June 06, 2018

BBC World Cup coverage: Virgin V6 confirmed

It’s near the bottom of this alphabetical list but the V6 is supported for the BBC World Cup 4K coverage. 

22 comments:

Chris said...

I’ve tried a couple of times. Can’t get it to work. It’s pathetic. We had the BBC HD channel in 2007. How hard is it really?

Matty Smith said...

I'm also having Trouble

On the V6 box I Can go onto BBC Iplayer and you can watch to the game that's streaming but it's not 4K and there isn't an option to select 4K.

If it is 4K it's very poor quality, it's not even in Dolby digital but stereo and there's no symbols or signs stating 4K.

I've triple checked the V6 video output settings and it's definitely on [2160p] and I've also tried using the BBC iplayer Beta settings with no luck.

mattbuk said...

Mine is working and looks great on my LG B7. Just had a little sound delay though at times today, but as it’s beta, I can accept this for the picture quality. 4K HDR gotta love it.

Chris said...

How did you get it to work? Help would be appreciated. Thanks

mattbuk said...

The programme shows at the time of the BBC broadcast, but the actually UHD option doesn’t show up until a few minutes after the initial broadcast starts - I’ve found. You can tell when it’s there as a blue UHD banner splash shows on the edge of the programme. Once clicked you have a couple of streaming options HD and UHD. Honestly it’s my first experience of UHD HDR football and when I flick to normal HD it’s like watching SD. I just hope it’s an option for Virgin customers for next season.

Jez24 said...

Mattbuk, Can I ask what size TV you have? It seems to me that from the first tests of HD to today, people in the business are surprised at how the human eye does seem to notice even small improvments in picture quaility. I don't have 4K, but I notice a difference when a 4K programme is shown on my 1080 HD set up.

Unknown said...

I've been able to access the UHD feed via my TVs iplayer app, even half way through a match, when you'd have thought the BBC's number of watchers limit would have been reached.

But although the picture looks nice, it seems duller than the HD equivalent to me.

Chris said...

I’ve tried everything suggested above and still nothing. This is on the V6 box. I’ve tried on PS4 Pro, just to be sure. Definitely doesn’t support UHD. Tried the built in android TV app but the TV is a 2016 Model and doesn’t support it either. Not that I would want to use it anyway. I tried watching the grand tour in 4K on amazon prime on it and it was so juddery it was pointless. But what is probably the most infuriating is that the AppleTV 4K, which has 4K in the name, doesn’t support 4K despite there being an iPlayer app.

And I think NHK (the Japanese BBC) are going to do some 8K stuff soon.... Not that I need or will ever need 8K, but they’re doing it. And presumably it means 4K will be widely available.

Chris said...

They actually already did show the Pyeongchang Winter Games in 8K and are launching a full 8K channel at the end of the year. https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2017/10/18/nhk-to-launch-8k-channel-in-december-2018/

mattbuk said...

I have a LG OLED B7 55” which is capable of HLG, which maybe yours isn’t. I had the Samsung ks8000 last week, which didn’t have it, that I bought in 2016 but managed to get a full refund on the price I paid from richer sounds due to being missold it. If any of you have a Samsung from 2016 google KS owners refund and you will see the forum with people getting refunds. Seems to be only richer sounds giving refunds at the moment.

mattbuk said...

Chris you might not be able to get the UHD option on bbc iPlayer as your internet connection maybe not good enough for qualifiying.

Chris said...

I have the top Virgin speed so that’s not it. And the TV definitely works with it. I’ve watched the iPlayer demo of planet earth 2 in 4K HDR and it works fine.

KJ said...

Haven't been able to get it on V6 even though I know there are spaces as I was able to view it on my PS4 Pro in UHD. Logged out of ps4 & after trying V6 box I was still able to view on PS4 again

mattbuk said...

kJ that’s strange as I get it in my V6

Mike M said...

