TheVu+ (pronouncedVuPlus), is a series ofLinux-poweredDVBsatellite,terrestrialdigital television receivers (set-top box), produced byKorean multimedia brandCeru Co., Ltd.
All older Vu+ hardwareset-top boxes areMIPS-powered, newer are all ARM-powered and usesEnigma2 image based software asfirmware.
Itsfirmware is officially user-upgradable, since it is a Linux-based computer, as opposed to third-party "patching" of alternate receivers.Firmware is based onEnigma 2, which was originally designed forDreambox byDream Multimedia. All units supportConaxconditional access (CA) system, with software-emulatedconditional-access modules (CAMs) available for many alternate CA systems. The built-inEthernet 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 DVBMPEG transport streams onnetworked filesystems or broadcast the streams asIPTV toVideoLAN andXBMC Media Center clients. Unlike many PC basedPVR systems that usefree-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 aregistered trademark name of Dream Multimedia GmbH.
Vu+ | Ultimo | Ultimo 4K | Uno | Uno 4K | Uno 4K SE[1] | Solo | Solo2 | Solo SE | Solo SE V2 | Solo 4K | Duo | Duo2 | Duo 4K | Duo 4K SE | Zero | Zero 4K |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Production | Discontinued | Discontinued | Discontinued | Discontinued | Available | Discontinued | Discontinued | Discontinued | Discontinued | Available | Discontinued | Discontinued | Discontinued | Available | Available | Available |
Life cycle | 2011 - 2013 | 2016 Dec.- | 2011 - 2014 | 2016 Dec.- | 2017- | 2010 - 2013 | 2012- | 2014- | 2015- | 2015- | 2010 - 2013 | 2012- | 2018- | 2020- | 2014- | 2018- |
SoC | BCM7413 | BCM7444S | BCM7413 | BCM7252S | BCM7252S | BCM7325 | BCM7356 | BCM7429 | BCM7429 | BCM7376 | BCM7335 | BCM7424 | BCM7278 | BCM7444S | BCM7362 | BCM72604 |
CPU type | MIPS | ARM | MIPS | ARM | ARM | MIPS | MIPS | MIPS | MIPS | ARM | MIPS | MIPS | ARM | ARM | MIPS | ARM |
CPU (MHz) | 2x400 | 4x1500 | 2x400 | 2x1700 | 2×1700 | 333* | 2x1300 | 2x1300 | 2x1300 | 2x1500 | 400 | 2x1300 | 4x2100 | 4x1500 | 742 | 2x1500 |
RAM (MiB) | 512 | 3072 | 512 | 2048 | 2048 | 256 | 1024 | 1024 | 1024 | 2048 | 384 | 2048 | 2048 | 3072 | 512 | 2048 |
Flash (MiB) | 1024 | 4096 | 128 | 4096 | 4096 | 128 | 256 | 256 | 512 | 4096 | 128 | 1024 | 4096 | 4096 | 256 | 4096 |
Flash type | NAND | eMMC | NAND | eMMC | eMMC | NAND | NAND | NAND | NAND | eMMC | NAND | NAND | eMMC | eMMC | NAND | eMMC |
Default OS | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | Enigma2 | ||
DVB | 3 ×P&P(S2/C/T) | 2xP&P Dual FBC DVB-S2 or DVB-C + 1xP&P Dual DVB-S2 or Dual DVB-C/T2 | 1×P&P(S2/C/T) | 1xP&P Dual FBC DVB-S2 or DVB-C | 1 x Dual FBC DVB-S2X or FBC DVB-C or Dual T2 (Pluggable) | 1×S2 | 2×S2 | 1xS2/C/T/T2 | 1xS2/C/T/T2 | 1×Fixed Dual S2 FBC + 1xP&P Dual DVB-S2 or Dual DVB-C/T/T2 | 2×S2 | 2×P&P(S2/C/T) | 2xP&P slot: Dual FBC DVB-S2X, Dual DVB-T2, Dual FBC DVB-C | 2xP&P slot: Dual FBC DVB-S2X, Dual DVB-T2, Dual FBC DVB-C | 1×S2 | 1xFixed S2X or DVB-C/T/T2 tuner |
HDTV | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
UHDTV | ![]() | 4K | ![]() | 4K | 4K | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | 4K | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | 4K |
