I can't post any pictures, at least not at this time. If I have a home movie or something like that then the 1080i via component works perfectly well. If I try some DVD's such as Day after Tomorrow I get strange lines appearing and disapearing on the screen. You really can't watch it with these lines. I assume this is the affect of Macrovision. I have written to Momitsu several times regarding this and no reply. I guess they really couldn't reply without potentially getting themselves in trouble. The V880 non-N has a secret menu that lets you disable Macrovision. I have tried the same code on the V880N and it doesn't work. I am assuming that somewhere hidden in the player is a secret code that someone will have to figure out and exploit. Then again, perhaps Momitsu has been threatened with a law suit and as such has removed this ability. It's still a fairly new machine so keep your fingers crossed.

I'll be seriously annoyed if the v880N doesn't handle macrovision &etc right. I would have gone with the v880dlx if I knew that was the case.

Hey, does anybody have the correct "DVI Setup" settings for 720p at 71.whatever Hz? The default 720p settings seem to have very large porch settings, which results in a lot of raster around the image. And they're at 60Hz so not ideal for NTSC DVDs.

Scroll some pages back there is a internetpage to calculate custom settings.

I bet there is no difference between macrovision protection on N and DLX version.

I will test it later with the new H57 and H77

Originally posted by vjren
I bet there is no difference between macrovision protection on N and DLX version.

I will test it later with the new H57 and H77

That would be great but there is a specific code sequence with the remote, something like leave the disc tray empty then press up down up down left right. Not sure if that is correct since I am just going off the top of my head but I found the correct one in several posts and tried it and it doesn't work. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong but I thought others verified that the same "secret" code for the V880 and V880 deluxe is not the same as the V880N. Actually, I don't think I tried it again with the latest firmware. I did after the first update and it still did not work.

Tbone, I don't think that v880 "secret code" works on the v800N. The question is if something like that is needed to disable Macrovision, or if it's already disabled. Or if it CAN'T be disabled.

vjren, are you referring to EmuMannen's tool (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=330731)? I have that, but I'm a little unclear exactly how to run it. I was trying for 720p @ 71.93 Hz. I used the Custom Resolution Wizard to fill in values for 1332x720 (1.85:1), but I'm not sure if that's the right way to set it up. Should I feed it 999x1332 (4:3) instead? I don't really want to experiment with this, not knowing what I'm doing, since you can damage your equipment with bogus values.

I searched through the archives and all but one (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4435061#post4435061) of the sample settings I found were for fixed-pixel digital projectors. I have a CRT and I think the issues are a little different. And even in the one CRT post I found, the guys there seemed a bit uncertain they were doing it right.

Gary

Originally posted by garyfritz
Tbone, I don't think that v880 "secret code" works on the v800N. The question is if something like that is needed to disable Macrovision, or if it's already disabled. Or if it CAN'T be disabled.


I agree, the code doesn't seem to work. If I try "Day after Tomorrow" at 1080i I get lots of strange lines and things on the screen as compared to 480p where it is crystal clear. It is still not completely clear to me if this is a macrovision issue since I don't know what it would like. Thing is, if I play one of my daughters cartoon DVD's it works great at 1080i. That's what makes me think that the cause is macrovision and that it would need to be disabled someone in the firmware or perhaps there will be a hardware jumper to do it or something like that.

Originally posted by Tbone2000
I agree, the code doesn't seem to work. If I try "Day after Tomorrow" at 1080i I get lots of strange lines and things on the screen as compared to 480p where it is crystal clear. It is still not completely clear to me if this is a macrovision issue since I don't know what it would like. Thing is, if I play one of my daughters cartoon DVD's it works great at 1080i. That's what makes me think that the cause is macrovision and that it would need to be disabled someone in the firmware or perhaps there will be a hardware jumper to do it or something like that.

the problem macrovision and upconversion is a known issue with the network model. Momitsu is suppose to be working on a firmware to fix it

FWIW, I'm using the 880N via DVI running at 1280x768 Dot to Dot on my Pio 503 (the DVI on which is NOT HDCP) and it seems to work just fine with Macrovision disks. I'm watching Spiderman 2 right now and it looks great. Is the known problem supposed to exist in the case of DVI connections as well?

While researching a new DVD player with DVI, I stumbled upon the extremephono site. They say that: "V880 Deluxe: Out of stock until further notice. We will be introducing a new model, preorder 12/1, ETA 12/15"

Does anyone know anything about this new model?
My apologies if this has already been discussed, but I haven't seen it posted.

Larry: that unit looks like the Zenith model

Loopy:
I read it to mean that there will be a new Momitsu model coming out, not a new brand of DVD player. Extremephono doesn't even sell Zenith. Am I missing something??

LarryDi: Extremephono has a picture of the replacement for the v880dx, it looks like the Zenith DB318, cept theirs has the name Oppo on it. Obviously it's a rebadged unit

Originally posted by garyfritz

vjren, are you referring to EmuMannen's tool (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=330731)? I have that, but I'm a little unclear exactly how to run it. I was trying for 720p @ 71.93 Hz. I used the Custom Resolution Wizard to fill in values for 1332x720 (1.85:1), but I'm not sure if that's the right way to set it up. Should I feed it 999x1332 (4:3) instead? I don't really want to experiment with this, not knowing what I'm doing, since you can damage your equipment with bogus values.
Gary

There is a guy who made a webpage to make settings, couple of pages back..

Macrovision is enabled and can't be disabled (for all we know)

That would really majorly suck. If I'd known that, I would have gotten one of the original V880's. :(

I skimmed this Momitsu thread and decided to order the 880N because I want a non-HTPC player that can drive my CRT projector via a VGA interface.

Since I've never used a Momitsu player I have a couple of very basic questions to help me decide how to plan the new HT set-up.

1. Are the Macrovision problems for up-converted signals on the DVI-I analog signal (feeding a VGA adaptor), or are the Macrovision problems only seen on the component interface? Also, is this a problem only for network-based content or also for DVDs played from the loader in the Momitsu?

2. When I'm playing content from my PC media-server to the Momitsu, can I control the playback from the PC desktop, or just from the Momitsu remote control/menu screens? I'd hate to have to turn on my CRT projector and darken the room just to select/play MP3s.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide to this Momitsu noobie.

Rick

Originally posted by Rick Wilder

1. Are the Macrovision problems for up-converted signals on the DVI-I analog signal (feeding a VGA adaptor), or are the Macrovision problems only seen on the component interface? Also, is this a problem only for network-based content or also for DVDs played from the loader in the Momitsu?

2. When I'm playing content from my PC media-server to the Momitsu, can I control the playback from the PC desktop, or just from the Momitsu remote control/menu screens? I'd hate to have to turn on my CRT projector and darken the room just to select/play MP3s.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide to this Momitsu noobie.

Rick
1: Will test that.. Networked dvd files with encryption indicate "mpeg encrypted file" and do not play.

(Really hollywood is getting its way... these are not manufacturer decisions)

2. Control on the PC is not possible, control over the menu on the V880N display is not yet supported, might be a nice feature though in future firmware!

Originally posted by Rick Wilder
1. Are the Macrovision problems for up-converted signals on the DVI-I analog signal (feeding a VGA adaptor), or are the Macrovision problems only seen on the component interface? Also, is this a problem only for network-based content or also for DVDs played from the loader in the Momitsu?


Fairly sure that I read that macrovision works fine through DVI, meaning that if you have a DVI on the TV that supports HDCP and the DVD you are playing is the original then you can view it with no problem at 1080i. My problem is I bought my HDTV about 5 years ago for about $4K and it doesn't have any digital interfaces so I have to go Component.

> My problem is I bought my HDTV about 5 years ago for about $4K and it
> doesn't have any digital interfaces so I have to go Component.

My problem is similar to yours, Tbone. My display device is a CRT projector that is about 8 years old. It has only analog inputs, but uses RGB rather than component.

The reason I ordered the 880n is because I thought it would give me an upconverted signal through the analog pins of the DVI-I connector, which I could get via a DVI/VGA adaptor plug. If the 880n requires a HDCP-capable display in order to put out a good upconverted signal, then I just bought an expensive paper-weight.

Rick

Originally posted by Rick Wilder
The reason I ordered the 880n is because I thought it would give me an upconverted signal through the analog pins of the DVI-I connector, which I could get via a DVI/VGA adaptor plug. If the 880n requires a HDCP-capable display in order to put out a good upconverted signal, then I just bought an expensive paper-weight.
Rick
Don't worry, no need for HDCP, it is off.
I've been testing all sorts of connections tonight and on 10+ dvd's (bought) I have no problems and no macrovision on component upsampled or VGA out. (tested both 720P or 1080i)

What I do have is a great DVI picture on my H57!

Who did really have a macrovision problem?

Are there any any known movies that have it so I can test?

Well, that's hopeful. Thanks for the testing, vjren.

Rick, I'm using my v880n with a CRT projector. I have a DVI -> VGA adapter, then a VGA -> 5BNC breakout adapter, hooked to 5 video cables running to the RGBHV inputs on my NEC XG852. No problems.


Other topics:

Does anyone know if the v800n has gamma & other picture adjustments like the original v880 did? I need to boost the gamma on my picture and I can't figure out how to do it on my CRT.

I haven't seen this so far on most movies, but on Avia I am noticing some really serious interlacing artifacts. I don't know the right term to describe them, but moving edges have a sawtooth look to them. I thought the Momitsus were supposed to have really excellent deinterlacing engines. So why am I seeing this? I'm running the built-in 720p resolution.

Gary

I've been seeing the issue of the macroblocking "bug" mentioned in threads about other scaling DVD players in this forum. Unless I've missed it in this thread, nobody seems to have mentioned this issue regarding the 880N. Can anyone who has this player comment - are there any macroblocking issues?

Garyfritz and vjren,

Thanks for the testing, guys. It's good to hear that Momitsu is still supporting us users of "old" CRT technology.

Rick

Sigma chip in V880xx has the or one of the best mpeg decoders, so no macroblocking on this baby. Even mpeg4 runs pretty artifact free on my projector.

Gary> Which pattern/sequence are you using then?

Just on bad flagged material it gived problems, for the rest it should be ok.
Are you running 60Hz?

I just received my v880n. Unfortunately I can't see any output from the DVI-I interface. First I hooked the DVI interface to my Barco 808 projector using a DVI/VGA adaptor cable and toggled throught the "TV-mode" settings with the remote. Nada.

Then I hooked up a composite connection to a direct-view monitor in order to access the configuration screens and changed the video default to dvi/1080i and still nada from the projector. Then I hooked up a vga monitor in place of the Barco in case it might be a negative sync problem. Still nada. Changed the video to DVI/720X1280 in case the monitor didn't like 1080i. Still nada.

Any ideas?

Rick

Well, I can't explain it but when I went back to the v880n this morning I was able to get the DVI/VGA output to work. Maybe I toggled through the "TV modes" too quickly yesterday.

I played "Get Shorty" and it seemed OK at 1080i. The picture quality didn't blow me away, but not bad.

BTW, when you access the "DVI setup" menu, it doesn't display the scan parameters that are currently in use, right? It shows me values for 480p when I have the video mode set to 1080i and the scan rate reported by the projector makes me think it really is 1080i.

I'll try some other discs and do some tweaking and report back later.

Rick

Rick, I also have a Braco 808s and want to get either the 880n or the I-O Data Linkplayer2 but want to get the one that has the sharpest picture via the component or VGA output (Linkplayer only does component) so any more feedback you can give would be great.

What size screen do you have? Also do you have a HTPC to compare it to?

Thanks,

Rick, the "DVI Setup" menu appears to be only an area for you to enter customized resolutions & timings. Then in the "Options" screen you can select "Custom DVI Settings" or something like that in the "Video Setting" pulldown to use those customized settings.

Arghhh. I'm having the remote control code conflict with my Toshiba RPTV that some guys posted about a few months ago.

Just about any button I press on the 880N remote changes something on my Toshiba TW65H80, a 5 year old first generation HDTV ready set. This sucks, because the 880N is a good match for it, since the only HDTV inputs are component.

Sigh. What to do....

> Rick, I also have a Braco 808s and want to get either the 880n or the I-O Data > Linkplayer2 but want to get the one that has the sharpest picture via the >component or VGA output (Linkplayer only does component) so any more
> feedback you can give would be great.
>
> What size screen do you have? Also do you have a HTPC to compare it to?
>
> Thanks,
> __________________
> -Mark

Hi Mark,

My screen is a 92" X 69" da-lite hi-power.

