Originally posted by Brian Conrad


I notice that my TS and PS files capture from my JVC HD1 and edited with Media Studio Pro lack sound. The sound is MPEG audio layer 2. I'll let Ulead know they may need to add Dolby Stereo output to their HD file generation (it's available for DVD). At the same time IO-DATA might want to add MPEG audio layer 2 support (for HD camcorders).

Something else is possibly wrong Brian. I'm also using the JVC HD1, and the mpeg audio layer 2 sound is playing back fine for me.

I do the non-linear editing with the included KDDI MPEG EDIT STUDIO PRO 1.0 LE, i.e trimming, cutting pasting etc. Then I use Womble MPEG Video Wizard on the m2t file to dub in a voice-over, and strip the TS container, with the result being a 1280x720p30 mpeg2 program stream with no video re-encoding, 100% stream copied. And the audio is playing back perfectly. That's how it's working for me, anyway.

Have we reached the saturation point, where additional programming and features comes at the expense of bandwidth we've been counting on for high bitrate video like TS?

I'm wondering if program execution time has been increased sufficiently to be cutting into the bitrate, as an explanation for the TS playback problem now being reported?

Recall the early specs, 8mb/s for WMV-HD, 10mb/s for mpeg2, specs that have been exceeded by very wide margins in practice? Also promised was only 1280x720, but 1920x1080 has been delivered.

Recall Keith Jack stating that the low specs were based on processor load and network traffic.

Very good observation Tom, but what, other than internet radio has actually been added? I can't wait to get home to test this new firmware out for myself.

According to the update screen the update:

- Adds the "Online Premium Content" on Login menu to support Internet News RSS and Internet Radio vTuner
- Improves Dolby Digital AV Reciever compatability
- Improves DVD Loader eject button function
- Improves MPEG2-TS file playback quality (need to update AVeLLinkServer)
- Improves DVD MPEG2 file trick playback stability.

I think i'm going to pass on this one, as it seems to break more than it fixes and I dont need internet radio. I guess we got to wait for WMA and DRM . . .

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Have we reached the saturation point, where additional programming and features comes at the expense of bandwidth we've been counting on for high bitrate video like TS?

I'm wondering if program execution time has been increased sufficiently to be cutting into the bitrate, as an explanation for the TS playback problem now being reported?

Recall the early specs, 8mb/s for WMV-HD, 10mb/s for mpeg2, specs that have been exceeded by very wide margins in practice? Also promised was only 1280x720, but 1920x1080 has been delivered.

Recall Keith Jack stating that the low specs were based on processor load and network traffic.

Good point but processor load and network traffic where? At the player or are we talking on the end user? I for one am using this device in what i consider a tomorrows world example. meaning Top of the line pc sitting on a gigabyte network. Ive had little if any issues with the player. except for the obvious of trying to play files that arent supported (hd-wmv and the few gmc unsupported codec errors).

As far as .ts support what did they try and do in this firmware to make .ts work? is was working before and now its sporatic. what makes it everharder to figure out is some of us are not creating our .ts files rather getting them from a friend or off that god aweful internet that the mpaa riaa hate so much.

- Improves MPEG2-TS file playback quality (need to update AVeLLinkServer)

what needs to be updated? is this refering to the mime type addition or is there something new we need to do.

Is there a new release of the server?

Originally posted by webboy10169
Good point but processor load and network traffic where? At the player or are we talking on the end user? I for one am using this device in what i consider a tomorrows world example.

Well I was thinking as yesterdays world example, at the player...Lol

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Well I was thinking as yesterdays world example, at the player...Lol

So were talking average run of the mill computer over a cat5 wired/wireless system even so ive seen no spike in usage anywhere.

I have found a screen on the player i cant find again bug maybe?

I went to online content chose rss chose 8 top songs chose the first sone a 50 cent song pressed enter got to a sub screen and i think pressed enter again which got me to a list of radio stations where i could chose for a lot of streaming stations to lisen to. All wrapped in the pretty blue i home pages. hitting the back button took me to a i home home page(verry pretty looking) with 3 icons on the screen for news music and something else.

I can not duplicate it again.
<EDIT>
When i got to this screen the front of the player said I-HOME instead of NETWORK.
</EDIT>

Worth a try- I noticed that some of my transport streams that do not play initially will play if I hit pause then play...

Work for anyone else?

Originally posted by zmatzkin
Worth a try- I noticed that some of my transport streams that do not play initially will play if I hit pause then play...

Work for anyone else?

Yes i just tried that with Top Gun
pressed play and all i got was a black screen
pressed pause and it said pause
pressed play and it started playing

Interesting...

I hate to ask you guys, but, on the advanced server, how can we select the drive and folder where the video files are that we would like to play? In the previous version, we used the EDIT tab and browsed for the drive and folder, but I cannot seem to be able to do that with the advanced version. Any help would really be appreciated. Thanks!

Originally posted by zmatzkin
Worth a try- I noticed that some of my transport streams that do not play initially will play if I hit pause then play...

Work for anyone else?

I have a lot of transport stream files recorded with the MyHD card. Some were edited to remove commercials using the HD2MPEG utility. It seems that some of the edited files cannot be played, and I am wondering whether it is because of the editing? Also noticed that the extension on the file names has to be chanced from .TP to .MPG for the player to play them. And I stil cannot play my 4 WMV dvd's using the player itself. Using the DVD drive on the PC, I can play only the preview files on those DVD's, but not the main video files.

Originally posted by drjohnc
Couldn't get the Motmisu Server working with the new firmware.

Both Avel Servers work.

Was hoping for the DRM fix with this release ... maybe next time.

