brite-View CinemaTube available to pre-order for $99. 1080p, network, UPnP, DTS downmix etc. Interface looks similar to AC Ryan Playon!HD or Xtreamer. More choices, good for the consumer.

--->Site (http://www.brite-view.com/cinematube.php)

CinemaTube is 3-in-1: a full 1080p HD media player/streamer/torrent downloader, with up to full 1920X1080HD (1080p) resolution.

It supports multiple Video formats in VCD 1.0/2.0, SVCD, MPEG1 (DAT/MPG/MPEG), MPEG2 (MPG/MPEG/VOB/ISO/IFO/TS/TP)/M2TS, MPEG4 (MP4/AVI/MOV) , DivX 3/4/5/6, Xvid (AVI/MKV), H.264/AVC (TS/AVI/MKV/MOV)/M2TS, VC-1 (TS/AVI/MKV/WMV)/M2TS, WMV9 (WMV), FLV, Real Video 8/9/10 (RM/RMVB * up to 720p); multiple Audio formats including DTS and Dolby Digital. It can play media files off USB storage devices (in NTFS, EXT-3 and FAT32 formats only) or on computers on the same network. It's also UPnP enabled! With built-in torrent engine, you can share/download media files on the Internet; the embedded YouTube XL allows you to watch your favorite YouTube videos right on your TV, PC-free.

Thanks for posting - just want to let everyone know we're watching the forum too, so hit us with your questions, if any.

Have a great day everyone.

Hi guys.

The CinemaTube looks like a very compelling product for the price. I noticed that TP is one of the supported formats. Does this mean it will play files recorded in BeyondTV's TP format or are there other TP variations?

Thanks.

Does this support AC3?

DTS-the 7.1-channel surround sound can be decoded, but only be downmixed and output to 2 channels

How come 7.1 is downmixed to stereo?
How about 6.1 audio?

Is the GUI of your own making or is this the same GUI used in other products? These devices are becoming more and more common and prices are getting lower, which is all great, but not much thought seems to be put towards good UI design. Please tell me that this is something you care about.

Does this support AC3?

DTS-the 7.1-channel surround sound can be decoded, but only be downmixed and output to 2 channels

How come 7.1 is downmixed to stereo?
How about 6.1 audio?


Huh???? It downmixed from 5.1 or 7.1 DTS sound to only 2 channels stereos? At lot of MKV movies files are in DTS so that means we can only hear the sound in stereos only?

Huh???? It downmixed from 5.1 or 7.1 DTS sound to only 2 channels stereos? At lot of MKV movies files are in DTS so that means we can only hear the sound in stereos only?

DTS Downmix means that the player can decode the DTS and output it in 2.0 directly to the TV. If you have a receiver, than the player can Passthrough the DTS for your receiver decode it in glorious 5.1! :)

DTS Downmix means that the player can decode the DTS and output it in 2.0 directly to the TV. If you have a receiver, than the player can Passthrough the DTS for your receiver decode it in glorious 5.1! :)


Thanks for the explanation. That is a big relief to know that.

But what about AC3 audio? A lot of MKV movie files has AC3 audio format. Does it decode that audio format?

Thanks for the explanation. That is a big relief to know that.

But what about AC3 audio? A lot of MKV movie files has AC3 audio format. Does it decode that audio format?

any player that decodes DTS pretty much by design has to also decode dolby.

edit: post made because i cant have a ding on my record of like 872 coherent posts.

I was looking at the screenshot of the different screens and right now I'm using XBMC which doesn't support HD but it lets me get info on the movies and create DVD covers even through movies that are on my media servers.

Is this possible or are the screenshots showing how rudimentary the front end will really look?

Questions for the Brite-View rep:

-What processor is this using?
-Is the firmware open source?
-Any chance this is NMT-compatible?
-Does this have full SSA subtitle support? (including color, position and multi-line functionality)
-The UI screenshots on your website are a bit small. Any chance we could get some more/better pics? Maybe a UI walkthrough video?
-There are a couple screenshots showing movie thumbnails. Are these auto-generated by the player or does the user have to provide them? Will you be providing a utility to scrape / manage thumbnails or other metadata / artwork?
-One of the main drawbacks of streamers like this is their inability to easily manage large media collections. does the UI allow you to search or jump to a letter, or is pageup/pagedown the only way to navigate a large folder?

More info here (http://www.hdtvinfo.eu/news/hd-video-formats/brite-view-cinematube-hd-player.html)

http://digg.com/hardware/brite_View_CinemaTube_HD_Player/p.jpg (http://www.hdtvinfo.eu/news/hd-video-formats/brite-view-cinematube-hd-player.html)

@candre23

-What processor is this using?
==>MIPS24Kc 400MHz, main chip:Realtek RTD1073

-Is the firmware open source?
==>No, it is produced by Realtek.

-Any chance this is NMT-compatible?
==> So far we have no certification about NMT, if there is ODM/OEM project, we will start it.

-Does this have full SSA subtitle support? (including color, position and multi-line functionality)
==> No. The color cannot be changed.

-The UI screenshots on your website are a bit small. Any chance we could get some more/better pics? Maybe a UI walkthrough video?
==> Please check out the videos at www.youtube.com/wejustclick

-There are a couple screenshots showing movie thumbnails. Are these auto-generated by the player or does the user have to provide them? Will you be providing a utility to scrape / manage thumbnails or other metadata / artwork?
==>In current version, only photos are shown as thumbnails. These are auto-generated by the player.

-One of the main drawbacks of streamers like this is their inability to easily manage large media collections. does the UI allow you to search or jump to a letter, or is pageup/pagedown the only way to navigate a large folder?
==>In current version, it does not allow users to search or jump to a letter. It provide directory traversal, and when browsing photo thumbnails, it provides pageup/pagedown and large amount jumping.

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Brite-View rep:

Can you please reply to post #3?

Thanks

3-in-1 features...and one of them being the Torrent capability.

Why is this an important feature? I know that I only speak for myself and that others may find it useful. However, I think that downloading files from Torrent should be done using a computer because you don't know if the file that you download is safe or not. What about torrent files with computer virus? Would it affect the device? I am sure that people downloading files from Torrent using this device usually download either music or video files....but still.

Also, is YouTube a good feature also? Most of the youtube video files are in low resolution. If you watch in on a high-def TV, the picture would look horrible. Again, I think that this feature is more dedicated to computer user than a TV user.

@corinium sorry my bad - yes it supports TP and plays all files in .TP format.

@Vancomycin you have very good points. However, the advantage of letting a setup box like the CinemaTube doing the downloading is that 1) it takes the job away from the computer (energy efficient @only 10 watts VS. 90 watts just to turn the computer on) so you don't have to run the computer all day/night long; and 2) the CinemaTube only recognizes media formats, so it skips the "blanks" or the "fake" that you sometimes find in torrents. This way, it actually protects the computer from virus attacks.

And unfortunately we have to disable the YouTube function atm until we work out the legal issues with YouTube. YouTube in HD was going to be available soon on our box. Hopefully this will all get resolved soon.

I tried to order at the Amazon site and it would not take an order on this device. Not a good sign..

@billp1 - sorry about that - the first 100 units for pre-order were already sold out on Tuesday, Sep 1. We're trying to allocate more, so if you'd like to secure one from the second batch please email us at service5@zinnetusa.com.

See details on top of http://www.brite-view.com/store.php

.........the first 100 units for pre-order were already sold out on Tuesday, Sep 1.

Although I don't care much about the "planned" YouTube feature and the established Torrent feature, I did ordered the unit on Tuesday, Sept. 1 and the order went through so hopefully I will get the first shipment by September 21 (according to the site). I even got an email message reguarding the cancelled YouTube XL feature and the developing Flickr feature.

At about $106, I find that the price is reasonable to test this device out. I hope it will not disappoint. One thing that I wish it has is the full DTS-HD, Dolby True HD, and DTS-HD MA instead of flickr, youtube, or torrent.

@Vancomycin you have very good points. However, the advantage of letting a setup box like the CinemaTube doing the downloading is that 1) it takes the job away from the computer (energy efficient @only 10 watts VS. 90 watts just to turn the computer on) so you don't have to run the computer all day/night long; and 2) the CinemaTube only recognizes media formats, so it skips the "blanks" or the "fake" that you sometimes find in torrents. This way, it actually protects the computer from virus attacks.

And unfortunately we have to disable the YouTube function atm until we work out the legal issues with YouTube. YouTube in HD was going to be available soon on our box. Hopefully this will all get resolved soon.


Thanks for the info. Maybe I will learn to like the Torrent feature once I get to play with it.

@Vancomycin thanks for your interest in our product and we'll strive to provide the best support, too.

Regarding your request on the full DTS-HD, Dolby True HD, and DTS-HD MA: we have requested the chip manufactor to provide such solutions. However, their answer is that, in order to protect Blu-ray content, right now both Dolby and DTS can be decoded but are downmixed to 2-channel only.

The advange is that, when you encounter such audio format, you will always be able to hear the audio part and view the video fine. The disadvantage is of course no "true HD" audio.

The technology keeps progressing though, and hopefully this will not be an issue in the near future.

Thanks again. Have a great weekend.

Regarding your request on the full DTS-HD, Dolby True HD, and DTS-HD MA: we have requested the chip manufactor to provide such solutions. However, their answer is that, in order to protect Blu-ray content, right now both Dolby and DTS can be decoded but are downmixed to 2-channel only.


So are you saying that if the .mkv movie has DTS or AC3 sound, I will not hear sound coming from my 5.1 system? In other words, if I hook up the CinemaTube to my receiver that is hooked up to 4 speakers and the subwoofer, I can only hear sound coming from only 2 front speakers?

So are you saying that if the .mkv movie has DTS or AC3 sound, I will not hear sound coming from my 5.1 system? In other words, if I hook up the CinemaTube to my receiver that is hooked up to 4 speakers and the subwoofer, I can only hear sound coming from only 2 front speakers?
The way I understand its specs is thru the optical S/P DIF, full DTS/AC3 (decoded by receiver) and stereo sound with HDMI into the TV, for example.

The way I understand its specs is thru the optical S/P DIF, full DTS/AC3 (decoded by receiver) and stereo sound with HDMI into the TV, for example.

What if the CinemaTube is connected to my receiver using HDMI instead of optical S/P DIF?

What if the CinemaTube is connected to my receiver using HDMI instead of optical S/P DIF?

I would think it would be supported with the exception of requiring your receiver to do the decoding. The feature they are talking about is so you could connect it directly to your TV via HDMI and still be able to hear sound from your "stereo" speakers IN your TV, hence the down mixing to stereo.

Unless I am mistaken, which I hope not I am one of the first 100 to get one as soon as it is shipped ;-)

My WDTV passes the DTS signal to my receiver with no issues, I would think they would be shooting themselves in the foot if they did not support that.

brite-View;

Network shares, will I be able to connect to my Mac (imac/MacBook) shares?

Can I transfer media to a connected drive (connected to the Cinema Tube) from my Mac/Mac Book connected to the same network?

I too would like know more about MAC support! I think I read it doesnt read MAC formatted volumes but they DO plan to in a future upgrade.

Would like to hear directly from them what the plan is.

Hello everyone, thanks for all these questions.

