Sigma chip-set Information - High Def

[SeeMoreDigital]

Using a "hard-wired" connection. Both my Ziova CS505 and Z500 players are able to handle MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 sources of up-to 19Mbps via SMB. And up-to 35Mbps via UPnP (TwonkyMedia).

That said, I don't think any other manufacturers of EM8620L chip-set based devices offer both SMB and UPnP connectivity. And often the MPEG-4 decoding speeds are much lower than for MPEG-2.


Cheers

[niknik]

By now I would expect to have a lot more options when it comes to hardware based h264. Guess the Industry prefers to keep it to their "oficial" HD players as much as possible...

(well, I guess it just helps more people switch to HTPCs...)

[laserfan]

...up-to 35Mbps via UPnP...Thanks--my first attempt at high bitrate MPEG2 didn't look good at all (pictures, nothing to do w/bitrate) so I guess I have a learning curve to overcome first.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Sigma's EM862xL "series" of chip-sets and stock reference board designs are pretty dated now and in my opinion were never capable of offering their much "hyped" performance levels...

I'm of the opinion that the Ziova software engineers have managed to squeeze out as much performance the chip-set/reference board combination can deliver.... Which appears to be significantly more than any other player manufacturer has been willing or able to do!

Devices based around Sigma's SMP8630 series of chip-set "should" be far more flexible - as long as their manufacturers are willing to refine their players feature sets.


Cheers

[laserfan]

My previous post wasn't worded very well--I just haven't figured-out how to make a good HD MPEG2 encoding yet. Wasn't a comment on the 8620.

I actually have been very pleased with my 8620--to-date it has played everything I've thrown at it. So I have high hopes that it will continue to work for me until "the next Big Thing" comes along. Hasn't arrived yet I think!!! :p

[SeeMoreDigital]

I see....

What applications are you using to generate your MPEG-2 streams. And at what resolution and "high" bit-rate?


Cheers

[laserfan]

Actually given that my 1st try at vc1-to-mpeg2 using HCenc was NG, I instead tried Xvid using HDTV profile, and while it looks wonderful, there are places in the program where my SC200 freezes and jumps indicating prolly too-high bitrate (action scenes). Was just now looking here for an analysis tool which I seem to have misplaced & can't remember the name...

Anyway I in looking at the HDTV profile it suggests using 1280x720 vs. the 1920x1080 that I'd done. So I (already vs. my prior post) have found something that chokes my player! :scared: If you know the name of the utility that analyzes Xvid bitrates please let me know!

[foxyshadis]

avinaptic's drf graph isn't perfect for this, it doesn't show you actual filled buffer size (which is unknown for these chips anyway), but it will show you where large bitrate segments occur.

[laserfan]

I think my mistake was in not cropping the original to 1280x720. Having done that the video plays no problem.

I've got avinaptic now too, thanks foxyshadis.

EDIT: My problem with the HDTV profile of Xvid was indeed in keeping the frames at 1920x1080. Upon resizing to 1280x720, using Single Pass at 2.75 yields bitrate of about 4Mbps and Qf of .20 and looks terrific. :)