Log in

View Full Version : Review DivX Connected D-Link DSM-330


CruNcher
29th January 2008, 12:46
http://s6.directupload.net/images/080129/96qinbzb.jpg


Review D-Link DSM-330

http://s3.directupload.net/images/080129/ruqlisp9.jpghttp://s6.directupload.net/images/080129/hnqpo3w5.jpg

The Device, Brains behind it and the Open Community approach (Plugins)

The DivX Guys where so kind to send me their newest Innovation thx to "kosmonaut" Bruce from their Development Labs internally known as The Gejbox same as the Mastermind (Microsoft Mpeg-4 Avi Hack) and one of the founders behind DivX Networks (Inc now) Jerome "Gej" Vashisht-Rota.
First it's not just a Box it's part of the DivX Ecosystem called DivX Connected and the first Partner for this is D-Link with the DSM-330 DivX Connected Certified Box, that I'm currently playing with and this Review is about.
It's a very small Device (like a flat Wireless router with a small DivX Decoding core inside) in the size of a Cigarette box with a Antenna, inside the Box a Sigma EM8620L 166 MHZ Arm Core Chip is doing his work (so still quiet alot potential left here). The interesting thing about this Box is the way it works and that a part of it is Open for every non NDA Developer (tough not the Firmware or Software Part yet).
The Open part is the Plugins Part which actually everyone in the Community can Develop new Service Plugins for their own Box, there have been Plugins Developed for some Internet Services like Flickr, Googlemaps, Ehrensenf and some others already and Joost, Vuze and many others to follow for sure :).
Also the Box supports DivX Vod (DivX Inc's own DRM Shem) and with their recent announcement that Sony is supporting DivX now it could be very well possible that we see DivX Content soon sold by Sony that can be watched then on this Box, of course all DivX Vod content already available should be able to be watched with it :)

How does it work?

Now as i said before the way it works is indeed interesting the box is actually a stream receiver with a DivX Decoder (Microsoft called this Media Extender Technology when it started) with Different TV and Audio Outputs(HDMI,Scart,Component,S-Video,Coax and Digital Optical Audio) as well as Ethernet and Wireless Connection capabilities.
The Entire Encoding of the Content if it isn't supported takes place on the PC, that makes it really flexible, but for sure has also side effects so it's not for every circumstance the right Device, I'll go into that later on.

The Server Software or "The Brain of DivX Connected;-)"

The Server Software is very easy to use, it's buildup on 5 tabs the first shows which Client currently is connected to the Server different settings can be done from here like Allowing/Disallowing Certain Devices access to the Server or Changing the Device Name as well as Activating the Device for DivX VOD (Playback bought and DRM protected content on the Device).
The next 3 tabs are the important content tabs and mirror 3 of the Colored Function buttons on the remote(Music=Purple,Photo=Cyan,Video=Green) so every content you add here will be accessible with this 3 Function buttons on the Interface of the Box. You can add content here as well as Secure it with a Pin and alls set it's access restrictions for the different Clients, also you have the possibility to change the different Metadata (Informations saved inside or outside the file that are non visible to the user, for cataloging and retrieval purposes) of supported as well as (officially) non supported files (every file type as i could see it for example can be shortcut-ed with a Picture at least). The last tab shows the Servers Build information as well as credits to the Open Source projects that have been partly used to create the Software (like Mozilla Firefox for the Interface).
Via the Options button down left you get to another tabbed window where you can set the Servers name, Pin Code (can be entered here, then content in the content tabs can be marked as Pin protected (Adult verification), search for Software Updates and restart the Setup Wizard.
Then there is a (Performance) tab where you can set the Transcoding settings for SD(320x240,480x360,640x480) Viewing Devices as well as HD(640x360,960x540,1280x720) and the wanted FPS NTSC/PAL as well as a Multi-sampling Option (I think this is the Anti-Aliasing for the OpenGL Interface) 2x,4x,8x,16x,32x (all of those Performance settings are autodetected @ the configuration process after the installation).The next (Region) tab is about region and time information (you can chose from 3 languages in the Europe Version English,French and German) time can be set to a 12 or 24 hour display. The next (Screen saver) tab is for activating (default 5 Min) and configuring the startup time of the Box Screen saver. The last (Advanced) tab is for setting the Servers control port manually, enabling or disabling the DivX Connected Video on the Box when it connects with the Server,disabling the warning if you exit the server and disabling or enabling access to all new detected Clients that want to connect.

