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General VU+ Receiver Discussion Vu+ Ultimo4K Tested for You !!!

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“Best Imaginable UHD Receiver”

Review by Ev0 (BH Team)

Since Vu+ announced the Ultimo4K at the Anga Cable and Satellite fair earlier this year, there has been a lot of hype and people expecting big things from this box, but none more than myself.

Well now it’s here, so does it live up to the hype?

Let’s take a look and find out.

Hardware:


  • 1.5GHz ARM Quad-Core 20,000 DMIPS ARM v7 Processor
  • 4096 MB Flash (eMMC)
  • 3072 MB DDR3 DRAM
  • Gigabit LAN (10/100/1000 MBit/s)
  • 2x Advanced Pluggable FBC DVB-S2 or 1x FBC DVB-C Tuner + 1x DVB-S2
  • 1x Advanced Pluggable Single or Dual Tuner (DVB-S2 or DVB-C/T/T2)
  • 4” Front LCD screen / MiniTv
  • 1x HDMI 2.0 out (with HDR support)
  • 1x HDMI 2.0 in
  • Wlan: IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac 2,4 / 5 GHz integrated
  • Wake on Wireless LAN (WoWL)
  • Bluetooth 4.0 integrated for e.g. Bluetooth soundbars or headphones
  • 2x Common-Interface
  • 2x Smartcard-Reader (Xcrypt)
  • 1x USB 2.0 (Front)
  • 2x USB 3.0 (Rear)
  • 2x Audio out (RCA)
  • S/PDIF audio output optical (digital)
  • HD PIP (Picture in Picture)
  • Blindscan
  • DiSEqC 1.0/1.1/1.2, USALS
  • Internal 2.5”/3.5” Hdd Support
  • External 12V power supply
  • Power Switch
  • Fanless Silent Operation
Software:


  • Advanced Linux Operating System
  • Media Player
  • Downloadable Plug-Ins supported
  • HbbTV
  • EPG supported
  • Unlimited channel lists for TV / Radio
  • Automatic & Manual Service Scan Supported
  • Multiple LNB control (DiSEqC) supported
  • OSD in many languages
  • Skin change supported

As you can see, it’s certainly not lacking in features.

Inside the box:


I am testing a pre-production model here, therefore the box that mine arrived in might be different from the final retail models.

On opening the box up, you find the following inside:


  • Vu+ UltimoK Satellite Receiver
  • Easy Setup Guide
  • Remote Control (the same popular Universal type that is supplied with other models in the Vu+ range)
  • 2x AAA Battery’s
  • High Speed HDMI cable
  • Hdd Sata/Power Cable
  • Power Supply unit
  • Mains Power cable



Appearance:

The Ultimo4K is a big box, the dimensions are (W x D x H): 380 mm x 290 mm x 78 mm. The front panel is clean with only a touch power button, with white led glowing to the left of the 4.0” LCD display, and there is a USB 2.0 connection on the right hand side along with 2 card slots and 2 CI slots all hidden behind the flap.



At the rear we find the connections available on the Uno4K:

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  • 2x Advanced Pluggable FBC (Full Band Capture) Satellite Tuner (or 1x Advanced Pluggable FBC Cable Tuner and 1x FBC Satellite Tuner)
  • 1x Advanced Pluggable Single or Dual DVB-S2/C/T/T2 Tuner
  • 2x USB 3.0 port
  • Gigabit LAN (10/100/1000 MBit/s) Port
  • S/PDIF audio output optical (digital)
  • 1x HDMI 2.0 in
  • 1x HDMI 2.0 out
  • RS232 / IR Sensor port
  • 2x Audio out (RCA) ports
  • External 12V power supply connector
  • Power switch

The Ultimo4K has an HDMI 2.0 port which is HDR compatible.

Inside the Ultimo4K:

Looking inside the Ultimo4K,, at the rear right, are the advanced pluggable FBC tuners, (you can use either 2x FBC DVB-S/S2 tuner or 1x FBC DVB-C tuners with 1x FBC DVB-S/S2 tuner), and the Advanced pluggable dual tuner (I have fitted a dual DVB-C/T/T2 tuner to my Ultimo4K). The large black heatsink you can see in the centre covers the Broadcom BCM 7444s 1.5 GHz Quad Core 20,000 DMIPS ARM v7 cpu, then at the front right are the card readers and CI slots. The mount for the internal hdd is at the front left, and you can mount either a 2.5” or 3.5” hdd in the Ultimo4K.