3D TV | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ||
PiP | ![]() | Yes/HD | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Yes/HD | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Yes/HD | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
Common Interface | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Smart card | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
USB | 3 x 2.0 | 2x3.0 + 1x2.0 | 3 x 2.0 | 2 x 3.0 | 2 x 3.0 | 2 x 2.0 | 3 x 2.0 | 2 x 2.0 | 2 x 2.0 | 2x3.0 + 1x2.0 | 3 x 2.0 | 3 x 2.0 | 2x3.0 (back) + 1x2.0 (front) | 2x3.0 (back) + 1x2.0 (front) | 2 x 2.0 | 1 x 2.0 |
RS-232 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | RJ11 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
LAN (Mbit/s) | 100 | 1000 + WIFI N/AC 2.5/5 + BT 4.0 | 100 | 1000 | 1000 | 100 | 1000 | 100 | 100 | 1000 | 100 | 1000 + WIFI-N | 1000 + WIFI N/AC 2.5/5 + BT 4.0 | 1000 + WIFI B/G/N/AC 2.5/5 + BT 4.0 | 100 | 100 |
HDD | 2.5/3.5" | 2.5/3.5" | 2.5/3.5" | ![]() | 2.5" Detachable | ![]() | 2.5" | ![]() | ![]() | 2.5" Detachable | 3.5" | 2.5/3.5" | 2.5" Detachable | 2.5" Detachable | ![]() | ![]() |
ATA | SATA II | SATA II | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | SATA III | ![]() | ![]() | SATA III | SATA II | SATA III | SATA III | ![]() | ![]() | ||
eSATA | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | - | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
SCART | 1 | ![]() | 1 | ![]() | ![]() | 1 | 1 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | 2 | 1 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
HDMI | 1.4 | 2.0 OUT/IN | 1.4 | 2.0 | 1 x (2.0) IN 1 x (2.0) OUT | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.0 OUT/IN | 1 x (2.0) IN 1 x (2.0) OUT | 1.4 | 2.0 |
Display | graphical VFD | LCD (4.0") | VFD | Status LED | LCD (3.5" 240 x 400) | ![]() | VFD | Status LED | Status LED | LCD (3.5") | VFD | LCD/VFD | LCD (3.5") | TFT (3.5"- MiniTV) | Status LED | Status LED |
LNB pass-thru | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Other connectors | 1 x YPrPb | Digital Audio: S/PDIF | 1 x YPrPb | 1 x YPrPb | 1 x YPrPb | Digital Audio: S/PDIF | Remote IR | Remote IR | ||||||||
Dimensions, WxHxD (mm) | 380 x 60 x 290 | 380 x 70 x 278 | 340 x 60 x 272 | 230 x 41 x 170 | 280 x 50 x 222 | 280 x 50 x 200 | 280 x 50 x 200 | 211 x 45 x 185 | 211 x 45 x 185 | 315 x 65 x 255 | 380 x 60 x 280 | 380 x 60 x 290 | 310x60x241 | 310 x 68 x 255 | 160 x 30 x 145 | 140 x 50 x 115 |
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 beARM-powered and useXBMC Media Center (now renamed toKodi Entertainment System) software for its mainGUI, anOpenEmbedded-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.[3]
However it took two more years before a native source port of XBMC was available on the newer Vu+ (VuPlus) based set-top box modelsSoloSe,Solo2, andDuo2, 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.[4][5]
"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 andDreambox's Enigma2 PVR software scripts, forked from OpenPLi (based onOpenEmbedded Linux operating system forembedded 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 theBlack 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+.[6][7][8]