Divx On The Hd Tv

[nikster]

you can save an image of a DVD as and ISO file.

That's what I do with my DVDs also. Create an ISO of the DVD and copy it to my media jukebox. Everything is then exactly the same as the original. Of course, there is no compression involved and the ISO file will be as big as the DVD (very slightly bigger due to header information overhead).

Slightly geeky correction: DVD format is compressed with MPEG-2. It's pretty ineffective compared to DivX or H264 but nevertheless, it's compressed

[jaideeguy]

Simple solution for me was to buy a Pioneer DV-400V DVD player with usb input for under 4kbaht and i just transfer downloaded divx/xvid files onto a usb flash drive and get great hi res videos without the hastle of burning and changing formats. This Pioneer also reads dirty old scratched dvds that my other elcheapo players wouldn't recognize.

Great machine!!

[Prasert]

None of the boxes commercially available support playing content from the network.

The TviX box I have does support playing from a network share. Actually several brands/models can unless you mean the low cost ones found in Thailand. Can even get a WIFI option to do it wirelessly to a shared computer.

I read quite some reviews on using WiFi for streaming video. It's not 100% reliable/hickup-free.

My requirements are slightly off-topic from the OP; I want a box that:

-has a low power consumption (so no harddisk)

-has a on/off button only

-has IR remote control; controlling the box is done through a menu on TV.

The box only needs to be able to play divx content from the network (video-on-demand) and play multicast streams.

Low-cost shouldn't be a problem with above requirements. And then it's possible to buy several of these boxes, e.g. for every room in a resort. Movies are selectable on-demand from the network, live sports are broadcasted on the network.

Friends asked me for a system like this. They already have all their movies on their computer or external drives, so why copying those to a media box again if you can play 'm over the network?

I'm gonna give Freevo a try. Combined with a video card that has HDMI it should be able to play HD content on a HD TV.

[Tywais]

Slightly geeky correction: DVD format is compressed with MPEG-2. It's pretty ineffective compared to DivX or H264 but nevertheless, it's compressed

What I was referring to is creating the ISO file there is no compression there (file), but yes the DVD itself is compressed.

[grtaylor]

i have the Playtime HV0102 (see this link)

i got it from Panthip at about THB3.5k then mated it with a 500GB Samsung 3.5" HDD.

it plays most video formats (DivX, mp4, wmv etc), even plays DVD image files (ISO format), most audio formats (mp3, wma, aac3 etc), and picture files (jpeg).

it has 3 video outputs (component, composite and S-video), and 3 audio outputs (analog coaxial, digital optical, and analog RCA).

they have a similar model with Networking capabilities also.

they also have another model with HDMI output, but it's way too pricey for me.

you can also find in panthip or fortune mall some "generic" media players for THB2.5k or less.

Just bought the Play Time HV0103 at Fortune Town this afternoon, with a 500Gb hard disk. Its similar to the one you mention but in addition has DVI output, a USB port and a LAN port. Price 4,500 plus hard disk 3,190. Seems to play just about every format available now, and there are firmware updates.

Haven't really had chance to play with it yet, but I'll report back when I have!

G

Well, so far, its working fine. I've also seen, bought by a friend of mine only today, a Freecom Media Player which, in addition, has Wi-Fi built in, with up to a 1Tb hard disk for around 9,000 baht - a bargain at the price, as they're nearly 550 euros on the company website!!

G

Edited June 5, 2008 by grtaylor

[thaiflyer1]

I've also seen, bought by a friend of mine only today, a Freecom Media Player which, in addition, has Wi-Fi built in, with up to a 1Tb hard disk for around 9,000 baht - a bargain at the price, as they're nearly 550 euros on the company website!!

Sounds good..........where did your friend buy it?

[nikster]

None of the boxes commercially available support playing content from the network.

The TviX box I have does support playing from a network share. Actually several brands/models can unless you mean the low cost ones found in Thailand. Can even get a WIFI option to do it wirelessly to a shared computer.

I read quite some reviews on using WiFi for streaming video. It's not 100% reliable/hickup-free.

My requirements are slightly off-topic from the OP; I want a box that:

-has a low power consumption (so no harddisk)

-has a on/off button only

-has IR remote control; controlling the box is done through a menu on TV.

The box only needs to be able to play divx content from the network (video-on-demand) and play multicast streams.

Low-cost shouldn't be a problem with above requirements. And then it's possible to buy several of these boxes, e.g. for every room in a resort. Movies are selectable on-demand from the network, live sports are broadcasted on the network.

Friends asked me for a system like this. They already have all their movies on their computer or external drives, so why copying those to a media box again if you can play 'm over the network?

I'm gonna give Freevo a try. Combined with a video card that has HDMI it should be able to play HD content on a HD TV.

The AppleTV kind of works like that except it uses the internal HD for caching. It also only works reliably with Draft-N WiFi networks. Any kind of box will need some sort of cache for smooth display, maybe an internal RAM cache, or Flash or whatever.

For a resort solution I think the WiFi would quickly get saturated so I don't think WiFi would work at all, Draft-N or not. I'd recommend Gigabit ethernet and a fast server

[nikster]

I've also seen, bought by a friend of mine only today, a Freecom Media Player which, in addition, has Wi-Fi built in, with up to a 1Tb hard disk for around 9,000 baht - a bargain at the price, as they're nearly 550 euros on the company website!!

Sounds good..........where did your friend buy it?

The Freecom does look good indeed. Doesn't do H264 I think but it does everything else, HDMI, 1080p etc. Does it do H264?

[basjke]

i have the Playtime HV0102 (see this link)

i got it from Panthip at about THB3.5k then mated it with a 500GB Samsung 3.5" HDD.

it plays most video formats (DivX, mp4, wmv etc), even plays DVD image files (ISO format), most audio formats (mp3, wma, aac3 etc), and picture files (jpeg).

it has 3 video outputs (component, composite and S-video), and 3 audio outputs (analog coaxial, digital optical, and analog RCA).

they have a similar model with Networking capabilities also.

they also have another model with HDMI output, but it's way too pricey for me.

you can also find in panthip or fortune mall some "generic" media players for THB2.5k or less.

Just bought the Play Time HV0103 at Fortune Town this afternoon, with a 500Gb hard disk. Its similar to the one you mention but in addition has DVI output, a USB port and a LAN port. Price 4,500 plus hard disk 3,190. Seems to play just about every format available now, and there are firmware updates.

Haven't really had chance to play with it yet, but I'll report back when I have!

G

Well, so far, its working fine. I've also seen, bought by a friend of mine only today, a Freecom Media Player which, in addition, has Wi-Fi built in, with up to a 1Tb hard disk for around 9,000 baht - a bargain at the price, as they're nearly 550 euros on the company website!!

G

Where has your friend bought that freecom player?Did the price include the 1 Tb harddisk as I find on their website only up to 500 Gb players and they're all IDE while a 1Tb disk is only available in SAta.

Edited June 6, 2008 by basjke