As you can see at the rear left, there is a big empty space, this is because the power supply is external on the Ultimo4K, which helps to keep temperatures down, and therefore there is no need for an internal fan.


Getting started:

I connected my Ultimo4K up to my motorised dish. I also connected up the HDMI cable to my TV, plugged an Ethernet cable from my router, there is internal Wi-Fi on the Ultimo4K and you can connect to either 2.4ghz or 5ghz networks, however I used the Ethernet as I had a connection where my Ultimo4K lives, and then I connected the power supply.

With all the connections done, I flicked the switch on the rear and powered on the box for the first time.

First Power up and Flashing:

Before I did anything else, I let the receiver boot up, to make sure it was all working ok. Once booted and I was happy, I then proceeded to shut down the Ultimo4K, pulled out my favourite usb stick, and loaded on the Black Hole 3.0.3 image for the Vu+ Ultimo4K .

If this is your first Vu+ receiver, you will be pleased to know, that installing an image onto any of the Vu+ receivers is a very simple process. Simply grab a usb stick, format it in fat32 with your pc, download the BlackHole image from
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(other images are available from different teams) and extract the zip file contents to the root of your newly formatted usb stick. Once this is done, plug the usb stick into the usb 3.0 port at the front and then power the box on at the rear, (you must remove any usb sticks that are connected to the rear, before you can reflash the box) the front panel LCD will tell you that the Ultimo4K is updating, and will tell you when flashing is complete.

When flashing is complete, you can remove the usb stick and power the box off and back on again.

It is a quick and simple process and it doesn’t take long to reflash this box.

On first boot after flashing, you will be greeted with the setup wizard, just follow the simple onscreen instructions to setup your new Ultimo4K.


Time to Play:


So first of all I decided to do a channel scan, which didn’t take very long at all, I scanned over 2000 services on 13°E in under 10 minutes.


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If you would rather not wait, you can grab a channel list from the BH addons server, or choose one of the many available on the internet.

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With the channel scan done, I then added the EPG, I personally used CrossEPG


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The Ultimo4K from a cold boot gives me a picture on my screen less than 35 seconds (time will vary depending on how many plugins, skins, plugins etc. are installed) and an enigma2 restart takes only 12 seconds.

As already said there is room for an internal hdd (2.5” or 3.5”) in the Ultimo4K, however you can use a network hdd if you have a NAS setup (or another Vu+ box that has a hdd installed), using the Network & Mount points feature in most images.


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The Ultimo4K is a Smart Box, which means you can install plugins on it, and it also supports HbbTV, and you can use IPTV channels in your bouquets, just like if you were watching Satellite or Cable tv.

Ultra HD:

The Ultimo4K will output tv pictures at many different resolutions, so you do not need to have an Ultra HD tv to use this receiver, in-fact viewing 4K UHD channels on a 1080p tv makes you wonder if you even need a 4K tv as the picture is bright and clear even when downscaled. However if you do have a 4K tv then you can set the Ultimo4K to output at 2160p and this will do all the upscaling for you, obviously SD content does not look as good as HD and UHD, but it doesn’t do a bad job of the upscaling (probably a lot better than some of the cheaper 4K tv’s can manage on their own). On my TV, compared to the Solo4K, the Ultimo4K actually gives a sharper and clearer, more defined picture (it’s as clear and sharp as the Uno4K) and if you have some HDR content on your hdd or NAS it will also play that back too.

Advanced Pluggable FBC Tuners:

The Ultimo4K comes with swappable tuners, FBC stands for Full Band Capture. This new FBC tuner, will allow you to tune into 4 different frequencies per tuner (8 in the FBC Cable tuner), which means that you effectively have 18 tuners inside your Ultimo4K and as it is a removable tuners, you can have either 2x DVB-S2 or 1x DVB-C or 1x DVB-S2 and 1x DVB-C, and you can then also fit 1 of the older style single or twin pluggable DVB-S2 or DVB-C/T/T2 tuners too, giving you up to 18 internal tuners.

To get the maximum from the DVB-S2 FBC tuners you will need to use a Unicable LNB, this means you can choose to view / record 4 different frequencies per tuner, however using a conventional lnb as found on most current satellite dishes around the world, it is still possible to tune to 8 different tv channels, but there are some limitations to which frequency’s you can tune at the same time.

With the Ultimo4K, you can watch content from whichever broadcast standard you wish all from one box, without having to use external usb tuners.