I a pleased to report that the Momitsu Server work fine after the upgrade for me. It must be something with your setup. Internet radio has no sound on the other hand. I am wondering if this is due to the fact that I have no subscription with them...

I got sound by pressing pause and play again

Thanks cyburn, I'll play with it some more now that I know it does work.

The January firmware now display .ts files properly under Browser HD mode ON. It use to show a green line in the middle of the screen but now it is just fine.

Just so you know.

Am I the only one who can't update the firmware? When I go into setup, and choose FW Update, I see a message saying "Check for firmware update"... and nothing happens. Up until now, I assumed this meant that I already had the latest firmware.

My internet connectivity is fine, as I can run web stuff using the Momitsu server. There's probably a way of updating the firmware from CD or DVD, but I haven't seen a procedure yet.

Originally posted by Pariah69
Am I the only one who can't update the firmware? When I go into setup, and choose FW Update, I see a message saying "Check for firmware update"... and nothing happens. Up until now, I assumed this meant that I already had the latest firmware.

My internet connectivity is fine, as I can run web stuff using the Momitsu server. There's probably a way of updating the firmware from CD or DVD, but I haven't seen a procedure yet.

You have to see the button and select the "Check for firmware update" button. If new firmware is found, then it will present the firmware update.

i can't get sound from internet radio either, i got it to work once, but tried the pause then play thing and it didn't work.

i can't get sound from internet radio either, i got it to work once, but tried the pause then play thing and it didn't work. I had a hard time finding channels that work. Try playing one of the sky.fm channels. They seemed to have success on every one of them that I tried. I also had to hit pause and play to get them to work.

another question for all you guys, if you have avellink software running in the background does it cause your internet explorer to hang when it first loads? but once it loads it works fine, but if the pc is idle for too long it reoccurs. But it isn't as bad using mmc? Anyone have any suggestions for me i'm running a 2.5ghz amd with 512ddr 400fsb.

No internet radio working here either.

New server software 1.80 is now available on the IO-Data website. Grabbing it now, will post back in a few.

I got 1.80. What does this mean? "Support custom applications (eg Movie Store, Music Store and Photo Gallery)" What is Movie Store?? Here is a link to 1.80 incase you can't find it.
http://www.iodata.com/usa/support/downloads/avellink-18.zip

Originally posted by Chhuong
another question for all you guys, if you have avellink software running in the background does it cause your internet explorer to hang when it first loads? but once it loads it works fine, but if the pc is idle for too long it reoccurs. But it isn't as bad using mmc? Anyone have any suggestions for me i'm running a 2.5ghz amd with 512ddr 400fsb.

as for this problem is irrelevant with the new 1.80?? go figure!!

From ID-DATA email:

""
Date: February 04, 2005
The latest Version: 04-91-050127-01-IOD-234-000
[ Bug Fix / Improvement ]
- Dolby Digital AV Receiver compatibility
- DVD Loader eject button function
- MPEG2-TS file playback quality (Need to update AVeL LinkServer)
- DVD MPEG2 file trick playback stability
[ Additional Online Services ]
- vTuner Internet Radio
- Internet News RSS (free)
[ Notice ]
- You need 2 different firmware updating in order to add all these new
functions. This means a normal update, and D: update (for user interface
refresh).
- For vTuner usage, don't use HD browser mode (the next update will
support it).
""

This could explain the problem with internet radio.

I am disappointed that they only updated the windows version of the server software... I hope that is not a signal of continued lagging support for the mac...

What does this mean?

- You need 2 different firmware updating in order to add all these new functions. This means a normal update, and D: update (for user interface refresh).

What is the D: update? Do them mean updateing Avellinkserver to v1.8? or something else?

Ricardo

Originally posted by RicardoD
What does this mean?



What is the D: update? Do them mean updating Avellinkserver to v1.8? or something else?

Ricardo

After you do the firmware update, if you return to firmware update screen you will see the option to check for the D: update. Select it an do another flash.

I went to no HD browser and the vTuner is working like a charm. Strange that the HD browser option break the internet radio...

I guess I will have to live with the stretched 4:3 content in non HD browser mode. 4:3 in HD broser is not stretched unless you specify to fill the screen with it. In non HD you do not have the choice. Bummer.

For any fellow Canadians out there I ran across a Canadian retailer for this product finally. Ordered mine yesterday. Can't wait till it gets here Wednesday! :) For anyone who's interested here ya go.
It won't let me post a URL as I haven't made 5 posts yet. The name of the site is onlybestrated. Add the www and the .com and your good to go :)

Well know fact :)
I got mine 3 months now ....

Ooops. Sorry bout that. I did a search for Canada and didn't see anything mentioning a Canadian source.

See this posting for quick update about the player :
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=484807

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Something else is possibly wrong Brian. I'm also using the JVC HD1, and the mpeg audio layer 2 sound is playing back fine for me.

I do the non-linear editing with the included KDDI MPEG EDIT STUDIO PRO 1.0 LE, i.e trimming, cutting pasting etc. Then I use Womble MPEG Video Wizard on the m2t file to dub in a voice-over, and strip the TS container, with the result being a 1280x720p30 mpeg2 program stream with no video re-encoding, 100% stream copied. And the audio is playing back perfectly. That's how it's working for me, anyway.

What's the settings for your audio? I have one file still around that I had done with the Womble trial and it played the audio only but not the video. It was 384 kbs 48K stereo. With MSP I was able to lower the bitrate and my test files would play audio but only briefly though the video was okay. Maybe a moot point as I use DivX to recode them anyway. I found the KDDI product too limiting as I wanted to bring in footage that was not from the camera such as 3D animation etc. MSP does this just great plus transitions work much better (sloppy with KDDI).

has anyone received their d4 free cable yet??? Also i think the next thing they need to work on and everyone will probably have to send an email to them requesting is better zoom modes, that enable zooming of non anamorphic dvds!!

