1.6.25044.803 - D8a with the viewing card slot enabled
1.6.25044.808 - D8a with the viewing card slot deactivated
1.6.25077.821 - D8c with the viewing card slot enabled
1.6.25077.825 - D8c with the viewing card slot deactivated
Release versions
1.6.25077.830 - D8d with the viewing card slot enabled
1.6.25077.835 - D8d with the viewing card slot deactivated
Customers who took part in the D8a or D8c beta testing will be upgraded to D8d as part of the general rollout.
This client is built upon the latest version of Microsoft Mediaroom and BT is one of the first media companies in the world to implement it.
Major New Features
Auto-Standby / Power Saving
The VBox was previously set to automatically turn to standby if not used for 24 hours. To reduce unattended power use we have reduced this to 8 hours.
Around 1 minute after entering standby (automatic or user-invoked) the hard disk in the VBox will now spin down reducing power consumption by around 30%. This will also reduce the noise and heat generated by the VBox, in turn reducing the amount of fan activity. The disk will periodically spin up again for system checks and updates from the servers or when a recording is about to start.
To bring the box out of standby will take a few seconds longer if the disk is idle, just press standby once on the remote and wait for the box to start. (About 3-5 seconds)
Automatic Freeview Updates
BTVision> Settings> TV Settings> Automatic Freeview Updates
Once per day, after being in standby for 30 minutes or more the VBox will automatically check for any new or updated freeview channels. The scan will not run if recordings are in progress.
If no new channels are found then no update will occur. This will not delete the settings for any existing channels.
If new or changed channels are found then the EPG will update.
If a channel is not received at the time of the scan then this will be missing until the next scan.
To stop this feature from causing problems for customers in variable reception areas or that are affected by reception from multiple transmitters the automatic scans can be disabled in the menu. Manual scans can still be performed in the usual way.
Recording Padding
The VBox will now automatically start recording 2 minutes before the scheduled time of broadcast and 5 minutes after. This will help prevent you from missing the start or end of programmes that are not broadcast at the advertised time. The pre-padding can be swiftly skipped by pressing the >| button on the remote to jump forward 30s on each press.
This new padding is 'soft' and will not cause clashes to occur if a new recording needs to start at the same time that another one ends. When this happens the recordings will end / start at the scheduled time. Although you can not adjust or remove this 'soft' padding you can set 'hard' padding at the end if you want via the usual options.
If you have set a recording to finish after the end of the programme this will over-ride the new soft padding feature. This applies to series as well as individual recordings so you may wish to review your series recording settings.
Series Record Stacking
Series Recordings will now be grouped in the menu by the title of the series. Selecting the title will then list the episodes in that series. This will make it easier to find and view the recordings in the correct order and reduce the number of separate listings to navigate when looking for a particular item. These will appear in the recordings menus as the programme name with the number of episodes in brackets after the title, for example:
Your Series Recording (3)
Pressing select will then list the individual episodes as follows:
Your Series Recording <date 1> <time 1>
Your Series Recording <date 2> <time 1>
Your Series Recording <date 2> <time 2>
Freeview Audio Description
BTVision> Settings> General Settings> Audio Description
Where a Freeview broadcast includes Audio Description for visually impaired viewers this is now accessible on the VBox. The settings screen includes options to enable or disable the service and to set the volume of the description relative to the normal broadcast.
The default setting is +3 but please try the normal or +1 settings first. As Audio Description works by suppressing the normal audio you may find that you need to slightly increase the volume on your TV set. The separate increase to the default volume of the VBox will help to offset this effect.
Known Bug - if the channel is changed while an Audio Description is playing the suppression of normal audio may continue on the new channel. To recover to normal audio go back to the original channel, wait for the 'voice over' to pause and change again. We are already working to solve this.
Dolby Digital (5.1 Surround Sound)
BTVision> Settings> General Settings> Digital Audio Output
The digital audio output (SP-DIF) from the VBox can now be set to either Stereo or 5.1 Surround Sound to match the audio device you are connecting to.
The default setting is stereo and surround sound will only work via this optical connection. If you set the surround sound option the audio output over the HD cable is disabled. You can use surround sound and SCART at the same time for a normal screen. +Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is currently only available on our HD content - normal VOD and freeview content is in stereo. +
Other New Features
EPG stored on the VBox
EPG data for the next 14 days will now be stored on the VBox hard disk, This is updated every day to add the latest information. This will give much faster response times when scrolling through the EPG as the information will be coming from the VBox instead of the servers. When viewing the EPG you can now use the shortcuts button on the remote to easily jump ahead to another day or switch from gird to list view.