Until recently I was using an HTPC for DVDs, cable TV, and CDs. Then I got an HD/PVR STB from my cable company that does 1080i on component and a transcoder to produce RGB for the Barco. I got a custom cable to take the ouput from the transcoder on BNCs and connect to port 3 on the Barco with the 9-pin d-sub connector. I liked this better than the capture card and dscaler combination on the HTPC, so I started to think maybe I'd replace the HTPC altogether, or just use it as a media storage server.

So I got the v880n. After playing a few DVDs with it today, I think it's good enough to replace the HTPC-based DVD player (Theater-tek with an ATI 9600.)

Sorry I can't compare the v880n with the IO-data player because I've never used one. Would you need a transcoder to get the component signal into the 808S?

Rick

Originally posted by loopy
LarryDi: Extremephono has a picture of the replacement for the v880dx, it looks like the Zenith DB318, cept theirs has the name Oppo on it. Obviously it's a rebadged unit

The Oppo pictured on this link does not look like my Zenith DVB318 and the specifications are considerably different as shown by the comparison chart. The LG DVB418 has HDMI and also looks considerably different with different specifications than this Oppo model. The Oppo may very well be built by LG or based on an LG design under license but it appears to me to be somewhat different than any other model I have seen. I don't think some company called Oppo just magically started building a new upscaling DVD player using the FL2310 chip so if it isn't LG then it is some other company familiar to us that is the OEM.

http://www.extremephono.com/Oppo_DV971.htm

Chris

[QUOTE]Originally posted by vjren
[B]Don't worry, no need for HDCP, it is off.
I've been testing all sorts of connections tonight and on 10+ dvd's (bought) I have no problems and no macrovision on component upsampled or VGA out. (tested both 720P or 1080i)

vjren,

Have you noticed a difference in picture quality between the component interface and the DVI-A when running 720P or 1080i? Any preference for one over the other?

Rick

Thanks for the very promising feed back Rick.

I am not sure what the Barco 808s can handle, it might only be 480P component? Will have to check and find out for sure but I know I have pumped a 480P component signal into it and it worked just fine.

I do like the fact that the 880N has VGA output and I like 720P over 1080i as I have a 106” screen and can actually see the interlace line structure on 1080i.

Originally posted by Rick Wilder
[QUOTE]Originally posted by vjren
[B]Don't worry, no need for HDCP, it is off.
I've been testing all sorts of connections tonight and on 10+ dvd's (bought) I have no problems and no macrovision on component upsampled or VGA out. (tested both 720P or 1080i)
vjren,
Have you noticed a difference in picture quality between the component interface and the DVI-A when running 720P or 1080i? Any preference for one over the other?
Rick
Well, on the old V880 and my H30, VGA was a lot better, but ever since the new V880N the difference is negligable. I tested on a H77 this weekend and component resolution patterns from a test disc were very good. DVI was better though. I notice that in current systems, dvd output section or input sections of projectors are sometimes more influencing the result than the cable used.

I used to think it was my cabling when in fact it was caused by the old V880 soft output over component, and a component to vga converter that probably isn't 75 ohm. We are getting to be pro-sumers, we want professional stuff (we know too much), for a consumer price.

I tested this mainly over 720P, 1080i is not so good for me, but I don't know if its my projectors or the player fault , screen is high res but unstable, bit jumpy..

So far I've only tried 1080i from the v880n, cuz I had a memory block set up for that for my STB.

But it sounds like both vjren and A/Vspec are getting better results from 720p, so I'll give that a try when I get a little time to set it up on my projector.

I also see scan lines more clearly with 1080i than I did with my HTPC, which used 768p.

Rick

This seems like a dumb question, but I haven't tripped over it yet.... If I wanted to use DVD shrink to copy my DVD to my hard drive, would the momitsu be able to play it?

Yes, but it's not the same as playing a DVD.

You can rip only the main feature of the DVD, so you minimize space on your disk. Or you can rip the full disk with all menu structure &etc, which is SUPPOSED to give you full menu access, scene selection, etc, but it doesn't work for me. It just plays sequentially through all files.

Does anybody know how to make that work right?

The remote works differently with VOBs than with DVDs. Next/Prev Chapter doesn't work, MENU does something different, FFwd/FRev go x1 / x2 / x3 / x4 instead of x2 / x4 / 8x / x16 / x32 like a DVD does, etc. Don't ask me why they have different controls on VOBs than on DVDs.

Gary

I am offering my 880n. I will give the details when you pm me.

If anyone is interested. PM me..

I use dvd shrink, works fine for me. You can delete what you want. Menus show up if you keep them.
try www.dvdrhelp.com Many guides for using dvd shrink



Originally posted by garyfritz
Yes, but it's not the same as playing a DVD.

You can rip only the main feature of the DVD, so you minimize space on your disk. Or you can rip the full disk with all menu structure &etc, which is SUPPOSED to give you full menu access, scene selection, etc, but it doesn't work for me. It just plays sequentially through all files.

Does anybody know how to make that work right?

The remote works differently with VOBs than with DVDs. Next/Prev Chapter doesn't work, MENU does something different, FFwd/FRev go x1 / x2 / x3 / x4 instead of x2 / x4 / 8x / x16 / x32 like a DVD does, etc. Don't ask me why they have different controls on VOBs than on DVDs.

Gary

DVD menus don't work as they don't work in any network player. It is not allowed and very expensive to support non protected ifo's on a network disc.

I find the claim that IFO over the network require a special lincense silly.

The structure of an IFO must be well documented by now, as are VOB.
Clearly there is software to create them, i.e. create your own menus for your own DVD of a home movie, without having to pay anyone... clearly, too, the player can play them from a software point of view. as long as a DVD is on the network and isn't protected, why shouldn't it play?

MS-player plays a dvd from my network, no problem....why can't momitsu?

If the IFO structure is not going to be supported, I'll be forced to trash the 880N and go for an HTPC ... which will play networked DVDs, of course.

I think the requirement people are talking about is for playing PROTECTED DVDs over a networked drive (ie the protocol to read/use the CSS key). Of course, since we all use DVDdecryptor to copy the dvds, we don't care...
we only warnt to play home-made unprotected networked dvds!

Momitus: support unprotected IFO files. Today. Or ... expect to lose customers (I'm currently telling all my friend to wait for this feature before buying).

I am offering my 880n. I will give the details when you pm me.

If anyone is interested. PM me..

I did yesterday!

So why are you getting rid of it????

Everthing come across ok RAVEN?

I have an older V880 that I currently have in storage for the time being - pulled my Panasonic RP-91 back into duty.

Now, I'm considering the V880N but have a few questions for current owners:

1. Do the "newest" V880N's still allow 1080i and 720p over component out from "store purchased" DVDs?

2. Could I use a device like this one (http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?T1=121+2288) and still get 1080i and 720p from "store purchased" DVDs? Is HDCP required?

3. Is the HD component quality really better?

4. Is aspect ratio control still available, i.e. 4:3 pillar boxed? I liked that feature of my V880 and is one of the reasons why I still have and use my RP-91.

Thank you in advance for any help.

1. Yes

2. Don't know, since I don't have any component inputs now....I don't think I"ll try it. While the V880N already has Component outputs. The DVI output is DVI-I, so it does both analog and digital...so I've had it connected digitally to my DLP RPTV, and recently switched to using DVI-I to VGA adapter and run VGA to my DLP RPTV.

Though using the actual component outputs has an advantage when you reset (such as upgrade the firmware)....it defaults to outputting NTSC video through both component outputs and composite outputs. At least it did when I was playing around with firmware updates.

3. That depends....I get color artifacts like this (http://lawrence.chen-online.net/index.php?title=momitsu_v880n_horizontal_artifacts&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) on some DVDs....sometimes switching between 720p and 1080i fixes it.

That is if I experience it at 720p, using 1080i sometimes fixes it...and vice versa.

I haven't seen it using VGA output...at 720p....

I tried upgrading firmware to see if the picture problems would go away (I didn't think to try 480p or 480i to see if the problem was only with 720p or 1080i...) But, I switched back, because it didn't help and introduced other problems....

4. Well, I don't know what it was before, so I can't say if it is the same or not. Just that haven't figured out the different aspect ratios actually mean. Basically as long as it comes out right, I don't touch it...I also try not to pause for too long....because the screensaver messes things up.

The Dreamer.

TheDreamer, thanks for your feedback and especially the pic. I actually finally finished the entire thread - took a LONG time, the first two thirds or more mainly deals with waiting for the player's release and shipment delays. ;-)

Re-reading the manual that I just downloaded, it does seem the player has aspect ratio control. This is good for people like me with "LOCK TO FULL with Progressive Signal" HDTVs.

I'm still just considering right now, i.e. "on the fence". On post #634 there is info about the firmware upgrade. On post #637 it is asked of RCE is unlocked and post #641 seems to confirm that it is. However, seems there is still issues with component 720p and 1080i like you have shown. Also, "protected" iTunes music seems to not play. I use iTunes and it would suck to not be able to play the very music I expressly paid for because I really liked it.

Also, this thread has a good chunk devoted to asking about the video INPUT module. Whatever happened there?

Some more questions:

Is the V880 Deluxe able to upconvert to 720p and 1080i over component as easily as my current (older) V880?

Is the DVI output of the V880N or V880 Deluxe able to output component signals like some PC graphics cards or is it just VGA RGB?

Would anyone personally recommend the V880 Deluxe?

Thanks again for any feedback.

Originally posted by Wesley Hester
Some more questions:

Is the V880 Deluxe able to upconvert to 720p and 1080i over component as easily as my current (older) V880?

no difference between them, except that the deluxe has better component output due to a 2nd set of DAC's. The deluxe has macrovision disabled by default and it set to region 0 by default

Is the DVI output of the V880N or V880 Deluxe able to output component signals like some PC graphics cards or is it just VGA RGB?

the DVI on the v880 can carry analog(ie: DVI to VGA adapter) and digital signals, and you can set custom resolutions and refresh rates

Would anyone personally recommend the V880 Deluxe?

I would. I love mine. The deluxe model fixed most of the outstanding issues that the original had, although the remote is a cheap piece of crap.

Thanks again for any feedback.

Thanks loopy. With that feedback, I'm now more interested in the Deluxe model even though I think all of the V880N network features are cool and I could use them. Maybe I'll wait for the next wave of network players that support DivX HD, WMV9 and Nero Digital all together (I know, I'm just dreaming). I just want to take one more stab at HD component before I have to purchase another HDTV in the next 2 to 3 years. Also of note is the fact that the Deluxe model is much cheaper than the V880N though still more expensive than what I paid for my current V880 non-deluxe.

Thanks to everyone who answered all of my questions. The answers really have helped. But of course I have another one. ;-)

With my current V880, I played around with using the DVI output by using the DVI-to-VGA adapter and plugging it into a VGA to component transcoder with pretty good results. Could I do this with the V880N and still get 720p and 1080i like I have with this setup? I tell ya', it's weird seeing "720p DVI" or 1080i DVI" on your component only HDTV you've had for years. Of course by asking this question, you can tell I still really want to justify purchasing the V880N and giving it a try.

Thanks again everyone. Oh, almost forgot: any update on the Video Input Module?

Originally posted by mallu2u
Does the new Deluxe player offer other issue fixes? Also, is there a new firmware expected soon from Momitsu soon?

How do you know if you received a "deluxe"?

Originally posted by swellman
How do you know if you received a "deluxe"?

the big huge "DELUXE" sticker on the front of the box might tip you off. Also, the Deluxe ship with 1.1.13 firmware

I started to post a smart mouth response after I looked all over the unit until I dug the box out of the trash and noticed that big DELUXE sticker. :o

BTW mine shipped with 1.1.14 firmware.

Originally posted by swellman
I started to post a smart mouth response after I looked all over the unit until I dug the box out of the trash and noticed that big DELUXE sticker. :o

BTW mine shipped with 1.1.14 firmware.

well that's good. mine has 1.1.13, but i've had it awhile. btw, I wasn't trying to be smart mouth. and you're right, other than opening it up, there's no way to identify the deluxe from just looking at the player on the outside. internally though, there is a difference

Originally posted by loopy
well that's good. mine has 1.1.13, but i've had it awhile. btw, I wasn't trying to be smart mouth. and you're right, other than opening it up, there's no way to identify the deluxe from just looking at the player on the outside. internally though, there is a difference

I know man ... I was just kidding. My main reason for asking was because I was not aware that I ordered a DELUXE and I saw where one of the firmware warnings was not to update the DELUXE with the release. Your answer was right on target.