http://s3.directupload.net/images/080129/tnlevqon.pnghttp://s3.directupload.net/images/080129/ql5clblg.png
http://s5.directupload.net/images/080129/8899m555.pnghttp://s5.directupload.net/images/080129/5befufau.png

Pro

First this Box is able to support virtually every format that is existing via it's Server Software using Directshow :D.
Yep it's format independent (Container,Codec), everything (that's not DivX,XviD,ND Mpeg-4 SP/ASP) is transcoded Live into DivX (Mpeg-4 SP) Video and MP3 Audio and then send out directly via cabled 100 Mbit LAN or 54 Mbit Wireless LAN to the Box (tough HD is not advised for Wireless for obvious bandwith reasons, especialy encrypted it can get problematic) using the DivX Connected Server Software on the PC (currently only available for Windows, should be working with Wine tough also on Linux, native porting seems in preparation for other Operating Systems as well)

Contra

You gonna realize fast some very high CPU utilization going on on your PC playing back not supported content and that's one of the side effects going this "transcoding every not supported stuff way" i wanna mention, as Multi Room usage Scenarios are almost out of Question with this Box (unless you have a Multi Server Environment capable of handling such a Workload, maybe even some clever load balancing architecture) as more Live DivX HD Stream would kill the Transcoding PC fast and the only thing you would get on Multiple Receivers (Clients) then would be a Stop and Go Watching experience, which is also still a problem with High Bitrate 1080p stuff on 1 Receiver (Client) even with a cabled Network Connection (still looking into why that's happening for 1080p H.264, my guess in my case is for sure the streams are unbalanced encoded that i tested so far on my 2.8 GHZ Dualcore X2 machine even using CoreAVC and so are to slow Live Transcoded into the good old Mpeg-4 Part 2 SP).
People should really learn what it means to higher the complexity of a Stream to much and that it most of the times brings visually no improvement @ all, anyways back to the topic ;).
So this is definitely not the right solution, if you looking to find a solution for such Multi Client Scenarios without building up such a complex structure in your home.
This is more for guys that searching a Network Playback Device (Media Extender) for their TV (Mpeg-4 Part 2 SP DivX SD(640x480) HD(720p)) that is somehow Open in it's Development Possibilities as compared to most other Devices of it's kind, Zyxel DMA 1000W comes to my mind here (tough it has native 1080i) and that can show all their PC Content directly on the TV in their Living Rooms in a 1 Client Per Session Scenario and of course is very easy to handle with no over bloated User Interface.