Received my D4-component adapter cable yesterday.

free cable?

Originally posted by SLO
For any fellow Canadians out there I ran across a Canadian retailer for this product finally. Ordered mine yesterday. Can't wait till it gets here Wednesday! :) For anyone who's interested here ya go.
It won't let me post a URL as I haven't made 5 posts yet. The name of the site is onlybestrated. Add the www and the .com and your good to go :)

I got mine from them. Fast delivery and reliable. Do not hesitate!

Originally posted by Brian Conrad
What's the settings for your audio? I have one file still around that I had done with the Womble trial and it played the audio only but not the video. It was 384 kbs 48K stereo. With MSP I was able to lower the bitrate and my test files would play audio but only briefly though the video was okay. Maybe a moot point as I use DivX to recode them anyway. I found the KDDI product too limiting as I wanted to bring in footage that was not from the camera such as 3D animation etc. MSP does this just great plus transitions work much better (sloppy with KDDI).

Brian, yes KDDI is clumsy and limiting, and I'm not arguing in its favor. I'm simply noting that when I use it, and Womble to transcode the m2t to mpeg2 program stream, the output plays perfectly on AVLP2. The AVLP2 is not having an issue with mpeg1 Layer II audio for me, at the native settings 384 kb/s, 48khz from the GR-HD1.

:)
[3] Apology & Correction: Today's Firmware Update

We apologize this firmware cannot add some scheduled functions.
Technical issues are already done, but I-O DATA needs to conclude some
contracts and pass the official certifications. Please give us a time
for the following items.
[ Additional Functions ]
- Microsoft DRM (Windows Media(R) DRM for ND) for DVD Movie Playback
- Microsoft DRM (Windows Media(R) DRM for SD) for Network File Playback
- Microsoft WMA Pro (5.1ch Audio)
[ Additional Online Services ]
- Rhapsody Internet Radio
Next update should be around the end of Feb (until early Mar at the
worst case).

Seems the latest firmware update fixed the problem I was having with audio drops at chapter and layer breaks on DVD's that I and some others reported a while back. I was using a Liteon 167, but decided to reinstall the EPO loader before I did the firmware upgrade. Whatever they did, it works like a champ now. No more drops on burned backups or commercial DVD's. I talked with Jack a couple of times before this was released. He told me it would be fixed with this release and it was ( he offered to send me a new player, but said to wait and if this didn't fix it he would RMA it for me)... He was good on his word...:)

Can anyone confirm if the Momitsu server is not working with this firmaware? Someone posted early after it was available that they could not get the Momitsu to work and I'm curious if that has been solved. Also, could several of us please contact I-O to all say we want the same zoom/aspect ratio controls w/ the standard browser as with the HD browser? There is no reason why 4:3 should have to be stretched in standard browser, especially now that internet radio does not work in HD browser. I also find the font sizes nicer on the standard browser but don't run it since I have a lot of ripped kids movies in 4:3.

Can anyone tell me if they have been able to get an mpeg2 recorded with a WinTV-PVR-250 tuner card to play with theLinkplayer. I'm using Beyond 3 TV software and have tried several different bit rates but the clips experience freezing and stuttering.
If you have can I get a heads up on what settings your using .

Thank you

Originally posted by mikemav
Can anyone confirm if the Momitsu server is not working with this firmaware? Someone posted early after it was available that they could not get the Momitsu to work and I'm curious if that has been solved. Also, could several of us please contact I-O to all say we want the same zoom/aspect ratio controls w/ the standard browser as with the HD browser? There is no reason why 4:3 should have to be stretched in standard browser, especially now that internet radio does not work in HD browser. I also find the font sizes nicer on the standard browser but don't run it since I have a lot of ripped kids movies in 4:3.

I started to think that I was the only one concerned with the aspect ratio in non HD browser. There is no reason for the aspect ratio to be stretched for 4:3 content. This is really bugging me. I to have a lot of 4:3 content recorded with my WinTV PVR USB 2 and don't like not to have the option of displaying it with proper ratio in non HD browser mode.

I also noticed that even the 16:9 content does no display right in non HD mode unless you force a "Stretch" to screen zoom option.

Originally posted by cyburn
... There is no reason for the aspect ratio to be stretched for 4:3 content. This is really bugging me. I to have a lot of 4:3 content recorded with my WinTV PVR USB 2 and don't like not to have the option of displaying it with proper ratio in non HD browser mode. There are many reasons why your Mpeg2 4:3 content is stretched to 16:9... The most likely being: -

It might be that your capturing device has not embedded the correct DAR signalling flag (either 4:3 or 16:9) into the recorded Mpeg2 stream.

How is your player connected to the rest of your set-up. Is it via D4 component, RCA composite, S-video, etc. It could be that the DAR signal is lost when the video is passed from one device to another, via the "analogue" connection chain.
One of the successes of the European scart connector is it's ablility to offer DAR signalling information via pin 8 ;)


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
There are many reasons why your Mpeg2 4:3 content is stretched to 16:9... The most likely being: -

It might be that your capturing device has not embedded the correct DAR signalling flag (either 4:3 or 16:9) into the recorded Mpeg2 stream.

How is your player connected to the rest of your set-up. Is it via D4 component, RCA composite, S-video, etc. It could be that the DAR signal is lost when the video is passed from one device to another, via the "analogue" connection chain.


If played back on PC the aspect ratio is properly recognised by the PC player as 4:3. What I think is happening is that LinkPlayer2 forces all 480i or 480p content to be stretched to 16:9 (as stated on their web site by the way). So this is the way the product is meant to be.