Things have slowed down a bit here, let me bring up something that was mentioned before:

I can't find the post now, but I think vjren said you can't have full menus &etc on a DVD that's ripped to a network server. You guys who use network servers, how do you do it? Do you just rip the main feature and lose the ability to have scene selection menus, forward/backward to chapter marks, etc? Or am I doing something wrong?

Gary

Another question about a 880DX but I would assume the same problem. I copied some DivX-HD content to a CD and tried to play it. It tried and only played what seemed like the first frame. I heard sound for a moment but it never played it. Please let me know if this topic is elsewhere but what are the tricks to copying DivX and playing them from a CD?

On the MMC software, If you want more then one folder to show DVD's on a server, how do you do that? I have 4 diffent drives with DVD's on them.

Also do they have to be converted to one big VOB file for playback?

A/Vspec: add a watch folder. Press "+" in that section and add it.
One big one yes, or press play at the top of the directory to play them all sequentially.

swellman: no hd-divx, read the specs. Resolution limited to 720x576.

garyfritz: yes no menus, noone does or is allowed, thanks to mr hollywood.

Huh. So since all you're allowed is VOB files, and the V880N has pretty awful navigation capabilities for VOBs (max of 4x scan), it appears to be a bad idea to append all VOB files in a movie into one big VOB. It might be a cleaner directory structure, but at least with multiple VOBs the V880N can skip from VOB to VOB. That's the closest thing to chapter-skips we can do on networked files, apparently.

BTW does anybody but me find that blindingly-bright blue LED annoying? It's the one that lights up for an active LAN connection. My equipment is on the back wall of the HT, and that damn LED is so bright it totally illuminates my screen to about a 20-30 IRE level!! I had to put a piece of tape over it...

Originally posted by garyfritz
Huh. So since all you're allowed is VOB files, and the V880N has pretty awful navigation capabilities for VOBs (max of 4x scan), it appears to be a bad idea to append all VOB files in a movie into one big VOB. It might be a cleaner directory structure, but at least with multiple VOBs the V880N can skip from VOB to VOB. That's the closest thing to chapter-skips we can do on networked files, apparently.

BTW does anybody but me find that blindingly-bright blue LED annoying? It's the one that lights up for an active LAN connection. My equipment is on the back wall of the HT, and that damn LED is so bright it totally illuminates my screen to about a 20-30 IRE level!! I had to put a piece of tape over it...

I was wondering... does anyone think that that LED might be causing interference with the remote? I know the 880 has the same issues, but just a thought...

Mike

Originally posted by Mike Karolitzky
I was wondering... does anyone think that that LED might be causing interference with the remote? I know the 880 has the same issues, but just a thought...

Mike

I covered mine up a while back...because when I'm laying across the sofa...it shines into my eyes :p

In someways it seems like the remote works better, but it is still pretty poor....

The Dreamer

"add a watch folder. Press "+" in that section and add it.
One big one yes, or press play at the top of the directory to play them all sequentially."

Thanks for the reply. I did try the "watch folder" but it still only shows the movies in the main selected folder..... So even though in the MMC software it only list the movies in the folder choosen, when I use the V880N to connect to the server it will show all those movies plus the ones in the "watch folder"?

Playing the VOB's sequentially instead of one big VOB works fine with no pause or studder or anything when it switches from one to the next?

Any other pointers.... like for music playback.. should I use Itunes (I installed the latest version before I installed MMC) or is it best to just use the folder were all my MP3's are?

Does this player play subtitle files? mainly srt

OK, got my V880N today.

For those who really want to know (CRT FP People) if it compares to a HTPC I will be doing a real side-by-side and posting my results. Since there seems to be so little of this going around these days?!?!? :)

A/V Spec: To answer your "watch folder" question: yes, even though you can't see the watch folders on the PC client you do see them on the Momitsu when you are connected to your server.

Enjoy the 880N! I got mine about two weeks ago and I'm loving it (after some agony getting the network set up). I'm curious to see your side by side comparison with the HTPC.

Rekki: this player does play .srt files, provided the subs are in the same folder as the movie file and the filename of the subs matches the filename of the movie (ie, "movie.avi" in the same directory as "movie.srt"). It implements subs nicely, using a transparent grey background in front of the text to make the text stand out more clearly. Subs on disc play OK for me, but subs over a network sometimes work and sometimes don't.

There is only one thing that is bugging me at the moment about this player, which I hope somebody can clear up for me. I know this player can resume playback of a disc that is stopped if the power is still on, but it seems to get dementia and forgets the place of the disc if you turn the player off. Maybe it's a small thing, but it's godawful annoying, especially since my 3+ year old Daewoo player can do this, and my cheapo chinese divx player can remember the place of the last several discs that were played, even if they were removed from the player. Is there some setting I am missing that will allow the Momitsu to remember where the disc left off after the power is turned off?

Thanks,
Julie

Mark, yes I am definitely interested in your comparison.

Cary

Question: the default 720p setup seems to include some pretty wide front & back porches. There is a lot of raster on both sides of the image. I would like to narrow this down so I can enlarge the image but keep the raster on the face of my CRT tubes. I think I can do that easily enough with the custom DVI settings and EmuMannen's custom-resolution tool (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=330731).

But there is only one custom-DVI setting. If I create a custom setting for 720p, what do I do if I need to run a 480i (NTSC composite video) source? It will still use the default settings of the V880N, which has the same-size image as the default 720p. So if I build a custom 720p, the 720p and NTSC signals will have different-width images.

Is there any way to modify the porches on multiple settings, 720p and NTSC composite in this case, and save them BOTH for future use? Or am I stuck with the smaller images?

Gary

Here is another question, - has anyone used the 880N or DlX model through the DVI-D connection to a HDCP-complient TV?

THanks,
Vadim

Originally posted by Vadim
Here is another question, - has anyone used the 880N or DlX model through the DVI-D connection to a HDCP-complient TV?

THanks,
Vadim

Yes....for a while I was connected using DVI-D to my Samsung DLP...and it was fine....though I got a DVI-I to VGA adapter..and now use the the PC input on my Samsung. Because I'm planning to get a HD cable box...which requires HDCP.

(and buying a switcher isn't in my immediate plans)

The Dreamer.

Anyone have the part number for Radioshacks adapter? I called and they said they do not have one?

Anyone?

I didn't see one on on RS' website, perhaps this would be a source for you?

http://cablewholesale.com/popupspecs/30dv-05300.htm

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=50143960&pfp=SEARCH

compusa has one but it says it is not for in-store pickup... was hoping to pickone up and save the shipping charge and the waiting...

How do you play music and do a slideshow of pictures at the same time???

I just got my 880n in and everything seems to be great, I have it playing vob's and mp3's from my server...
I have one question how do I get it to access the internet and radio through my network .....

Hi, does anyone have the correct timings in V880N format for 1440 x 960 @ 59.94Hz to use with a 9' CRT?
Also, when you save a Custom Resolution are you only able to select this one, or can you make more than one and select it also? I also want a setting for PAL, perhaps timings for 1440 x 864 @ 50Hz.

Cheers

Anyone know were the V880N people went to??? Is there a new forum dedicated to just the V880N and that is were they are now hanging out at?

Can someone post the URL to it? ;)

Seriously... this thread now 42 pages long used to be so active my head would spin from all the posts... what happened now that I got one... is it already out-dated? :)

I plan on trying to call up and return my player today after less then a months worth of use. I'm having to many problems with it. Once again it seems to have the same issues playing some dvd's as the older model has. I can't see spending that much money on a non usable player.

Why not replace the DVD-Rom with an new one that you know works well?

Why am I going to bother investing money in something I just bought that should work without any problems out of the box? I'm disappointed with this thing.

Well, I have had one for just about a week now... and I must say it is the best thing I have had next to S...E....X... well ok maybe not that good but damn close!!! LOL ;)

Like everthing... there are bound to be a few lemons in ever batch of product produced.... the guy or gal that made that one may have been hung-over... or PMS..ing or whatever... $h!t happens from time to time and yes even I have purchased something that was supposed to be the bomb and turned out to be a bomb.

Return it and get another... or something else and see how you do.

question about plugging in a USB drive. I tried mine and it says it's indexing the drive, then after about 3 mintues it says there's nothing on the drive - but there is. It is a 200GB drive, formatted to FAT32, with a number of avis and mpgs on it. Any ideas?

thx

Hello. Just got my v880n today and it's working fairly well. But when watching a scene where the camera pans smoothly, I can see a lot of chop in the play back. Does anyeone have any idea what this might mean, or what I should do to fix it? Thanks!

is this consistent with other dvd's or just this one disc.
disc may need to be cleaned

Well, on further investigation, it turns out it only happens on UK PAL discs when I'm running in 1080i 60hz (though either component or DVI). The player has a setting for 1080i 50hz, but when I try that, my Benq 6100 projector has a hard time displaying the signal and wigs out, so I'm SOL there. I wouldn't be too worried about this, except I just moved to the UK, so I'm expecting to watch more PAL than NTSC discs in the future :-(

I also found that the stuttering is very minimal in 480p, so I guess I'm stuck with that, unless anyone has any ideas. Anyone?

Thanks!

Just use the custom resolution for now.
I recommend 800x600 50Hz Is 60Hz still choppy? I guess so?
There are some resolution tools search for cr4v880

I got my Momitsu 880N just before Christmas.

I hooked it up to my Mitsubishi WS-65807 through the component
video cables. When I setup the momitsu to use 1080i at 60Hz all the
menus display fine. When I play a movie i can see the FBI
warnings, but when the actual movie starts or the DVD menu
appears I see some horizontal and vertical sync problems
and then my screen goes blank. I've tried changing the Video
Setting, Video Zoom and TV type settings from the Momitsu menu.
I haven't had any problems playing movies in 480P.

The TV supports HD upto 1080i. I have an LG LST-3410 HD receiver
which works fine over 1080i.

I've now tried six movies, only one of them worked:
Star Wars Episode 1
Star Wars Episode 2
Hulk
Shrek 2 (Worked in 1080i @60Hz)
Hero
I-Robot

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Sounds like Macrovision protection.

Originally posted by jcmccorm
Mark, yes I am definitely interested in your comparison.

Cary

Ok, I managed to fit in a direct A/B over the weekend.

I used Spiderman Superbit for the test material.

My findings are that both my HTPC and the V880N produce identical results. Color, detail, depth, sharpness... all identical. I could not find one bit of difference between them.

Here is the list of the exact equipement used in this test:

HTPC: Asus NFORCE2 A7N8X-E DELUXE with 3200 Athlon AP barton. Radeon 7200 with filter mod.

Video switcher: Extron RGB video switcher.

Spiderman was ripped to server and was played back first to the V880N while the orig DVD was sync'd up so that they could be compared frame to frame.

I also ran the same test using the orig disc in the V880N and played back the ripped version on the HTPC.

I have heard that there are some Mod's that can be performed to give even better performance from the V880N. Gains of 15 to 25%.

Not sure if I will try any of these as I am very happy with the current picture quality of the V880N but if they are simple Mods then I might give a few of them a try.

Very cool, Mark -- thanks for the post. Am I correct in assuming that both the V880N and the HTPC are connected to the VGA port on your monitor, and you are using the Extron to A/B them? What resolution are you running each at? Have you tried connecting the V880N via DVI (if that's possible on your setup)?

I have a Pio 503cmx plasma, and running the Momitsu to the Pio's DVI at a custom DVI setting (Dot to Dot). The picture is very good, but I did have to adjust the contrast up and the brightness down to get the whites and blacks comparable to my other sources and other inputs.

Oh, and I'd be very interested in any further explanation of -- or cross references to -- the mods you mention.

I believe that you are right about the Macrovision. I put in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

I can't figure out how to disable the Macrovision. My region is set to 0.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by rhsauer
Very cool, Mark -- thanks for the post. Am I correct in assuming that both the V880N and the HTPC are connected to the VGA port on your monitor, and you are using the Extron to A/B them? What resolution are you running each at? Have you tried connecting the V880N via DVI (if that's possible on your setup)?

