V+ - Technical Specifications

Technical Specifications

The V+ Boxes have three video tuners, allowing the user to record two programmes to the hard drive while watching a live programme which can then be paused. V+'s main competitor on the British market, the Sky+ HD box, has two tuners. As with all other Digital set-top boxes from Virgin Media. The set-top boxes support 720p and 1080i high definition video via HDMI and component output and is capable of upscaling SD video to HD resolutions. The copying of some programmes may be restricted by using HDCP. The set-top boxes also support Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, which is currently broadcast on some HD channels and video on demand (VOD) content. Both set-top boxes support DVB-C transmission using MPEG-2 compression, the standard used by Virgin for both SD and HD video.

Currently only two models of V+ have been released, the original Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8300DVB and the newer Samsung SMT-H3110, which was released on 3 March 2009 on a trial basis followed by a full launch on 3 August 2009 after a 1 year delay.

There have been five remote control models, the type 7 which was replaced by the type 8 during the V+ branding exercise, both are manufactured by Philips. The type 9 was released during September 2009, followed by the type 10 both are manufactured by Ruwido using their 'r series' remote controls. On 22 March 2010, Ruwido announced that Virgin had gone for Ruwido’s ‘Unified’ remote control for their new type 11 and 12, only the latter is available with the V+.