Media Extenders and Freeview|HD

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#411128 30-Nov-2010 12:22

lchiu7: You can purchase the Popcorn Hour C200 for US$299+US$30 for shipping here so that's about $450. And if you don't need BD playback the A210 is equally as good for $199+shipping òr about $310. And the WAF for the PCH is way better than for a HTPC but of course the HTPC can record where as the PCH can't. But we are talking about media extenders here.

Furthermore I presume the $690 for the HTPC does not include another $120 or so for a Windows licence plus an IR reeiver and remote.

As usual YMMV.

Well, you could buy 3 Apacer al460 media extenders for less than the cost of 1 A210 today, while they are still in stock. Admittedly, it's a limited offer though, so not a real comparison.

http://www.firstin.co.nz/products/apacer-1080p-ethernet-media-player-3970/

hope it works :-)

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davidcole

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#411147 30-Nov-2010 12:48

Very unlikely that it would work for the sound scheme - but as a cheap media player for "other stuff" it's pretty good value.

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#411152 30-Nov-2010 12:57

I can watch SBS Hd and I tried a couple of clips from Fossie's post without issue on my 360 while my wife watches a bluray or plays SIMS3. Takes about 30secs for it to start when this is happening, otherwise fine.
It gives the HDD a hammering tho as the RAM is maxed. With another 4gb I'd say it'll be ok.
CPU is working hard (~75%), but you buy it to work, not sit idle!

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dolsen

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#411162 30-Nov-2010 13:18

davidcole: Very unlikely that it would work for the sound scheme - but as a cheap media player for "other stuff" it's pretty good value.

As above,
according to this link

http://forums.gbpvr.com/showthread.php?45755-Play-NZ-Freeview-HD-Files-Over-Network

it does decode the HE-AAC audio and has been successfully used to watch nz hd freeview captures in a .ts container.

I haven't got mine yet so can't absolutely state that it does, but, the other user sent nz freeview captures to the manufacturers and they released a new firmware to handle our audio.

"However I note that a firmware update BY23.2.7.0105 dated Jan 12 2010 is required to play the AAC audio otherwise TV3's AC3 audio is the only one that can be listened to!"

davidcole

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#411169 30-Nov-2010 13:25

Apparently the AC Ryan PlayOn HD and PlayOn minis can play the freeview|HD files

http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=11919

Someone I know has had one tested ( a mini) with some Freeview|HD recordings and then there is this:

http://www.acryan.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&p=66111

xcubed

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#411182 30-Nov-2010 13:42

lchiu7: Furthermore I presume the $690 for the HTPC does not include another $120 or so for a Windows licence plus an IR reeiver and remote.

It ships with Windows 7 Home Premium pre-installed, but yes, you may want to buy a remote.

Deev8

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#411299 30-Nov-2010 17:56

davidcole: Apparently the AC Ryan PlayOn HD and PlayOn minis can play the freeview|HD files. Someone I know has had one tested ( a mini) with some Freeview|HD recordings and then there is this:
http://www.acryan.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&p=66111

Yes, I posted that thread on the AC Ryan forum last week which then spawned this thread here. The issue was that someone late last year had raised a NZ Freeview HE-AAC support issue on the AC Ryan forum late last year, and there wasn't any record of the issue being fixed. Today someone has downloaded one of Fossie's Freeview|HD sample files (The TVNZ 7 sample) and reported that it played flawlessly on both a PlayOn!HD and PlayOn!HD Mini.

So we can add AC Ryan PlayOn!HD and PlayOn!HD Mini to the short list of NZ Freeview|HD capable media players. The PlayOn!HD is available from NZ retailers from around $225 delivered, and the Mini is available fromaround $210 delivered.

Deev8

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#411304 30-Nov-2010 18:09

lchiu7: You can purchase the Popcorn Hour C200 for US$299+US$30 for shipping here so that's about $450. And if you don't need BD playback the A210 is equally as good for $199+shipping òr about $310.

It's worth noting that as the individual buyer is technically importing the Popcorn Hour from overseas, they could get stung for GST on top of the C-200 purchase price. In theory you will be charged GST if you pay more than NZ $400 for anything that you buy from an overseas retailer (and that $400 includes any shipping charges that you pay). It seems that in practice the GST is rarely charged, but it's worth keeping in mind that the price you pay could get inflated like that.

The A-210 price is comfortably below the limit.

Edit: It's worse than I thought if you do get charged for GST on imports. From July this year Customs introduced an Import Transaction Fee. If the value of goods is $400 or more you will be charged GST at 15% of the value, and you will be required to also pay an Import Transaction fee of $24.75 (including GST), and a Biosecurity Systems Entry Levy of $12.50 (including GST). That would add $97.25 to the cost of goods valued at NZ $400.
Consumer.org.nz - New Import Transaction Fee

lchiu7

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#411325 30-Nov-2010 18:54

Deev8:..