I have a Pio 503cmx plasma, and running the Momitsu to the Pio's DVI at a custom DVI setting (Dot to Dot). The picture is very good, but I did have to adjust the contrast up and the brightness down to get the whites and blacks comparable to my other sources and other inputs.

Oh, and I'd be very interested in any further explanation of -- or cross references to -- the mods you mention.

I've got a Pio 4340... I tried the app to do the custom resolution, but had no luck.. How'd you get it?

Thanks...


Mike

I emailed Momitsu support and they emailed back some possible custom settings for the 503. FWIW, I can perceive no difference between the picture using 1024x768 in "Full" mode and the custom settings in "Dot to Dot" mode, though you can't really A/B it to test.

Thanks Mark! What aother settings do you use with your HTPC? Playback software, ffdshow, etc.

Cary

A couple of quick questions about the V880/V880N:

(1) Do these players support dual layer DVDs? While I've burned several "single layer" DVD-R's, I plan on moving to dual layer as they become more affordable. Are there any complications with supporting dual layer on one of these players?

(2) I've noticed some complaints about some DVD's not playing, is this a common problem? In other words, will I have some DVD's that just simply won't play at 720p/1080i, and thus I'll have to play at 480p or 480i?

(3) How is the 480p quality on this player, especially if the answer to #2 is yes? I was almost sold on the zenith 318 until I learned that it has issues similar to #2 above, and the 480p quality on the zenith is horrid. I'm looking for an all-in-one solution, especially since I have a projector that requires a separate 30' video cable run for each separate video source.

(4) Any difference in quality at 720p/1080i between component and DVI? Sounds like the consensus from what I've read thus far is no.

(5) Is this player carried locally at any of the big stores (I noticed Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. don't list this player)?

Thanks,
Dustin

Just got the 880n and it's great but i've a problem with the remote. The remote they sent me seems to be universal so when I press a button my Toshiba HDTV would respond to the remote. Is there anyway to make this remote function for the DVD player only?

Originally posted by rekki
Just got the 880n and it's great but i've a problem with the remote. The remote they sent me seems to be universal so when I press a button my Toshiba HDTV would respond to the remote. Is there anyway to make this remote function for the DVD player only?

momitsu remotes are known to do this. if you think that's odd, I have a portable heater that has a remote, and that remote will turn on/off my v880. HEHE

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dustin999
[B]A couple of quick questions about the V880/V880N:

(1) Don't know this one


(2) I've noticed some complaints about some DVD's not playing,

If they don't play, they won't play at all.

(3) Don't know this one either

(4) Any difference in quality at 720p/1080i between component and DVI? Sounds like the consensus from what I've read thus far is no.

(5) Is this player carried locally at any of the big stores (I noticed Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. don't list this player)?
You WILL NOT find this at ANY box store. period.

Very cool, Mark -- thanks for the post. Am I correct in assuming that both the V880N and the HTPC are connected to the VGA port on your monitor, and you are using the Extron to A/B them? What resolution are you running each at? Have you tried connecting the V880N via DVI (if that's possible on your setup)?

That is correct, both VGA through the Extron. Both set at 720P however the HTPC is set to 72Hz refresh and the V880N 60Hz. If someone can tell me a better custom rez to try on the V880N let me know.

I have a Barco 808s CRT projector so there is no DVI input.



Originally posted by jcmccorm
Thanks Mark! What aother settings do you use with your HTPC? Playback software, ffdshow, etc.

Cary

I use WinDVD for playback. I do not use ffshow are any other "tweaking" apps.

I would like to add that I really like the V880N for not only DVD streaming from my fileserver but also music playback, both MP3's from the server and also internet music.

Originally posted by dustin999
A couple of quick questions about the V880/V880N:

(1) Do these players support dual layer DVDs? While I've burned several "single layer" DVD-R's, I plan on moving to dual layer as they become more affordable. Are there any complications with supporting dual layer on one of these players?

Commercially pressed DVDs are just about all dual layer. As for compatibility with burned dual-layer DVD+R and/or DVD-R discs, I have not heard that there are any particular compatibility issues with any player other than those associated with reading regular DVD+R or -R discs.

(2) I've noticed some complaints about some DVD's not playing, is this a common problem? In other words, will I have some DVD's that just simply won't play at 720p/1080i, and thus I'll have to play at 480p or 480i?

I have yet to find a DVD in my collection that does not upconvert with the latest firmware.

(3) How is the 480p quality on this player, especially if the answer to #2 is yes? I was almost sold on the zenith 318 until I learned that it has issues similar to #2 above, and the 480p quality on the zenith is horrid. I'm looking for an all-in-one solution, especially since I have a projector that requires a separate 30' video cable run for each separate video source.

Can't answer this one as I have not tried 480p.

(4) Any difference in quality at 720p/1080i between component and DVI? Sounds like the consensus from what I've read thus far is no.

Not scientific at all, but I find the component input to be more pleasing to my eye . . . at least on my set.

(5) Is this player carried locally at any of the big stores (I noticed Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. don't list this player)?

Not sure anyone other than hkflix carries this player in the US? Seems like every other place I saw was Canada or Australia. I got mine on sale for $349 at hkflix.com.

Any macroblocking on this player?
Is there a link to a user manual or list of all features?

rhsauer:

When did Momitsu return your email? I've got two emails into them asking them how to disable the macrovision.

You can download the manual and other information from here:
http://www.hkflix.com/hardware/xq/asp/pid.65/qx/details.htm

They returned my email within a few business days, back in November. I'm confused by the Macrovision conversation on here. When (via what connection(s)) and at what times is Macrovision an issue with the Momitsu? I have never found it to be a problem, and I am connected via DVI.

Are people here finding that Macrovision prevents the display of DVDs, or only prevents copying of DVDs?

Originally posted by larryep
is this consistent with other dvd's or just this one disc.
disc may need to be cleaned

I've had it happen with 2 disks now were sealed and I just opened.

I got my Momitsu last week.

I set it up to use Component 1080i @60Hz.

I then put in Star Wars Episode 1 and it would not display on my Mitsubishi WS-65807 tv. I then put in Star Wars Episode 2, same thing. They both displayed fine at 480p, but would not upconvert to 1080i.

After that I randomly tried Shrek 2. That worked fine at 1080i.

So I kept trying other movies:
Hulk
I-Robot
Hero

All of them would not display at 1080i.

I posted this a few days ago and an astute AVSForum reader, A/VSpec, pointed out that Macrovision may be preventing me from watching at 1080i.
Sure enough, armed with that information, I was able to pick out plenty of DVDs from my collection that are not Macrovision protected and they work fine at 1080i.

I know that the Momitsu V880N has a way of disabling Macrovision, but I cannot seem to figure out how. My region coding is set to 0 and the firmware is up to date. I've emailed Momitsu twice and have gotten no response. I assume they are out on holiday.

What are your menu settings? Do you have a Macrovision option?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Has the problem with upconverting the 1080i on dvds been fixed? I have been reading how lots of people are having a hard time I wanted to purcahse a dvd player and I am torn righ tnow between the Neu Neu and zenith 318. I have been looking at the momitsu and it seems it has a rough time upconverting over component as does the 318. How does this momitsu fare? any suggestions are 100% appreciated.

Originally posted by dpoverlord
Has the problem with upconverting the 1080i on dvds been fixed? I have been reading how lots of people are having a hard time I wanted to purcahse a dvd player and I am torn righ tnow between the Neu Neu and zenith 318. I have been looking at the momitsu and it seems it has a rough time upconverting over component as does the 318. How does this momitsu fare? any suggestions are 100% appreciated.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I really got the impression that the Momitsu really performs well compared to the Zenith. With the Zenith 318, I've read numerous complaints about not being able to play many DVD's through upscaling, and lots of concerns about the quality at 480i/480p. It sounds like a great player if the upscaling works, but if it doesn't, you're hosed with crappy 480i/480p. On top of that, there's all these firmware issues, if you have certain firmware, certain features work while others don't, etc.

On the other hand, with the Momitsu, I don't see a lot of these same problems. I'm interested in both players due to my component needs, and the Zenith seems like the bargain buy. I'm just trying to find out if all the complaints against the Zenith are due to people using bad firmware versions, or if everyone who owns the player will spend practically all their time fighting with the equipment to make it play a DVD, and switching back and forth between DVD players if you need 480i/480p, etc.

Has anyone used both players and, if so, can you give us a rundown on just how exaggerated (or correct) the complaints are against both players?

Thanks,
Dustin

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I really got the impression that the Momitsu really performs well compared to the Zenith. With the Zenith 318, I've read numerous complaints about not being able to play many DVD's through upscaling, and lots of concerns about the quality at 480i/480p. It sounds like a great player if the upscaling works, but if it doesn't, you're hosed with crappy 480i/480p. On top of that, there's all these firmware issues, if you have certain firmware, certain features work while others don't, etc.

On the other hand, with the Momitsu, I don't see a lot of these same problems. I'm interested in both players due to my component needs, and the Zenith seems like the bargain buy. I'm just trying to find out if all the complaints against the Zenith are due to people using bad firmware versions, or if everyone who owns the player will spend practically all their time fighting with the equipment to make it play a DVD, and switching back and forth between DVD players if you need 480i/480p, etc.

Has anyone used both players and, if so, can you give us a rundown on just how exaggerated (or correct) the complaints are against both players?

Thanks,
Dustin
This is exactly what I am wondering... I gather if we dont need the networking capability the Momitsu deluxe is the better option, however I have heard controversial reports also on the 318. Any input would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Jonathan

Is the US version and European version the same except the Scart connector? Anyone here that use the european version that can confirm there are not any additional problems etc?

Kjell

I'm having a problem playing movies with QPEL and GMC, is there a way to make the 880n play movies that have QPEL/GMC?

Can someone who's V880N is working properly (IE, disabled Macrovision) tell me what firmware version they are running? I'm on version 08-07-041105-01-MMS-108-000.

Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by jschwartz73
I know that the Momitsu V880N has a way of disabling Macrovision, but I cannot seem to figure out how.

TO DISABLE MACROVISION you have to access hidden menu by pressing the arrow keys on the remote in this order:

DOWN, UP, DOWN, UP, RIGHT, LEFT

There should be an option to disable macrovision.
This works for V880 and I hope it will for V880N too.

Thanks for the tip.

I've tried accessing the hidden menu. I don't believe that it works on the V880N.

It might be that the DVI/VGA output does not have the Macrovision problem but just the component video output when scaling past 480P.

Originally posted by jschwartz73
I got my Momitsu last week.

I set it up to use Component 1080i @60Hz. I then put in Star Wars Episode 1 and it would not display on my Mitsubishi WS-65807 tv. I then put in Star Wars Episode 2, same thing. They both displayed fine at 480p, but would not upconvert to 1080i. After that I randomly tried Shrek 2. That worked fine at 1080i. So I kept trying other movies: Hulk, I-Robot, Hero. All of them would not display at 1080i. Thanks in advance.

Have you updated the firmware? I have played SW EP1 and 2, Hulk and Hero on my V880N and all up converted to 1080i. Do not have I Robot to test.

My V880N says that there are no updates available.

Has anyone been able to upconvert macrovision DVDs on the 880N over component video?

enormus: what firmware version are you using?

thanks in advance.

jschwartz37-> Read the thread or the momitsu website on how to update.

I tested multiple 10+ discs and all played using the november firmware and upscaling, I'll try the test again now I reverted to oktober firmware.

vjren: Are you using component video?

My momitsu is up-to-date with the latest firmware according to the
http://www.momitsu.com/v880nupdate.html page. I have the November
firmware installed.

Do you have a macrovision option?

Thanks in advance.

has anyone tested the 880 Deluxe / N model against the LG / Zenith 318???
I am torn between these two looking for some honest opinions. Thanks!
~Jonathan

I tested both.

You might say up to date but the old one is better, maybe there is a macrovision difference between the two versions. I will try to test that.

There is no macrovision option to switch off public

are the movies that you are testing with Macrovision movies?

Are you using component video cables?

thanks for all your help.

Originally posted by jschwartz73
My V880N says that there are no updates available.

Has anyone been able to upconvert macrovision DVDs on the 880N over component video?

enormus: what firmware version are you using?

thanks in advance.

