Here's what I remember.

VVT - i advances or retards the camshaft only. It does not switch cam lobes at any point in the rev band.

VVTL-i is truly akin to our i-VTEC.
It advances and retards the camshafts, and the camshafts have a secondary cam profile, to which it switches at around 6k rpm in most applications.

The mechanics of how the switch takes place are subtly different from the system Honda uses, but the basics forces are pretty much the same.

h: There ya go.