The A-210 price is comfortably below the limit.

Buy the A210. I can't see why one would buy the C200 but then I have two BD players already and don't need another one.

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.

Deev8

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#411516 1-Dec-2010 10:09

lchiu7: Buy the A210. I can't see why one would buy the C200 but then I have two BD players already and don't need another one.

Yes, I ordered a Popcorn Hour A-210 a couple of days ago and it should certainly satisfy my requirements. However it is going to cost me at least NZ $325, and I imagine there are plenty of people who would find a Freeview|HD compatible media player useful, but would find that price tag too high.

We seem to have established that the AC Ryan PlayOn!HD and PlayOn!HD Mini are capable, and the Mini is available for $210.

We've been told that the Apacer AL670 plays Freeview|HD material OK. That seems to be available for around $150.

We've also been told that the Apacer AL460 is capable, and that was available on a limited-time offer for only $80.

Different players with different functionality available at very different prices. Choices and options are good, there's a good chance that each of those players would suit somebody's requirements. Who knows we may flush out a few more options before we are finished.

lchiu7

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#411530 1-Dec-2010 10:39

Deev8:
lchiu7: Buy the A210. I can't see why one would buy the C200 but then I have two BD players already and don't need another one.

Yes, I ordered a Popcorn Hour A-210 a couple of days ago and it should certainly satisfy my requirements. However it is going to cost me at least NZ $325, and I imagine there are plenty of people who would find a Freeview|HD compatible media player useful, but would find that price tag too high.

We seem to have established that the AC Ryan PlayOn!HD and PlayOn!HD Mini are capable, and the Mini is available for $210.

We've been told that the Apacer AL670 plays Freeview|HD material OK. That seems to be available for around $150.

We've also been told that the Apacer AL460 is capable, and that was available on a limited-time offer for only $80.

Different players with different functionality available at very different prices. Choices and options are good, there's a good chance that each of those players would suit somebody's requirements. Who knows we may flush out a few more options before we are finished.

The PCH has a lot more functionality that many of the lower price media players. With the latest firmware there is now a really attractive UI that can replace much of the functionality that people had been gaining from using programs like YAMJ. It is fully internet capable, can house an internal SATA drive, external USB or obviously play from the network.

It can play ripped BD titles with basic menus and can output HD audio as bitstream over HDMI.

The ability to play FreeviewHD to me is just a bonus.

No idea what the capabilities of the other mentioned devices are but will check them out.

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.

JimmyH

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#412309 2-Dec-2010 23:30

I can confirm that the WD TV Live will not play HE-AAC V2 sound.

Tried with a short test file recorded on my VE4000 Set Top Box, afetr upgrading the WD to the latest firmware.

Same result as when I try to play the files with VLC - I get a lovely HD picture but no sound.

I see that FFMPEG lists HE-AAC V2 support as having been added to the latest build. However, I haven't had any success converting Freeview recordings yet - possibly becasue I am pushing the boundaries of my technical competence......

Deev8

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#412571 3-Dec-2010 17:09

JimmyH: I can confirm that the WD TV Live will not play HE-AAC V2 sound ... Same result as when I try to play the files with VLC - I get a lovely HD picture but no sound.

The part about VLC Media Player not playing the HE-AAC sound is strange. I occasionally play Freeview|HD recordings using VLC Media Player, and have no problem with sound. It might be worth checking that you have a recent version of VLC, the current version for Windows is 1.1.5.

Deev8

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#412581 3-Dec-2010 17:35

AC Ryan have tested their PlayOn!HD, PlayOn!HD Mini and PlayOn!DVR-HD using the TVNZ 7 sample that Fossie posted in his Geekzone blog a couple of years ago TVNZ 7 Sample - 576i video with HE-AAC LATM audio. They have confirmed that all three of those players play the HE-AAC sound OK.

dolsen

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#413341 6-Dec-2010 10:40

dolsen:

it does decode the HE-AAC audio and has been successfully used to watch nz hd freeview captures in a .ts container.

I haven't got mine yet so can't absolutely state that it does, but, the other user sent nz freeview captures to the manufacturers and they released a new firmware to handle our audio.

My Apacer al460 arrived today. I only had about 10 minutes to play with it, and, about 7 minutes were spent unpacking it, hooking it up and configuring it.

What I did manage to test is playing both a tv2 and tv3 ts file recorded by Mediaportal. Both played back successfully with audio, something it does even better than my htpc. If you select 1.5 or 2x play, the audio is still decoded and played back at 1.5 / 2x speed (with pitch correction), so you could, if you were in a hurry, watch programs at double speed. I haven't had a chance to see what firmware it's running, but, no updates were required to watch the recordings.

With the latest firmware it is meant to be able to play back blu-ray iso images too.

Not bad for $88 inc postage.

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