SCART, S-Video and HDMI at the same time
The SCART and S-Video connection will now remain live when an HDMI connection is in use. As the analogue connection is showing the same image as the HD connection the picture will be in 16:9 format and part of picture may be off the edge of the screen if the secondary screen is 4:3.
It is now possible to connect 4 different devices to one VBox - HD / SCART / S-Video / RF but we expect most people will use this as HD for the TV and SCART for a recording device.
HD Play While Downloading
HD content can now be viewed before fully downloaded, provided that the download is expected to complete before you would reach the end of the programme. A small tolerance is built in to allow you to fast forward through the title credits if you wish. The amount of completed download needed before you can start the programme will vary with the speed of the download.
Improved HD Stability
We have again improved the stability and flexibility of the HDMI connection. This will reduce the number of error messages and increase the range of supported devices. In particular we have tried to improve performance for use of HDMI switches. Our advice remains that direct connection to the screen is preferred and any switch devices will need to be HDCP compliant. You might now be able to split the HD output to more than one screen on the same but we do not actively support this configuration
Increased Audio Output
The audio output level of the VBox has been increased by 5dB to the maximum possible level. This will bring the output from the VBox up to a similar level to that used by many other STB's.
RF out 'off' setting
This will now be retained if the VBox is restarted so you won't need to set it again.
Menu and Messaging Improvements
As usual we have taken this opportunity to improve some menu and error messages, including some diagnostic screens. Startup screens have been revised with 'BT Vision HD' showing on the screen if you have an HDMI cable attached. The diagnostic screen can be called by pressing pause when the BT logo appears but does not display until the end of the boot sequence, the VBox will need to be restarted to clear the diagnostic screen
Improved Startup Time
We have further reduced the boot time of the VBox to under 2 minutes from power on and introduced a feature that will detect if the hub is powered on but not yet connected to broadband. This will reduce the chance of the VBox failing to start if the box and hub are turned on at the same time. Please note that waiting for the hub will extend the boot time beyond 2 minutes.
Major Bug Fixes
MHEG (Red Button) Stability
Field trials have shown that the MHEG (Red Button) services perform better in this release than in the previous version. After the update you should find that these services run for many weeks without the need to restart the VBox. We would like to deliver additional improvements to the MHEG performance and we will seek to include these in future releases.
Subtitles sticking on screen
Although originally advised by our suppliers that the software bug had been resolved our testing has shown that this is not the case. Work continues to resolve this as soon as possible. Please see this thread for additional information:
Information returned from Search Results
When searching for a freeview programme via the blue button or the menu the 'i' button previously did not correctly return the full programme information. The search results are now correctly linked to the EPG data to show this information.
'Trickplay' of radio content removed
Previous software releases had a problem where fast-forwarding of radio recordings would jump straight to the end of the programme. This also affected live broadcasts when radio that was paused could not be rewound or fast-forwarded. These features have been removed in this release. You will still be able to record radio content but you will not be able to pause, rewind, fast-forward or skip recorded or live radio.
Other Bug Fixes
As with former releases we have also managed to resolve a number of minor bugs. Most of these are not noticed by our customers but form part of the continual improvement work. An example of a minor bug is that the mute button previously did not work when you were on the parental controls screen. If there was a particular bug that was affecting your use of the service please try again and let us know the outcome.
Oh and by the way . . .
The Little Green Light is no more
We've finally turned it off, and it will only show if we send you an important service message
New Client Details
Referred to internally as the 'D8' client there are 6 valid client versions:
Beta Versions
1.6.25044.803 - D8a with the viewing card slot enabled
1.6.25044.808 - D8a with the viewing card slot deactivated
1.6.25077.821 - D8c with the viewing card slot enabled
1.6.25077.825 - D8c with the viewing card slot deactivated
Release versions
1.6.25077.830 - D8d with the viewing card slot enabled
1.6.25077.835 - D8d with the viewing card slot deactivated
Customers who took part in the D8a or D8c beta testing will be upgraded to D8d as part of the general rollout.
This client is built upon the latest version of Microsoft Mediaroom and BT is one of the first media companies in the world to implement it.
Major New Features
Auto-Standby / Power Saving
The VBox was previously set to automatically turn to standby if not used for 24 hours. To reduce unattended power use we have reduced this to 8 hours.
Around 1 minute after entering standby (automatic or user-invoked) the hard disk in the VBox will now spin down reducing power consumption by around 30%. This will also reduce the noise and heat generated by the VBox, in turn reducing the amount of fan activity. The disk will periodically spin up again for system checks and updates from the servers or when a recording is about to start.
