Std-Def/Hi-Def: Media Streaming Devices

[SeeMoreDigital]

I don't know about you guys but I've got a feeling that this year, we are all going to see a lot of activity with regard to "media streaming devices"!

ie: Devices that connect directly to your TV and/or PC monitor!

With this in mind, some of you may be interested in the following: -


The ADS Media-Link, even offers component video and electrical digital outputs: -

http://img72.exs.cx/img72/5923/adsdevice5xj.gif

http://img100.exs.cx/img100/2987/adsinfo0mv.gif



The Sony VGP-MR100, incorporates a high-def Sigma EM8620L chip-set: -

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/653/vgpmr100ev8.jpg

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5059/vgpmr100003or4.jpg

http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/vaio/acc/acc.cfm?pd=19898


Cheers

[gircobain]

Cool as

Any idea what range of prices are these devices coming out at?

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally posted by gircobain
Cool as

Any idea what range of prices are these devices coming out at? Around $200.00 (£200.00) for the ADS. I don't know about the Sony!


Cheers

[SeeMoreDigital]

Just to wet your appetites a little more... It seems as though the European version of the ADS device comes with DVI and optical digital outputs :)

http://img131.exs.cx/img131/2686/adsdevice6ey.gif

It uses Sigma's EM851x chip-set (http://www.sigmadesigns.com/products/em8510.htm) which is capable of supporting AAC-LC audio, so in theory, it should be able to handle Mpeg4/AAC in MP4 files. Here's a link to a French web site that contains a little more information: -

http://www.repaire.net/site/diffusion/boitiers_convers/ads_medialink/index.php

... I think you'll get the idea!


Cheers

[Stratego]

Any idea if this device could play 720p or 1080i mpeg2 files or even "hires" avi files ?

It probably has to actually decode everything going through the network so I guess the answer will be negative. In that case, does anyone know of any media streaming device capable of streaming HD mpeg2 and mpeg4 ?

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally posted by Stratego
Any idea if this device could play 720p or 1080i mpeg2 files or even "hires" avi files ? No it can't....

As I mentioned, the device incorporates a Sigma chip-set, which processes/decodes all the media data. This particular make/model of chip-set can only cope with: - MPEG-1, MPEG-2 MP@ML, MPEG-4 ASP@L5* video decoding Which means, a maximum "input" pixel size of 720x576 414,720 total) pixels!

When it comes to high-def, Sigma currently produce an EM8620 chip-set, but as far as I know, it's not yet available within a media streaming device!


Cheers

[musicnyman]

i've tried both the pinnacle showcenter and the d-link dsm-320, and they both do a horrible job at playing xvid/divx(mpeg-4) files smoothly on the tv. When i stream them via ethernet on these devices (so network/bandwidth shouldn't be a problem), it seems like it's missing some frames from the 23 frames per second it should be playing, especially in high motion/pan scenes. i'm pretty sure the showcenter uses a sigma chip, don't know what model/type, but i was hoping it would fix the problems with choppy playback of xvid files on the d-link. it helped, but it's not 100% smooth.

anyone had any hands on experience with ADS? how do 1.5 gig Xvid/Divx files look?

anyone else have any good media streaming devices they have had some good luck with and can play mpeg4 files smoothly?

--- addition
found the model on the web:

Pinnacle integrated into the ShowCenter the modern chip Sigma Design REALmagic EM 8551

[SeeMoreDigital]

Hi musicnyman,

There's a guy over on the 8dims forum who has a couple of the ADS devices..... Maybe you could ask him to confirm some of your queeries/problems.

Please look here: http://8dim.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2213


Cheers

[musicnyman]

kewl thanks,

i can't register on that forum for some reason. just goes in a loop when i hit "agree". i'll check it later.

also, looks like the US version doesn't have optical out yet right? that would be a requirement for me. no news on when that french reviewed box is coming to the US yet right?

and i saw your HD posts on the new sigma chip. going to have to wait for a good stable box for that one :) might as well wait for a good box that will do xvid/divx HD content as well as smooth xvid/divx playback.

thanks!

[SeeMoreDigital]

Normally you guys in the US get all the fancy tools before we do in the EU.... but it looks like we've out done you on the ADS Media Server :D

When it comes to the high-def/res Sigma chip-sets (developement kits), I'm inclined to agree with you... They don't appear to be stable enough/reliable enough for my tastes either :eek:... which is a great shame!