*Regarding DTS, AC3:

In order to protect Bluray contents, DTS prohibits DMP (digital media player) products from decoding DTS HD directly. All the DTS HD (7.1 CH original) contents must be decoded as 5.1 CH output. If you set the CinemaTube audio as “S/P Dif raw” or “HDMI raw”, it will get 5.1 CH output.

And, if you set the CinemaTube audio as “S/P Dif LPCM” or “HDMI LPCM”, it will get 2 CH (stero) output. These two CH were downmixed by 5.1 CH.

AC3:
It's like DTS. When you set the CinemaTube audio as “S/P Dif LPCM” or “HDMI LPCM”, it will get 2 CH (stero) output. But when you set it into “S/P Dif raw” or “HDMI raw”, no output can be found. (It is abnormal.)

Realtek (the chip manufacturer) will solve this problem in the next version; CinemaTube users can update their firmware via the “online update”.

If the CinemaTube is connected to your receiver using HDMI instead of optical S/P DIF, --> you need use the other interfaces(e.g. Y/Pb/Pr) to connect TV.

“My WDTV passes the DTS signal to my receiver with no issues…”
—>I think that is 5.1 CH. Can you confirm?

*Regarding MAC support:
You can install the “SAMBA” function on MAC, and then you may share you MAC folders for the CinemaTube or other devices to access.

For now, CinemaTube can not access the MAC propriety hard disk(HFS+) directly but
Realtek will support MAC file system in Q4 this year or Q1 next year. Users may update firmware via “online update” for MAC formatted drive support.

O.K., DTS not allow to decode DTS HD MA.

But what about bitstream (passtrough) DTS HD MA via HDMI (in HDMI - raw settings I think)?

If you only passtrough the DTS signal, AFAIK there is no need to have license from DTS (for decoding)? Is it really license/technical issue, or only pressure from movie industry?

I think there is some information mess about few new DMPs without bitstreaming of HD sound...

Will this player upconvert sd avi videos? I didn't see it mentioned on the product page.

If you set the player to 1080p output, then obviously any video that is a lower resolution will be upconverted to 1080p.

Thanks for the reply. I figured that would be the case but just wanted clarification.

When is this player going to be available for shipment? I am real interested to see the first reviews for this player.

@Papa_I it's expected to ship on Sep. 21. We had samples ready for review, but had to wait for the new samples (YouTube feature disabled b/c of legal concerns from Google/YouTube) to arrive; probably around the same time, too.

Thanks for the update.

Admin please step in if I'm overstepping - just want to let everyone know that the pre-order is back, but only 200 units more available (less than that now). Please let us know if you have questions or concerns.

@Papa_I it's expected to ship on Sep. 21. We had samples ready for review, but had to wait for the new samples (YouTube feature disabled b/c of legal concerns from Google/YouTube) to arrive; probably around the same time, too.I'm curious as to the legal concerns with the YouTube feature. Your company is removing it and a competitor (ACRyan Playon!HD) appears to be adding it to their product. Also I just purchased a Samsung blu-ray player that has YouTube capability. Is there any update you can give as to when (if ever) the YouTube feature will be available? Thanks.

Jay

Admin please step in if I'm overstepping - just want to let everyone know that the pre-order is back, but only 200 units more available (less than that now). Please let us know if you have questions or concerns.Since this is a new product that has not even been reviewed yet could you let us know what the return policy is with this pre-order. I apologize if it is on your web site (I looked but couldn't find it). I know it's only $99 but I would rather not be stuck with a $99 paper weight if the product does not work properly. There are mixed reviews (http://www.amazon.com/Brite-View-CinemaCube-networkable-**********-BV-5003/product-reviews/B002729ZU0/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1) of the older CinemaCube product on Amazon.com. Thanks for participating in the forum.

Jay

@jerndl I am checking the most updated info on YouTube and will get back as soon as I find out more. Basically, in order to improve viewing experience, CinemaTube would load the YouTube video as temporary memory before playing the video. But YouTube did not like that - we were not supposed to catche anything. So in order to activate the YouTube feature again, we would need to integrate Adobe flash player instead - and that will take some time to implement.

The return policy can be found here http://www.brite-view.com/store.php under "Promotional Details"

However, we always provide free exchange and full refund if the product turns out to be defect. Of course, we hope to see the returned product in a reasonable condition/packaging as well.

I hope that helps. Thanks for your interest!

It's great having a brite-view rep on this thread answering our questions so quickly, so thank you for all your help.

One of my main concerns after reading the reviews of the CinemaCube on Amazon, is that it sounds like people with large libraries of files are having problems with the player rescanning and looking for files when they change folders, regardless of if the files are on the same drive. Do you know if this issue has been addressed for the CinemaTube? This could be a major deal breaker for me.

What is the difference between CinemaTube and Acryan Playon!HD?

What is the difference between CinemaTube and Acryan Playon!HD?Great question. The Playon!HD seems to be getting much more attention on this and other forums. From what I can gather they seem to have basically the same hardware except that the Playon can have an internal drive. Hopefully brite-view and/or other more informed people will chime in here with some definitive answers.

Jay

@TWDY41510 Thank you for reaind this thread, too.

Yes, the issue regarding large file libraries has been addressed in CinemaTube. And although our development team said there is no limit in hard drive capacity, we'd like to play it safe and say that anything under 1.5TB should not be a problem (we tested it and it worked fine).

I see Amazon pro-order the Brite-View BV-6000P 1080p HD Multimedia Player. what is the difference between BV-5005HD and BV-6000P?

thanks

I am being told that although the release date (ship date) of the first 100 units will be on September 21st, that they very well could be shipping a "few" days earlier. I have already received a tracking number through FedEx, but was told in a twitter update that they have pre-generated the tracking/shipping labels and the have not actually shipped yet.

For those interested I will be happy to keep everyone up to date on the shipment and will post details and pictures of the unit and review once I receive my unit.

I currently own a WDTV and am very happy with it but I would like streaming capabilities. Ultimately I want to be able to have a unit that sits in my Theater room (Dedicated) and be able to host my video library on my MacPro drive space and stream the media to the CinemaTube and or have the External drive connected to the CinemaTube and move media down to it remotely from my Main Computer. Not sure if I will be able to do that yet, but I currently am moving all my video to an NSTF volume so I will be ready for the device when it arrives.

I have used various media streamers for the Mac including NullRiver's MediaLink (Currently undergoing updates for Snow Leopard and additional media types, lets hope for mkv!) as well as PS3 Media Server. PS3 Media Server works but has problems with passing DST signals as it tends to send the center channel over to the right channels and so on, jut not very reliable. Also FF/RW does not track well and sometimes causes streaming issues.

If anyone has any questions about the CinemaTube, let me know when it arrives and I will be happy to answer them. Mediatory unboxing photos will be posted as well ;-)

I see Amazon pro-order the Brite-View BV-6000P 1080p HD Multimedia Player. what is the difference between BV-5005HD and BV-6000P?
From the description they look like the same machines. However it does not mention streamer or BT on BV-6000P. Maybe there is the only difference?

@akakillroy did you mention that you plan to stream media from your Mac Pro? I'm afraid I have to let you know the CinemaTube supports NTFS in read/write mode and FAT32 in read mode. MAC formatted HDD (HFS) is not supported in current version, but can become supported with the firmware update later - we have made the Mac support request to the chip manufacturer.

@sushix the BV-6000P is targeting at a different market - it's a pure player WITHOUT networking capibilities.

I have a question about the network streaming on the cinematube. You mention that you would have cached content from YouTube. So does this mean the device has some internal cache that it uses when streaming from the network or does this require an external drive hooked up in order to cache?

I mention because the ACRyan PlayOn requires an internal drive to be hooked up in order for it to cache streaming content.

@Papa_I it's expected to ship on Sep. 21. We had samples ready for review, but had to wait for the new samples (YouTube feature disabled b/c of legal concerns from Google/YouTube) to arrive; probably around the same time, too. When I pre-ordered last week and still today, the brite-view store shows an expected ship date of 9/21 for pre-orders. Is this correct or are only the first 100 units shipping on 9/21? Thanks.

Jay

@Posh - yes there is internal cache. For current available features of the CinemaTube (streaming through UPnP or from networked computers), the internal cache is enough and there is no need to plug in an extrenal drive.

@jerndl - all pre-ordered units (around 300 units) will be shipped a few days earlier than Sep 21, because they are shipped from our CA warehouse instead of having to go through Amazon warehouse and then be shipped.

Is brite-View CInemaTube only $89 on Amazon now? The short answer is "No." Here's what's going on:

http://briteview.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/is-cinematube-available-for-pre-order-on-amazon-for-89/

@brite-view is there a firmware fix for Youtube in development that would allow streaming of Youtube, but without the internal cache of video clip being watched?

@Papa_I Yes, as soon as it becomes available it'd be the matter of firmware update.

I got a notification from amazon last week that my cinematube unit shipped on September 10th. The accompanying FedEx number is no good though. What is going on? Did preorders actually ship on the 10th?

@sweetbaboo - sorry for the confusion. We decided to ship the pre-ordered units from our warehouse in CA instead of from Amazon (to save time), but because our FedEx system is connected to that of Amazon's, when we started preparing shipping labels, it sent a notification to Amazon, and Amazon then sent an automated email to you.

The good news is - we're shipping TODAY instead of on Sep 21. Therefore you will get the unit a few days earlier than expected.

@sweetbaboo please post your test results once you get your unit in. I'm anxious to see how it performs. I have added a few links to some video samples and if you are whiling to test and see how well they work on this box I would appreciate it.

@brite-view thanks for the constant flow of information on this box, hopefully this box performs well against the competition.

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/132004/Planet_Earth_From%20Pole_to_Pole_1080p_sample_16ref.mkv
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/132004/basketball%2060fps%201080p%2010000kbps.mkv
http://rapidshare.com/files/17256422...80p-Sample.mkv
http://rapidshare.com/files/82525583....x264.mkv.html
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/132004/te..._high_l5.1.mp4
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/132004/Li...version%29.mkv

Some of you have asked, and here it is: detailed comparison chart between CinemaTube and CinemaCube.

http://briteview.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/cinematube-vs-cinemacube/

@sweetbaboo - sorry for the confusion. We decided to ship the pre-ordered units from our warehouse in CA instead of from Amazon (to save time), but because our FedEx system is connected to that of Amazon's, when we started preparing shipping labels, it sent a notification to Amazon, and Amazon then sent an automated email to you.

The good news is - we're shipping TODAY instead of on Sep 21. Therefore you will get the unit a few days earlier than expected.
np, thanks

@sweetbaboo please post your test results once you get your unit in. I'm anxious to see how it performs. I have added a few links to some video samples and if you are whiling to test and see how well they work on this box I would appreciate it.

@brite-view thanks for the constant flow of information on this box, hopefully this box performs well against the competition.

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/132004/Planet_Earth_From%20Pole_to_Pole_1080p_sample_16ref.mkv
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/132004/basketball%2060fps%201080p%2010000kbps.mkv
http://rapidshare.com/files/17256422...80p-Sample.mkv
http://rapidshare.com/files/82525583....x264.mkv.html
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/132004/te..._high_l5.1.mp4
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/132004/Li...version%29.mkv

I will test those and post a review

Mine is on its way, it is in FedEx's hands.