I have managed to watch a few matches in iplayer UHD and I think the picture is far sharper.
Coverage is patchy though. I have had to stop and restart many times when connection buffers or when the sound has cut out. It is also a good minute or 2 behind the HD feed on channel 108.
My connection is 200Mb and it took me a while to discover the best way to access it.
First ensure that your TV is HLG compliant (ie you can see the test videos).
Secondly your amp set-up or cables may be the problem, it wasn't until I used a direct HDMI link to my TV (Hisense) via specific UHD HDMI port rather than going through the amp that I could finally see the UHD option be offered to me.
Wait until the BBC coverage has been going for a few minutes then access Iplayer via the red button on VM remote. Use the UP arrow to select Iplayer and the match will be the first square on the left.
Once you select this a screen offering you 3 options will appear :-
1. Watch match live in UHD
2. Watch from start in HD
3. Watch live in HD

Obviously select option 1 and after some short buffering you will notice the difference. If in doubt the BBC UHD logo will be shown in grey on the top right corner.

I have joined the stream even halfway through a match and sadly generally I may only get 20 mins or more without having to press stop and then re selecting the feed again (thankfully not missed any crucial action) although yesterday I saw the whole afternoon game without any breaks in service.

Good luck to all, hope this helps.

Steve@3 said...

Mike M
Thanks for solving my problem. I was having exactly on the same problems as Chris Till - no UHD option for World Cup on iPlayer with V6 box, even though I have watched the BBC UHD demo's and FA Cup Final in UHD previously.
After seeing your message, I connected the HDMI cable directly from my V6 box to my TV, rather than through my amp and immediately the UHD option becomes available on V6 / iPlayer.
No idea why this makes a difference now when it hasn't before, but it does!

Chris said...

Mine’s connected directly to the TV, but never worked so I gave up. Perhaps I’ll give it one more go tomorrow, and that’ll be it until they get their act together and launch a channel.

Steve@3 said...

Hi Chris.
Worth trying iPlayer more than once after changing any connections in case the change is not immediately recognised.
I tested iPlayer several times during tonights match and every time managed to get UHD connection - you may see a prompt from iPlayer about UHD broadcasts first, then you will see a small UHD in the bottom right hand corner of the streaming World Cup match on the iPlayer home page. Then a choice about HD/UHD as Mike explained.
In case it helps, I'm using fairly inexpensive AmazonBasics HighSpeed 2.0 HDMI cables.
Good luck!

Chris said...

We don’t have an amp or anything. It’s always been plugged directly into the tv and I know it works with the TiVo box in HDR because of the test footage they have. One more try, then I’m done. Thanks for your help either way though.

Chris said...

I just tried it on the Japan game (a few minutes after the start) and it just says live. No option for UHD. So that’s my last time trying. Congrats those who got it to work.

Steve@3 said...

After my success with UHD on Friday, I couldn't see the UHD option on iPlayer on Saturday or Sunday. Tonight I tried changing the HDMI lead from V6 to TV halfway through the Portugal game - pressed red button and there was the UHD option on iPlayer again, so watched second half in UHD.
Might not solve anyone else's problem, but both my leads are marked "Amazon high-speed" except one worked for UHD and the other didn't, so HDMI leads definitely make a difference!

Chris said...

I finally got it to work! Not on Virgin V6 though. There’s clearly some issue there. Works on PS4 Pro.

I’ve been looking into YouTube TV. It looks really impressive, is a modern service with all the channels and features you’d be looking for.

If it comes here and has all the channels I want, I think I’m ready to drop Virgin TV. VM aren’t pushing forward and seem content to run it into the ground and be surpassed by everything else out there. The one thing they do really well is be reliable and dependable. But I think YT TV would be as well. Very adaptable, usable on all devices and on mobile for when you’re out or your broadband goes down etc.

It definitely feels like we’re approaching that tipping point where even the most demanding TV customers can have the same experience without a cable or satellite service.