My V880N came pre-loaded with the November firmware:

Release Version : 08-07-041105-01-MMS-108-000
Release Date : 5 November 2004, 12:00 +8GMT

All the DVDs previously mentioned as causing problems -- and that I have in my collection -- work for me. Star Wars Ep 1 and 2 in particular look excellent. My V880N displays 1080i at all times other than when I pause and the screen saver kicks in. I am currently connected only with component video cables (although DVI works great as well). I have not disabled Macrovision via the remote trick, but HKFLIX advertised this as coming with Macrovision disabled, so perhaps it was done by them. My box did not appear to have been opened, however. No complaints other than the screensaver issue.

Originally posted by vjren
I tested both.

You might say up to date but the old one is better, maybe there is a macrovision difference between the two versions. I will try to test that.

There is no macrovision option to switch off public

How did you feel abou the 880 and the z318??

Here is what is in my setup menu:

Options:
Screen Saver - 10 minutes
System Language = English
Encoding Language = English
Subtitle Language = Subtitle Off
Internet Security = SSL2
Video Setting = HDTV Component 480P
Video Zoom = Fit to Screen
Audio Setting = AC3 5.1 Output
Browser Option =
Sound Option = System Alert Sound
Firmware version= 08-07-041105-01-MMS-108-000
File System Version = 01-MMS

DVD Setup:
VCD PBC = On
DVD Parental Level = Off
Tv Type = 16:9
Enable Auto Play = On
Set Region = 0, Country: Open

I've got to keep the video setting to 480P and switch to 1080i manually since most DVDs are failing because of Macrovision on the DVD.

Can someone confirm the differences between my menu settings and theirs on the V880N?

Thanks in advance.

I just spoke with Momitsu on the phone.

They say that the Momitsu V880N does not have a way to disable the macrovision.

I also asked why some V880Ns appear to have the macrovision disabled and they said that all V880Ns are identical.

I wonder if hkflix does something to the machine to disable the macrovision.

They also say that it is a legal issue so they wouldn't talk about it too much.

I'm confused by this conversation. I thought Macrovision was supposed to prevent the copying of DVDs (to VHS or, presumably, to another DVD via a DVD recorder). I didn't think it had anything to do with upconverting of DVDs. In fact, I'm pretty darn sure that Macrovision has been around a lot longer than the concept of upconverted DVDs. There is no legal prohibition to the display of upconverted of DVDs (without copying), and if Macrovision is interfering with that process for some reason, it doesn't need to be "disabled" -- the DVD player isn't working right.

Is your Momitsu attached directly to your monitor via component cables, or are you interposing some other device (e.g., a component switch or switching receiver) in the process? I've heard that sometimes that can cause Macrovision related problems, and that would just as easily indicate a problem with the switch or receiver as with the Momitsu.

My man's intuition tells me that the process of upconverting is similar to the process of copying, thus the macrovision is blocking the upconverting because
it thinks it is being copied.

I have tried hooking my momitsu directly to my tv and through a switching
receiver. Neither one works on macrovision DVDs.

A new firmware was just released for the V880N.

Still no help with my macrovision problem, but if you have a V880n you may want to do the upgrade.

Regarding the new firmware released Dec. 29 (08-41-041229-01-MMS-108-00)

I tried this on my player and the problem of stuttering MPEG playback over the network still exists. This behavior was introduced with 08-07-041105-01-MMS-108-000 and has not yet been fixed, from my testing. I did not do any Macrovision testing over components with the new version.

I reverted back to 07-87-041018-01-MMS-108-000 which plays back files smooth as silk. I have emailed Momitsu but haven't heard anything back yet. FYI jschwartz73 - I am using components, player set to 720P and I tested SW Episode 1. Double checked my Panny DLP in service mode and it was displaying true 720P, so for me the upconverting works fine on this firmware version, over component outputs. Again I haven't tried it on any of the newer ones. My menu settings are nearly identical to yours - except I use "actual size" for video zoom and "HDTV Component 720P" for video mode.

A question for other v880n owners - have you noticed any clicks or pops over the digital audio outputs when changing chapters / navigating menus in DVDs? I also emailed Momitsu about it and they replied they were working on a fix, but that has not been fixed for me in the new Dec. firmware. I'm starting to think it may be a defective unit. It is a loud digital cracking sound, not the built in navigation sounds that can optionally be enabled.

slidey,

I get the click/pop sounds too. I'm connected through the opitical and still get the click/pops. I only get it when the disc first loads and the trailers or FBI warning starts. I never get it through the movie. how about you?

I can tell you the new firmware really screws up the music playback from a server.... now there is a very long delay before it plays the next track on random play.

phillycheese22:
Me too - never pops during regular playback. I just get them any time content changes, like a different title plays or menu loads. Also when I'm indexing back and forth through chapters. Almost like it's any time the laser aperture "kicks in". Happens whether I use optical or coax digital outs.

I was emailing back and forth with Momitsu a week or two ago, they asked for my model of receiver/amp and said they were trying to fix it in a firmware release. Haven't heard anything since though.

Also ended up reverting back to 07-87-041018-01-MMS-108-000 for very bad studder playback of MPEG over network and music playback delay problem.

I sent Momitsu an email a while back asking them about discrete IR codes for On/Off and display output but I never heard back from them?

Anyone know how to really get intouch with them?

I've actually had fairly good luck getting replies, as long as you never mention anything about Macrovision, secret codes, etc. in the email.

Sounds like the new firmware creates more problems than it fixes, but has anyone noticed whether or not it corrects the "resume from screensaver issue" when upconverting?

also noted with new firmware, the DVI 720P 60hz and DVI 720P 50hz realy show different quality in decoding.

when using 50hz you se alot of pixalisation and bad color blur :-(

/N

Well I hope they fix the problems in the firmware updates.

I have been watching a few PAL DVD's I have and the video quality is very good but since I am running it at DVI 720P 60Hz I get the voice speedup problem. Would really like to see them at 50Hz.

Also I am very impressed with how this player handles video source DVD's. Much better then my HTPC did with WinDVD.

Hmmm, I don't see any reason to upgrade beyond the October 18th firmware yet....especially if the network stutter problem hasn't been fixed yet.

But, if they are working on new features....one thing I miss from my old DVD player is the other time display formats....like the amount of time left in the movie or the time position in the chapter (useful when playback get's stuck and you want to quickly find the spot after you try cleaning the disc, etc.)

Though the screensaver issue is kind of annoying....I just bumped mine to like 30 minutes....overkill to step away and come back before it kicks in....yet still there so if I forget to return....

Somebody mentioned "I, Robot"...I watched the DVD the other day...it was fine a DVI->VGA 720p. I've settled on using this as what works best for my setup.

Though it could be that there's a problem specific to the component outputs that doesn't appear in the DVI analog outputs.

One thing is that I changed my region code to '1'. Don't currently have a need to play non region 1 DVDs, and the enhanced region protected DVDs won't play with the region code set to 0. Don't know if they were planning to add code to bypass this, but original firmware still wouldn't play these DVDs with the region set to '1'. So, having it so they will play this way is good enough for me.

The Dreamer.

anyone have this problem?

When I tried playing a Xvid movie over the network, the audio would be out of sync. So I tried playing the movie on the computer and the audio is perfectly in-synced. I tried burning the movie on a DVD-R and playing it on the v880n but audio is still be out of sync. Anyone know how I can fix this?

->rekki: mine is in sync, never had that problem using oktober firmware.
Your display might be slow?

To all others, when I play DVI colours red green blue are ok.
After testing the latest firmware, using component output blue is still ok but green and red are sort of broken, brown yellowish, even on interlaced and ntsc. Tried different projector, gave same problem.

Anyone playing latest firmware having the right colours over component?

DVI 50 Hz works pretty good, too bad the network is still off, back we go to oktober..

From reading this forum, it seems like I am the only person having Macrovision problems with the 880N. There must be a hidden menu of some sort to enable or disable it.

I'll probably exchange it for the 880DX so that I can get it to work.

Anyone have any last minute suggestions?

jschwartz73 -- In the Momitsu manual on page 11 it says "Copy protection on some PAL DVDs may prevent progressive scan." Are the DVDs you're having problems with PAL by any chance?

All my dvd's are NTSC.

I have tried setting the region code to both 0 and 1.

I got a reply from Momitsu about the stuttering playback over the network - they said it "will be fixed in the next firmware release". No word on the clicking/popping yet. I did reply and send them some of the other reported issues above in this thread.

jschwartz73
Momitsu 880N does not allow you to disable macrovision. only 880 dx could.

but you can still set the region to 0 unlimited times

Originally posted by slidey
I got a reply from Momitsu about the stuttering playback over the network - they said it "will be fixed in the next firmware release". No word on the clicking/popping yet. I did reply and send them some of the other reported issues above in this thread.

Very cool...

Did you mention the long delay in music playback from a server?

Also about the DVI 720P 50Hz?

Sure wish they would reply to my email about discrete on/off power codes and direct access codes for the output format... man would I like to autmate this thing into my Theater so My AMX system can control it!

I did mention the music playback problem, and the color blur @ 50Hz playback, but looking back through I missed the audio speedup problem @ 50 Hz. I included a link to this thread, and just got another reply basically saying 'thanks for the info, we've sent it over to our firmware team'.

Originally posted by A/Vspec
Sure wish they would reply to my email about discrete on/off power codes and direct access codes for the output format... man would I like to autmate this thing into my Theater so My AMX system can control it!

I have asked them a few times as well but received no response. However, I did find a way to simulate a discrete off: just press power twice. If it's on, it will switch off but it the V880N is unable to switch itself back on again right away. If it's off, it will switch on and off again. Either way, it is off.

Hope this helps.

Best regards, Stefan.

> jschwartz73
> Momitsu 880N does not allow you to disable macrovision. only 880 dx could.
>
> but you can still set the region to 0 unlimited times

I do know this, but why am I the only person with the 880N having trouble playing movies that have macrovision. Such as Star Wars Episode 1 and 2.
I-Robot, etc.

Momitsu support said they would try to help me with the problem, but it is hard since they do not respond to emails that mention macrovision, etc.

Any suggestions?

720P component doesn't run on my Toshiba 57h81 TV. When I set the settings to 1080i it works fine, and 420P works fine. I am running both settings on component. But for some reason the 720P shows nothing on my screen. Is this because of my TV or is there something wrong with the v800n?

rekki,
Your Toshiba can handle 1080i fine, but not 720P. So it's the TV. But there's nothing wrong with the TV, it was never intended to be able to take 720P.

I'm now on the verge of returning the V880N and getting a v880DX. Does anyone have a V880DX and know if the remote interfers with a Pioneer VSX-1014?

Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by jschwartz73
I'm now on the verge of returning the V880N and getting a v880DX. Does anyone have a V880DX and know if the remote interfers with a Pioneer VSX-1014?

Thanks in advance.

I have the DX and Pioneer VSX-814S and it interferes.

I would bet that it will interfere since Pioneer probably uses the same IR codes for all of their receivers (I dont know about Elite though).

I really like the player though. I am actually going to sell my pioneer and get a harman kardon due to this.

I just bought my Pioneer VSX-1014 about two weeks ago.

So I'd rather not have this kind of problem. Can you tell
me what specifically is interferring?

Hey has there been any news on the INPUT MODULE????
I really want it but it seems most have forgotton abot it. Even a vaigue release date would be good

the video input kit is suppose to be released sometime soon, like within the next month or so, it's for v880n only

lol yeah its been some time soon for months, the momitsu website still says expect it July 2004!!!

Originally posted by jschwartz73
I just bought my Pioneer VSX-1014 about two weeks ago.

So I'd rather not have this kind of problem. Can you tell
me what specifically is interferring?

First off, the remote is not very responsive at all and I think the pioneer is interfering with it. It may be a defective unit, but im not sure yet.

Also, when playing a dvd, if you try to turn up the volume, the dvd will sometimes change chapters or completely turn off. It is very annoying.

I highly doubt that there are any pioneer receivers (at least newer) that aren't affected by this. It would be strange for pioneer to use difference ir codes for their receivers.

The remote for the V880N is pretty unresponsive. I mapped the entire remote to my pioneer remote and have had much better luck.

The reason I was asking about the problems you were experiencing was based on if it could be worked around... but certainly changing the volume and having the DVD player shut off would be unacceptable.

Thanks for you information. Looks like I'll have to stick with the 880N and hope for a fix for my macrovision problem.

I don't know why other people aren't having the same problems though. that is wierd. I wonder if I should exchange my V880N for another one.