To bring the box out of standby will take a few seconds longer if the disk is idle, just press standby once on the remote and wait for the box to start. (About 3-5 seconds)
Automatic Freeview Updates
BTVision> Settings> TV Settings> Automatic Freeview Updates
Once per day, after being in standby for 30 minutes or more the VBox will automatically check for any new or updated freeview channels. The scan will not run if recordings are in progress.
If no new channels are found then no update will occur. This will not delete the settings for any existing channels.
If new or changed channels are found then the EPG will update.
If a channel is not received at the time of the scan then this will be missing until the next scan.
To stop this feature from causing problems for customers in variable reception areas or that are affected by reception from multiple transmitters the automatic scans can be disabled in the menu. Manual scans can still be performed in the usual way.
Recording Padding
The VBox will now automatically start recording 2 minutes before the scheduled time of broadcast and 5 minutes after. This will help prevent you from missing the start or end of programmes that are not broadcast at the advertised time. The pre-padding can be swiftly skipped by pressing the >| button on the remote to jump forward 30s on each press.
This new padding is 'soft' and will not cause clashes to occur if a new recording needs to start at the same time that another one ends. When this happens the recordings will end / start at the scheduled time. Although you can not adjust or remove this 'soft' padding you can set 'hard' padding at the end if you want via the usual options.
If you have set a recording to finish after the end of the programme this will over-ride the new soft padding feature. This applies to series as well as individual recordings so you may wish to review your series recording settings.
Series Record Stacking
Series Recordings will now be grouped in the menu by the title of the series. Selecting the title will then list the episodes in that series. This will make it easier to find and view the recordings in the correct order and reduce the number of separate listings to navigate when looking for a particular item. These will appear in the recordings menus as the programme name with the number of episodes in brackets after the title, for example:
Your Series Recording (3)
Pressing select will then list the individual episodes as follows:
Your Series Recording <date 1> <time 1>
Your Series Recording <date 2> <time 1>
Your Series Recording <date 2> <time 2>
Freeview Audio Description
BTVision> Settings> General Settings> Audio Description
Where a Freeview broadcast includes Audio Description for visually impaired viewers this is now accessible on the VBox. The settings screen includes options to enable or disable the service and to set the volume of the description relative to the normal broadcast.
The default setting is +3 but please try the normal or +1 settings first. As Audio Description works by suppressing the normal audio you may find that you need to slightly increase the volume on your TV set. The separate increase to the default volume of the VBox will help to offset this effect.
Known Bug - if the channel is changed while an Audio Description is playing the suppression of normal audio may continue on the new channel. To recover to normal audio go back to the original channel, wait for the 'voice over' to pause and change again. We are already working to solve this.
Dolby Digital (5.1 Surround Sound)
BTVision> Settings> General Settings> Digital Audio Output
The digital audio output (SP-DIF) from the VBox can now be set to either Stereo or 5.1 Surround Sound to match the audio device you are connecting to.
The default setting is stereo and surround sound will only work via this optical connection. If you set the surround sound option the audio output over the HD cable is disabled. You can use surround sound and SCART at the same time for a normal screen. +Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is currently only available on our HD content - normal VOD and freeview content is in stereo. +
Other New Features
EPG stored on the VBox
EPG data for the next 14 days will now be stored on the VBox hard disk, This is updated every day to add the latest information. This will give much faster response times when scrolling through the EPG as the information will be coming from the VBox instead of the servers. When viewing the EPG you can now use the shortcuts button on the remote to easily jump ahead to another day or switch from gird to list view.
SCART, S-Video and HDMI at the same time
The SCART and S-Video connection will now remain live when an HDMI connection is in use. As the analogue connection is showing the same image as the HD connection the picture will be in 16:9 format and part of picture may be off the edge of the screen if the secondary screen is 4:3.
It is now possible to connect 4 different devices to one VBox - HD / SCART / S-Video / RF but we expect most people will use this as HD for the TV and SCART for a recording device.
HD Play While Downloading
HD content can now be viewed before fully downloaded, provided that the download is expected to complete before you would reach the end of the programme. A small tolerance is built in to allow you to fast forward through the title credits if you wish. The amount of completed download needed before you can start the programme will vary with the speed of the download.
Improved HD Stability
We have again improved the stability and flexibility of the HDMI connection. This will reduce the number of error messages and increase the range of supported devices. In particular we have tried to improve performance for use of HDMI switches. Our advice remains that direct connection to the screen is preferred and any switch devices will need to be HDCP compliant. You might now be able to split the HD output to more than one screen on the same but we do not actively support this configuration
Increased Audio Output
The audio output level of the VBox has been increased by 5dB to the maximum possible level. This will bring the output from the VBox up to a similar level to that used by many other STB's.