Mine is on its way, it is in FedEx's hands.
my fedex # still shows no record

is briteview going to send me an email?

@sweetbaboo we are sorry for the wait. We're still in the process of sending all 300 units out. Some shipped yesterday, some will be shipped today and tomorrow. Everything will be shipped out by Sep 21 the latest, as promised. When your FedEx tracking number becomes trackable, that means they are on the way. If you have any questions, please email us at service5@zinnetusa.com and we'll get to you within a couple of hours.

@brite-view is there an ETA on when the second batch will be ready for shipment?

@Papa_I: we have pretty much shipped most of the 1st + 2nd batch, including international packages. All 300 units in the 1st and 2nd batch will be sent out by Sep 21 (Monday) the latest, but I'd say at least 95% are already sent out today.

I'm looking forward to this, as it receives regular firmware updates, in theory. Let me know, boys!

The price is certainly right. The lack of TrueHD/DTS-HD pass-thru over HDMI is a showstopper, but hopefully they will address that as a "bug" as the brite-view rep here has suggested. Can you provide us with an ETA for that fix?

@srauly: It's actually not a bug, but DTS (company) policy. In order to protect Blu-ray content, DTS (company) prohibits all DMP (digital media player) products from decoding DTS HD directly. All DTS HD (7.1 CH original) content must be decoded as 5.1 CH output. If you set the CinemaTube audio as “S/P Dif raw” or “HDMI raw”, it will get 5.1 CH output. And, if you set the CinemaTube audio as“S/P Dif LPCM”or“HDMI LPCM”, it will get 2 CH (stero) output. These two CH were downmixed by 5.1 CH. AC3 is also similar as DTS case.

I guess I'm a little confused. If I have an audio receiver that can decode Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD, I just want the streamer to pass thru that bitstream over HDMI, and let my audio receiver decode it. I'm not looking for the CinemaTube to decode it at all. So will the CinemaTube do that?

I'm new to Cinema Tube and NMT in general. Is any of the movie jukeboxes out there compatible with Cinema Tube?

The CinemaTube has multilanguage support? Can it read (play/stream) video files from the network share in different character sets (non-English characters) such as UTF-8/Unicode, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese?

Does the CinemaTube have these functions:

1. Time shift - ability to find a specific time in a video. For example, if I enter 15:32, it will bring me to the 15th minute 32nd second of the video.

2. Can I bookmark certain time periods in a video clip and then return to that time in the video by pressing a bookmark button?

Cheers

@srauly: It's actually not a bug, but DTS (company) policy. In order to protect Blu-ray content, DTS (company) prohibits all DMP (digital media player) products from decoding DTS HD directly. All DTS HD (7.1 CH original) content must be decoded as 5.1 CH output. If you set the CinemaTube audio as “S/P Dif raw” or “HDMI raw”, it will get 5.1 CH output. And, if you set the CinemaTube audio as“S/P Dif LPCM”or“HDMI LPCM”, it will get 2 CH (stero) output. These two CH were downmixed by 5.1 CH. AC3 is also similar as DTS case.
I'm confused? AC Ryan player provides DTS passthru and it's based on the similar Realtek chipset. It's possible passthru means 5.1 CH output? Someone pls confirmed.

@srauly: It's actually not a bug, but DTS (company) policy. In order to protect Blu-ray content, DTS (company) prohibits all DMP (digital media player) products from decoding DTS HD directly. All DTS HD (7.1 CH original) content must be decoded as 5.1 CH output. If you set the CinemaTube audio as “S/P Dif raw” or “HDMI raw”, it will get 5.1 CH output. And, if you set the CinemaTube audio as“S/P Dif LPCM”or“HDMI LPCM”, it will get 2 CH (stero) output. These two CH were downmixed by 5.1 CH. AC3 is also similar as DTS case.

Please see Popcorn Hour's website for their A-110 play (a DMP that I view is in the same market as the CinemaTube) and they state that they are able to "Audio pass through : DTS, Dolby Digital, DTS-HD MA, DTS-HD HR, Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus"

http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/index.php?pluginoption=productspec&item_id=6

@srauly because CinemaTube decodes DTS, it's not possible to output true HD sound. This product is designed for general purpose and for those without a DTS receiver. People without DTS receiver could not even hear the audio part in the movie before such products existed.

@Makita426 currently the subtitle encoding (other than English) includes Unicode (UTF8), GBK (simplified Chinese) and BIG5 (traditional Chinese).

@grdig2 Yes there is "Time Shift" feature. You can key in the title, chapter or time you want to go to. There is no "bookmark" in this version, but you can repeat a video from point A to point B.

@Papa_I That's because Popcorn Hour just passes the audio through, there is no "decoding DTS". Therefore, no downmix either. That product is for people who already have DTS receivers.

Hi Brite-View, can you add the CinemaTube to the Harmony remote database ?

@mitau Let me check with the team to see if this is possible. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

"@Makita426 currently the subtitle encoding (other than English) includes Unicode (UTF8), GBK (simplified Chinese) and BIG5 (traditional Chinese). "

In other word, only subtitle in non-English character sets can be read, but the CinemaTube can't display non-English Folders or Files name in Network share or USB drive? I will have to rename ALL non-English folders and files to English or the CinemaTube won't be able to read? Please clarify. Thanks.

@Makita426 The CinemaTube can read non-English subtitles. The menu itself can be displayed in English, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Spanish and French. It can also read folders and files named by these languages, at least. I will have to find out about the other languages and get back to you. If you have a specific language in mind, please let me know. Thanks.

@Papa_I That's because Popcorn Hour just passes the audio through, there is no "decoding DTS". Therefore, no downmix either. That product is for people who already have DTS receivers.

I don't believe that's the case. I believe that the A-110 can also handle DTS Downmix too, but I can't find it on their product page. I did find though that the Xtreamer has that information listed on their product page. I am about to purchase a CinemaTube, but I want to understand if this is a hardware or firmware issue.

http://www.xtreamer.net/89/content-pages/Specs.aspx

Brite-View:

I am a novice to all of this and am looking for something that meets the WAF and kid factor 2) I am more interested in using other software like Tversity and Play On; how does your system "play" with these? 3) Lastly; if you could please tell me how soon the units are shipping? Thxs

@Papa_I: We apologize that we should not have voiced for other manufacturers, and we do not have enought information about other products, either. We can provide the most accurate information about our products, though.

What we do know, is that DTS downmix is a "license" that we had to purchase in order for CinemaTube to decode DTS. This can be done on both RealTek and Sigma chips.

@met64: thank you for your interest. We have listed all necessary steps in order to make CinemaTube and Tversity or PlayOn work on the CinemaTube page (http://www.brite-view.com/cinematube.php) (under the "Tips" tab). Please let me know if you need more information.

We are 99% through shipping the first 300 pre-ordered units out. The next batch (and the last) of 100 units for $99.99 (launch special) is expected to ship on October 5th, 2009.

I just got the delivery via FedEx to my house 3 hours ago. However, I am too busy to open the package and will have to do it later tonight.

That was fast delivery. :D Thank you.

If my movies are inside a DMG folder. Will CinemaTube be able to open the DMG folder?

Will a PC on the network have access to the USB drive attached to the CinemaTube? I'd like to add movies to the attached drive without ever disconnecting the USB Drive.

brite-view , is there any website who have reviewed ur product ??

If u would not mind, pics of movies songs etc.. of different codec`s being played will settle all the questions raised once and for all

Cheers !

" NTFS HDD users may experience unsmooth HD video playback w/ CinemaTube; we are working on this issue and it can be solved by firmware update by end of Sep. FAT32 HDDs should be ok."

http://twitter.com/briteview

This is pretty crappy news to release after a bunch of preorders have been taken. This is a showstopper.

@grdig2 will check on the DMG folder and get back on Monday. Would that be ok?

@Buttsauce: probably not. Copying and pasting over files over the network is not supported.

@uefa_007: we have just sent out a few untis to 3 different reviwers, so hopefully the review will come out soon. Meanwhile, to see how the CinemaTube works in action, you can see our YouTube channel "wejustclick (http://www.youtube.com/wejustclick)".

@sweetbaboo: it's quite a shame and we just learned about that, too. If you have pre-ordered one and this affects your willingness to keep it, please email us at service5@zinnetusa.com and we'll take care of you.

We do have a Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Brite-View/94172822342) fan page too, and it seems a few of them have gotten their units. Maybe you can ask them questions there, too, to see if they like it so far.

Guys, give us your 1st impression. PLEASE ;).

" NTFS HDD users may experience unsmooth HD video playback w/ CinemaTube; we are working on this issue and it can be solved by firmware update by end of Sep. FAT32 HDDs should be ok."

http://twitter.com/briteview

This is pretty crappy news to release after a bunch of preorders have been taken. This is a showstopper.

How can this be? NTFS format is a must since the majority of 1080p MKV movies are greater than 8 gig and FAT32 does not support such big file. The NTFS problem should not even exist since that is priority number one.....instead of less important options such as YouTube, Torrent, etc...

Now I have to wait for the firmware fix to watch all my 1080p MKV movies. :(

NTFS drives should work fine originally, but our team was trying to improve the torrent download feature with a firmware update, and somehow that firmware causes the problem with NTFS drives. It is a matter of a firmware update and should be resolved very soon.

First of all I'd like to thank Brite-View for having the courage to be part of this community and answer everyone's questions.

Brite-view, you have mentioned several times about the decoding of the Audio with certain settings, but it is still not clear to me why would you not have the option to pass-through the audio without decoding so that people with recievers can have the audio decoded by the receiver to hear the audio as it was meant to be?

Hi guys, I have used the Cinematube to play some 720p/1080p mkv files on a NTFS WD My Book 1TB drive and I have not seen any problems (yet)..The unit works great so far, will get a second one for my other TV.

NTFS drives should work fine originally, but our team was trying to improve the torrent download feature with a firmware update, and somehow that firmware causes the problem with NTFS drives. It is a matter of a firmware update and should be resolved very soon.

Can you release the earlier firmware that didn't have the NTFS issue? I suspect that's far more important to most of us than the torrent client.

Hi guys, I have used the Cinematube to play some 720p/1080p mkv files on a NTFS WD My Book 1TB drive and I have not seen any problems (yet)..The unit works great so far, will get a second one for my other TV.
How about Dolby Digital and DTS sound? Can you get 5.1 surround sound?

looks promising. so dts hd master is still issue

@srauly because CinemaTube decodes DTS, it's not possible to output true HD sound. This product is designed for general purpose and for those without a DTS receiver. People without DTS receiver could not even hear the audio part in the movie before such products existed.

@Makita426 currently the subtitle encoding (other than English) includes Unicode (UTF8), GBK (simplified Chinese) and BIG5 (traditional Chinese).

@grdig2 Yes there is "Time Shift" feature. You can key in the title, chapter or time you want to go to. There is no "bookmark" in this version, but you can repeat a video from point A to point B.

@Papa_I That's because Popcorn Hour just passes the audio through, there is no "decoding DTS". Therefore, no downmix either. That product is for people who already have DTS receivers.

I'm sorry, but for those of us with AV Receivers capable of decoding all HD audio formats through the HDMI cable, are we out of luck with this product and true HD sound ? We truly understand the need to downmix DTS to connect directly to a TV, but what about those with decoding receivers ? Can't we just shut off the downmix and allow the raw audio to pass through to our AV receivers ?