Cheers

[SeeMoreDigital]

Direct Zensinic web site link: http://www.ziova.com/z400.php

http://www.ziova.com/images/products/z400.gif

http://www.ziova.com/images/products/z400_rear.gif

http://img91.exs.cx/img91/8344/specification3jw.gif


Cheers

[SeeMoreDigital]

I received one of these ADS Media-Link MXL-581 devices a couple of days ago and have had it hooked up in our kitchen to a 15" LCD TV/PC screen and micro hi-fi unit... and I have to say my first impressions are very encouraging ;)

For those of you with large collections of iTunes audio tracks (AAC .m4a) sitting on your PC/server, you might like to know that such tracks can be played back perfectly...

Mpeg4 video in the .AVI and .MP4 container are also supported... I will do some more tests. And if any of you would like me to test some files, please let me know?


Cheers

[SeeMoreDigital]

As reported in this thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91487) Pinnacle Systems have launched their std-def/high-def media streaming device.

Proposed costs in the UK should be around £200.00


Cheers

[musicnyman]

i've decided to leave pinnacle with all the problems and no support and bought a buffalo linktheater instead...i'll compare :)

[SeeMoreDigital]

In case some of you are interested.... and why not!

I've posted some test results for this device here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=625252#post625252).


Cheers

[SBaT]

Buffalo looked really promising untill I found out that it dosent have any HDMI/DVI connector :( .

[spiderman123]

Hi seemore digital

firstly thanks for all your info i'm new to the game but have found it very handy

where did you buy yours from and how do you rate it against snazio and other prods
tanxs

[spiderman123]

hi ya
i'd appreciate any feedback from anyone who bought the ads tech media link
cheers

[SeeMoreDigital]

Sorry Spidey,

You should be able to obtain the ADS Media-Link from Dabs.com (http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Product+Details.htm?quicklinx=3KVN&searchphrase=ads). It's quite a basic media serving device, built around one of Sigma's "std-def" capable chip-sets..... It's a very stable, small, neat looking device, with bags of connectivity along with EtherNet and wireless networking connectivity.

However, the remote control is awful, and ADS are not very communicative with their customers.... hence... no firmware upgrades since launch!

SnaZio on the other hand sell two devices built around one of Sigma's "high-def" capable chip-sets, the EM8620L.....

The first device, the SnaZio SZ1350 is fitted with a CD/DVD-ROM drive. The second device, SnaZio SZ1350 is a media server. Both offer virtually the same level of connectivity. ie: composite, s-video, component and DVI outputs for the video along with 2Ch/6Ch analogue RCA/phono and S/PDIF outputs for the audio. Plus EtherNet and wireless networking.

As new products go the SnaZio's have caused quite some excitement and appear to be better products than their immediate rivals, ie: I-O DATA's AVLP2 and Buffalo's Link-Theater.

But.... your choice will depend on what you want from such devices ofcourse.... and I can't help you with that ;)

There will be other devices appearing very soon, including Zensonic's Z500 which will offer NeroDigital certification, SMB sharing, HDMI (with HDCP), FLAC audio playback and hopefully Matroska container support (via a firmware upgrade after launch).

Hope this helps....

[spiderman123]

i know what you mean about ADS i've emailed 4 time last week enquiring as to where i could buy one (DABS are out of stock and not getting any more in).
i think i'll wait for the snazzio to drop.

i've bought a 2nd hand kiss 1504 for £70 so that will do until then.

i don't have a hi def plasma yet or any media so theirs no point in buying the snazio yet

shame about the ADS player, its so frustating to see companies come out with great products and then lose the plot.
kiss is a good example the software that comes with it is pants yet some guy in his spare time has wriiten something far superior ( EzLinkNG)

thanks for the advice guys

[SeeMoreDigital]

Direct link to Japanese web site: -

http://www.iodata.jp/prod/multimedia/video/2005/avlp2g/index.htm


http://img322.imageshack.us/img322/4599/iodata2mn.jpg


Cheers

[TEB]

Hei smd, any more news in this market? Like HDMI output and HD mpeg2, avc support and so on..

[SeeMoreDigital]

Hei smd, any more news in this market? Like HDMI output and HD mpeg2, avc support and so on..As far as I'm aware it's still not possible to buy stand-alone players that can decode high-def MPEG-4 AVC video...

It is however, possible to buy a stand-alone player that can decode high-def MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 SP/ASP and WMV9 video... fitted with an HDMI output :)

I have such a player. It's called the Zensonic Z500....