RF out 'off' setting
This will now be retained if the VBox is restarted so you won't need to set it again.
Menu and Messaging Improvements
As usual we have taken this opportunity to improve some menu and error messages, including some diagnostic screens. Startup screens have been revised with 'BT Vision HD' showing on the screen if you have an HDMI cable attached. The diagnostic screen can be called by pressing pause when the BT logo appears but does not display until the end of the boot sequence, the VBox will need to be restarted to clear the diagnostic screen
Improved Startup Time
We have further reduced the boot time of the VBox to under 2 minutes from power on and introduced a feature that will detect if the hub is powered on but not yet connected to broadband. This will reduce the chance of the VBox failing to start if the box and hub are turned on at the same time. Please note that waiting for the hub will extend the boot time beyond 2 minutes.
Major Bug Fixes
MHEG (Red Button) Stability
Field trials have shown that the MHEG (Red Button) services perform better in this release than in the previous version. After the update you should find that these services run for many weeks without the need to restart the VBox. We would like to deliver additional improvements to the MHEG performance and we will seek to include these in future releases.
Subtitles sticking on screen
Although originally advised by our suppliers that the software bug had been resolved our testing has shown that this is not the case. Work continues to resolve this as soon as possible. Please see this thread for additional information:
Information returned from Search Results
When searching for a freeview programme via the blue button or the menu the 'i' button previously did not correctly return the full programme information. The search results are now correctly linked to the EPG data to show this information.
'Trickplay' of radio content removed
Previous software releases had a problem where fast-forwarding of radio recordings would jump straight to the end of the programme. This also affected live broadcasts when radio that was paused could not be rewound or fast-forwarded. These features have been removed in this release. You will still be able to record radio content but you will not be able to pause, rewind, fast-forward or skip recorded or live radio.
Other Bug Fixes
As with former releases we have also managed to resolve a number of minor bugs. Most of these are not noticed by our customers but form part of the continual improvement work. An example of a minor bug is that the mute button previously did not work when you were on the parental controls screen. If there was a particular bug that was affecting your use of the service please try again and let us know the outcome.
Oh and by the way . . .
The Little Green Light is no more
We've finally turned it off, and it will only show if we send you an important service message
0
Comments
will do till VBox2 and ADSL upgrades take place.
still hoping that they do something like "re-grade" the QoS bandwidth for those with higher BB Bandwidth. Could be really handy for HD On Demand.
i would also like to see BT use the network out of hours and auto download some HD stuff (eg. I would set it to auto download comedy shows/top gear etc)
thanks for the info.
BT are the first company to use technology provided by Micros**t.
Shouldn't we be a little more careful?
http://greenlightlovesme.co.uk/ should be made into a memorial site.
actually mediaroom is working really well. and as far as i know you can't gain access to the box via ethernet. going to its IP refuses connection. so i guess it has its own inbuilt firewall set to maximum or most likely only 1 port is open for comms.
that sites been updated with terran's farewell. funniest thing is if you set the brightness higher you can see a Red Light next to it switched off.
BT have killed GREENY :eek::)
edit there it is now.
nice to see the green light working as it should. not that it bothered me.
http://digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=34813501&postcount=7
cheers.
[QUOTE=wwwebber;
Oh and by the way . . .
The Little Green Light is no more
We've finally turned it off, and it will only show if we send you an important service message[/QUOTE]
It is not dead, it's only taking a well earned rest
Mind you it has stuff in it that should have been fixed at launch but at least its now here.
ugh really? that's annoying so i could wait another month while joe bloggs has enjoyed a few things from it already.
Is this normal or has there been releases since this one?
Normal.
So, does this mean that even though I have my BT Vision Box hooked into my amp via HDMI, it can't pass surround sound audio over the HDMI cable? Only via TOSlink? Does anyone know if there's any reason for this?
I'd like clarification of this too. I'm hooked up to my TV via HDMI and to my amp via TOSlink. If it means I have to manually change the VBOX settings everytime I want to switch my amp on and vice versa this will not be good as I already have to do this with my PS3.
I currently dont have to do this so why now ?
I agree, it seems very strange. I'm hoping that it's just some poor-wording in the release notes, otherwise I can't see any particular reason why they would want to introduce such a 'feature'. The rest of the update looks great, let's hope this isn't a sore point!
Normal but some of us have been lucky enough to get an early upgrade to 1.6.25044.x (now superseded) or 1.6.25077.x. The 25077 rollout is currently underway. You can't force it, so just sit tight until it arrives.