Thread: VOOM STB Version 00.05.5C: Features/Bugs/Requests

As suggested by Sean Mota, let's report VOOM STB features, bugs and new feature requests in this thread. Please use other threads for questions and discussions.


Impressions about new VOOM STB software version

Here are my initial impressions about the latest VOOM STB software version (V00.05.5C) that I've got this morning.

Channel switching
Great improvement! It used to take 5-6 seconds in 1080i mode and 3-4 seconds in 720p mode. Now it takes less than 2 seconds (sometimes close to 1 second!) from the moment you hit the Channel Up/Down button to the moment you see the entire picture and get the sound. After that it takes another 3 seconds for the small Surf Bar with the channel info to disappear – but that's no problem. Another noticeable improvement is the way multiple clicks are handled. If you press the channel Up/Down twice – the wait time does not increase much and you don't get the intermediate channel for a fraction of a second, the way it worked in the previous version.

Surf Bar
This is a smaller version of the Program Guide that appears at the bottom of the screen when you hit Info or navigation buttons. It has several improvements in the new version: First of all, it is no longer limited to 6 hours. I was able to go as far as 24 hours in both Surf Bar and the main Program Guide. (This was within a few minutes after a reboot. May be if I waited longer I would get even more than 24 hours loaded – not sure.) Also, the Surf Bar now shows movie genre, year and star-rating. In the previous version this info was only available in the main PG, not in the Surf Bar.

Signal Power Readings
Signal power and signal quality readings have increased. I am now getting 76/97 compared to 58/69 I was getting before. I suspect this is just a new scale, not a reception improvement. Wish to be proven wrong. There is also a new SNR ("Signal to Noise Ratio") reading.

Closed Captioning
It now works! Didn't work in the older version. Unfortunately there are only two options in the settings: Always-On or Always-Off. No "on-mute" option, and I haven't found a CC button on the remote. The CC text (that has black background) is positioned too high: above the space that is normally occupied by the Surf Bar. Better than nothing, though.

Program Planner
Program Planner (PP) is now fully operational! You can select a program in the Program Guide and add it to the PP list. There are two ways how the PP may work: you can get a reminder 15 seconds before the program (default), or you can choose the "Auto On" option – which is more useful for VCR and TiVo recording. If you have Parental Control enabled, it will ask for your advance permission, so that the scheduled channel change could occur without your intervention.

Parental Control
Earlier I reported some problems with Parental Control in the previous version:
- Digital sound was never blocked
- Some HD channels had wrong geometry after being unlocked
- Some unlocked channels didn’t stay unlocked after switching channels.
A quick check didn't reveal these problems in the new version. It looks like they are now fixed!

Help
The new version now has a detailed on-screen help. It even shows the layout of the remote and explains the function of each button.

Other Changes
- The report-back phone number is empty in the new version. Either we will be asked to enter it later, or may be they have a capability to enter/change it remotely.
- When you access the settings menu you now get a warning message.
- The STB now remembers the last channel tuned. (I kind of liked getting HDNews updates whenever I turn on the STB, but others complained about it.)
- Hidden screens and menus (9-8-8, 9-7-7, etc.) didn’t change much. Still present though. The only change I noticed is that HD Video Test now works fine for me. In the previous version it didn’t work well on my latest STB.
- VOOM-Info button sequence no longer brings the Version Info page. You should now use Help-Info sequence instead.

Remaining Bugs
I didn’t check all the bugs I knew about, but most of the previously reported bugs seem to be fixed. However, the problem I documented here is still not fixed: the Manual Tuning screen still shows "Right_Ve" polarity for channels like 261 or 262 that in reality have "Left_Horiz" polarity. No big deal – just a bit confusing.

Lock-ups
Now the bad news... My STB locked up four times this morning. Twice when I was getting to the Help-Info page, once when I was browsing with the Surf Bar, and once when I pressed the VOOM button. In two cases I ended up with a small window in the upper-right corner, in the other two – I got stuck on a channel. Of course I put an unusually heavy "stress" on my STB this morning: probably did more remote clicks, than I would normally do within an entire week, but still frustrating...
In addition, on a few occasions I saw a black screen or a gray screen for a second or two. Don't know if this was a broadcast problem or a new glitch, but I don't remember seeing this before.

