The world's 1st 1080p H.264/VC1 MKV support

[olivierdb]

Hi,

Has anyone tried the TOMACRO limHD200i (http://www.tomacro.com/english/index.htm) ?

I know, it's made in China. But hey, what isn't now-a-days!

If you've tried it, then please let me have your thoughts on it.

Thanks

[Shinigami-Sama]

looks nice
the NTFS and DVD ISO is a plus

I can't seem to find ordering info though :(
either that or it's just 'cause I just woke up...

[CruNcher]

if it's cost less then a XboX360 then yeah but even if that's the case it has to be alot cheaper :D

200$ = Xbox360
so this should be like say 150$, best price for such player would be 50$-100$ else it's to expensive compared to the very Powerfull Xbox360 (ironic thing (called Globalisation) it's also Manufactured in Asia same as Sonys PS3) :)
Such Asia SAPs are almost History they aren't really competative anymore (the times off SP/ASP and the only Asia support for it are long over) alot has changed, because Microsoft aswell as Sony wan't our Homes. And they try to achive that selling us Technology that almost comes right out of their Research Labs for Prices that every such "mini" company as Tomacro will have problems to sell their devices for (MediaTek could change this once again i hope and for sure they will with the Help from DivX Inc). The price for such players mostly Sigmatek based are way to high currently i saw like 400$ for such stuff that's ridicoulus compared to Microsoft and Sonys offers and i really ask myself how will these SAP companies survive the future with so expensive Players ?, only supporting MKV isn't enough im sure of this.

[toytown]

Why does it have to cost less than a 360?

My 360 cannot support MKV and can only play 2ch sound from a MP4 file. Hardly a HD media player, like the one above.

[CruNcher]

Just compare the Technology inside the tomacro and the xbox360, then you know why. Sure the biggest problem is yet that on the software side the xbox360 is still completly owned by Microsoft, but i think it wont take that long anymore and custom coding will be possible like it is on the Xbox.

[buzzqw]

TOMACRO limHD200i use a Sigmadesign chip (with a cpu of 300mhz), the xbox360 iirc use powerpc class cpu .. not the same...

BHH

[prOnorama]

This player is based on the old Sigma 8623 chip

There are newer players out or being released in the next few months based on the newer Sigma 8634/8635 which should be better for playing HD (H.264 etc.) content.

So I'm not going to bother with this player

But if you are interested there's a huge thread about this player here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=852855

[CruNcher]

TOMACRO limHD200i use a Sigmadesign chip (with a cpu of 300mhz), the xbox360 iirc use powerpc class cpu .. not the same...

BHH

Exactly and then i wont pay 300€ for such a DSP player sorry still makes no sense.

[dburckh]

Checkout popcornhour.com. There are a 8634 based network media center. I believe they support actually support all this stuff.

[CruNcher]

Yeah 179$ is a much better price (not perfect but better) and the featureset is also nice :)
http://www.syabas.com/download/Networked%20Media%20Tank%20Techical%20Specification.pdf
http://www.syabas.com/download/Networked%20Media%20Tank%20Brochure.pdf

with 15W Energy Consumption it's allready much better then the Xbox360/PS3 (150W) as a Media Center, tough you lose Next Generation Media Playback like HD-DVD or Blu-Ray and buying a 2nd Device for this seems ilogic again, ok a cheap Toshiba HD-DVD SAP for 200$ and you come at a total of 379$ now lets see 200$ Xbox360 + 140$ HD-DVD = 340$ now indeed the Network tank becomes interesting because a Toshiba SAP + Media Tank would consume alot less Power together then a Xbox 360 alone does and also noise becomes a factor here then in wich the Network Tank + HD-DVD Sap combination would win :)

BTW how does the old SCART looptrough works now with HDMI ? i mean with Scart it was input/output and it worked but here HDCP comes into play and both devices need to support it aren't they ? and most HDMI Devices have only a input to establish a conection between it and the TV (HD-DVD SAP(HDMI/HDCP)->Media-Tank(HDMI/HDCP)->TV(HDMI/HDCP)) but how to switch dynamicly between them and in the first place how to connect them together (when each device has only 1(HDMI) :D ?
I think the only solution would be to connect the first device with the second via component and then this device via HDMI or component to the TV. (But all of them need to be fully HDCP aware i think that this works)

[SeeMoreDigital]

BTW how does the old SCART looptrough works now with HDMI ? i mean with Scart it was input/output and it worked but here HDCP comes into play and both devices need to support it aren't they ? and most HDMI Devices have only a input to establish a conection between it and the TV (HD-DVD SAP(HDMI/HDCP)->Media-Tank(HDMI/HDCP)->TV(HDMI/HDCP)) but how to switch dynamicly between them and in the first place how to connect them together (when each device has only 1(HDMI) :D ?
I think the only solution would be to connect the first device with the second via component and then this device via HDMI or component to the TV. (But all of them need to be fully HDCP aware i think that this works)As there aren't any dedicated recording devices (such as PVR's, DVD, HDD recorders, etc) with HDMI inputs yet, it's too early to know how well "daisy-chaining" such devices together will work :(