The Interface and Usability

The whole User Interface (Rendered via OpenGL) is very comfortable Designed very intuitive and not over bloated with Menus and Settings and stuff very nice usability approach here the same for the Remote Control (and if you know how, you can edit the interface yourselves, it seems to be Java based), the user of course has access to DivX's Stage6 (doesn't exist anymore see end of Review for information) Platform Directly via the Box (Purple=Music,Cyan=Photo,Green=Video,Yellow=Stage6,Orange=Online) also this works Flawless select a Video push play it takes little black screen buffering time (newest Beta Connected Server Software displays a buffering screen) and then it runs, tested on my 16 Mbit DSL Connection you can also directly chose to download the Video and the Box is gonna send that command to the DivX Connected PC Server Software and initiate the Download (If the DivX guys would also Plugin the Server software side just think about the possibilities here) :).
Also a thing that should be mentioned of course is that the server records the exact position of the Video you are currently playing (virtual chapter point) when you leave it (Home,Return or Function button), so if you play it again then the Interface is gonna show you a option to continue from this saved chapter point (a very neat feature) this doesn't work Online on Stage6 Videos yet.
It even has a recovery function, if the Box fails for example because of a power outage then the server realizes that and records the Video it failed on after the Box restarted it's telling you that something unexpected happened and asks you if you want to continue with the Video you where watching before the unexpected shutdown (it doesn't save a chapter point in that case but at least the Video that has been played before gets recorded by the Server). Stage6 Videos as you play them are progressive streamed this means as you watch them they get (temporary) saved on the Hard Disk and if you then later decide to save them it's burning fast, because they have already been (temporary) downloaded, same as with the DivX Web Player Plugin.
After you initiated a Download of a Stage6 Video you can just leave it via (Home,Return,Function) it will continue the download process so watching something while Downloading is no Problem the Downloaded file will immediately be added to your Download Video folder in the Interface of course, tough the server is not gonna tell you yet that the Download is finished via a Popup on the Interface or currently playing Video, this really should be implemented and I'm sure the DivX Folks gonna do that soon hehe.
When playing back music the interface is gonna show you a small progress bar of the playing file on the bottom right and of course after you started to play a music file you can navigate anywhere where you want to and starting a Video will then stop the music (sadly the music will not start again when you get back to the interface so no permanent interface background music possible yet (all of this can and will for sure be added). Videos can be seeked forward via up/down and left/right also jumping percent wise into the Video is possible by pushing the Numbers on the RC so for example pushing 0=0% (start) 1=10%, 2=20% and so on up to 90, wow just wow you really know now this has been designed by Guys who know what they doing.
http://s3.directupload.net/images/080129/k2kz4vcc.jpghttp://s2.directupload.net/images/080129/lwu2ahc6.jpg

My Personal Opinion and Background Information

So all in all Personally i like that Box even if it can't provide all the High Technical stuff that is available nowdays and a geek as me would like to have (1080i/p native,H.264,Mpeg-2 and WMV no transcoding) it's a nice Developed Box, maybe still a little heavy in Price (compared to my all time favorite Device called Xbox360 tough you can't compare the Power usage and Openess here), but i hope that's gonna change especially seeing how low cost this Device seems to be build.
The Open Plugin side of things is a nice addition for creative People that want their Media Extender to be able todo more things than what other Manufacture allow them currently and I'm sure there will come alot of nice Developments for the Box, because of this Open Community approach, when you open such a Device even with outdated Technology still people are gonna push it to the limits (i just remember OpenMayo in that context) and the Quality is not that bad especially for SD users the 640x480 are enough and look very nice and Sharp on a PAL TV, especially if transcoded from HDTV source. Couldn't test 720p Native yet as i have no HDTV and need to get a HDMI-DVI adapter first ;).

I didn't look very deeply into the Plugin architecture yet, but if it's possible to send commands from the Box to the Server Software that would be really cool and then you would have almost endless possibilities from your couch (seeing that a Stage 6 Download can be initiated suggests that it should be possible todo other nice things, Remote Controlling applications on the PC and giving them a OpenGL GUI and Interface on the Box for Example) :), of course opening the Software and Firmware todo even more crazier things that even the DivX Dev's didn't thought about yet, would be the Ultimate thing for this Box for sure :)

http://s5.directupload.net/images/080129/vjxyvdwi.jpg

You are really realizing that this Box comes from the Labs of DivX as everything is done for the real Average users the Box Interface,DivX Connected Software and Remote Control everything is easy to use, congrats to the usability Designers of DivX here once again very good work :) (tough those average users have standard wise no possibility yet to playback all the content officially, this has to be modified to work via a XML file that controls the interaction with Directshow, else only DivX,XviD,WMV9 (transcoded),MP3,WMA (transcoded),WAV,JPG,BMP would work).

Here are some more informations of the Box including Price infos for Europe as well as the UK the official technical data sheet and so on so forth, and of course some Videos from the CES of this Box + Interviews from the DivX guys and more.

ftp://ftp.dlink.eu/datasheets/DSM-330.pdf
http://labs.divx.com/WhatIsConnected
http://www.divx.com/connected/
http://geizhals.at/eu/a289989.html
http://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Link-DSM-330-Connected-Wireless-Player/dp/B000X4F7RO/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1201602043&sr=8-1

I hope i could give the Doom9 Community a informative Review behind DivX Inc's first Official Media Extender Box Project (for sure more to come especially non transcoding devices) done in partnership with D-Link which was known once as the Gejbox and is now DivX Connected and Part of their DivX Ecosystem.