Cheers

[TEB]

Cewl. Id apriciate a review if u could produce one :) and or anwser some questions:

Can it be software upgraded in that sence that one can update the decoder's and give it eventually more codec-support? (if its a dsp based system and not a asic (eg sigma 862x))

How good is it on demuxing Transport streams?
Have u tested mpeg2 mp@hl 1920p60 ?or p25 ?
Can it do Xvid and Divx 6.1 HD?

whats the cost and where can one buy one?


best regards te

[SeeMoreDigital]

The Zensonic Z500 is based around Sigma's EM8620L chip-set and newest reference design board. However, it does not run on Sigma's Syabas middle-ware, it runs on it's own specially designed middle-ware. Which is far more open to modification by Zensonic but sadly still limited to Sigma's core software development kit (SDK).

Depending on the quality and complexity of the MPEG-2 transport stream the Z500 fairs very well indeed.

I have tested the Z500 with many high-def MPEG-2 1080i samples. Some "pure interlaced" NTSC running at 29.970fps, some "progressively flagged" NTSC running at 29.970 with pull-down to 23.976fps. Some "pure interlaced" PAL running at 25.000fps, some "progressively flagged" PAL running at 25.000fps..... It all plays :)

There's no problem with high-def MPEG-4 video images either, as the chip-set supports resolutions right up-to 1920x1088, placed within AVI or MP4

At the present time the Z500 is only available in Australia. However, it will be available in most parts of the world by Feb/Mar 2006..... That said, many people have already placed and received direct over-seas orders from Australia


Cheers

[nwpsys]

And I am guessing / hoping, that it plays packed bitstream XviD files smoothly ?

nwpsys

[SeeMoreDigital]

And I am guessing / hoping, that it plays packed bitstream XviD files smoothly ?Given the flexibility of the XviD codec, the many different builds (some being better than others) plus the many variations of searching and placing B-VOP's within .AVI (ie: AQ, VHQ, Quantizer Ratio and Offset, multipal B-VOP's etc, etc), there are bound to be some B-VOP implementations Sigma's chip-set/firmware is not completely happy with.

I generated and conducted some XviD B-VOP tests, with and without PBS, some time ago.... If I have some time I'll generate some more using XviD v1.1 final.... and post my results :)

[CruNcher]

http://www.cesweb.org/shared_files/innovations/innovations_2004/4975/mainphoto4975.jpg

could be the first H.264 Asia Standalone thats hitting the market that can playback user stuff :P

[SeeMoreDigital]

Now these are the types of devices manufacturers should have designed, built and sold years ago.

I assume it can handle "disc" based formats, as-well as satellite and/or terrestrial "digital TV" and includes maybe an HDD along with a ethernet/wireless networking connection :D


Cheers

[thorz]

And I am guessing / hoping, that it plays packed bitstream XviD files smoothly ?

nwpsys

There has passed many months and for me this is still a very important factor. Is there any machine (but a PC) out there that can play packed bitstream XVIDS smoothly?

Thanks.

[SeeMoreDigital]

The specs look pretty good for this device.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/927/untitledfo8.jpg

It's based around Sigma's EM8621L chip-set (the same as the EM8620L chip-set but without MacroVision protection) and offers 6Ch analogue audio outputs: -

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/6665/rearconnectionsan8.jpg


Here's its specification: -

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/5016/spechh6.jpg


It may be worth pointing out that most devices based around Sigma's EM8620/1L chip-sets have matured quite a bit in the last few months. Especially since Sigma have finally seen the light and added full IFO and ISO parsing to their SDK's, along with NTFS support for externally connected HDD's


Cheers

[Mark0]

At the present time the Z500 is only available in Australia. However, it will be available in most parts of the world by Feb/Mar 2006..... That said, many people have already placed and received direct over-seas orders from Australia
A question about the audio section of the Z500, if I may.
Do you know if, playing lossless audio and outputting to the digital out, it resample the stream to 48KHz or leave it as is?

Thanks,
Bye!

[SeeMoreDigital]

;) Do you know if, playing lossless audio and outputting to the digital out, it resample the stream to 48KHz or leave it as is?As far as I am able to determine, the Z500 outputs at the same sample rate as the input for lossless FLAC and WAV.

EDIT: By-the-way, the Z500 is technically, a High Definition Network DVD Media Player


Cheers

[Mark0]

Yes, of course, I was just thinking about using it also to feed and external DAC for audio usues.
Thanks,
Bye!

[modern bedroom furniture]

Hi, i had some problems whit Z500 outputs, i couldn't keep up whit modern features and i got stuck. I solved my problems though by seeing this topic and for that i thank you.