Does any one know if I can buy and upgrade later the V880N DVD player (install and setup Video Input module) after this module will be released?

Thanks in advance.

Yes Boris, it can be added later on even if you buy now.

As for the remote. It is a weak remote and does not have a back light.

What I did was just captured all the codes into an MX700 remote. If anyone needs the file just PM me. The MX remote controls it very well even at wide angles.

I am now working on getting the codes into my AMX system so I can control it from my touch panel. I would like to get discrete power codes and output format codes from Momitsu but will have to see how that goes.

Anyone with a Momitsu 880N who could send me a link for download of Momitsu Media Center for Mac? I want to try it with My IO Data AVLP2/DVDG...

I just watched my new Star Wars (episode IV, the original) on my v880N. I noticed the subtitles for alien speech (Greedo in the bar, Jabba in the added scene at the spaceport) appear below the picture, which is fine. But many of them get SKIPPED! I assume they must be handled by the DVD player, yes? How could it drop a line of subtitle??

Originally posted by Bjorn_E
Anyone with a Momitsu 880N who could send me a link for download of Momitsu Media Center for Mac? I want to try it with My IO Data AVLP2/DVDG...

Bjorn, you need to write email to momitsu and give your serial number . they will give you the link.

Originally posted by davidthomas
Bjorn, you need to write email to momitsu and give your serial number . they will give you the link.

I'd do that if I'd have a Momitsu. Currently I have a IO Data AVLP2, so could anybody, please, give me the link?

Is the 880N supposed to switch to 50Hz automatically when a PAL dvd is inserted?

Kjell

Are there any controls on this player for setting contrast, brightness etc like on the Bravo? Or is this only adjustable via the input settings on your projector/TV?

The player has Brightness, Contrast and saturation controls. We do hope that gamma control is on the way in another firmware :confused:

Where are the bright / contrast / sat controls? Are those only in the more recent firmware?

Gamma would be great. I really need to boost gamma in my setup.

Those controls aren't mentioned in their manual. Please let us know how to access them!

Gamma control would be awesome.

By pressing Setup...

press setup during playback of movie and voila.

K

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I used "setup" before playing a DVD and didn't see those settings.

With all the problems you guys seem to have had with this player, do you regret buying? I was thinking of getting one of these players or the dvd-s97 to pair with a ae700 or a sony-hs50 but now I'm not so sure. I like the idea that you can pixal map to the projector but the scaler on the panny seems to be better any way. It seems to be six of one and half a dozen of the other. I'm in a pal country and I've never known ANY player to be region coded here, apart from computer dvd drives. We don't have HDTV so the best sourse is dvd and naturally I want the best picture at the least price. I had thought of going the htpc route but why bother with these new scaling players. SO is this momitsu good enough? Do I go with the panny? Or do I have to spend more and construct a htpc which of course has it's own problems. Some of you have owned these players or the dvd-s97, what do you now think?

Exactly, what kind of Macrovision problems are you experiencing? Are they playback problems?

Originally posted by Mothball
With all the problems you guys seem to have had with this player, do you regret buying? I was thinking of getting one of these players or the dvd-s97 to pair with a ae700 or a sony-hs50 but now I'm not so sure. I like the idea that you can pixal map to the projector but the scaler on the panny seems to be better any way. It seems to be six of one and half a dozen of the other. I'm in a pal country and I've never known ANY player to be region coded here, apart from computer dvd drives. We don't have HDTV so the best sourse is dvd and naturally I want the best picture at the least price. I had thought of going the htpc route but why bother with these new scaling players. SO is this momitsu good enough? Do I go with the panny? Or do I have to spend more and construct a htpc which of course has it's own problems. Some of you have owned these players or the dvd-s97, what do you now think?
Having ethernet aboard is really fun, for native dvi pixelmapping there is no better, tried denon as well. Just one disadvantage, progressive flagged interlaced dvd's. But i don't encounter them as often.

No macroblocking that if for sure.

V880N might not be perfect but its dvi performance at least is.

Logic Design:
This is from an earlier post I made.

I have the Momitsu V880N setup to use Component 1080i @60Hz.

If I put in Star Wars Episode 1 it will not display on my Mitsubishi WS-65807 tv. I then put in Star Wars Episode 2, same thing. They both displayed fine at 480p, but would not upconvert to 1080i.

After that I randomly tried Shrek 2. That worked fine at 1080i.

So I kept trying other movies:
Hulk
I-Robot
Hero

All of them would not display at 1080i.

I'm about 98% sure this is a Macrovision problem.

Any suggestions?

Can someone confirm that the region code can be changed unlimited times now?
When I recieved the 880N it said max 5 times, but now (after upgrading to october firmware) there are no warnings about times remaining.
Can someone who has actually changed the region more than 5 times confirm this?

Kjell

jschwartz73: Have you tried 720P? I never did test 1080i w/ Episode 1 but I will try to do that tonight.

kjelli: I have changed mine more than 5 times, although only between 0 and 1.

has anyone tried the 880N with a Nec Plasma ? I am very tempted to purchase this model because my Nec is non HDCP and I would love to use DVI as I have heard such great things about it.
Also, does the 880N allow for a full screen picture also on those DVD which would normally have bars on top and bottom ? What I do now is use the zoom function on the Nec, but there is a loss of quality (not great and particularly small on superbit DVDs, but still ). I would think this has to do with the upconversion feature of the 880N.

Finally, any recommendation as to where to buy it would be welcome.

Thank you a million for any advice.

Another question on the 880N. I think I read a post concerning software for the Mac. could anyone confirm that software does exist for the Mac also ?

thx again

Has anyone had any success in playing AVI files on the V880DX or V880N?

If so, what is the key to success? I tried playing a disk with an AVI encoded with Xvid MPEG4 and it didn't recognize it. I know that they are supposed to read MPEG4 files.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

My TV does not support 720p.

Has anybody else noticed dropped subtitles? If you have the new Star Wars ep IV, check out the scene with Greedo in the bar and Jabba at the spaceport. I noticed missing lines of subtitle several times. Didn't notice any with Jabba in ep VI, though.

jschwartz73: I tried 1080i over component w/ Ep. 1 and it worked fine for me...wish I had better news.

windwaves: I don't have a NEC plasma but can address your other questions. There is a zoom feature like many players, which can zoom in on DVDs that are not anamorphic and contain 16x9 material. In theory, the quality would be marginally improved with upscaling, but I wouldn't expect much of an improvement. I purchased my unit from atacom.com and service was good. I got it quickly and they were responsive to emails and phone calls. I have not personally seen the Mac software, but according to Momitsu's site you just need to send them an email w/ your serial number to get it.

Rockstrongo: I have played regular (non MP4) AVI files with no problems. As for DivX and/or Xvid MP4 encoded AVIs, it seems like the one thing that makes them incompatible for sure is QPEL or QPIXEL, which is apparently an option when they are encoded. I recently saw this info on another site which filled in some of the blanks:


...the movie was encoded with the XviD 1.0.0.3 codec for video and Lame VBR MP3 audio....adds that the video is encoded with quarter-pixel motion estimation (QPEL) but it is *not* encoded with global motion compensation (GMC).

standalone playback
...the DivX/XviD stand alones players i know of will not decode files encoded with the QPEL (or GMC) option(s). the players also tend to lose audio sync with VBR audio. reliable playback on standalones would require re-encoding both the audio and the video...

Mmm... So many questions.... So few answers...

Has anyonbe tried streaming VOB files from a USB HD drive connected to the momi?
I have tried this but no luck, stutter and even more stutter.
Come to think of it, since its usb 1,1 it should not work either?

Slidey: thanks, I dont have to worry then. Good to know.

Kjell

Hi,
I would like to ask if somebody could list a few PCMCIA devices and cardbus PCMCIA, compatible with 880N. And also briefly explain the difference between PCMCIA card and PCMCIA cardbus.

Thanks in advance.

I have a Plasma (Fuji) and am feeding through DVI--the Momitsu has a choice for DVI (Plasma) in setup, which I am using. 480p also worked as did a few others. 1080i did not work--it said "out of range". I can't see any difference in quality although picture size changes. What exactly is it doing and do I change settings for different DVDs? Why does 1080i not work as I thought the Momistsu uspscales DVDs to 1080i? Confused.

Your Fujitsu may accept only computer settings (1024x768, etc.) through DVI. My Pio 503 works the same way. Check the flat panel tv forum on here -- I think there is some discussion of this with reference to Fujis. Find the setting that works best for you, and stick with it -- there's no need to change for different DVDs.

Originally posted by rhsauer
Your Fujitsu may accept only computer settings (1024x768, etc.) through DVI. My Pio 503 works the same way. Check the flat panel tv forum on here -- I think there is some discussion of this with reference to Fujis. Find the setting that works best for you, and stick with it -- there's no need to change for different DVDs.

Thanks the "Plasma" pre-defined setting on my Fuji works well although I can't see a difference between it and component. Its just confusing--there are so many different choices, then I read stuff about optimizing your screen with the screen controls, etc. I'd like to plug it in and have it optimize itself! :D

The DVI on the Fujitsu does not work. If you look under the screens thread you can follow the discussions with Fujitsu. Fujitsu refuses to admitt the problem and will not fix it. We all get the out of range message. They claim that there are many DVI-D standards and they choice one of them (Which of course doesn't work). I have a 50" Fujitsu and have bought a NueNeo 108 as a DVD player since it will upscales over Component.

Is there anyone out there using some other setting besides the 60Hz refresh on the DVI/VGA output?

Originally posted by rhsauer
Your Fujitsu may accept only computer settings (1024x768, etc.) through DVI. My Pio 503 works the same way. Check the flat panel tv forum on here -- I think there is some discussion of this with reference to Fujis. Find the setting that works best for you, and stick with it -- there's no need to change for different DVDs.


rhsauer, Does your Pio 503 have the PDA-5002 card? I have the same, a 503CMX & PDA-5002, and was looking at the Momitsu V880, is that still a worthwhile combo, or is there a better choice/ I'm also concerned that the Momitsu remote will conflict with the Pio remote...

thanks..

Yes, I have the 5002 card. The Momitsu works very well with the 503/5002 combo -- and you can connect it to the DVI port -- but some people (including me) seem to find that you get the best picture by connecting the Momitsu via component -- either to the Pio's component inputs or via component to VGA breakout cable to the Pio's VGA input. Check out this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=465417

I have the V880N (the network version), which does not conflict with the Pio's remote codes. I have read, however, that the V880 and V880 Deluxe might conflict, but I don't have those models so can't tell you for sure.

I haven't spent any time looking at the really high end DVD players for comparison, but the Momitsu/Pio 503 combo (connected via component at 720p) produces a picture that's virtually artifact free, very smooth, saturated, and with good (for the Pio) black levels -- almost HD like. It was a significan, obvious improvement from the 4 year old Sony DVD player I had been using. The only issue I have with it is that there is a visible judder on some horizontal pans, but I think that's a limitation of the Pio.

Originally posted by FTerry
The DVI on the Fujitsu does not work. If you look under the screens thread you can follow the discussions with Fujitsu. Fujitsu refuses to admitt the problem and will not fix it. We all get the out of range message. They claim that there are many DVI-D standards and they choice one of them (Which of course doesn't work). I have a 50" Fujitsu and have bought a NueNeo 108 as a DVD player since it will upscales over Component.

Well, my point is I tried both Component and DVI and can't see a difference--the picture is very good, but of course it may be better if it was upscaled to 1080--I don't know because I have nothing to compare it to.

Originally posted by rhsauer
Your Fujitsu may accept only computer settings (1024x768, etc.) through DVI. My Pio 503 works the same way. Check the flat panel tv forum on here -- I think there is some discussion of this with reference to Fujis. Find the setting that works best for you, and stick with it -- there's no need to change for different DVDs.

Actually, I tried the 1024 x 768 and that is actually the correct setting. Others look good for DVD, but the MM screen was not fitting correctly except with 1024 x 768 although I didn't realize it--I couldn't see there was a "shuffle" choice that was scrolled of the screen.

windwaves: I also have a Nec 42XM2 plasma (non-hdcp), and the V880N works fine through DVI.
alltough i am not happy with 1024*768 thorugh DVI(pixel mapping), i get good result with 720P and 1080i, cant say witch looks best though.

/N

thank you Nicke - I guess I might not rush this purchase after all...