I'm pretty sure WD HD Media Player allows this.

I know this question had been hashed and re-hashed but the answers were a little un-clear to me.

Are you saying that people with AV Receivers should not purchase the CinemaTube and instead buy the Popcorn Hour ?

It seems that the 2 most important aspects of this unit are the following:

1. Able to play .MKV files in NTFS format HD without any problems.

2. Able to pass through lossless audio format and let the receiver do the lossless audio decoding.

In my opinion, the Torrent and YouTube options are useless. I use those options with a computer.

It seems that the 2 most important aspects of this unit are the following:

1. Able to play .MKV files in NTFS format HD without any problems.

2. Able to pass through lossless audio format and let the receiver do the lossless audio decoding.

In my opinion, the Torrent and YouTube options are useless. I use those options with a computer.

are u saying it will treat dts hdm and true hd the way fat ps3 use to do?

How about Dolby Digital and DTS sound? Can you get 5.1 surround sound?

I will connect the Cinenatube to my Onkyo 805 to check this. Where can I find mkv files with DTS-MA or DTS-HD to check the pass thru ? I thought the mkv format does not support DTS-HD.

I will connect the Cinenatube to my Onkyo 805 to check this. Where can I find mkv files with DTS-MA or DTS-HD to check the pass thru ? I thought the mkv format does not support DTS-HD.

do u already have one? may be some one here can upload a couple clips for us.thnx

If available from amazon for $89 u have a sale

I will connect the Cinenatube to my Onkyo 805 to check this. Where can I find mkv files with DTS-MA or DTS-HD to check the pass thru ? I thought the mkv format does not support DTS-HD
You can download MediaInfo (http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en/ScreenShots/GUI_Main) which will tell you what kind audio sound you have on the MKV file. It is free.

If available from amazon for $89 u have a sale
BV-6000P is different CinenmaTube. BV-6000P does not have ethernet port(for streaming and BT). CinemaTube(BV-5005HD) has ethernet port.

Over MPC forum, they tested the AC Ryan which has the exact same Reaktek chipset and w/ HDMI raw option selected, the Dolby TrueHD light lit up on their receiver. I hope it will be the same on this unit.

Over MPC forum, they tested the AC Ryan which has the exact same Reaktek chipset and w/ HDMI raw option selected, the Dolby TrueHD light lit up on their receiver. I hope it will be the same on this unit.

Is there more than one A.C. Ryan Media Player ?
The ACR-PV72100 is advertised as 1080i - not 1080p

Well, I've read through the thread and this seems like it will work for me so I've ordered one.

My main thing is I'm not real happy streaming through my ps3. (with ps3ms)
I can't access menus or chapters and ff and rewind don't work well either. Also, some files don't work right wmv9, as I recall, for one.

Hopefully this will work better, and anyway, I won't have to run the ps3 that gets hot and loud after a while.

Dave

When I played the mkv with DTS and set HDMI-Raw on the Cinematube, my Onkyo displayed "DTS" so it appears DTS 5.1 is OK. Same for Dolby Digital.

mkv has not yet supported DTS-HD so this kind of file (mkv with DTS-HD) does not exist. .m2ts and .ts do support DTS-HD but I don't need those formats for my media player.

I did experience the slugginess (skipping frames, lagging audio) with some mkv files so the problems with NTFS HD are real but only some files are affected, not all. Those files played perfectly on my HTPC.

Too bad there is no option for 1080p/24, can this be fixed with a firmware update ? The "resume" function is also missing !

I ordered a CinemaTube early Thursday afternoon and got a FedEx tracking number on Friday afternoon but it doesn't appear to have shipped yet as the FedEx site shows no info.

I really appreciate the comments from those who have already gotten one.

Has anyone found a file that won't play? Has anyone used the network connectivity in uPnP and/or SMB mode? Has anyone tried playing a DVD ISO image and checked the menu functionality?

I'm hoping the CinemaTube will handle a very large variety of codecs/containers as claimed and work well with a low end NAS (D-Link DNS 321/323).

So far I have not experienced any skipping with some MKV files. However, I still have to do further testing.

I did experience the slugginess (skipping frames, lagging audio) with some mkv files so the problems with NTFS HD are real but only some files are affected, not all. Those files played perfectly on my HTPC.


did the sluggishness occur on 720p files or 1080p files?

How do I change the language to English? When I turn on the unit, it is in Chinese. I cannot read Chinese.

It's hard to tell exactly what steps are required from just the manual but it looks like you have to push "Setup" to get into the menu system and then use the arrow keys to move 3 positions on the top row to the "System" tab (4th "collumn"). Hint enter there (???) or possibly just use the arrow keys to scroll down to get the sub menu where the first choice seems to be "Language". Scroll down and select that and the first entry seems to be English.

Looking at pages 31-33 in the manual should help. Just be careful to back out of any menus that seem to show the video modes (1080P, 1080i, etc) to avoid losing the display if you're TV isn't capable of all the modes.

The manual is available for download from tehir support page but the forum won't let a newbie like me post a link...

Obviously since I don't have a unit yet, this is at your own risk but I suspect it should be pretty easy to figure out with the manual and the screen choices in front of you.

Is there more than one A.C. Ryan Media Player ?
The ACR-PV72100 is advertised as 1080i - not 1080p
PlayOnHD model that has the similar h/w. It seems confirmed that DTS-HD was downmixed to 5.1 CH in passthru mode.

I ordered a CinemaTube early Thursday afternoon and got a FedEx tracking number on Friday afternoon but it doesn't appear to have shipped yet as the FedEx site shows no info.

I really appreciate the comments from those who have already gotten one.

Has anyone found a file that won't play? Has anyone used the network connectivity in uPnP and/or SMB mode? Has anyone tried playing a DVD ISO image and checked the menu functionality?

I'm hoping the CinemaTube will handle a very large variety of codecs/containers as claimed and work well with a low end NAS (D-Link DNS 321/323).
Wow! I thought the next shipment is 10/5

PlayOnHD model that has the similar h/w. It seems confirmed that DTS-HD was downmixed to 5.1 CH in passthru mode.

This makes no sense. Passthrough or raw means "untouched" and should allow the receiver to process or decode it. Why would they go to the trouble of downmixing this audio mode.

You said it "seems confirmed". Where, who ?

is this the time for all the companies to release their digital video players , wdtv2, seagate+and the newly revealed britetube , first I thought of buying wdtv2 , I own the previous so that was the idea then seagate's theatre + came and today it's britetube \, all with almost same features lan,1080p ,dts and realmedia and it's really getting hard to choose one from , isn't it getting diffucult to chose ?

Hi all, thanks for all the questions and I'll get back one-by-one in just a bit. Just want to annouce that the latest firmware (version 500510099161) available on our website (the "Support" (http://www.brite-view.com/support.php) page) has made HFS+ drives compatible, and fixed the problem with NTFS drives.

Here's a detailed list:

1. Support HFS+ filesystem.
2. Support video resume playback.
3. Support AAC 6CH.
4. Remove L/R option from OSD.
5. Improve video playback performance for NTFS hard drive.
6. Subtitle size and position indication.
7. Step by step to use setup wizard.
8. Support external subtitle for MKV files.

Hi all, thanks for all the questions and I'll get back one-by-one in just a bit. Just want to annouce that the latest firmware (version 500510099161) available on our website (the "Support" (http://www.brite-view.com/support.php) page) has made HFS+ drives compatible, and fixed the problem with NTFS drives.

Here's a detailed list:

1. Support HFS+ filesystem.
2. Support video resume playback.
3. Support AAC 6CH.
4. Remove L/R option from OSD.
5. Improve video playback performance for NTFS hard drive.
6. Subtitle size and position indication.
7. Step by step to use setup wizard.
8. Support external subtitle for MKV files.

thanks. Is amazon selling it too

@zoro: no, the one on Amazon is not CinemaTube, but BV-6000P. Please see details here (http://briteview.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/is-cinematube-available-for-pre-order-on-amazon-for-89/) (Is CinemaTube Available on Amazon for $89)

@zoro: no, the one on Amazon is not CinemaTube, but BV-6000P. Please see details here (http://briteview.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/is-cinematube-available-for-pre-order-on-amazon-for-89/) (Is CinemaTube Available on Amazon for $89)

I see! So are you guys planning selling brite-View CinemaTube (BV-5005HD) also via amazon?I feel better buying through amazon. Once it is, I am a sure buyer.

I see! So are you guys planning selling brite-View CinemaTube (BV-5005HD) also via amazon?I feel better buying through amazon. Once it is, I am a sure buyer.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CNOYRS/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

this is how i ordered mine

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CNOYRS/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

this is how i ordered mine

unavailable! sorry

To all who have questions about "DTS Dowmnix"

I've just confirmed with our development team - if you ALREADY HAVE DTS RECEIVERS, you only need to set the audio output to "Raw". This way the CinemaTube will not "downmix" it to 5.1 or 2 channel. It just passes through the data.

If you DO NOT have DTS receivers or a TV that can handle DTS, simply set the audio output to "LPCM" and CinemaTube will decode/downmix the audio. Before such products, users would not be able to hear the audio part in the video.

So if you have DTS receivers, don't worry - CinemaTube will not decode the sound if you don't want it to.

I hope this helps clear some doubts.

To all who have questions about "DTS Dowmnix"

I've just confirmed with our development team - if you ALREADY HAVE DTS RECEIVERS, you only need to set the audio output to "Raw". This way the CinemaTube will not "downmix" it to 5.1 or 2 channel. It just passes through the data.

If you DO NOT have DTS receivers or a TV that can handle DTS, simply set the audio output to "LPCM" and CinemaTube will decode/downmix the audio. Before such products, users would not be able to hear the audio part in the video.

So if you have DTS receivers, don't worry - CinemaTube will not decode the sound if you don't want it to.

I hope this helps clear some doubts.

It does! But cant check, till we get the player. Amazon says UNAVAILABLE! No offense!

After downloading the new firmware, how do you install it?

Can I download it to a flash drive and install it? Is it easy to do?

After downloading the new firmware, how do you install it?

Can I download it to a flash drive and install it? Is it easy to do?

The manual says it can be done via USB or ONLINE but gives no details.

To all who have questions about "DTS Dowmnix"

I've just confirmed with our development team - if you ALREADY HAVE DTS RECEIVERS, you only need to set the audio output to "Raw". This way the CinemaTube will not "downmix" it to 5.1 or 2 channel. It just passes through the data.

If you DO NOT have DTS receivers or a TV that can handle DTS, simply set the audio output to "LPCM" and CinemaTube will decode/downmix the audio. Before such products, users would not be able to hear the audio part in the video.

So if you have DTS receivers, don't worry - CinemaTube will not decode the sound if you don't want it to.

I hope this helps clear some doubts.

That is great news! That is what I thought from the beginning, but just needed some confirmation. Thanks again for your timely responses.

Can I connect a external dvd player to the USB port and play dvd's from this?

One more question are there any reviews "out" yet for the cinematube?

Good news, my CinemaTube just arrived! Photo's to follow.

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They obviously covered up the YouTube XL per their statement.
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akakillroy, thanks for the fascinating pictures.

Can I reproduce them on my site? Crediting you of course.

Or alternatively, could you make a page of them so I can link to it?