The Package (Europe):
DSM-330 Box, A/V Component Cable,HDMI Cable,Scart Cable,Remote Control,Wireless Antenna,Batteries for the RC,DivX Connected Software CD with 3 Sample Videos and Manuals,Cat 5 Ethernet Cable (1.5m),Power cord (UK,Germany) with AC-Adapter, Quick Setup Guide (German,English,French), Remote Control Quick Reference (German,English,French), Troubleshooting Quick Guide(German,English,French)


PS: As off February 28, 2008 DivX's Stage6 Platform Shutdown see www.stage6.com for the official notice.

For all of those interested this is how the GejBox (DSM-330 Prototype) looked like ahhh the ";-)" that's really oldschool
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/65/divxgejbox01dw8.jpg

SeeMoreDigital
30th January 2008, 19:53
and nope i didn't open the Box yet to peak inside, but i guess a MediaTek Chip or Sigma is doing it's work inside this nifty little Box. Very nice review.

Just to confirm.... The D-Link DSM-330 is fitted with Sigma's EM8620L chip-set ;)


Cheers

kosmonaut
30th January 2008, 20:40
Looks like SeeMoreDigital isn't afraid to open the box. ;)

Also, just to follow up on a few things CruNcher mentioned in his very excellent review.

Yes, the DivX VOD system functions already in the D-Link box.

The question of CPU utilization is a good one, and certainly something that we are working hard on from a software perspective, so we are hopeful that will improve as the platform matures. I would emphasize that, in my experience at least, CPU utilization *when not transcoding from other formats* is surprisingly minimal.

Two other issues mentioned, resolution limitations and price, those are also things we are aware of. In some ways, we are limited somewhat by our hardware partners, in this case, D-Link, in what they want to support in and charge for a specific device. Happily, the DivX Connected platform is pretty flexible and we are engaged with manufacturers to provide solutions at many different price/performance points. 1080p devices will certainly be appearing, as will less expensive options, although maybe not at the same time. :p

If anybody else has questions or has comments from their own experience with DivX Connected, we would love to get as much feedback as possible, here or at DivX Labs.

Thanks again to CruNcher for such a detailed look!

CruNcher
31st January 2008, 04:29
Very nice review.

Just to confirm.... The D-Link DSM-330 is fitted with Sigma's EM8620L chip-set


Thx :)
http://www.sigmadesigns.com/public/Products/EM8620L/pdf_files/EM8620L_br.pdf (but there is nothing stated off it's ASP (HD) capabilities just that VC-1 and H.264 aren't supported (officialy)
http://www.sigmadesigns.com/public/Products/EM8620L/pdf_files/MCX-8622L_br.pdf (So this seems on what the DSM 330 has been build on just 34 MHZ weaker ARM Core)

Also something i might need to add is that their seems to be a bug with the .M4A Playback as soons as i playback such a song the whole interface becomes unresponsive and it takes like 1 minutes of playback the Audio before it's reacting normal again.
It seems to have nothing todo with the CPU Utilization those files are 96 kbits AAC-LC Itunes encoded, btw as i read the Sigma supports AAC-LC directly so no transcoding into MP3 is going on here right, same would be for Videos with AAC-LC audio stream?
Im useing the newest Beta Version 1.1.0 Build: 11 of the DivX Connected Server software now and with this i have a buffer display on Stage6 finaly no black screen buffering anymore also the Shuffle and Repeat buttons seem to work now :).
Also i might add that ofcourse it's possible to add all kinds of metadata (in text as well picture form) trough the Server Software to your files (for example Cover Pictures for your Music Files and artist,genre, year the standard stuff)