Can anyone please tell me, will the V880N benefit from having a 802.11g ADSL wireless router instead of an 11b one (i.e. 54Mbps instead of 11Mbps)? I plan on connecting the 880N directly to the router with an ethernet cable and the PC with the media on will be using a wireless connection to the router. Is there any reason for upgrading my 11b kit to 11g kit with the V880N in mind? I know the V880N isn't compatible with that 11g standard so is limited to 11Mpbs but I presume that's just using the wireless connection option, as I'll be hardwiring mine to the router I'm assuming any extra speed I can get between my pc upstairs and the router will be of benefit, correct? My V880N hasn't arrived yet but I'm planning ahead....

Cheers,
Andy.

Zandy: If you plan to stream higher quality stuff, like vob files, i think youl need the PC on 54mbit wlan.
11mbit only has a througput of about half, and that will probably lead to studder in the streaming.

Windwaves: I whould still recommend the player, since this screen cant use the HDCP active players, and since the streaming feature is really cool i cant really see any better chioce out there right now.

/N

The V880N can connect, wirelessly, to a 54Mbps LAN if you attach a wireless bridge (or the Linksys 54 Wireless Gaming Adapter, which functions like a bridge) to the wired network jack.

Has anybody got any clue what software this momitsu unit contains?

Is it linux? If so, is it possible to get hold of the sourcecode?

DrE

Well, my V880N arrived today (shipped from hongkong on Saturday by EMS Speedpost, certainly lived up to it's name!). I'm having a lot of problems with the media playback, music playback works but there are occassional dropouts, dvd playback was a non starter (slideshow)! I am still using my 11Mbps network at the moment though, hopefully things will improve when I get my 54Mbps equipment. Several times I've had 'Cannot connect to server' messages, this seems to happen when I click on an artist name in the music section, it just sits there for a while then comes back with the error. Other times it works fine. The remote control is also interfering with my Toshiba 36ZP48 TV which is a major irritation! DVD playback is awesome so there was some good news tonight! Overall, impressed with the dvd playback and the feel of the unit (a lot better than the original V880). The media server side of it at the moment is pretty much unusable, as I said I'm hoping that's just my network to blame but I somehow doubt that's the only problem....

Cheers,
Andy.

Originally posted by zAndy12
Well, my V880N arrived today (shipped from hongkong on Saturday by EMS Speedpost, certainly lived up to it's name!). I'm having a lot of problems with the media playback, music playback works but there are occassional dropouts, dvd playback was a non starter (slideshow)! I am still using my 11Mbps network at the moment though, hopefully things will improve when I get my 54Mbps equipment. Several times I've had 'Cannot connect to server' messages, this seems to happen when I click on an artist name in the music section, it just sits there for a while then comes back with the error. Other times it works fine. The remote control is also interfering with my Toshiba 36ZP48 TV which is a major irritation! DVD playback is awesome so there was some good news tonight! Overall, impressed with the dvd playback and the feel of the unit (a lot better than the original V880). The media server side of it at the moment is pretty much unusable, as I said I'm hoping that's just my network to blame but I somehow doubt that's the only problem....

Cheers,
Andy.


I have mine hard wired to a Linksys BEFSx41

http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=23&prid=433

and have no problems. I don't quite understand what difference it makes as to your router if you are hardwiring it. I thought the speed/bandwith over Cat5 is the same regardless of the router when its hardwired. In other words, if you are using wireless b and g routers, but use the hardwired port instead of the wireless connection, they are the same. Is that not correct?

Originally posted by jschwartz73
I have the Momitsu V880N setup to use Component 1080i @60Hz.

If I put in Star Wars Episode 1 it will not display on my Mitsubishi WS-65807 tv. I then put in Star Wars Episode 2, same thing. They both displayed fine at 480p, but would not upconvert to 1080i.

After that I randomly tried Shrek 2. That worked fine at 1080i. So I kept trying other movies: Hulk; I-Robot; Hero.

All of them would not display at 1080i. I'm about 98% sure this is a Macrovision problem. Any suggestions?
J -

Tested SW EP 1, Shrek 2, Hulk, and Hero last evening and all played fine over component set to 1080i. I had already tested SW EP2 successfully, but do not have I Robot. The 1080i indicator displayed on the 880n throughout all 4 movies; I know of no way to check this on my TV (Zenith L44W46LCD) and I had my doubts about Hero as I did not think the picture looked that good. But SW EP2 looks incredible . . . almost as good as the Discovery Channel.

As to the Macrovision problem, I am not sure if HKFlix might have a trick they do to the units they ship or not. My unit did not appear to have been previously opened. However, given your issues, I'm now hesitant to upgrade my firmware in case doing so would undo something that was done to the unit. Perhaps I will send an e-mail to HKFlix and ask.

The difference is that the link between the router and the PC with all the media on is an 11Mbps wireless link. The 880N is hardwired to the router so I agree that's not an issue. The weak link in the chain seems to be the connection between the router and the PC running the server software. I'm hoping that once that link is a 54Mbps one things will improve significantly. If things don't improve then I don't know what I'll do! It's not really possible for me to have both the 880N and the PC hardwired to the router. It may just be that I haven't got a good enough wireless signal, it varies from 'very good' to 'low' from one day to the next! I suspect if the signal is low I won't get a 54Mbps wireless connection anyway. If that's the case I'll have to look into boosting the signal somehow!

Cheers,
Andy.

By the way, is there any reason a wireless ethernet bridge at the media PC end instead of a wireless USB adaptor would make any difference? I'm using a USB adaptor at the moment, wondered if an ethernet bridge would make an improvement?

Cheers,
Andy.

zAndy -- I think you'll have much better luck if you have a 54Mbps network. If you're using an 11Mbps USB connection on one end, that's obviously going to limit the whole network to 11Mbps.

Originally posted by zAndy12
The difference is that the link between the router and the PC with all the media on is an 11Mbps wireless link. The 880N is hardwired to the router so I agree that's not an issue. The weak link in the chain seems to be the connection between the router and the PC running the server software. I'm hoping that once that link is a 54Mbps one things will improve significantly. If things don't improve then I don't know what I'll do! It's not really possible for me to have both the 880N and the PC hardwired to the router. It may just be that I haven't got a good enough wireless signal, it varies from 'very good' to 'low' from one day to the next! I suspect if the signal is low I won't get a 54Mbps wireless connection anyway. If that's the case I'll have to look into boosting the signal somehow!

Cheers,
Andy.

Why can't you hard wire the PC and the 880N to the router? Is it a problem with going through walls? I have two routers--the one I linked to above and a wireless b. Both those routers have four ports for hard wiring so I've hard wired to my computer upstairs to the one downstairs, to my entertainment center and then I have cable available to hook my laptops into for transferring data. I use the wirless signal for the laptops for internet and for transfering small files back and forth, printing to the network etc. I can't see a reason not to hardwire (as you stated, even with a high bandwith wireless, you run into the problems of interference with the signal). If you have to, you can run the wires underneath the rugs or along the wall under the moldings. There is always a practical way to get a cable run if you have to. Its amazing what audio visual guys can do as well with their equipment. They can make small holes in your cielings and fish lines that way too with a small amount of repair work needed. That's how I had cables run to my entertainments center and to the upstairs computer from the office downstairs where the main computer is.

Well, to hardwire the PC to the router I'll need an ethernet cable run of approx 30 metres. Now I don't even know if that's feasible, is there a limit to the length of an ethernet cable before signal loss becomes an issue? I know ideally it should be hardwired, it's just the logistics of achieving that.
Anyway, 54g stuff arrives tomorrow so we'll see what happens then..

Cheers,
Andy.

the limit is around 100 meters-

K

enormus, thanks for looking into those movies.

I just realized that you said you got yours from hkflix. I got mine
from atacom.com. has anyone else gotten their v880n from them?

Do you have macrovision problems?

Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by zAndy12
Well, to hardwire the PC to the router I'll need an ethernet cable run of approx 30 metres. Now I don't even know if that's feasible, is there a limit to the length of an ethernet cable before signal loss becomes an issue? I know ideally it should be hardwired, it's just the logistics of achieving that.
Anyway, 54g stuff arrives tomorrow so we'll see what happens then.

Andy, 30 meters is no problem for UTP. As kjelli stated, the limit is about 100m or 300 ft. Regardless, you will not be sorry for upgrading to 54g. It offers a significant improvement over 11b. However, if your signal is poor, 54g will not help. A 100Mb wired connection would certainly be a better option for video playback even if your wireless connection is good, though.

With all this being said, I'm not sure you are going to see a lot of benefit in terms of using the Momitsu's network capabilities. Mine plays MP3s just fine, but the music selection screen is virtually unusable. It will not play any of my MPGs or WMV files and I have not seen enough benefit in the whole enterprise to start converting my stuff to DIVX. And web browsing isn't even worth mentioning. I think if I had it to do over again, I would have bought the 880DX instead and saved the money. Of course, my HTPC is right in my stereo cabinet, so I can view my WMV and MPGs directly on my HDTV via a component video connection and I play my MP3s on the HTPC through my A/V receiver via a TOSLINK connection. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy with the 880n as a DVD player, I just haven't found the networked features to offer superior capability to what I already have.

Can the V880N playback Hi-Def files recorded from a MyHD card?

Originally posted by enormus
Andy, 30 meters is no problem for UTP. As kjelli stated, the limit is about 100m or 300 ft. Regardless, you will not be sorry for upgrading to 54g. It offers a significant improvement over 11b. However, if your signal is poor, 54g will not help. A 100Mb wired connection would certainly be a better option for video playback even if your wireless connection is good, though.

With all this being said, I'm not sure you are going to see a lot of benefit in terms of using the Momitsu's network capabilities. Mine plays MP3s just fine, but the music selection screen is virtually unusable. It will not play any of my MPGs or WMV files and I have not seen enough benefit in the whole enterprise to start converting my stuff to DIVX. And web browsing isn't even worth mentioning. I think if I had it to do over again, I would have bought the 880DX instead and saved the money. Of course, my HTPC is right in my stereo cabinet, so I can view my WMV and MPGs directly on my HDTV via a component video connection and I play my MP3s on the HTPC through my A/V receiver via a TOSLINK connection. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy with the 880n as a DVD player, I just haven't found the networked features to offer superior capability to what I already have.

That's interesting because I haven't had a single problem so what is the difference? I run Windows XP updated and I have a lot running on my computer. My 880N connected flawlessly to my computer through the hard wire connection to the rounter and plays music and videos with absolutely no drops or skips or corruption. All the home movies I have stored on computer are in MPEG-2 DVD quality. Perhaps the problem is on the computer side. You may want to try a good quality laptop as an experiment to see if you get the same problems with a different computer. I have streamed mine from both the computer upstairs and in the office adajcent to the living room with no problems.

I agree as well that if you are going to be streaming video, you really should hard wire it. You may get lucky and have an uninterrupted wireless signal, but my wireless signal changes from strong to weak for apparently no reason so I would think you'd get the same problems with wireless g.

The Momitsu doesn't play hi-def videos, no matter what codec. Well, it tries to play it, you probably hear sound but you won't see the video, some artifacts maybe. The video processing engine seems to have a limited bandwith.

However, I managed to play very small 720p mpeg2 files which only contained a still picture.

$

Originally posted by cmulder
That's interesting because I haven't had a single problem so what is the difference? I run Windows XP updated and I have a lot running on my computer. My 880N connected flawlessly to my computer through the hard wire connection to the rounter and plays music and videos with absolutely no drops or skips or corruption. All the home movies I have stored on computer are in MPEG-2 DVD quality. Perhaps the problem is on the computer side. You may want to try a good quality laptop as an experiment to see if you get the same problems with a different computer. I have streamed mine from both the computer upstairs and in the office adajcent to the living room with no problems.

I agree as well that if you are going to be streaming video, you really should hard wire it. You may get lucky and have an uninterrupted wireless signal, but my wireless signal changes from strong to weak for apparently no reason so I would think you'd get the same problems with wireless g.
I have no problems playing back MP3s; I just find the user interface for doing so unusable. As for MPG files, it may be the encoder I am using. I have a Hauppauge PVR-250 recording TV in DVD-Ready MPEG2 format under Snapstream BeyondTV. My files are unwatchable. I have no problems watching these files on the PC itself or on any of the other PCs on my network. These same files fail to play if I burn them to CD or DVD and play them on the 880n itself, so I don't believe it is the network connectivity or network functionality of the player. I just assumed it simply could not play MPG2 files as advertised. For me the only function that works well is photo browsing, and it is still easier to do on my PC and simply switch my HDTV to the PC input.