I know my visitors would be very interested..

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akakillroy, thanks for the fascinating pictures.

Can I reproduce them on my site? Crediting you of course.

Or alternatively, could you make a page of them so I can link to it?

I know my visitors would be very interested..

Certainly!

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Sorry they are not the best of quality, just using my iPhone 3GS as I am at work right now. Will re-pack ;-) and try to take some video too ;-)
Few more left.

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Here are links to the photos for Picasa and Flicker

http://picasaweb.google.com/carlatiphone/BriteViewCinemaTubeBV5005HD?authkey=Gv1sRgCMSy15Kgy_qZqgE#

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42756813@N07/

If anyone has any questions please let me know. Sorry a couple photos may have been posted upside down, I was in a hurry. Will make a video too if you like. (I am a master of re-packaging). :D

Thanks for posting the un-boxing, looking forward to some reviews to start rolling in.

I do not think I have anything pressing this evening, I would be happy to post my comments tonight when I get home. I have a nice new Theater room with a 120" Screen to try it out on :cool:

How does "USB firmware update" work?

1. Please visit our support page: http://www.brite-view.com/support.php
2. Please find the "firmware update" underneath "CinemaTube"
3. Save the firmware to a USB drive; has to be under the root directory
4. Plug the USB dirve into your CinemaTube; turn it on
5. Go to hoem menu, see Setup --> System --> Software Update; choose "USB update"
6. You should see a window telling you what the current version of the firmware is and what and the latest version is, with release note

Speaking of which, we're looking for people who already received their units to help us confirm the HFS+ compatibility with the latest firmware (version: 500510099161). If any damage is caused by this testing, we will send you a new replacement unit.

Thanks!

@zoro: the pre-ordered units will only be available through our store page atm (through PayPal). We will start having some units available through Amazon in October the earliest.

@freedonkey: no, CinemaTube wouldn't play the DVD if you plug in a DVD drive. I personally explain this product to my friends as "A DVD Player without the DVD part". Reviews should be available soon.

Can't update firmware with USB thumbdrive. Get error message: "can't get image version"

I do not think I have anything pressing this evening, I would be happy to post my comments tonight when I get home. I have a nice new Theater room with a 120" Screen to try it out on :cool:

Would you mind at your convenience posting live shots of the innerface (GUI)
Thxs

Reviews should be available soon.

Can you please confirm who will be reviewing the unit? Thanks.

@mitau we tried it ourselves and the problem might be that it would take the CinemaTube a bit time to recognize the firmware. Please try it again after you use the CinemaTube to play one of the videos on your USB drive (so you know the CinemaTube can read already read the files on the drive)

@Papa_I b/c of limited # of units available we've only sent them out to 1) the Gadgeteer (http://the-gadgeteer.com/) 2) NewTeeVee (http://www.newteevee.com) 3) HTGuys (http://www.htguys.com/) 4) TweakTown (http://www.tweaktown.com/). Some might take their time doing the review, but it's for all's benefit.

akakillroy: Can you tell me if you will be attaching a hard drive or streaming, and what machine/NAS you will be doing so from. Thanks

I am going to be doing both. Getting the firmware now and will attempt to install now.

Says image is damaged when I attempt to update. I am going to format the flash drive and re-attempt. I have some photos of the interface too to upload.

I have tried the update using a USB flash drive, formatted FAT32 and FAT still no joy. Switching to an external drive for mated NTSF.

When your mouse is over the firmware file online, it's called "install.img", but when I download it, it changes to "install.tar".

I downloaded the file and it's 102,770K in size. Are you supposed to put the raw "install.tar" file on a flash drive or uncompress it first ?

Any idea if usenet/nzb support is in the plans for this box?

No go with an external drive either. After it attempts to perform the update I get an image damaged error (briefly) and it comes back to the firmware information screen, but the NOTE: field shows me a <a (with a carrot at the top).153163
Not sure what to do next, will attempt to re-download the image update again and try flashing again.

Per Brite-View in a recent post:

How does "USB firmware update" work?

1. Please visit our support page: http://www.brite-view.com/support.php
2. Please find the "firmware update" underneath "CinemaTube"
3. Save the firmware to a USB drive; has to be under the root directory
4. Plug the USB dirve into your CinemaTube; turn it on
5. Go to hoem menu, see Setup --> System --> Software Update; choose "USB update"
6. You should see a window telling you what the current version of the firmware is and what and the latest version is, with release note

Speaking of which, we're looking for people who already received their units to help us confirm the HFS+ compatibility with the latest firmware (version: 500510099161). If any damage is caused by this testing, we will send you a new replacement unit.

Thanks!

Hi all, the firmware available on the our website might not have been uploaded correctly. Please use this link when we update our website:

http://www.easy-share.com/1907853345/install.img.zip

(after downloading the file it has to be unzipped.)

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Brite-view gave me another link to the firmware, downloading it now.

More images uploaded to Picasa and Flickr

I downloaded the new firmware and the file is called "install.img.zip". I unzipped the file and it contains 2 files:

install.img 102,770 KB
install.img-sig.txt 1 KB

I placed both on my flash drive and will try updating the firmware as soon as my unit arrives (this Wednesday).

Please note that version 500510099161 is the latest one. After downloading it the system may prompt a message asking if you want the "500510099141" instead; just press "cancel".

Thanks.

This one seems to be taking. Screen goes blamck after about 30 seconds but then comes back up. Don't panic and do NOT power the unit off!

I know Im the only AVS'er interested in EVO file playback anyone know if this unit can play that video format? Thanks!


akakillroy - Are you using a WD external drive? I have two Mybook 1 TB drives for my WD-TV.

Firmware update went fine, now to get home to start some testing. I notices quite a bit of artifacting while playing a 1080p video on a composite output that may be just the nature of the composite. Not sure anyone will be using HD video out on composite though :eek:
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Direct me to a sample EVO file and I will test.

Yes I have a WDTV as well, I do have a WD Elements drive I am using as well with the WDTV, I will test on the CinemaTube.

I know Im the only AVS'er interested in EVO file playback anyone know if this unit can play that video format? Thanks!


akakillroy - Are you using a WD external drive? I have two Mybook 1 TB drives for my WD-TV.

More screen shots with Firware update uploaded to Picasa and Flikr that will be all until I get home this evening in about 3 hrs from now

I sent an email to service5@zinnetusa.com on September 16th with tech questions before deciding to order the CinemaTube. As of today, Sept. 21st, I have not received a reply from Brite-View.

I sure hope their tech-support improves.

I have a feeling this player was rushed to completion before it was ready. No units were pre-distributed for reviews. I am also concerned about their return policy. The warranty was next to impossible to find on the website and there is no satisfaction guarantee.

I sent an email to service5@zinnetusa.com on September 16th with tech questions before deciding to order the CinemaTube. As of today, Sept. 21st, I have not received a reply from Brite-View.

I sure hope their tech-support improves.

I have a feeling this player was rushed to completion before it was ready. No units were pre-distributed for reviews. I am also concerned about their return policy. The warranty was next to impossible to find on the website and there is no satisfaction guarantee.
couldn't agree more on the rush and no reviews available yet. Hopefully their return policy is liberal enough for "guinea pigs" like us testing this.

@blueribb could you email me your name and question? We have replied to all emails, but weren't sure if your email was lost. You can try using this forum's direct message system, or to service5@zinnetusa.com again. Or if you want, I can answer right here too. We standby at least 16 hours a day including the weekends (as you can see me posting on this forum on the weekend) and we do try to answer in a timely manner. We apologize for any inconvenience, and truly hope to answer your questions.

You can always find us on Twitter (@briteview), too. We hope to hear from you soon!

@blueribb could you email me your name and question? We have replied to all emails, but weren't sure if your email was lost. You can try using this forum's direct message system, or to service5@zinnetusa.com again. Or if you want, I can answer right here too. We standby at least 16 hours a day including the weekends (as you can see me posting on this forum on the weekend) and we do try to answer in a timely manner. We apologize for any inconvenience, and truly hope to answer your questions.

You can always find us on Twitter (@briteview), too. We hope to hear from you soon!

Most of my questions were answered here but the one remaining question is about USB power to external drives. Is this shut off completely when the CinemaTube is turned off ?

The Western Digital HD Media Player does not power down external devices when it is shut off.

@blueribb Yes, it's completely powered off. Thanks for asking so I can post it here, since several others asked the same question too.

MAybe a possible future enhancement could be to allow (as an option) direct firmware update from the brite-view servers rather than downloading to USB and plugging usb to CinemaTube. Not a big deal but would be nice.

MAybe a possible future enhancement could be to allow (as an option) direct firmware update from the brite-view servers rather than downloading to USB and plugging usb to CinemaTube. Not a big deal but would be nice.

I think that's already an option

akakillroy. Thanks for all the pictures. Can't wait till I get mine.
Dave

I ordered my CinameTube 5005HD last week and got the shipment today, EXCEPT THEY SENT ME A CINEMACUBE 5003 INSTEAD!!!
What a letdown. I better not have to pay for return shipping!

brite-View, are you working on movie jukebox interface like the one on Xtreamer (http://forum.xtreamer.net/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=1452)?
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/748/xmj19coverart.png

or UMC (http://www.hdd-player.de/umc/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) interface
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/2483/umcmovieindex02.jpg

I ordered my CinameTube 5005HD last week and got the shipment today, EXCEPT THEY SENT ME A CINEMACUBE 5003 INSTEAD!!!
What a letdown. I better not have to pay for return shipping!that blows...hope mine doesn't show up like that also

How to setup TVersity to stream the content to TV thru BV5005HD from P2P stream(PPlive)? Thanks in advance.

Boy some of you people are vicious!

Video unboxing of the CinemaTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JoeXG17SeM

Still processing as I post this so give it a few min.

Heading down to the theater room to get it connected with more information.

Ok here is what I know so far.

Sees and reads NTSF disks at least up to 1TB
Sees and reads HFS formated drives (MAC) with latest firmware.

1080p Playback on the new firmware (161) works and seems fine.
ISO file from DVD9 plays fine!
mkv files 720p play fine
XDiv video files play fine

Need to check yet on VOB files and some other formats. Some files showed up as Music files instead of view but that may be just a fluke.

Interface response is great compared to the WDTV that i have with current firmware.

Other than the remote causing me problems because I am in a dark room and the remote has no illumination, I would say at this point the CinemaTube is a winner for my needs.

It recognized my network/workgroup and even saw my AirPort Extreme base station, but I could not connect, probably because I didn't have my username/pass correct.

If no one makes fun of my video review/preview I will upload more video to YouTube with more comments and views of the interface and options.

@akakillroy, does the device make any noise?

Thanks for your quick feedback.

@akakillroy, does the device make any noise?

Thanks for your quick feedback.

None what so ever, completely quiet, except for the connected drives ;-)

Editing more video for posting to YouTube as we speak, should be up within the hour.

@brite-View - Any updates on Logitech Harmony support? I imagine most people who will buy (or have bought) this will be using it with a Harmony remote.

Ok if you enable SMB on your Mac you can connect to your Network connected Mac, video/audio streams very well. I will post a video of that as well.

I have a Harmony 890 Pro remote so I will have a look and see if there is a config for it and the CinemaTube. If not I will attempt to make one. I too will want/need this connectivity.