Playing C:/test/Music/Pink/I'm Not Dead/Who Knew.m4a.
ISO: File Type Major Brand: Apple iTunes AAC-LC Audio
Quicktime/MOV file format detected.
ID_AUDIO_ID=0
[mov] Audio stream found, -aid 0
ID_FILENAME=C:/test/Music/Pink/I'm Not Dead/Who Knew.m4a
ID_DEMUXER=mov
ID_AUDIO_FORMAT=mp4a
ID_AUDIO_BITRATE=96000
ID_AUDIO_RATE=44100
ID_AUDIO_NCH=2
ID_LENGTH=208.56
==========================================================================
Opening audio decoder: [faad] AAC (MPEG2/4 Advanced Audio Coding)
AUDIO: 44100 Hz, 2 ch, s16le, 96.0 kbit/6.80% (ratio: 12000->176400)
ID_AUDIO_BITRATE=96000
ID_AUDIO_RATE=44100
ID_AUDIO_NCH=2
Selected audio codec: [faad] afm: faad (FAAD AAC (MPEG-2/MPEG-4 Audio) decoder)


For me it looks like @ the moment there is much more Power in that Little Box as currently is used, that's a pitty :)
For example Transcoding Mpeg-2 but it could easily playback it natively seems really strange if you ask me. (Ok you need a Mpeg-2 Arm Decoder but hey they bought Mainconcept ;))
This makes it also very flexible for DivX Inc. for example it would be 1 update and it could use Mainconcepts H.264 Arm Decoder as well as VC-1 anything actually that Mainconcept/Elecard have a ARM Decoder for inhouse :)

Im currently testing different Decoder combinations to find those that give the least problems with the Live Transcoding approach (some dshow decoder for example show a black screen for some seconds after the playback or come back only to the interface when pushing a button after the playback ended, others don't and switch correctly back to the OpenGL Interface, ffdshow has problems with interlace and cadeance detection (doesn't do it @ all, even not flag wise) and so is very unusable for this, as this can get really messy on screen in Motion with interlaced content.
I find this a perfect way of testing the Real Life Performance of Decoders as well, because you are really allways on the Edge (especialy with H.264 1080p and here ofcourse CoreAVC shows the best performance compared to other Software Decoders but also some compatibility problems in some cases). Under some circumstances it can also happen that your want to exit a video via the return button and then it takes some minutes, in this time every button you push will be executed later on the interface i call it the Ghost Hand it looks scarry ;). Streams that have errors can also crash the whole thing.

When the box crashed and you try to execute something you gonna see something like this in the Debug Console

Trying to push Stage6 Button:


Failed loading locale file chrome://connected/content/locale.stage6.de.xml ERROR
: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE)
[nsIXMLHttpRequest.send]" nsresult: "0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE)" location:
"JS frame :: chrome://connected/content/localization.js :: anonymous :: line 60"
data: no]


Btw i have realy alot of stuff in my mind that can be plugitized especialy an idea that realy should work out on this platform (creating your own Web Content Guide (Channels) directly on your TV), but i would have first to create a concept (and especialy the Logic behind it) to realise this, because of all the different sources i have to fight with and try to get them interoperable (good thing i beta tested for most of them and know them very good ;) ) and designing a easy to use interactive interface for this idea, also a way connected people could share this then with each other :). So actually the people gonna play TV Djs in my idea they gonna gather all the content of the web and create their own TV Programm with that and share this channels then with each other practicly the same as Stage6 currently but easier (actually it puts all Video Services and Search Machines in 1 big content pool) because no actually content needs to be shared just links to the content and independently of Stage6 (sure it can be also a source) :). Also bringing the whole Connected Community together with a thing like Connected Live so yeah something like XboX Live based on the Connected experience (think of that) a complete Independent Video Social Network System, all of this accessable right from your couch the PC is only in the background doing all the logic behind it :). Belive me what you currently see on your Connected Box running is just the begining of something gigantic :). And yes its clear that this is alot of Data about someones (Media Life) that's gonna go over the internet and i gonna try to conceptualize the logic as anonymous as possible behind it, but it should be clear that it's only possible to a certain degree in such a concept if you wan't to have full freedom of interacting with everyone in this community and also i have to think about a peering system that brings this idea to life first as i don't want to be dependent on a central point (for obvious reasons) :).

weaver4
31st January 2008, 17:12
Thanks for the review CruNcher!!