4.0” TFT LCD Display / MiniTv:

The Ultimo4K has a nice large 4.0” TFT display on the front panel, this is a nice size, as it has plenty of space, to display Channel name, Program name, start / end times, progress bar and also the current time. It can also be configured to show a channel Picon and again, due to its large size, this is actually useful.

Alternatively you can use the 4.0” display as a MiniTv, and it will show the current program on the display, this is useful if you do not wish to turn on the TV. You can still listen to the TV channel, using a pair of Bluetooth headphones or a soundbar.

Bluetooth 4.0:

The Ultimo4K, features Bluetooth 4.0, this can be used to connect to a soundbar, or to a pair of Bluetooth headphones, which as mentioned above, is useful if you are using the front display as a MiniTv. The Bluetooth however, will not connect to an iPhone or similar device.

Wi-Fi:

The Ultimo4K has built in Wireless Lan, and it supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

HDMI-In:

A nice feature that Vu+ has added here. This will give you the option to plug another media player device into the Ultimo4K and it means you only need the 1 HDMI connection to your TV. This may not work with all devices, due to HDCP 2.2 copy protection.

HbbTV:

The Ultimo4K also supports HbbTV, just tune to a channel that provides the service (Vox Music on Hotbird 13°E for example) and press the red button, the Ultimo4K will then use your internet connection to connect to Vox Music’s on-demand services.

IPTV:


As mentioned earlier, the Ultimo4K gives you the option to use IPTV either from plugins, or directly from your channel list (bouquets), when using IPTV from the bouquets, it is just like watching TV directly from the Satellite, Cable or Terrestrial tuners.

Kodi:

The Ultimo4K (as with most recent Vu+ models), supports Kodi, which means you have access to a huge array of multimedia addons, video, movie, music and radio streaming from the internet.

Blindscan:

Another great feature of the Ultimo4K, is the Blindscan function, this is more for enthusiasts and advanced users that like to scan the skies for all the channels they can find. The Blindscan plugin will ask you to select which satellite you want to Blindscan, and then the receiver will do the rest. It’s a great feature especially when looking for feeds, or scanning those satellites where channels move around frequently (this feature requires a driver update to get it working at time of writing this review, but I am sure Vu+ are working hard to bring this feature to us).

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Conclusion:


The Ultimo4K is THE Ultra HD set top box, therefore it is right for it to claim to be the “Best Imaginable UHD Receiver”. I have wanted the Ultimo4K since it was first announced, and now that I have it. In my opinion, it does live up to the hype and it is everything I had hoped for. It produces stunning UHD pictures and with HDR support too, great HD pictures and even the up scaled SD picture is a lot better than some tv’s can manage on their own.

The Ultimo4K has plenty of processing power thanks to its Quad Core processor (more than its little sister the Solo4K or the baby brother Uno4K, which are both Dual Core), this means fast boot-up and restart times, fast channel zapping and most importantly it is stable.

The Ultimo4K is not a cheap receiver, and it is not a small receiver either, but it is not aimed at the regular user. This machine is aimed firmly at the Satellite Enthusiast, and it packs the features the enthusiast demands. You will not be disappointed with the picture quality, and if you are a keen satellite enthusiast, looking to move up to 4K, but with a nice size budget, then this is the machine for you. The FBC DVB-S2 tuners say that they support the DVB-S2X standard, however at the time of writing this review there is no support shown in the software, however this is something that Vu+ will hopefully add in the near future.

Should you buy the Ultimo4K? Well I cannot decide that for you. If you are a Satellite Enthusiast and require both DVB-S2 and DVB-C or DVB-T/T2 connections, then this will give you the flexibility that you require, as this is where the Ultimo4K really shines. With a choice of 8 DVB-C, plus 8 DVB-S2 and Twin DVB-T2 all from internal tuners (or 16 FBC DVB-S2 tuners and an extra 2x DVB-S2 if you wish), there isn’t anything else on the market that can offer you 18 internal tuners in one receiver, and then there is still the option to add usb tuners on top if you need more.

However just because this monster of a receiver is aimed at the Enthusiast, that’s not to say it would be out of place in your living room, you do not have to be an expert to use this machine, you can be as simple to use as the original Vu+ Solo.

If you don’t have a 4K tv yet, but are looking for a new Satellite Receiver and you want the best of the best, then the Ultimo4K cannot be overlooked, it will give you those UHD broadcasts and downscale them so that you can watch them on your current tv, and this is something it does



Review written by Ev0, BlackHole Team.
 
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