Part 2 of the CinemaTube review, this is hookup and preview of the interface.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vYKLK3DZ2o

I just realized I have my terminology all screwed up LOL I say NTSF and it should be NTFS and HFS should be HSF should be HFS, sorry.

I also received the CinemaTube today. I already have the original PopcornHour and a dedicated HTPC, and this one will be used in my bedroom. My bedroom does not have a receiver, audio is coming from the TV so DTS downmix is a nice feature (original PopcornHour does not have it).

I will be only using this player in network mode, so I can't tell how it performed with USB drive attached. Currently, my CinemaTube is connected to a 26" CRT (via composite), I am planning to get a new 54" plasma for my bedroom.

Here're my impression so far:

The Goods

Very responsive remote, almost no delay when you press a button and the screen is updated. The PopcornHour has at least half a second of delay.
Seems to be energy efficient. Idle at 5/6 watt, Playing 1080p mkv at 6 watt, Standby at 0 watt. The PopcornHour was already consuming 6 watt while in standby mode. HDMI mode might use more energy though.
Plays all my rmvb files flawlessly, this is probably my main reason to get this player.
File buffering is faster than popcornhour. e.g. it could take up to 10 seconds or more before an actual movie plays in popcornhour, while in CinemaTube, it's usually less than 5 seconds.
No problems so far playing my Xvid 720p, mkv 720/1080p, and even some WMV9 movies.


The Bads

Mediocre UI - hopefully this will be improved in future firmware upgrades. UI-wise, PopcornHour (which itself is not that much better) beats CinemaTube hands down.
Useless preview mode, some may like it, I turned it off and the preview window is still there, wasting space.
Can't play a media file immediately, e.g. if you move the cursor to a movie file, you have to wait until the player buffers the movie (could take up to 5 seconds) before you can hit 'OK' and actually plays the file. I think this is because of the preview mode, but since I turned it off, I should be able to start playing the file immediately, or at least show the 'buffering video file...' like popcornhour.
Player crashed and rebooted itself when playing AVCHD files that I authored from my HD camcorder. CinemaTube's website doesn't claim they support AVCHD, but the player should at least not crash and reboot.
If you have DVD ripped to VIDEO_TS folder, you have to go into this folder and then click VIDEO_TS.IFO to start playing the DVD. I prefer the player is smart enough to detect the VIDEO_TS folder start playing the DVD automatically.
No skip forward functionality. Although I can fast forward up to 32x, but I still prefer 30, 60, or 120seconds forward/backward skipping.
Fast forward is flaky in mkv, especially if you go as high as 32x, upon resuming, the movie sometimes stutters for a few minutes. This maybe because the movie is streamed over network.
No bookmark/resume from last play position. Come on, even some cheap DVD players have this functionality.


In conclusion, if Bright-View (or Realtek?) could improve the UI (make it more like Windows Media Center? or the MediaBrowser plugin), then they will have one kickass networked media player. Overall, I still prefer it over my popcornhour.

@brite-View - Any updates on Logitech Harmony support? I imagine most people who will buy (or have bought) this will be using it with a Harmony remote.

I would love that too.

brite-View,

Agree with Eklee, why no support for bookmark/resume from last play position? Please include in next firmware update...thanks!

brite-View,
Is there any way to pick up from San Jose? I hate that I have to pay California's high sale tax and shipping. Product looks good though. Also is NZB or usenet capabilities coming?

No .VOB playback, and there seems to be no m2ts playback either :mad:

Also I agree with the resume playback although I did not experience any delay when FF or RW through mkv files.

I only have owned a WDTV so I can not compare between that and the PopCorn Hour, but lets face it, I don;t think it is bad all around for $99

I would like to see some some interface updates.

akakillroy

Thanks for all your hard work..
and I'm more excited since you are a MAC user as well
Let me know how it works out connecting to drives mounted on your MAC
I have a Drobo full of movies and I'm hoping this product works out.

Curious about the GUI too how does it look when scrolling for a movie and the info? Will we be able to use a Jukebox of any sort with this product?

akakillroy - Thanks for the video posts I just viewed both the unbox and the settings set up. Sorry, I cant locate a EVO file sample online. I doubt it can play the format. I look forward to see some more GUI!
I hope these NMTs can handle above 2 TB drives because my DVD/Blu-Ray collection is growing faster than I have space.

brite-View,
Is there any way to pick up from San Jose? I hate that I have to pay California's high sale tax and shipping. Product looks good though. Also is NZB or usenet capabilities coming?

did u see this?

No .VOB playback, and there seems to be no m2ts playback either

did u see this?

I am going to talk with Brite-View about this tomorrow. Stay tuned

Hi all, thanks so much for all the response and reviews!

There are still things we need to confirm, including VOB, EVO and M2TS playback and support; usenet/nzb support.

Harmony Remote: it takes time and we're still investigating the procedure. However, we can provide the RCU code for now. Thanks for your understanding and patience.

No bookmark/resume: it comes with the chip design, but we can find out if we will make it available by fw update.

GUI change - this is a big question, so please also give us time to discuss.

@superflysocal: we're so sorry you got the CinemaCube instead. Please email service5@zinnetusa.com and give us all the details and we'll make an exchange ASAP.

@yazyazoo: please email service5@zinnetusa.com and see if this works.

If I'm missing anything please don't hesitate to point it out. You might also want to PM me, too. Thanks again.

Huh? It can't play VOB?

So that means in a DVD - VIDEO_TS folder there are VOB files. I cant play those files?


Quote:
No .VOB playback, and there seems to be no m2ts playback either

I also received the CinemaTube today. I already have the original PopcornHour and a dedicated HTPC, and this one will be used in my bedroom. My bedroom does not have a receiver, audio is coming from the TV so DTS downmix is a nice feature (original PopcornHour does not have it).

I will be only using this player in network mode, so I can't tell how it performed with USB drive attached. Currently, my CinemaTube is connected to a 26" CRT (via composite), I am planning to get a new 54" plasma for my bedroom.

Here're my impression so far:

The Goods

Very responsive remote, almost no delay when you press a button and the screen is updated. The PopcornHour has at least half a second of delay.
Seems to be energy efficient. Idle at 5/6 watt, Playing 1080p mkv at 6 watt, Standby at 0 watt. The PopcornHour was already consuming 6 watt while in standby mode. HDMI mode might use more energy though.
Plays all my rmvb files flawlessly, this is probably my main reason to get this player.
File buffering is faster than popcornhour. e.g. it could take up to 10 seconds or more before an actual movie plays in popcornhour, while in CinemaTube, it's usually less than 5 seconds.
No problems so far playing my Xvid 720p, mkv 720/1080p, and even some WMV9 movies.


The Bads

Mediocre UI - hopefully this will be improved in future firmware upgrades. UI-wise, PopcornHour (which itself is not that much better) beats CinemaTube hands down.
Useless preview mode, some may like it, I turned it off and the preview window is still there, wasting space.
Can't play a media file immediately, e.g. if you move the cursor to a movie file, you have to wait until the player buffers the movie (could take up to 5 seconds) before you can hit 'OK' and actually plays the file. I think this is because of the preview mode, but since I turned it off, I should be able to start playing the file immediately, or at least show the 'buffering video file...' like popcornhour.
Player crashed and rebooted itself when playing AVCHD files that I authored from my HD camcorder. CinemaTube's website doesn't claim they support AVCHD, but the player should at least not crash and reboot.
If you have DVD ripped to VIDEO_TS folder, you have to go into this folder and then click VIDEO_TS.IFO to start playing the DVD. I prefer the player is smart enough to detect the VIDEO_TS folder start playing the DVD automatically.
No skip forward functionality. Although I can fast forward up to 32x, but I still prefer 30, 60, or 120seconds forward/backward skipping.
Fast forward is flaky in mkv, especially if you go as high as 32x, upon resuming, the movie sometimes stutters for a few minutes. This maybe because the movie is streamed over network.
No bookmark/resume from last play position. Come on, even some cheap DVD players have this functionality.


In conclusion, if Bright-View (or Realtek?) could improve the UI (make it more like Windows Media Center? or the MediaBrowser plugin), then they will have one kickass networked media player. Overall, I still prefer it over my popcornhour.


What, cannot play AVCHD? That's one of the reason I wanted this. Have you tried the raw .mts or .mts2 files from the camcorder?

Also, can you rewind in a MKV file? My popcorn couldn't do that.

Huh? It can't play VOB?

So that means in a DVD - VIDEO_TS folder there are VOB files. I cant play those files?


Quote:
No .VOB playback, and there seems to be no m2ts playback either

Might be something to do with the VOB's I have as it plays a VIDEO_TS folder just fine, at least on the DVD9 folder I have. These are VOB's I got from demo-world.eu
http://www.demo-world.eu/trailers/high-definition-trailers.php

Brite-View please contact me if you like for more details on the other issues.

I hope everyone will take a step back and not become alarmed at these issues as they very well could be something simple or something I am doing wrong. And no I don't work for Brite-View.

What, cannot play AVCHD? That's one of the reason I wanted this. Have you tried the raw .mts or .mts2 files from the camcorder?

Also, can you rewind in a MKV file? My popcorn couldn't do that.

Is there a location where I can find a few AVCHD I can download and test? I have tried a few m2ts but none have played so far. They play on my PS3 along with the VOB (single files), but so far it is "Unsupported Format" on the CinemaTube.

I am going to test some more tonight, along with a DMG file, I tried a ISO file last night and it works fine, across SMB and the MAC.

What, cannot play AVCHD? That's one of the reason I wanted this. Have you tried the raw .mts or .mts2 files from the camcorder?

Also, can you rewind in a MKV file? My popcorn couldn't do that.

I was able to FF and I am almost sure RW a mkv I will test again tonight, making a list! :D

Hi all, thanks so much for all the response and reviews!

There are still things we need to confirm, including VOB, EVO and M2TS playback and support; usenet/nzb support.
I need to re-test these, I need a source for the EVO files please. Not sure the usenet/nzb files are going to work without a firmware update.


Harmony Remote: it takes time and we're still investigating the procedure. However, we can provide the RCU code for now. Thanks for your understanding and patience.
Where can I get the RCU code please, I would like to take a stab ad a config file.


No bookmark/resume: it comes with the chip design, but we can find out if we will make it available by fw update. Resume seems to work fine, when I open a file from the same device/location that I have already played a portion of, it asks me if I want to resume or cancel to start from the beginning.


GUI change - this is a big question, so please also give us time to discuss.

Not a deal breaker for me, but as long as there is room for the improvements why not, I think functionality should be a more important focus.


@superflysocal: we're so sorry you got the CinemaCube instead. Please email service5@zinnetusa.com and give us all the details and we'll make an exchange ASAP. Stuff happens.

If I'm missing anything please don't hesitate to point it out. You might also want to PM me, too. Thanks again.
Thanks for the prompt responses!

