PCH and AAC-HE LATM audio update (not good)

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › PCH and AAC-HE LATM audio update (not good)

lchiu7

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#24300 20-Jul-2008 19:28

Decided to prod the Syabas folks again to see when they might get this audio support in the PCH.

Nobody from Syabas responded but a mod did - check out

Popcorn Forum

From my reading of this it seems that the Sigma designs SDK does not support this audio format. So Syabas can't do anything (even if they wanted to) to decode this audio until the SDK is updated. The only other solution is for Syabas to take the Monogram DS filter code that Sub is using in gbpvr and write the code themselves into the firmware. With only two countries (I think) using this audio format on DVB-T broadcasts (why on earth did Kordia decide on this strange codec) I think the number of users who would benefit isn't exactly high.

So we are still screwed unless when TV1 and TV2 go proper HD they choose to also broadcast AC-3 audio as TV3 does. Then we don't care I guess.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

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358 posts

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#149737 21-Jul-2008 04:59

lchiu7: Decided to prod the Syabas folks again to see when they might get this audio support in the PCH.

Nobody from Syabas responded but a mod did - check out

Popcorn Forum

From my reading of this it seems that the Sigma designs SDK does not support this audio format. So Syabas can't do anything (even if they wanted to) to decode this audio until the SDK is updated. The only other solution is for Syabas to take the Monogram DS filter code that Sub is using in gbpvr and write the code themselves into the firmware. With only two countries (I think) using this audio format on DVB-T broadcasts (why on earth did Kordia decide on this strange codec) I think the number of users who would benefit isn't exactly high.

So we are still screwed unless when TV1 and TV2 go proper HD they choose to also broadcast AC-3 audio as TV3 does. Then we don't care I guess.

I dont think that mod knows anything about the Sigma SDK or even has much on the inside info from Syabas. I think he was just hopeful he would be able convert the audio using one of the other tools often discussed for mkv files with regular aac audio.

I've had confirmation from another hardware manufacturer using the same Sigma 8634 chipset that they've been able to get our H.264/AAC-LATM transport stream files playing with audio, and they didnt have to do anything special to get working - they just tried playing the files and they worked. I suspect its just because they're using a newer version of the sigma libraries.

lchiu7

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#149827 21-Jul-2008 11:57

sub:

I've had confirmation from another hardware manufacturer using the same Sigma 8634 chipset that they've been able to get our H.264/AAC-LATM transport stream files playing with audio, and they didnt have to do anything special to get working - they just tried playing the files and they worked. I suspect its just because they're using a newer version of the sigma libraries.

You're probably right. I did try using the tools they suggest in the forum but nothing handled that audio format (faad was suggested to handle AAC audio but it barfed on the AAC-HE LATM stream I provided it). On another forum somebody has suggested they were able to do conversion by demuxing the audio, playing it in Winamp, outputting a wav file which they then converted to something else. I couldn't get that to work either.

If you know there is another vendor who can use the Sigma SDK to handle this audio, then perhaps another e-mail from you to Syabas might help :) After all on the Syabas web site, gbpvr is mentioned as supporting the PCH!

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

lchiu7

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#153797 3-Aug-2008 13:41

Hey PCH owners - get onto the NMT forum and vote for AAC-HE LATM audio support

NMT Forum

Not sure what relationship the mod of this forum has to Syabas but lets let everybody know how imporrtant this firmware upgrade is rather than their spending time working on vorbis or flac support, or 6 different languages, or multiple subtitles, or Dolby TrueHD in MKV or whatever!

Larry

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fisher191

59 posts

Master Geek

#153962 4-Aug-2008 10:42

Done, thanks Ichiu7 for pushing this.

Come on everyone, don't sit back like I have been doing and leaving it to someone else.

We want a good HD extender and the PCH will be it when it supports AAC-HE LATM audio. The more requests, the quicker it will happen.

It only takes a minute - please post to the NMT forum.

Cheers,
Greg

burtz

168 posts

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#153980 4-Aug-2008 11:53

I've added my support as well. Didn't see the reseller emerging here so have pre-order a PCH direct. Any one know what the current wait time is?