What I am complaining about is that I think this is wrong. It should allow the users to pick the stretch mode they want.

I sent an email to IO-Data on that regard.

By the way, Non HD browser mode also does funny things to 16:9 content. The aspect ratio is broken in all but one zoom mode (fill screen I think).

My connection it through component cables to my TV in 1080i resolution.

Originally posted by mikemav
Can anyone confirm if the Momitsu server is not working with this firmaware? Someone posted early after it was available that they could not get the Momitsu to work and I'm curious if that has been solved.

I just quit running Momitsu to experiment with the new Linkplayer server (I can't run both simulaneously on my computer--I wonder if that's true for everyone?). But before I quit running Momitsu I did confirm that it worked OK with the new firmware.

There was one problem that began to occur only after the firmware upgrade. Often, when the Linkplayer would try to connect with Momitsu, it froze with a white screen. But by hitting the server button on the remote and trying to reconnect, I would usually have success either on the second or third attempt. After that, everything would be jake. I'll fiddle with it more if I switch back to the Momitsu server again (although I'm not sure I'll be motivated to do that after this latest upgrade).

Originally posted by KeithAdv
..... Often, when the Linkplayer would try to connect with Momitsu, it froze with a white screen. But by hitting the server button on the remote and trying to reconnect, I would usually have success either on the second or third attempt.....

I had that same problem before upgrading to the latest firmware as well ....

Originally posted by trevorontario
Can anyone tell me if they have been able to get an mpeg2 recorded with a WinTV-PVR-250 tuner card to play with theLinkplayer. I'm using Beyond 3 TV software and have tried several different bit rates but the clips experience freezing and stuttering.
If you have can I get a heads up on what settings your using .

Thank you

I am using the PVR250 to record TV programs. No problems whatsoever with play-back. I have mine set at extra long play DVD for throw away TV programs (60minutes, etc), 720X480, VBR, Output = Stream. The per hour file size is around 1. 5G. The files are recorded as MPEG2 so they play fine on the linkplayer or WMP if I want to watch something on the computer.

If I am recording something I want to burn to a DVD I use the standard DVD setting. I don't bother editing... just FF through the commercial junk... If I do edit I use Vegas 5.0 and DVD Architect 2.0

Hope this helps.

I had that same problem before upgrading to the latest firmware as well ....I had that problem with the newest version of the Momitsu software before I upgraded to the latest Linkplayer firmware. I went back to version 1.2 and the problem went away.

I also tested Momitsu 1.2 with the newest Linkplayer firmware and it works exactly as it did before the firmware change.

Originally posted by KeithAdv
I just quit running Momitsu to experiment with the new Linkplayer server (I can't run both simulaneously on my computer--I wonder if that's true for everyone?). But before I quit running Momitsu I did confirm that it worked OK with the new firmware.

There was one problem that began to occur only after the firmware upgrade. Often, when the Linkplayer would try to connect with Momitsu, it froze with a white screen. But by hitting the server button on the remote and trying to reconnect, I would usually have success either on the second or third attempt. After that, everything would be jake. I'll fiddle with it more if I switch back to the Momitsu server again (although I'm not sure I'll be motivated to do that after this latest upgrade).
You should change the port of the Momitsu server in preferences in the software. It conflicts with the IO server off the shelf. I'm now using 8030.

Originally posted by cyburn
If played back on PC the aspect ratio is properly recognised by the PC player as 4:3. What I think is happening is that LinkPlayer2 forces all 480i or 480p content to be stretched to 16:9 (as stated on their web site by the way). So this is the way the product is meant to be. Have you got a 4:3 or 16:9 PC monitor?


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Have you got a 4:3 or 16:9 PC monitor?


Cheers

4:3 monitor. I checked the flag using dgindex and it reads 4:3. Therefore everything is clean from the mpg file end.

Originally posted by cyburn
4:3 monitor. I checked the flag using dgindex and it reads 4:3. Therefore everything is clean from the mpg file end. As a matter of interest, can you please give this low definition (bit-rate) NTSC 4:3 (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/seemoredigital/Mpeg2_with_4.3DAR_signalling.zip) Mpeg2 encode a try?

It works with all my stand-alone players and Sigma Xcard, when connected via component video and when viewed with a 16:9 TV.


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
As a matter of interest, can you please give this low definition (bit-rate) NTSC 4:3 (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/seemoredigital/Mpeg2_with_4.3DAR_signalling.zip) Mpeg2 encode a try?

It works with all my stand-alone players and Sigma Xcard, when connected via component video and when viewed with a 16:9 TV.


Cheers

I tried it and the Linkplayer2 hangs on it. I am wondering if this is due to the fact that there is no associated audio... I checked my mpg file with gspot and it is clearly flagged with 4:3 DAR just like yours.

Originally posted by cyburn
I tried it and the Linkplayer2 hangs on it. I am wondering if this is due to the fact that there is no associated audio... I checked my mpg file with gspot and it is clearly flagged with 4:3 DAR just like yours. How about the following file, which contains the same video stream and also a silent 2Ch AC3 audio stream: -

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/seemoredigital/Mpeg2_with_4.3DAR_signalling.zip


Cheers

It does not display but at least does not hang the player.

You can try the following file that I use to test with and confirm that it has flags. It is a 480i 4:3 DAR flagged mpg file:

http://www.maltais.gotdns.com:6000/4-3-480i.ace

Now that I have this incredible player, I want to watch a full length HD movie. I actually own one, it's the T2: Extreme DVD edition, which contains a HD version of the full movie. Unfortunately, as it stands, the HD version is in WMV-HD and can only be viewed using the computer. This does not work for me at all, since my computer is only a P4-2.4GHz and the movie is virtually unwatchable in its HD format on a slower computer.