The Bads

Mediocre UI - hopefully this will be improved in future firmware upgrades. UI-wise, PopcornHour (which itself is not that much better) beats CinemaTube hands down.
Useless preview mode, some may like it, I turned it off and the preview window is still there, wasting space.
Can't play a media file immediately, e.g. if you move the cursor to a movie file, you have to wait until the player buffers the movie (could take up to 5 seconds) before you can hit 'OK' and actually plays the file. I think this is because of the preview mode, but since I turned it off, I should be able to start playing the file immediately, or at least show the 'buffering video file...' like popcornhour.
Player crashed and rebooted itself when playing AVCHD files that I authored from my HD camcorder. CinemaTube's website doesn't claim they support AVCHD, but the player should at least not crash and reboot.
If you have DVD ripped to VIDEO_TS folder, you have to go into this folder and then click VIDEO_TS.IFO to start playing the DVD. I prefer the player is smart enough to detect the VIDEO_TS folder start playing the DVD automatically.
No skip forward functionality. Although I can fast forward up to 32x, but I still prefer 30, 60, or 120seconds forward/backward skipping.
Fast forward is flaky in mkv, especially if you go as high as 32x, upon resuming, the movie sometimes stutters for a few minutes. This maybe because the movie is streamed over network.
No bookmark/resume from last play position. Come on, even some cheap DVD players have this functionality.


In conclusion, if Bright-View (or Realtek?) could improve the UI (make it more like Windows Media Center? or the MediaBrowser plugin), then they will have one kickass networked media player. Overall, I still prefer it over my popcornhour.

+1 Agree for the most part, re-booted on me once while trying to preview a VOD. the preview mode is really not a good feature, its a novelty at best, and does get annoying when trying to start a movie.

brite-View, are you working on movie jukebox interface like the one on Xtreamer (http://forum.xtreamer.net/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=1452)?
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/748/xmj19coverart.png

BriteView, the first step in allowing a movie jukebox like shown is allow the unit to recognize html files. All of those jukeboxes are html based and just contain links to the moviefiles. You probably also need to have ability to setup network shares.

What, cannot play AVCHD? That's one of the reason I wanted this. Have you tried the raw .mts or .mts2 files from the camcorder?

Also, can you rewind in a MKV file? My popcorn couldn't do that.

I reauthored the original .mts (from a Canon HG20) into an MPEG container with 1080p AVC format, I guess you could say it's raw .mts, because it's basically transcoding .mts into .mpg. Anyway, my HTPC can play it with no problems.

As for rewinding an MKV, well, it sort of works. Since I am streaming mkv over network, rewinding does not work too well. i.e., when rewind is at 1x, it takes 5 or more seconds to go back 1 second in frame. This might work better if you are playing a media file from a USB drive. Again, what we need is a skip back (15, 30, 45seconds) functionality, like Windows Media Center.

Harmony Remote: it takes time and we're still investigating the procedure. However, we can provide the RCU code for now. Thanks for your understanding and patience.
I have a harmony remote and would like this also. However, for now, I would prefer brite-view work on more important issues. The harmony remote issue can be solved very easliy by the end user by simply learning all the commands from the supplied remote. It should not take more than a few minutes to do. Just my 2 cents.

Jay

I have a harmony remote and would like this also. However, for now, I would prefer brite-view work on more important issues. The harmony remote issue can be solved very easliy by the end user by simply learning all the commands from the supplied remote. It should not take more than a few minutes to do. Just my 2 cents.

Jay

Tried that on my 880. It doesn't work well: scroll one step and cursor moves 2 steps !! Power on/off acts funny.

Quote:
Originally Posted by brite-View
No bookmark/resume: it comes with the chip design, but we can find out if we will make it available by fw update.

Resume seems to work fine, when I open a file from the same device/location that I have already played a portion of, it asks me if I want to resume or cancel to start from the beginning.
[/QUOTE]
Just want to clear on this one. We are talking about resume play on last file played, without the need to open "a file from the same device/location that I have already played a portion of". This is a must feature for people with a large HD contain hundreds video files. Who can remember the last file played if you are watching a 80 episodes long TV series?

just got it and tried the software update..can't get it to work. says can't get image and I tried the newer link:mad:

is there anyway to make sure the one you sending out to me today have the udated firmware?

Really would love to see more of the GUI.
Do we get any kind of info if the file has metadata embedded?

just got it and tried the software update..can't get it to work. says can't get image and I tried the newer link:mad:

okay got it to work with a FAT16 1g flash drive. I had tried it earlier with a 16g flash a 1tb external and didn't work:D

Hi all, here are the answer to some of your questions:

1. Usenet/NZB support: would this be available? ==> No. CinemaTube support Internet (TCP/IP), it does not support UseNet and NZB.
2. Would it support EVO files? ==>No.
3. Is it able to support .VOB playback, and m2ts? ==> Yes! CinemaTube support DVD ISO or VOB. CinemaTube also support m2ts file formats. If you keep encounter problems please let me know; I will report this to our team.
4. GUI change - We plan to change the OSD UI into 720p (now is 576i) later. But we do not have plans to make a movie jukebox.
5. Resume/bookmark: I heard it's in QA process now and would be available in the next firmware update. I will confirm if it's the kind of "resume" @Pleng mentioned.
6. Remote Contorl RCU code: have just gotten the file in Excel sheet. I can transfer it to jpeg and post it here in a bit.

@superflysocal: please understand that we would not be able to update the firmware manually one by one here. Please let us know if you encounter any problema updating the firmware using the link below. We apologize for the inconvenience.

http://www.easy-share.com/1907853345/install.img.zip

Those who have received a CinemaCube instead of a CinemaTube - those packages were sent from Amazon; they might have messed up our inventory. We are investigating this issue now, and will email you the shipping label so we can exchange ASAP. Again, it's a shame this happened and we will make sure you receive the CinemaTube soon.

"1. Usenet/NZB support: would this be available? ==> No. CinemaTube support Internet (TCP/IP), it does not support UseNet and NZB."

Are you sure about this? Comparing TCP/IP and usenet/NZB is like comparing apples and oranges. If the unit runs linux then it might support one of the open source NZB apps out there much like how you have torrent support right now.

I will be testing vob and m2ts files tonight from network (smb) and USB drives to see what is going on.

If this unit it based on the Realtech device I am sure there will be others "hacking this unit" I may be inclined to get an Xstreamer for comparison.

Brite-view, how do you create play lists.

CinemaTube maximum bitrate/resolution:

Mpeg1: Ok / Max Pixel 720×576
Mpeg2: Ok / Max Pixel 1920×1080p,Max bitrate 60m Bytes
H.264: Ok / Max Pixel 1920×1080p,Max bitrate 40m Bytes
RealVideo8/9/10: Ok / Max Pixel 1280×720p,Max bitrate 1m Bytes
Xvid: Ok / Max Pixel 1920×1080p,Max bitrate 50m Bytes
Divx3.x: Ok / Max Pixel 1920×1080p,Max bitrate 50m Bytes
Divx4.x: Ok / Max Pixel 1920×1080p,Max bitrate 50m Bytes
Divx5.x: Ok / Max Pixel 1920×1080p,Max bitrate 50m Bytes
Divx6.x: Ok / Max Pixel 1920×1080p,Max bitrate 50m Bytes
Vc-1/Wmv9: Ok / Max Pixel 1920×1080p,Max bitrate 40m Bytes
WMV: Ok / Max Pixel 1920×1080p,Max bitrate 40m Bytes

Mp3 Layer1: 8-48khz,32Kbps-448kbps
Mp3 Layer2: 8-48khz,32Kbps-384kbps
Mp3 Layer3: 8-48khz,32Kbps-320kbps
Mpeg2.5: 8-48khz,32Kbps-160kbps
Wma: 8-48khz,32Kbps-192kbps
Pcm,Lpcm: 8-96khz,8/16/24 bit
Pcm,Ima-Adpcm: 8-96khz,4 bit
Pcm,Ms-Adpcm: 8-96khz,4 bit
Pcm,A-Law: 8-96khz,8 bit
Pcm,U-Law: 8-96khz,8 bit
Ac3: 32/44.1/48khz

Jpeg/Jpg Photos with resolutions up to 8000×8000
Bmp Photos with resolutions up to 8000×8000
Tiff Photos with resolutions up to 8000×8000
Png Photos with resolutions up to 8000×8000
Gif Photos with resolutions up to 8000×8000

brite-View,

Resume video (from last play position) NOT working properly. When I play a DVD's (iso files) I can resume the previous play position(s) as long as the unit is not powered off. But once I turn the unit off and restart it, Cinema Tube displays the message "Format is not supported" error message. This occurs whether I'm trying to resume playback from EITHER the playlist (where I previously bookmarked the DVD's) OR from the iso files directly off my hard drive. In fact I can't get the iso files to play at all now...just get the error message "Format is not supported." What's up? Thanks!

and YES I'm using the latest firmware (.......61 version)

Brite-View,

I had received my CinemaTube since last Friday and so far I love it very much! It plays .mts perfectly (recorded from my Sony 1080i camcorder) by displaying1080p 60mhz and not to mention those rvmb format files (720p)

Anyway, in order to get more public attention to this new wonderful product - CinemaTube
I would strongly suggest you guys to pass the samples to several popular online gadget review websites such as "Engadget"

Please continue to make the firmware better and be more stable. I see this piece of hardware is far better than any other HD media player out there with the right spec. and the reasonable pricing. :)

does the player support NFS protocol for filesharing like the WDtv and xtreamer does?

Hi all, here are the answer to some of your questions:
...
4. GUI change - We plan to change the OSD UI into 720p (now is 576i) later. But we do not have plans to make a movie jukebox.
...

Please don't make this change. I have an older CRT based TV, a Sony XBR-400 that I also plan on using with the CinemaTube that does not support 720P but does support 480P and 1080i through component. This change would make it unusable through component.

It's fundamentally wrong to change the video mode anywhere in the UI mode from the mode configured by the user.

4. GUI change - We plan to change the OSD UI into 720p (now is 576i) later. But we do not have plans to make a movie jukebox.


I understand that the first few iterations of new firmwares will geared towards bug fixes and player stability, but do you guys have an internal road map for features that you would like to add in the future? The reason I ask is because having some movie jukebox software installed on the CinemaTube would greatly appreciated by your user base (Not that I should speak for the community, but it would be greatly appreciated by me).

@dtds: I will report the issue to our team and have them re-test.

@kiddo2: thank you so much for your kind words! We are trying to get our units out to reviewers - that is a promise. We realize the importance of trusted and unbiased reviews, too.

@daskino: let me find out and get back to you.

@user_name: I will let the team know and see if the change will affect your setting. Thanks for letting us know.

@Papa_I: thanks for your input. I'll be sure to make your voice heard.

Hello guys,
I cannot wait to go home since I got the confirmation from Fedex that my CinemaTube has been delivered. I was wondering if some of you already tried to use a USB wireless dongle. I know Brite View will come up with a customized solution mid october but since my router is far from my TV, I really want to avoid one more cable.
Thanks for your feedback.

ok, I've never owned a Media streamer before so my question might sound dumb, but here goes.

Can this device be upgraded (via firmware) to also handle PVR/DVR functionality?

VOB, M2TS, MWV are playing good.
MKV is showing choppy, distorted color.
TRP is not support.
Able to play media files from USB hard-disk and from PC.
Overall, the unit is very good and I am happy with it. I think I have made a good choice purchasing the BV5005HD. I was looking to purchase the MVIX Ultio earlier and I saw the promotion for Brite-View. This saved me $70. I hope Brite-View will fix the MKV problem in future firmware.