Dawg

233 posts

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#154038 4-Aug-2008 15:11

My IT manager ordered one today - I believe there will be little or no wait time - Stock arrived July 28th

lchiu7

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#160281 27-Aug-2008 21:27

Nothing in the latest firmware. Time for us to make our case known again

NMT Forum

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lchiu7

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#165449 18-Sep-2008 18:54

Another firmware release and again nothing for us in NZ for watching HDTV. I am beginning to despair

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linw

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#165463 18-Sep-2008 20:23

Yep, we would be advised not to hold our breath. Unfortunately, we are the pioneers with the arrows in our backs.

davidcole

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#165468 18-Sep-2008 20:48

Depends how you look at it I guess. Ok so we can't get tv 1 or 2 via the popcorn but other than that it's a pretty cool device.

I've just ordered my second, the A110 and this time I'mm be putting a HDD in it, adds a whole new world....

Sure its a bummer not being able to get the tv1 and tv2 but there's not a lot of HD content on them anyway, so you're prolly not missing out on much having dvb-s.

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lchiu7

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#165492 18-Sep-2008 22:18

True enough about TV1 and TV2. TV3 has the best content and the most and of course, they broadcast fulltime in DD (2.0 or 5.1) so the PCH works fine. For TV1 and TV2 the occasional show I can record and if I am lucky, transcode the audio to AC-3 and mux it back so the PCH can play it. It's a hassle and would be even more if TV1/2 had good content.

Not sure why the HDD opens up worlds for you. My PCH A100 is connected both locally to my PVR so can access all recorded content that machine produces (recordings from TCL cable and also DVB-T) and also over a network to my main file server (using Swisscenter). The file server has over 750Gb of content the PCH can see so not sure how a local HDD would help out at all.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

NZRobin

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#165535 19-Sep-2008 01:08

I still don't 'get' whats so wonderful about the PH. If its to view scattered content why not just use the machine the content is on, computer, PVR etc?
As I said before why did you connect the PH to your PVR instead of playing straight off the PVR?

davidcole

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#165578 19-Sep-2008 09:45

The main reason I "get" the popcorn hour, is that without the PCH I would have to build another machine for the bedroom and all relevant codecs etc. Whereas with the PCH, I plug it in, give in the gbpvr UI and off I go. And from that it plays 90% of the content try to play.

davidcole

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#165580 19-Sep-2008 09:48

lchiu7: True enough about TV1 and TV2. TV3 has the best content and the most and of course, they broadcast fulltime in DD (2.0 or 5.1) so the PCH works fine. For TV1 and TV2 the occasional show I can record and if I am lucky, transcode the audio to AC-3 and mux it back so the PCH can play it. It's a hassle and would be even more if TV1/2 had good content.

Not sure why the HDD opens up worlds for you. My PCH A100 is connected both locally to my PVR so can access all recorded content that machine produces (recordings from TCL cable and also DVB-T) and also over a network to my main file server (using Swisscenter). The file server has over 750Gb of content the PCH can see so not sure how a local HDD would help out at all.

Mainly, share access to the PCH, torrent client, nzb client and a upnp server, just means I have another place I can store stuff since I currently store on two machines, my PVR server and another machine that is turned off each night.....with the popcorn, I can have these locally on the popcorn. Also is easier to take to someones house and demonstrate HD.

lchiu7

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#165581 19-Sep-2008 09:50

NZRobin: I still don't 'get' whats so wonderful about the PH. If its to view scattered content why not just use the machine the content is on, computer, PVR etc?
As I said before why did you connect the PH to your PVR instead of playing straight off the PVR?

Don't knock until you've tried it. As you might know, to play the DVB-T broadcasts in NZ requires grunt PC's and/or video cards with acceleration and all kinds of software configuration. The PCH can play those files without a sweat (well not the AAC-HE LATM ones with audio). And the cool thing is, a low end PC can record DVB-T broadcasts or act as a file server, the PCH can play the content from that machine.

It can play up 1080p content in a number of containers, from an internal drive or from a network and all in a machine that only costs US$170. If you use gbpvr you can actually access the gbpvr interface via the PCH and use gbpvr's recording and epg capability but the PCH to actually do the playing (haven't tried that myself yet).

So if the firmware gets upgraded to play AAC-HE audio, then it will be the perfect media player for many of us.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

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