So since I OWN the DVD, should I not be allowed to play it on my Avel IO Player??? I did not know that there was a law against playing my own DVD on my own DVD player in my own home, or is there?

In any case, does anyone know of a way to extract the WMV-HD files from the DVD so that it can be converted into a playable format on the Avel Dataplayer?

Originally posted by cyburn
It does not display but at least does not hang the player. Well that's just wack!

It's been encoded using NeroVision Express. And I chose this tool because of it's popularity... so it should have worked.

Unfortunately, I can't try your encode because I only have 7-zip installed and it can't de-compress .ACE files!


Cheers

OK,

So here are test charts you can use to verify aspect ratio, resolution and color on your linkplayer2 (or other devices).

The first three are encoded in xvid:

480p DAR 4:3 xvid quantizer 2 (http://www.maltais.gotdns.com:6000/lp/test480-4-3-xvid-q2.avi)
720p DAR 16:9 xvid quantizer 2 (http://www.maltais.gotdns.com:6000/lp/test720-xvid-q2.avi)
1080p DAR 16:9 xvid quantizer 2 (http://www.maltais.gotdns.com:6000/lp/test1080-xvid-q2.avi)

The last file is encoded in mpeg2:

480i DAR 4:3 (http://www.maltais.gotdns.com:6000/lp/4-3480i.mpg)

Originally posted by KeithAdv
I just quit running Momitsu to experiment with the new Linkplayer server (I can't run both simulaneously on my computer--I wonder if that's true for everyone?)
Originally posted by mikemav
You should change the port of the Momitsu server in preferences in the software. It conflicts with the IO server off the shelf. I'm now using 8030.
I let the Avel server keep 8000. For Momitsu, I fiddled with a couple different ports, and finally settled on 9000, for no particular reason that I can remember. Nevertheless, on my computer, whichever server I pull up first prevents the second from "sticking." The second server will show the opening screen but not stay resident.

This doesn't affect the Advanced Server, of course, which seems to happily cohabit with either.

The new Avel firmware contains that extra "internet" functionality of the Momitsu server. It's just hidden!

Select "premium content," then select RSS. And when that screen comes up, cursor left to the "Home" selection (all alone on the left panel) and hit enter. The screen will change to a new menu--"My IHome" and you will have 1. Directory, 2. Radio, 3. News to choose from. The News is the RSS stuff again, the Radio is a very limited subset of what vTuner has (but totally free!), and Directory are web sites, et. al.

It's basically the same stuff as on the Momitsu server, albiet in a pretty blue color.

Thanks for the test patterns, cyburn!

The 1080p pattern is beyond my display's capability to fully resolve, the 720p pattern proved what I've been saying about my AVLP2, that for me, it resolves slightly better both vertically and horizontally when the AVLP2 is outputting the 720p pattern at 1080i.

It's also passing the below-black and above-white information. I can distinctly distinguish between the 0 and 4 on the PC gray scale, and between the 251-255.

On the HD Browser mode, "ACTUAL SIZE" gives the most accurate scaling for me.

Downloaded the new firmware the other day (January 19th - Japan)

After downloading I found the following behavior:

1. Wireless performance was better - much fewer dropouts, DTS even started working.

2. I started receiving invalid WMA file errors.

Investigated the error on the Internet and found out what it meant. However no improvement after re-burning. To make a long story short -turns out that I needed to reinstall the advanced server. (not sure why - but it all works now).

Since then I have also went to wired (thought it was affecting the performance of my cordless phone which is also 2.4ghz) - wasn't the case but DTS playback is flawless now so I'm leaving it.

Thanks to the group for all their insights and testing.

Geno

Ever since I got my player in December I noticed that when playing music the song titles at the bottom of the screen slant downwards (ever so slightly) from left to right.

Does anybody else have this problem?

Originally posted by cyburn
OK,

So here are test charts you can use to verify aspect ratio, resolution and color on your linkplayer2 (or other devices).

The first three are encoded in xvid:

480p DAR 4:3 xvid quantizer 2 (http://www.maltais.gotdns.com:6000/lp/test480-4-3-xvid-q2.avi)
720p DAR 16:9 xvid quantizer 2 (http://www.maltais.gotdns.com:6000/lp/test720-xvid-q2.avi)
1080p DAR 16:9 xvid quantizer 2 (http://www.maltais.gotdns.com:6000/lp/test1080-xvid-q2.avi)

The last file is encoded in mpeg2:

480i DAR 4:3 (http://www.maltais.gotdns.com:6000/lp/4-3480i.mpg) Unfortunately the (720x)480p XviD file you uploaded did not contain 4:3 DAR signalling. And as far as I'm aware, neither of the I-O DATA players support PAR/DAR signalling in .AVI, only in .MP4....

So here's the same file with 4:3 DAR signalling in .MP4. (http://82.2.167.237/Uploaded_Files/AVS_Forum_files/test480-4-3-xvid-q2_with_4.3_DAR_in_MP4.zip)

The same goes with the (720x)480i DAR 4:3 Mpeg2 file. As it does not vertically fill the screen :(


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
The same goes with the (720x)480i DAR 4:3 Mpeg2 file. As it does not vertically fill the screen :( Strike that!!!!

After capturing a "still frame" from the MPEG file, it is indeed 4:3. Although, confusingly, it contains black mattes: -

http://img136.exs.cx/img136/1923/43480impeg6nq.jpg


Cheers

Does anyone has problem with DVD Player running only at full speed, even if it's set at SLOW or VERY SLOW. Use to be ok with the Dec firmware. Did something goes wrong with the latest firmware (04-91-050127-01-IOD-234-000) or is it just my player?