[dburckh]

BTW how does the old SCART looptrough works now with HDMI ? i mean with Scart it was input/output and it worked but here HDCP comes into play and both devices need to support it aren't they ? and most HDMI Devices have only a input to establish a conection between it and the TV (HD-DVD SAP(HDMI/HDCP)->Media-Tank(HDMI/HDCP)->TV(HDMI/HDCP)) but how to switch dynamicly between them and in the first place how to connect them together (when each device has only 1(HDMI) :D ?
I think the only solution would be to connect the first device with the second via component and then this device via HDMI or component to the TV. (But all of them need to be fully HDCP aware i think that this works)

I'm in the US, so I haven't had any exposure to SCART. My amp switches HDMI signals and upconverts Component, etc. to digital, so I don't have an issue.

My intention is to rip all my HD DVD (especially these days) and BluRays to file and play them that way. I just keep my PS3 around for NetFlix movies. The downside is that this unit only supports core DTS and AC3 (not EAC3). Any 360 without an HDMI port is in the same boat.

[communist]

Sure the biggest problem is yet that on the software side the xbox360 is still completly owned by Microsoft
Not anymore :)
http://www.free60.org/wiki/Main_Page

[CruNcher]

Yeah i know but whats about all the ones with newer XboXes
see

Run Code: You can run your own code on Xbox 360 systems with kernel versions 4532 and 4548. If you own a box manufactured before 2007, upgrade to one of these versions, but to no later one.
Nothing found yet for this or was it and i missed it ;)

[olivierdb]

Now, this (http://www.dune-hd.com/tech.htm) looks like ONE COOL piece of equipment... a little imature still but we should be getting there!

Check it out folks and let me know if it's worth it's money! Not sure if it's available in Europe yet! :(

You may download a review here (http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=Reviews).

[kurt]

yeah, looks nice - but I'm still going with the popcorn hour, which should arrive soon (later this month) :)

[SeeMoreDigital]

yeah, looks nice - but I'm still going with the popcorn hour, which should arrive soon (later this month) :)There are no 6Ch (5.1) analogue audio outputs :eek:

[CruNcher]

I just read the word "Double Price" in the Review and that let this player die, and really it will be hard for those players as i said to survive against Xbox360 or PS3 in the future (Maybe sooner or later Sigma will be bought up by Microsoft/Sony) if they don't stay competetive in Price, especialy as the Prices for Xbox360 and PS3 will drop regularly, (but the hardware in their is still 6 months ahead at least for the PS3) ;) We need more Manufactures entering the stage like MediaTek and Zoran and their H.264 solutions for sure at least MediaTek will almost go DivX Q exclusive and present it first to the Public with DivX and Mainconcept (speculation and analysis of the current situation). And we still have Nero (Ateme) here with no supporting H.264 player yet (officialy logoed with Nero AVC HDTV Profile) so their is also something coming for sure in the next months. When this happens (finaly) the Prices will go down fast and can then compete against Microsoft and Sony easily :)

And as Bill Gates said it over and over again Hardware is no boundary anymore Software is the Key to success and that's also the case for the future if some company would bring out a SAP with fffmpeg/CoreAVC core and a cheap dualcore processor all this DSP manufactures would have problem justifiyng such prices for their devices, and if this Software finds it's way on Xbox360 and PS3 soon then such Devices have no chance anymore (except the Energy and Noise issue). :)

[kurt]

There are no 6Ch (5.1) analogue audio outputs :eek:
jup, it's all about spdif for multichannel or stereo output over chinch.

btw: DTS 5.1 can't be downmixed to stereo due to license costs... AC3 downmixing is possible on the other hand...

[kosmonaut]

...
We need more Manufactures entering the stage like MediaTek and Zoran and their H.264 solutions for sure at least MediaTek will almost go DivX Q exclusive and present it first to the Public with DivX and Mainconcept (speculation and analysis of the current situation). ...

When this happens (finaly) the Prices will go down fast and can then compete against Microsoft and Sony easily :) ...



This is an astute analysis of the situation, although to clarify a bit from the DivX perspective, we absolutely are targeting getting our soon to come h.264 solution (based on MainConcept, of course) into hardware as widely as possible. It will take some time, though, since the normal progression is IC first, then ODM second, then finally OEM. Luckily, we know all those guys from our experience with DivX Certification with ASP and we've been working with some of them for quite a while now. But the bottom line is that once the technology gets into chips that can be mass-produced at low cost, that's when you'll see prices begin to really drop.

In any case, one thing is for sure, it won't be called "DivX Q." :p

[CruNcher]

"DivX NG" then ;)
Will Stage6 also move to DivX NG Q whatever in that progress ?

[kosmonaut]

"DivX NG" then ;)
Will Stage6 also move to DivX NG Q whatever in that progress ?

I don't believe they have made that kind of decision for Stage6 yet.