I saw at the CES show that this product was going to be available in the US, but I have not seen any announcement of who was going to carry it, when, or price. Any news kosmonaut?

Right now I am using a PopCorn Hour to play divx content, I would love to try this box.

CruNcher
31st January 2008, 17:55
The Popcorn Hour if it's this one http://www.popcorn-hour.de/ is technically superior indeed compared to the DSM-330 here, but technically superior doesn't automatically means also user friendly and especially modular expendable by the community that owns the player.
And definitely the most interesting thing about this Device is the DivX Connected Platform not the Hardware and it's capabilities, those are enough for DivX and 720p and for sure it's also able to playback 1080p Mpeg-4 SP natively at least, but for alot of non DivX content that would get transcoded on the Server side this would mean even higher CPU Utilization and most probably no problem free playback anymore then.
So 720p is a good compromise for this transcoding solution and most content, if you really need native 1080p you should wait as kosmonaut said for other Devices entering the Market that gonna use DivX Connected as it's platform of choice by then and don't need to transcode as heavy as the DSM-330 on the Server side the Broadcom solutions come to my mind here reading that Broadcom now supports DivX in a press release :)

@kosmonaut
How about using fffmpeg as your decoding engine of choice and move away from Dshow i mean you should still leave it in for flexibility, but generally try to use ffmpeg could avoid alot of problems with Dshow (especialy as it's Platform independent) and seems the better choice in my eyes (also interlace and cadence detection should work with it and deinterlacing could be done with yadif for example (should be user selectable as yadif could be to slow for some) :)

ehh just spoted this here in the FAQ and asked me where is it? ;) :


Yes. A preliminary Plug-in SDK is available here:

http://labs.divx.com/files/PreliminaryDivXConnectedServerSDK0100.zip


the name says it's the SERVER SDK not the Plugin SDK :D like this one
http://labs.divx.com/files/DivXConnectedPluginSDK.exe

I tried DivX Ultra Content http://www.stage6.com/DivX-Film-Festival/video/1100883/Example-of-a-DivX-file-with-advanced-features
works flawless as expected on the DSM-330 :)

kosmonaut
31st January 2008, 19:16
The first DivX Connected device in the US will come from D-Link, and should be out in the next few months. Likely from online stores, at least at first. Price is still being determined (ultimately, that's up to D-Link, of course).

I saw at the CES show that this product was going to be available in the US, but I have not seen any announcement of who was going to carry it, when, or price. Any news kosmonaut?

weaver4
31st January 2008, 21:53
One thing I am not clear on. Assume that you have a *.avi movie (created with divx or xvid) in a 640x272 pix format. This movie would not need to be transcoded by the server to support a 720p or 1024i screen does it? Will the output be upconverted to work on a 720p screen? [I found CruNcher's comments a little confusing.]

CruNcher
31st January 2008, 22:07
I didn't test it myself but i'm sure if your output Device is SD it will stay 640x272 if your output Device is HD then it will be upscaled to 720p makes the most sense (else that 640x272 would look blurry as hell on some 720p TVs, alot of first Generation 720p TVs have realy bad internal upscaling or non @ all) not quiet sure tough. (didn't catched the stream yet and analysed it) ;)

kosmonaut
31st January 2008, 23:05
The DSM-30 does have an upscaler, and a pretty decent one, so yeah, an SD file would get upscaled to 720p if that was the setting of the display device.

CruNcher
31st January 2008, 23:21
Hmm kosmonaut if i have a 1920x1080p HD Video and Playback it on a SD Device with 640x480 selected then the chain is like that right?


Input DivX DSM-330
1920x1080p-> downscaled to 640x480-> upscaled PAL->SD Display Device



OK the DivX Guys are fast enhanceing the Software now the Connected Beta is @ 1.1.0 Build 12 :)

kosmonaut
6th February 2008, 00:08
Hey, sorry it took so long to get back to you CruNcher.