Can someone please try if it work for you or not. Thanks.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Strike that!!!!

After capturing a "still frame" from the MPEG file, it is indeed 4:3. Although, confusingly, it contains black mattes: -

Cheers

How did you capture this screen shot? A digital picture from your TV set? It does not look like it. I am pretty sure my test files do not have black mate in them.

I am starting to think that IO-DATA built their player to always stretch 480i or 480p content in non HD browser mode for the following reasion: They assume that if you are going to use the browser in standard resolution it is because you are connecting to a 480i or 480p 4:3 display. Therefore stretched 480i or 480p content will be properly shown.

The problem with this thinking is that for users with 16:9 display the aspect ratio will be stretched. What IO-DATA should do is add an option on the setup menu to let you specify the format of your display. Therefore 480i or 480p content should not be stretched. On the other hand if I specify a 4:3 display type the picture will be stretched for proper display.

Originally posted by cyburn
How did you capture this screen shot? A digital picture from your TV set? It does not look like it. It was as a matter of fact... I can do this when playing files with my Sigma Xcard/TVedia.
Originally posted by cyburn
I am pretty sure my test files do not have black mate in them. The (720x)480i DAR 4:3 Mpeg2 file should do... maybe your TV's over-scan is masking the mattes, because they are there!

Did you try the 4:3 DAR signalling .MP4 encode I provided? The good thing about Mpeg4 encodes with DAR signalling in .MP4 is that they can be made to respond in the same way as Mpeg2 in .MPG ;)

So with this in mind you could also try this (http://82.2.167.237/Uploaded_Files/AVS_Forum_files/4.3_NTSC_with_4.3_DAR_in_MP4.7z).


Cheers

I got my free cable today, D4 to female RGB

Originally posted by snoots
I got my free cable today, D4 to female RGB

Originally posted by jackshakes
free cable?

nevermind i found it ...

for anyone else who may be wondering: http://www.iodata.com/products/products.php?cat=HNP&sc=AVEL&ts=2&tsc=15&sc=AVEL&pId=MA-D4%2FCPF

(I dont' recall seing this posted before so I was a alittle in the dark)

Originally posted by jackshakes
nevermind i found it ...

for anyone else who may be wondering: http://www.iodata.com/products/products.php?cat=HNP&sc=AVEL&ts=2&tsc=15&sc=AVEL&pId=MA-D4%2FCPF

(I dont' recall seing this posted before so I was a alittle in the dark) It kinda makes you wonder why I-O DATA didn't simply install 3No RCA/phono's for component video output in the first place :eek:


Cheers

Well PAL discs still are stuttering, but not as bad, but bad enough that you can't watch it.

Also, my high definition mpg files play just fine with the new firmware.

Matt

I posted this elsewhere, but this seems to be the best place, so - sorry for the repost:

I've read through the manual on-line, but could not find the answers.

I've scanned through the FAQ - whew - and could not find (too much info) the answers, so, here is goes.

I currently own the GoVideo Networked DVD player. Will the Linkplayer2:

1. Do I have to have the server software running on the same CPU as the material I want to stream, or does it just need to be on the same network?

2. Does the Linkplayer2 respect track numbers in displaying WMA files in folders? Does it use playlists?

3. Do I need to rebuild the database everytime I add something to a share, or will it find it automatically?

4. Does it "upconvert" from a standard DVD in the drive to 720p via the component cabling?

5. Is it RELIABLE?

Thanks

1. i think just same network

2. don't think so (displays alphabetical i think) and yes

3. no ... it's automatic

4. yes

5. yes for the most part.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
The (720x)480i DAR 4:3 Mpeg2 file should do... maybe your TV's over-scan is masking the mattes, because they are there!

Did you try the 4:3 DAR signalling .MP4 encode I provided? The good thing about Mpeg4 encodes with DAR signalling in .MP4 is that they can be made to respond in the same way as Mpeg2 in .MPG ;)

Cheers [/B]

You are right, my mpeg2 file does have black masks. How dumb. I guess I can't trust Vegas video to produce correct mpeg2 files.

I tried your mp4 file and no difference. It displayed stretched on the TV. On the other hand it display as 4:3 in the HD browser mode. Could you make a test file that would be 480p but with a specified aspect ratio of 16:9? I am curious to see if the player is just always showing 480 content in 4:3 ratio no meter what.

Does the player use ID3 tags in the MP3 and WMA files?

I have an older Toshiba 57H81 can this DVD player output DVD-Video to 1080i?

Originally posted by Celestial
I have an older Toshiba 57H81 can this DVD player output DVD-Video to 1080i? The FAQ is stickied, how did you miss it???

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=484807

Originally posted by cyburn
You are right, my mpeg2 file does have black masks. How dumb. I guess I can't trust Vegas video to produce correct mpeg2 files.

I tried your mp4 file and no difference. It displayed stretched on the TV. On the other hand it display as 4:3 in the HD browser mode. Could you make a test file that would be 480p but with a specified aspect ratio of 16:9? I am curious to see if the player is just always showing 480 content in 4:3 ratio no meter what. Sure... here's a 16:9 example (http://82.2.167.237/Uploaded_Files/AVS_Forum_files/16.9_NTSC_with_16.9_DAR_in_MP4.7z).

I can confirm that the 4:3 and 16:9 .MP4 encodes DAR correctly using my Sigma Xcard. Which is connected via YUV component thru' a DSS amp to my 42" plasma TV.

