Vu+

Key takeaways

Vu+ belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Vu+ to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Vu+ from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Vu+ (pronounced VuPlus), is a series of Linux-powered DVB satellite, terrestrial digital television receivers (set-top box), produced by Korean multimedia brand Ceru Co., Ltd.

History and description All older Vu+ hardware set-top boxes are MIPS-powered, newer are all ARM-powered and uses Enigma2 image based software as firmware. Its firmware is officially user-upgradable, since it is a Linux-based computer, as opposed to third-party "patching" of alternate receivers. Firmware is based on Enigma 2, which was originally designed for Dreambox by Dream Multimedia. All units support Conax conditional access (CA) system, with software-emulated conditional-access modules (CAMs) available for many alternate CA systems. The built-in Ethernet interface allows networked computers to access the recordings on the internal hard disks and stream live picture from the tuners. It also enables the receiver to store digital copies of DVB MPEG transport streams on networked filesystems or broadcast the streams as IPTV to VideoLAN and XBMC Media Center clients. Unlike many PC based PVR systems that use free-to-air type of DVB receiver cards, the built-in conditional access allows receiving and storing encrypted content. In the beginning of September in 2011, Dream Multimedia obtained a temporary injunction against the Satco Europe GmbH company for using their "Enigma 2" name in an advertising flyer to promote the Linux operating system installed on the Vu+ set-top-boxes, as "Enigma"(2) is a registered trademark name of Dream Multimedia GmbH.

Models

Note that Vu+ Uno and Vu+ Ultimo have a dual core processor BCM7413. * in most cases Solo is underclocked to 220.67MHz *** in Solo SE standard 9-pin D-sub connector is changed to 6-pin RJ11

Triple tuner Vu+ Ultimo (3 x pluggable DVB-S2 or DVB-T, T2/C tuners) Vu+ Ultimo 4K (2 x pluggable FBC DVB-S/S2 tuner or dual FBC DVB-C tuner and 1 x p&p DVB-S2 or DVB-T/C tuners)

Twin tuner Vu+ Duo 4K (2 x p&p slot for dual FBC DVB-S/S2X tuner, dual DVB-T2 tuner, dual FBC DVB-C tuner) Vu+ Solo 4K (2 fixed DVB-S/S2 tuner and 1 x pluggable DVB-S2 or DVB-T/C tuners) Vu+ Duo2 (2 x p&p DVB-S2 or DVB-T/C tuners) Vu+ Solo2 (2 x fixed DVB-S/S2 tuners) Vu+ Duo (2 x fixed DVB-S/S2 tuners) Vu+ Uno Twin (1 p&p DVB-S2 Twin tuner)

Single Tuner Vu+ Solo (1 fixed DVB-S/S2 tuner) Vu+ Solo SE (1 p&p DVB-S2 or DVB-T/C tuner) Vu+ Solo SE v2 (1 p&p DVB-S2 or DVB-T/C tuner) Vu+ Uno (1 p&p DVB-S2 or DVB-T/C tuner) Vu+ Uno 4k (1 p&p FBC DVB-S2 tuner or FBC DVB-C tuner) Vu+ Uno 4k SE (1 p&p Dusl FBC DVB-S2 or FBC DVB-C or Dual DVB-T2 Tuner) Vu+ Zero (1 fixed DVB-S/S2 tuner) Vu+ Zero SE (1 fixed DVB-S/S2 tuner) Vu+ Zero 4k (1 fixed Single DVB-S2X tuner or Single DVB C/T2 Tuner)

XBMC4STB project by Vu+ In September 2011, at "Vu+ Day", in Amsterdam, it was publicly announced that the generation of Vu+ DVB satellite receivers to be released publicly in the end of 2012 would be ARM-powered and use XBMC Media Center (now renamed to Kodi Entertainment System) software for its main GUI, an OpenEmbedded-based development-project that they call "XBMC4STB" (XBMC for Set-Top-Boxes), with beta releases of both the software and new hardware said to be made available to XBMC developers before they will be released to the public. However it took two more years before a native source port of XBMC was available on the newer Vu+ (VuPlus) based set-top box models SoloSe, Solo2, and Duo2, all of which are MIPS instead ARM based. XBMC will not be made available for older Vu+ set-top boxes due to hardware limitations with missing OpenGL graphics acceleration.

Open Black Hole "Open Black Hole" is an open source project for making unofficial third-party OpenPLi based images for newer Vu+ set-top boxes. Using the XBMC4STB software fork of Kodi/XBMC from Vu+, the images are designed as a hybrid integration between Kodi/XBMC media center software and Dreambox's Enigma2 PVR software scripts, forked from OpenPLi (based on OpenEmbedded Linux operating system for embedded systems), it is as such also fully compatible with PLi plugins and coding infrastructure. The project was first announced on 25 May 2015 and is maintained by the Black Hole Team, a team of independent developers of long popular community driven firmware images for Vu+-based set top-boxes, however these Open Black Hole project images are completely separate from the original Black Hole image for Vu+.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vu+

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vu+ claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Vu+ before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Vu+ ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Vu+

In research: Vu+ appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Vu+ in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Vu+ is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Digital video recorders, Linux-based devices, Satellite television, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Vu+ outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Vu+ in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Vu+ means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Vu+ out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vu+ in simple terms?

The Vu+ (pronounced VuPlus), is a series of Linux-powered DVB satellite, terrestrial digital television receivers (set-top box), produced by Korean multimedia brand Ceru Co., Ltd. History and description All older Vu+ hardware set-top boxes are MIPS-powered, newer are all ARM-powered and uses Enigm…

Why does Vu+ matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Vu+?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Vu+.