I'm a little confused about the question of 1080p content. If the device is connected to a PAL TV, then that is the resolution to which the content is scaled. Am I missing what you are asking here?

CruNcher
6th February 2008, 15:57
I meant the whole transcoding chain as such so in wich size the DivX Video gets encoded actually, if i understand it correctly 640x480 if the Client sends the Server that a SD device is connected to the Box, so 1080p would get downscaled first to 640x480 and then send to the Box (if it's non DivX Content).
And if the Client sends the Server that a HD Device is connected then 720p so this means the rest that's for example missing to display the 640x480 on the TV is done by the internal upscaler of the Sigma Chip 640x480->720x576. So i wondered if it wouldn't be actually better if the Stream would directly be converted on the PC into PAL/NTSC SD and not into 640x480 first, but im not sure if it works this way i just guess it's done that way currently (to save CPU cycles). So maybe allow more options in the DivX Connected gui for more powerfull machines :) that can do the PAL conversion directly without downscaling to 640x480 and losing some details this way :)

Currently (my guess) 1080p/720p->640x480->PAL/NTSC
New PAL/NTSC Option 1080p/720p->PAL/NTSC
Or is the Divx Connected Server doing this? 1080p/720p->720p->PAL/NTSC

kosmonaut
7th February 2008, 02:46
According to the best information I can gather, your second option (New PAL/NTSC Option 1080p/720p->PAL/NTSC) is the correct one. Transcoding does not affect the scaling chain.

Are you noticing a degradation in quality that would lead you to believe otherwise?

CruNcher
7th February 2008, 10:43
Hmm so it does no downscaling @ all? for what is then the maximum 640x480 setting in the Server?
it's impossible to say if their really is a visible difference without comparing both scenarios in Real but the difference should be indeed "marginal" visually, tough for guys that wan't the most detail preservation possible it would be the better option (and it would just need 1 more option in the Server :P allowing PAL/NTSC directly), but a little more cpu hungry especialy if transcoding the source resolution directly into the target resolution without this in bettwen downscaling to 640x480.

TV-web-browser
3rd March 2008, 20:57
Those reviewing the DSM-330 might be interested in other comparable boxes. A very similar technology to DivX Connected is active-TV technology. Both are available in boxes (http://www.dlink.com/products/category.asp?cid=75&sec=1)from D-Link, the DSM-330 and DSM-520 respectively. They both make use of the same Sigma Designs 8620, so they have the same native codec support. Both are based on a PC-assisted approach. They both support HTML, JS and Flash applications – Connected, via their new SDK; active-TV, via the same SDK used by Media Center Extenders.

They both support non-native video via PC-side transcode. They both support access to personal PC-stored content. The active-TV technology platforms already have support for Flash video. There for, access to YouTube, Hulu, Google Video and the like is already available.

The active-TV implementation seems to currently place less load on the PC. Benchmark (http://active-tv.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-many-tvs-in-home-network-can.html)tests indicate a PC can easily support up to 5 networked DSM-520s.

There is also support for complete torrent (http://active-tv.blogspot.com/2008/02/adding-video-rss-feed-or-torrent-video.html)control from the TV. A video torrent can be started, monitored and finally viewed entirely from the TV.

CruNcher
10th March 2008, 00:44
Thx for the Info for sure you meant the DSM-320/320RD as the other Active-TV capable Boxes, maybe the DivX Connected Firmware of the DSM-330 could be replaced with the of the DSM-320/520 tough :) (if the user would like to change now that Stage6 is dead). D-Link also should stop Advertising with Stage6 support as it isn't existing anymore and could be seen as false information. Added the Shutdown information so that Doom9 users don't get false information ;)

Ahh see see there appeared some new FW right before the Stage6 shutdown (2 days before) on the server ftp://ftp.dlink.de/dsm/DSM-330/driver_software/DSM-330_fw_all_multi_1019_080118.zip <- no information what it is about tough i suspect it will remove every Stage6 function