Both the encodes pinged in and out "like a good 'en" (as we say over here in the UK)... even the wife was impressed :D


Cheers

EDIT: I apologise if the download speed is a little slow. It's because the files are stored on my home PC, which only has an 128K up-link speed... hence the need to use 7-zip compression (which seems to be good at compressing video files).

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Brian, yes KDDI is clumsy and limiting, and I'm not arguing in its favor. I'm simply noting that when I use it, and Womble to transcode the m2t to mpeg2 program stream, the output plays perfectly on AVLP2. The AVLP2 is not having an issue with mpeg1 Layer II audio for me, at the native settings 384 kb/s, 48khz from the GR-HD1.

I found that the audio in the MSP streams play if I hit Pause and then Play again but then fall apart again after a few seconds. This is probably related to the same bug that others are finding with playing Transport Streams. I couldn't find any of my other Womble tests and the one I have found no audio stream when I tried to demux it even though it has audio in it. I'll have to throw some other tools at it. Also files transcoded using the HDTVtoMPEG2 have the same problem.

For those of us that haven't ordered their LinkPlayer yet... Is IOData sending the free D4 component adapter cable with new shipments? Or is this still by special request? Can anyone that has purchased recently comment about this?

Mine came with one. I got it early 1-2005.

Just to make sure we are talking about the correct cable. Did you get the D4 to female RGB?

I have a non-HD TV. When I view some recorded HDTV versions of some TV shows, with my avel linkplayer2. It looks tons better than broadcast. Could I buy a HD converter and just plug it into my regular TV and get wide screen shows and clearer than standard cable? I know this doesn't belong in this forum really, but it leads into my next question. I could get a HDTV capture card, capture the show and convert it to divx and watch it with my Avel Linkplayer with all the nice quality right?

Originally posted by WillGonz
I have a non-HD TV. When I view some recorded HDTV versions of some TV shows, with my avel linkplayer2. It looks tons better than broadcast. Could I buy a HD converter and just plug it into my regular TV and get wide screen shows and clearer than standard cable? I know this doesn't belong in this forum really, but it leads into my next question. I could get a HDTV capture card, capture the show and convert it to divx and watch it with my Avel Linkplayer with all the nice quality right?

I don't quite understand the question. The AVLP2 has S-Video and Composite outputs and will resample any content it supports through S-Video/Composite for any display device with those inputs. How are you using your AVLP2 right now?

And the answer to your question is, yes. Although if your show is popular, you can probably already find a copy of it someone on the Internet already done by someone else.

I am using my player with a svideo connection. However, prerecorded shows that came from my "friends" HDTV Broadcast look extremely superior compared to standard or even digital cable.

Sort of off topic but, the FCC is going to outlaw some HDTV Capture cards, like the ATI HDTV wonder, that don't support DRM. If I loose the ability to record shows and watch them when I want, I won't be happy.

is there an easy way to switch video modes (720p, 1080i) while watching streamed video files like there is when you're watching a dvd?

the only way I can figure to do it now is to go back to the setup menu ...

Can't you do TV Mode on the remote?

is that the same button you use to change modes when watching a dvd? if so then no ... it works when watching a dvd but says INVALID when watching a networked vid.

Anyone playing MUSIC on this unit?

I would love to know about ID3 tag support and if it orders properly by trackname.

Thanks

Originally posted by WillGonz
I am using my player with a svideo connection. However, prerecorded shows that came from my "friends" HDTV Broadcast look extremely superior compared to standard or even digital cable.

Sort of off topic but, the FCC is going to outlaw some HDTV Capture cards, like the ATI HDTV wonder, that don't support DRM. If I loose the ability to record shows and watch them when I want, I won't be happy.

Off-topic, but that FCC rule grandfathers all equipment purchased before June 1st. Plus, it's being challenged last I heard and I have to agree that the FCC overstepped its bounds on this particular ruling as a puppet of broadcasters... But that is for a different thread.

Hello,
I have searched and also checked the FAQ but I did not find an answer.

I'm trying to use VLC (Video Lan) to play videos served by the Momitsu or Iodata server but unfurtunatly only the audio is played (no video).
I would like to do that so I can watch videos while I'm not at home. It would be nice to integrate Momitsu/AVel servers as a plugin in DVArchive.

This how I tested VLC
Open File -> h t t p : //192.168.1.11:8000/action/playvideo.jsp?id=0&ext=.avi

** This will play the first video in your videos list.

Does any body know how to use VLC to play video/audio served by Momitsu Server?

Thanks

No one replied first time around, so here it is again.

I noticed that when playing music the song titles at the bottom of the screen slant downwards (ever so slightly) from left to right. Get the same thing with I-RADIO station titles. I'm viewing on a Sony KV-34XBR800 TV in HD.

Does anybody else have this problem?

Hi all,

I just got the LINKPLAYER2 yesterday, and I'm so happy I did! I read through this forum, and asked a question weeks ago, but I wasn't sure this would do what I wanted, namely play back .TS files and Divx HD files from DVD without bothering with the networking capabilities. I download HDTV files from Usenet, having cancelled my digital cable service from Comcrap due to price gouging. Anyway, I love this player, and so far it has played back all but a few .TS files flawlessly. I believe I read in this forum, that the files may need to be tweaked for them to playback correctly. Anyway, I now can watch all of the HD content I download from Usenet on my HDTV, and it looks as good as when I was getting HD content via Comcrap. Now I'm just wondering if I should even bother getting the LG LST-3410A HDTV Tuner/DVR so I can firewire my own .TS files to PC for burning to DVD. Hmmmmm . . .

Hello.

Just got my player tonight. Running through a quick checkout of the unit. I was messing around with some wmvhd and I am seeing an issue during playback (checked both threads, found nothing, sorry if it is a repeat).