Conclusion
Overall, I like the new version. I think it is a significant improvement. Most of the problems seem to be fixed. Missing features implemented. Still, some major requests remain outstanding: OTA scanning (or manual tuning) is probably the most important one. And whether there is any improvement with the lockup problems – remains to be seen...

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Update: I now have more than 3 days of schedules in both PG and in the surf bar! Sweet!

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The Most Important Issues with the new VOOM STB software version
1. TVs with non-HDCP compliant DVI inputs are no longer supported.
2. Periodic screen black-outs.
3. STB lockups (often with a small window in the upper-right corner)
4. No sound (or picture) after switching channels

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Previous software versions and related threads
Voom Box Version V00.05.08. Bugs/Problems/Feature Request

One thing that needs to be fixed on the next upgrade is the guide coming up from what channel you are on. I don't want to start at the begining of the guide every time. It should come up to channel you are currently on. This should have been on this upgrade. This is my biggest compliant thus far with Voom overall. I hate how this part of the guide works.

Tranparents menu's to help avoid burn in

When I press Info, I want Info, not the Surf Bar, and make it transparent. It's a pain to have to hit Info twice to get it.

Another thing they need: A Cancel button, I am always hitting the Back button in the wrong spot and it changes the channel on me. I have yet to fully figure out when I can use it. Plus, the guide goes in the opposite direction of the surf bar when you press the Up/Down buttons.

I feel like the guide could still stand to have a little more polishing. (I haven't seen the new code so I may have to modify this message after I do)

- Increase the amount of future programming visible on the guide. Presently it shows only the half hour you are currently in which isn't informative, especially if you are at the last portion of that half hour. (This is still kind of an issue, but it's not so bad now because the interface runs so much snappier that it's easy to scroll over and see what is next.)

- When you scroll down to a channel and then navigate to a future time the selected channel becomes the top channel in the guide window. It should stay on the channel currently selected as you scroll over.

- When going into the menu the screen seems "shaky" until you hit an up/down button.

- After rebooting my STB it complained of needing authorization until the PG was downloaded. Was unable to watch anything except in the preview window in the guide.

- When you scroll down to a channel and then navigate to a future time the selected channel becomes the top channel in the guide window. It should stay on the channel currently selected as you scroll over.

Ditto. Plus, when scrolling down past the last entry, instead of scrolling a whole new page, I would like to just see the next line like Dish does it. I would also like a longer default for the surf bar because it almost always times out before I can find the Info button (since I have a projector my room is dark).

"Lock-ups
Now the bad news... My STB locked up four times this morning. Twice when I was getting to the Help-Info page, once when I was browsing with the Surf Bar, and once when I pressed the VOOM button. In two cases I ended up with a small window in the upper-right corner, in the other two – I got stuck on a channel. Of course I put an unusually heavy "stress" on my STB this morning: probably did more remote clicks, than I would normally do within an entire week, but still frustrating...
In addition, on a few occasions I saw a black screen or a gray screen for a second or two. Don't know if this was a broadcast problem or a new glitch, but I don't remember seeing this before."

I am also getting these with the small window in the upper right.and I didn't have lock ups since i had my box changed out about 6 weeks ago..

Playboy needed this update for parental locks so it should me here soon

I like it so far. The "Watch" button seems to be much better. No matter where I am at in the menus it goes back to the video, with the surf bar which dissapears on its own after a second.

I also second all recommendations said above. Especially for transparency.

One weird bug I found though... while looking around: I got stuck with the small video picture that you see while in the Voom menu. It was stuck there until I reset the box. Evening turning it on and off didn't change anything. It was just that small video box with nothing else around it. No buttons would respond.

Also, what new surf bar are you talking about? I don't see any smaller surf bar.

Also I would like the ability to delete channels I don't watch or can't pick up(OTA). So when I change channels up/down I don't go thru some that don't work or I don't watch.

Maybe the FAV channels should be what the receiver uses as a list to change channels.