Ok here is an update. VOB and M2TS and MP4 files play just fine. I connected the CinemaTube to my 22" Dell monitor via Component Video at 720P, using RCA Audi. I will test this again connected through HDMI. I also have made a couple more video clips, that I am posting to YouTube now, will have the links shortly.

I think my problem was there was a unplayable media file on my network drive, and with the preview option enabled it may have simply cause a problem with any further playback. I am not sure. But it all seems to work fine now. I have not been able to find a file that it will not play yet.

My video clips a little better now, and I have some footage of my successful network connection to my Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station's attached USB drive. Works flawlessly.

I also have tried reaching through SMB the CinemaTube from my desktop and had no success. Not that I expected it to work.

I learned how to create a play list, which is also in the video clip. Looks like you can only create one list.

Let me know if there is anything else you would like to see and I will do my best to produce it for you.

I would like to say that given the price point of this product, I have to say it is well worth the money, it is quite a bit better than the WDTV at the price point.

ok, I've never owned a Media streamer before so my question might sound dumb, but here goes.

Can this device be upgraded (via firmware) to also handle PVR/DVR functionality?

Firmware updatable Yes, PVR no.

Hello guys,
I cannot wait to go home since I got the confirmation from Fedex that my CinemaTube has been delivered. I was wondering if some of you already tried to use a USB wireless dongle. I know Brite View will come up with a customized solution mid october but since my router is far from my TV, I really want to avoid one more cable.
Thanks for your feedback.

You might also want to consider a wireless router that can be configured as a "wireless bridge". Routers with that capability in the factory firmware tend to be a bit more expensive but if you're willing to put in some effort, there are cheap ones that you can load free firmware on and get a lot of extra capability. One benefit is multiple ethernet ports that will work with anything with a LAN port such as game consoles, TIVO, CinemaTube etc. To the connected device it looks just like a hardwired connection other than the lower bandwidth.

I'm running this one with an XBOX 360 with DD-WRT firmware and after some work setting it up, it's been flawless. Currently $30 + shipping at Newegg but I got mine for $25 shipped on sale.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320026

It's only wireless B/G and although I haven't seen any video glitches, the only HD content I've tried were the Micrsoft HD WMV samples. You'd probably need an N wireless router on both ends to guarantee a bullet proof solution. I suspect I may have issues playing DVD ISO over wireless G depending on how much buffering the CinemaTube does.

Is the brite-View dongle wireless N or just G?

Yeah, my CinemaTube finally shows as being in FedEx's hands! I got the tracking number on Friday and the shipped notice this AM indicating a ship date of 9/21 but it didn't actually ship until today. Unfortunately, that means the estimated delivery will probably change from Friday to next week :(

Thanks a lot for your answer. I received mine and it run quite smoothly so far. I got a long RJ45 cable and am trying it on my 32 inches Philipps HDTV. Amazing. Specially to stream videos like vimeo.com/6686768 (sorry cannot post Hyperlink, I'm less than 3 posts...) this one (download first and then watch it through Cinematube).
For that reason I do not think I will go with the WIFI solution since my router is N and this wifi router is G. I do not think it will be enough to stream the HD content.

I also install the PLayON software on my PC (running Vista) and so far I did not succeed to stream my Netflix or Hulu account...still trying.

Anyway, once the firmware will be more stable and I will find a solution to hide the ugly RJ45 cable, I will be more than happy.
Thanks Brite-View!

Thanks a lot for your answer. I received mine and it run quite smoothly so far. I got a long RJ45 cable and am trying it on my 32 inches Philipps HDTV. Amazing. Specially to stream videos like vimeo.com/6686768 (sorry cannot post Hyperlink, I'm less than 3 posts...) this one (download first and then watch it through Cinematube).
For that reason I do not think I will go with the WIFI solution since my router is N and this wifi router is G. I do not think it will be enough to stream the HD content.

I also install the PLayON software on my PC (running Vista) and so far I did not succeed to stream my Netflix or Hulu account...still trying.

Anyway, once the firmware will be more stable and I will find a solution to hide the ugly RJ45 cable, I will be more than happy.
Thanks Brite-View!

tversity pro does hulu too, did u try? if there is a guide?

The menu is missing an utility to release the USB device so we can safely swapping memory card or memory stick.

brite-view:

What is the difference between the model BV-5005HD listed at brite-view.com and model BV-6000P listed at Amazon (asin B002LTRCRW)?

Also will your model work overseas - specifically Australia (240V AC, PAL TV system). (thinking of getting one as for my family member who lives there).

Thnx.

brite-view:

What is the difference between the model BV-5005HD listed at brite-view.com and model BV-6000P listed at Amazon (asin B002LTRCRW)?


N/M - found a blog post about it at briteview.wordpress.com :)

http://briteview.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/is-cinematube-available-for-pre-order-on-amazon-for-89/

@dtds: thanks for reporting the issue. We're still testing to see if the new firmware has solved the problem.

@daskino: CinemaTube is based on the Linux kernel, so it supports NFS protocol. However it's not "turned-on" at the moment since NFS is complex.

@user-name: thanks again for the comment. The team is noted and they'll discuss if they will proceed. Also, our Wifi dongle dedicated to CinemaTube will be wireless N.

@mr_jbloggs: no it doesn't have PVR/DVD functionality.

@akakillroy: yes currently only one playlist can be created, and you can only play all videos, all music or all pictures at the same time on the playlist. No mixing yet.

@Romsfou: thank you too! Btw is your PlayOn the latest version? We sometimes had issues streaming Netflix before updating the software to the latest version, but it seems the latest version of PlayOn is working fine.

@wushu2266: you are right. I will report this and see if we can provide that option.

@sandun: no worries. We apologize for the confusion.

As promised, please see the jpeg file.

Thanks!

Can some one point, warranty, return, exchange info on briteview website?

thanks

The menu is missing an utility to release the USB device so we can safely swapping memory card or memory stick.

It shouldn't be needed as CinemaTube (as described) never writes to the device. It should be safe to take it out at any time. If you're worried just stop the video before you pull it out.

Thanks a lot for your answer. I received mine and it run quite smoothly so far. I got a long RJ45 cable and am trying it on my 32 inches Philipps HDTV. Amazing. Specially to stream videos like vimeo.com/6686768 (sorry cannot post Hyperlink, I'm less than 3 posts...) this one (download first and then watch it through Cinematube).
For that reason I do not think I will go with the WIFI solution since my router is N and this wifi router is G. I do not think it will be enough to stream the HD content.

... and I will find a solution to hide the ugly RJ45 cable, I will be more than happy.
Thanks Brite-View!

If you already have an N router all you need is a router that works as an N wireless bridge...They're out there too although many don't support neat 3rd party firmware like DD_WRT and TOMATO. No ugly cable and if brite-View has done their part right even "raw" Blu-Ray files should play ok.

Ship delay of the extra day cost me the weekend so I won't see mine until Monday :(

I'd like to thank everyone who has posted their experiences. I really appreciate the effort.

Extra thanks and kudos to akakillroy. It's a rare gift to get so much value from one member.

...
@daskino: CinemaTube is based on the Linux kernel, so it supports NFS protocol. However it's not "turned-on" at the moment since NFS is complex.

Would be nice to have...other stuff is probably more important right now...

...
@user-name: thanks again for the comment. The team is noted and they'll discuss if they will proceed.

"proceed"??? PLEASE don't proceed on the arbitrary video mode changes or at least not to 720p. You won't piss off as many people as switching to 1080p but I'm sure I won't be the only one mad. If a user configures to the lowest supported mode that you allow, you simply can not switch to a different mode in the UI especially not a higher bandwidth mode.


Also, our Wifi dongle dedicated to CinemaTube will be wireless N.

Smart engineers. Always a good sign. Engineers triumphing over marketing and the bean counters, Even better!

You need N for Blu-Ray throughput to keep everyone happy...

Too expensive..better alternatives...darn I knew I was dreaming...

Other than your shipping, brite-View US (both of you???) get an A++ for effort and at least a B+ for results!

can any of the owners compare it to the PQ of WDTV? I knew others who prefer the PQ of the WDTV over the egreatm34

If its better or no difference at all then all is good..

anybody tried streaming the HD audio to their receivers yet? Does it display the True-HD etc on the receivers. I have ordered mine and it will be here by end of october...yeah that long..but I am not in a hurry and I am hoping that the outstanding issues will be resolved.

akakillroy -

Thanks for spending time testing the player for us. Do let us know if you are successful with the DMG file.




Is there a location where I can find a few AVCHD I can download and test? I have tried a few m2ts but none have played so far. They play on my PS3 along with the VOB (single files), but so far it is "Unsupported Format" on the CinemaTube.

I am going to test some more tonight, along with a DMG file, I tried a ISO file last night and it works fine, across SMB and the MAC.

Thanks a lot for your answer. I received mine and it run quite smoothly so far. I got a long RJ45 cable and am trying it on my 32 inches Philipps HDTV. Amazing. Specially to stream videos like vimeo.com/6686768 (sorry cannot post Hyperlink, I'm less than 3 posts...) this one (download first and then watch it through Cinematube).
For that reason I do not think I will go with the WIFI solution since my router is N and this wifi router is G. I do not think it will be enough to stream the HD content.

I also install the PLayON software on my PC (running Vista) and so far I did not succeed to stream my Netflix or Hulu account...still trying.

Anyway, once the firmware will be more stable and I will find a solution to hide the ugly RJ45 cable, I will be more than happy.
Thanks Brite-View!

I have got playon to work on mine, although I am running xp. Hulu is working along with a bunch of other ones. Excellent feature

It shouldn't be needed as CinemaTube (as described) never writes to the device. It should be safe to take it out at any time. If you're worried just stop the video before you pull it out.


Yea it does. You can delete and rename files, which is great feature. Also if you use the ********** you can download.

brite view I noticed it does not power down the external harddrive when you power off. I thought you said it should?

Can some one point, warranty, return, exchange info on briteview website?

thanks

http://www.brite-view.com/warranty_registration.php

It discusses warranty only.

As promised, please see the jpeg file.

Thanks!

Can you post these remote code in a format that we can copy and paste the individual codes, like excel or text file instead of an image?

@daskino: CinemaTube is based on the Linux kernel, so it supports NFS protocol. However it's not "turned-on" at the moment since NFS is complex.


I currently have the first generation PopcornHour and the Divco Tvix 4000. I have to use NFS with these devices to stream DVD ISOs (standard def) from my home server (wired network). If I do not use NFS, then I can see some stuttering.

Can someone who has a CinemaTube confirm that DVD iso files can be played without any hiccups over a wired network using Windows file sharing. I am looking to replace Tvix box with one of these devices.

brite-view: I am also thinking of getting the 720P CinemaCube for a family member. Can you confirm if it will work on PAL tv, 240V A/C. Also will it play 1080P video files (even though the output is 720P). (just curious to see if 1080P file will be playable, downscaled). Thnx.

Yea it does. You can delete and rename files, which is great feature. Also if you use the ********** you can download.

brite view I noticed it does not power down the external harddrive when you power off. I thought you said it should?


was that a portable external drive (2.5 inch based with no independent power supply, runs off usb) or a regular external drive (3.5 inch based that requires its own power supply)?

Can some one point, warranty, return, exchange info on briteview website?

thanksI asked the same question early in the thread. Here is the link (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17155058#post17155058).

Jay