Originally posted by enormus
I have no problems playing back MP3s; I just find the user interface for doing so unusable. As for MPG files, it may be the encoder I am using. I have a Hauppauge PVR-250 recording TV in DVD-Ready MPEG2 format under Snapstream BeyondTV. My files are unwatchable.

I am not a big fan of Hauppage. I just ordered Plextor's New External MPEG recorder/PVR ($143 at NewEgg after rebate) and ADS USB Instant DVD+DV (no TV tuner with that one). I'm going to see which one I like best and return the other one (or maybe keep both since each has different attributes). Plextor will record in MPEG-4 and DIVx while ADS will capture DV directly, but records only in MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. Bottom line is whichever gives me the best quality MPEG file will be the one I'll choose because I'm not real concerned about reducing the file size--more concerned with the qaulity. If MPEG-2 gives me even a hair better quality than MPEG-4, I'll go with MPEG-2. But a hardware MPEG encoder is definitely the way to go since the software ones really bog down your system. Right now, I capture DV to AVI then encode to MPEG-2 using software. With the externals, I can capture video either from older VCR tapes or DV directly to MPEG format and I'm done. Although I must say a good software encoder like TEMPenc probably does a better job at encoding then a hardware encoder, but the difference is not enough to warrant the extra time and steps to transfer 15 years of VHS to the hard drive.

Originally posted by jschwartz73
enormus, thanks for looking into those movies.

I just realized that you said you got yours from hkflix. I got mine
from atacom.com. has anyone else gotten their v880n from them?

Do you have macrovision problems?

Thanks in advance.
I e-mailed HKFlix and they e-mailed me back indicating that they do not do anything to the 880n prior to shipping them. The representative indicated to me that this was a known problem with the players shipped with the original firmware only.

Jay, I saw in an earlier post you have the November firmware loaded; have yuou tried the newest firmware? Are these Region 1 NTSC discs you are having problems with? Is your 880n connected directly to your TV or is it going through your receiver?

jschwartz73:
FWIW I bought my unit from atacom and as you probably remember haven't had any problems with Macrovision, regardless of firmware revision loaded.

Anyone try any of the other Media Center software out there with the V880N that they like better then the Momitsu Media Center?

I tried the linux MMC and that works ok.

There is some word on opensource mmc, that would allow dvd directories to link all vobs into one file and playing that file continuously. Sounds great, will have to try.

Hey has there been any news on the INPUT MODULE????I emailed Momitsu about the VIM release date and the reply today was "around March" (2005 I hopefully assume!). They confirmed it would be available separately.

I can't imagine how it could be retrofitted, though. I haven't opened my V880N up, but from inspection of the rear panel there doesn't seem to be any provision for this. It's a solid one-piece panel with no spare holes or slots. Will it be a hacksaw job???

Ideas, anyone?

Hey Chris & whoever, where are you mailing to get these answers?

I sent a question about dropped subtitles to support@momitsu.com two weeks ago and never heard a peep.

Gary

Originally posted by garyfritz
Hey Chris & whoever, where are you mailing to get these answers?

I sent a question about dropped subtitles to support@momitsu.com two weeks ago and never heard a peep.

Gary

I sent two emails to that same address and got no response. I was trying to see if there was a way to disable macrovision with the 880N (like there is with the 880).

Hey Chris & whoever, where are you mailing to get these answers?I bought mine from the Dutch site (www.momitsu.nl) and asked the VIM question in one of the transaction emails with the Dutch guy.

It arrived yesterday - haven't had the chance to play with it yet. But I really DO wonder where the VIM will fit....

Different question: we all know it's a bit of a pain to type in the firmware update URL using the remote. Has anybody tried plugging in a USB keyboard? I don't have one handy but it might be worth getting one if it works.

Failing that, how can I enter the URL for a system on the LAN? I figured I could download the firmware to my local PC (the one that runs the MMC) and install it from there. But when I tried to enter the hostname of the server, it acted like I'd entered "www.server.com" instead of just "server". I might be able to enter the IP addr of the server, but if I have to do that, it's almost easier to enter the momitsu.com address...

garyfritz, set up the update url as an favorite in IE. Press the internet button on the momi and choose the update site on the list.
The momi do recognise the update file when you pick it.

Kjell

Was looking for the windows software for this machine, as I have one being delivered today. A new update was released today, the particulars are listed below. No URL as I have not posted 5 times :-).

-Tim

Update: 2005-01-26 (file size:34MB)
Option to stream Windows Media Connect via UPnP AV;
Support Custom Folder in Video/Music/Photo channels;
Support Custom Folder in Home Page;
Implemented Goto function;
Improved and Optimized theme structure;
Support Firefox (included Live Bookmark)
Latest Help;
Change port not allowed if port is in used
Upgraded to Java 5
Removed restart action during installation

What does VIM mean?

Wonder if they will ever come out with a firmware that works? I mean works better then ver. 07-87-041018-01-MMS-108-000

Not sure what I think of the new graphics and the new interface on the MMS. I think I liked the older version better.........

Anyone try any of the other server software out there yet? Like the advance server for the I/O data?

Originally posted by cmulder
What does VIM mean? VIM = Video Input Module. Details on the site.

But I wouldn't be surprised if it was vapourware - just a marketing hook. The prospect of the VIM to give a "one box solution" certainly helped sway me to buying this player. Only time will tell....

Anyone had problems with high processor usage using MMC on WinXP (sp1)?

Processor usage comes in few minutes to 15%, hour later it shows 33% and still grows...

When running MMC in the background as a service, SVCHOST.EXE makes all that problem.

I tried MMC1.2 and 1.3 but the problem still remains.
When closing MMC, processor usage drops back to good 1-2%.

Any clue?

Originally posted by metrix
Anyone had problems with high processor usage using MMC on WinXP (sp1)?

Processor usage comes in few minutes to 15%, hour later it shows 33% and still grows...

When running MMC in the background as a service, SVCHOST.EXE makes all that problem.

I tried MMC1.2 and 1.3 but the problem still remains.
When closing MMC, processor usage drops back to good 1-2%.

Any clue?

Look back through this thread--someone else talked about this and why it occurrs.

Originally posted by cmulder
Look back through this thread--someone else talked about this and why it occurrs.

cmulder, I didn't find any info in the whole thread regarding my problem.
Please give me the link if possible.

Originally posted by metrix
cmulder, I didn't find any info in the whole thread regarding my problem.
Please give me the link if possible.

Yeah, I looked and couldn't find it either. I know I read it though--perhaps it is in another thread--maybe someone else will remember.

Originally posted by cmulder
Yeah, I looked and couldn't find it either. I know I read it though--perhaps it is in another thread--maybe someone else will remember.
I solved that high process usage by myself.
- why do we have grey cells anyway?

Here is correct answer:

1. Deinstall MMC
2. Deinstall any existing Java! - VERY IMPORTANT!
3. Fresh MMC installation

High process usage is now history.

cmulder, thanks anyway.

Has anyone on this forum experienced any problems with their player that is consistant and ongoing such as;

-player doesn't recognize dvds if the "hard power switch" isn't used every so often

-sometimes it will recognize dvds, but then it won't play them if the power switch isn't used

-if either of the previous two problems occur then the machine will not eject, and the soft power button will not work. It also only shuts half way off and will not switch back on. I have to get up, walk to the machine, and switch it off via front panel.

-very very slow usb operation (even simple divx files don't play smoothly)

I have emailed momitsu various times but they always respond saying "the machine requires a few seconds to process informationg... blah blah". I have waited hours to see if it is any possibility of processing and it is clearly not.

Any suggestions?

thank you
Brian

Wrinkols,

I have noticed that this player does have it's "quirks". I have noticed that if a DVD is left in the player and you soft power on, about 30% of the time the player will not recognize the disc. I have to power off and on again to get it to see the disc.

I have also noticed that the USB connection is tempremental. I have tried a few USB thumb drives with small DivX files on them. Sometimes the files play flawlessly, but often there is stuttering or distorted sound. It's possible that USB 1.1 simply isn't fast enough for DivX.

A few times the hyper-bright blue LED for the network connection would not turn off when the player was soft-powered off. I had to use the hard power button to turn it off.

These gripes are pretty minor for me, though. I've owned import players before and all of them are "quirky". I learned to accept minor quirks from these kind of players. The main issues I have involve networking (I am using a wireless g bridge to connect to my network and I often have to unplug and reconnect the bridge for the momitsu to connect to my network) and the inability of the player at least transcode via software certain types of files like .mkv, .ogm, or Nero's codec. I'd also love a very simple thing - I'd like the player to remember where it left off when playing a DVD after the power is turned off and back on. The player already knows how to resume when the power is on. Even my 3 year old cheap player can do this, and my very cheap imported DivX player can resume discs after they've been removed from the tray.

On another note, has anyone gotten the Avelink Advanced server to work with this player?

Julie

I just upgraded my firmware for the first time to the latest, and now for some reason I need to set the DVD player on Zoom1 for the whole screen to be filled. Otherwise, I have black bars outlined aronud the picture.

I am using a 16:9 plasma TV.

I have set the TV Type in the DVD section to 16:9.

I have experimented with all the various zoom controls (Fit to Screen, Actual, etc.).

Does this sound right?

David

dschamis:

Have you tried several different DVDs? Are they anamorphic, aka "enhanced for widescreen".

The Momitsu has aspect ratio control and displays NON-anamorphic widescreen DVDs correctly by 'window boxing' them if you will. With its scaler, you can zoom the image to fill your 16:9 screen with some degradation but not as much as other players' zoom feature without as good of a scaler.

Most, if not all, widescreen DVD releases are now anamorphic (or should be).

With the Momitsu too, 4:3 material is 'correctly' pillar'ed with black bars on the left and right.

I've always found it interesting that a cheapo like the Momitsu correctly handles 4:3 when scaling yet my Pioneer 868 doesn't even try. If only the MPEG decoder was better and not just a flag reader.

I asked Momitsu for discrete codes and got a reply from them after only 4 emails to them:

Dear Mark:

Currently we do not have those function.

We already forward your mail to our developing team.

Thank you

Momitsu Tech Support

I guess that is a start! Perhaps we will see discrete codes for this unit yet!

Oh... buy the way... has no one here tried the new version of the MMC???

If someone else has... have you noticed there is no SHUFFLE on the music playback anymore?????!!!!!!! What is that all about?????!!!!!!

Originally posted by A/Vspec
Oh... buy the way... has no one here tried the new version of the MMC???

If someone else has... have you noticed there is no SHUFFLE on the music playback anymore?????!!!!!!! What is that all about?????!!!!!!

Mark, when I first set up my Momitus, I never knew there was shuffle because I had an aspect set where I couldn't see the shuffle (it was off to the right of the screen). Not sure if that's true with you, but you might check different aspects or just try to pan over to the right and see if you see it. I have not downloaded the new MMC so I don't know if its just a bug or maybe somehow you just aren't seeing it now.

Originally posted by A/Vspec
Oh... buy the way... has no one here tried the new version of the MMC???

If someone else has... have you noticed there is no SHUFFLE on the music playback anymore?????!!!!!!! What is that all about?????!!!!!!



- I didn't notice this until now. The previous version did have a shuffle option when browsing with the dvd player. The new version doesn't have the option when browsing over the dvd player, but if you use the software on your pc then there is an option to "play songs in random order" or something to that effect. I don't know if this effects when you just push the play button on the remote to play all the songs or not. I just noticed that if you cycle throught the options with the remote button that is located on the bottom left hand corner of your remote control it gives you an option for random play.

-- Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm going to sell this machine or not, but I need a new computer and I don't even have a nice tv, so needless to say it's not very practicle for me to own this machine.

-- Momitsu emailed me and said that they would replace my machine because I was having a few problems so if anyone is interested in buying my 880n from me I can just have it sent directly from Momitsu to your residence. Basically you would be getting a brand new machine.

-- I'm actually thinking about purchasing that Mac Mini because it can serve a dual purpose for me so I was wondering if anyone had any comments or opinions on that.

-- PM me if you have any questions or comments about my 880n. I can also forwards the email from momitsu as proof of what I am saying. If you're interested then PM with an offer. It's going to be very hard to part with.

Thank You,
Brian