I have a 4 gig wmv hd file 1280 x 720p. (ok, it is island fever 3). It seems to start ok, but within 10-15 seconds, it plays, stops, plays stops etc. If I pause for a few seconds, it seems to catch up and play smoothly for a while before the pauses start again.
I downloaded some other wmvhd trailers (T2, dust to glory). They play back with no pauses at all. Flashed the firwmare on the player. Same problem. Tried using different machines as the avelink server, same problem.


Any help would be appreciated

Thanks
Gregg

Yes, I notice that streaming the video sometimes causes a playback interuptions, and pausing of FF/RW it makes it play smoothly again. I've noticed this with several HD file times when streaming them from my PC, but I have much better luck when playing the files from DVD, which is my prefered method anyway. I'd burn that WMVHD file to DVDRW and see if it plays better that way . . . just my 2 cents as another person who just got this player . . .

Originally posted by brianvann
Hi all,

I just got the LINKPLAYER2 yesterday, and I'm so happy I did! I read through this forum, and asked a question weeks ago, but I wasn't sure this would do what I wanted, namely play back .TS files and Divx HD files from DVD without bothering with the networking capabilities. I download HDTV files from Usenet, having cancelled my digital cable service from Comcrap due to price gouging. Anyway, I love this player, and so far it has played back all but a few .TS files flawlessly. I believe I read in this forum, that the files may need to be tweaked for them to playback correctly. Anyway, I now can watch all of the HD content I download from Usenet on my HDTV, and it looks as good as when I was getting HD content via Comcrap. Now I'm just wondering if I should even bother getting the LG LST-3410A HDTV Tuner/DVR so I can firewire my own .TS files to PC for burning to DVD. Hmmmmm . . .

Which usenet groups are you finding hd content in?

Thanks

a.b.hdtv and a.b.hdtv.repost are the obvious ones.

I have read through this monster thread and hope someone can answer a few basic questions....

1-What is necessary to play back large HD ts files (say 20G) from a MyHD or R5000?

2-Which version of server software? Linkserver, or Link Advanced Server?

3-Can these files be stored/played via their UHDL2DVDL-300 network drive?

Very greatful to any info.

Darin

Originally posted by lmengel
No one replied first time around, so here it is again.

I noticed that when playing music the song titles at the bottom of the screen slant downwards (ever so slightly) from left to right. Get the same thing with I-RADIO station titles. I'm viewing on a Sony KV-34XBR800 TV in HD.

Does anybody else have this problem?

nope, it's fine here.

Originally posted by dj7675
I have read through this monster thread and hope someone can answer a few basic questions....

1-What is necessary to play back large HD ts files (say 20G) from a MyHD or R5000?

2-Which version of server software? Linkserver, or Link Advanced Server?

3-Can these files be stored/played via their UHDL2DVDL-300 network drive?

Very greatful to any info.

Darin

1. You can either burn them to DVD in 4 gig chunks or stream them over the network using the Linkserver.

2. The linkserver is used for files that are natively supported by the linkplayer, the advanced server is used for real time transcoding of files that are not natively supported.

3. I can't answer this one as I don't have the drive, but I seem to recall it is fat32 so it has a 4 gig file limit.

Ok, I am in the "just got mine" club, and am ALSO noticing some "syncopated" playback issues.

Mostly with .ts captures from my MyHD card. Stuttering occurs most often at start of play, and usually settles down after a minute or so...

I was able to play the Divx-HD samples with no problem. These yielded the most impressive demos. Checkout that Madagascar trailer.

The WMVHD samples from Microsoft site seem to have some stuttering, too, but it could be the source material. (of course, no sound on WMVHD samples... )

I'm gonna try the previous firmware version to see if it's any better on .ts play.

All in all, I think this thing has a lot of POTENTIAL, but is still not ready for prime-time. Here are some things that need to be fixed:

1) MUST have seamless play through split .ts and/or .vob files...
2) Need for better navigation. FF/RW (or at LEAST skip ahead x seconds...) and bookmarks need to work for streamed HD files. Ripped DVD vob play should honor chapter marks. DVD menu support for ripped DVDs would be nice.
3) Need zoom improvements to address non-anamorphic widescreen titles, and overscan issues. Current modes are somewhat confusing..

Maybe I should take a look at wizd.. doesn't that solve the split-file play issue? Maybe it will have better streaming performance as well.

3-Can these files be stored/played via their UHDL2DVDL-300 network drive?
Right now the UHLD is set to a 2GB limit. IOData has said that this will be addressed with a firmware update. You can store files larger than 2GB/4GB on the UHLD, but you would need to set up a shortcut on your computer to play it back.

irgaac
Thanks for the answers. So, since the linkplayer has native support of TS files, the linkserver software is all that is needed and not the advanced server?

I am wanting to see if this unit will be up to the task for playing large TS files. I just sent in an sat box to get the r5000hd mod. With it I will be recording large TS files. For playback I have the options dumping it to tape with dvhs tools, using the MyHD card, a Roku HD1000, or possibly the linkplayer. I would really like a non-pc solution for playback.

potus

I am very interested in your results of playback using the linkplayer on the MyHD files. Let us know your results on playback after you go back to the previous firmware. Seems that some had better results with the previous version.

Darin

Originally posted by potus
Ok, I am in the "just got mine" club, and am ALSO noticing some "syncopated" playback issues.

Mostly with .ts captures from my MyHD card. Stuttering occurs most often at start of play, and usually settles down after a minute or so...

I was able to play the Divx-HD samples with no problem. These yielded the most impressive demos. Checkout that Madagascar trailer.

The WMVHD samples from Microsoft site seem to have some stuttering, too, but it could be the source material. (of course, no sound on WMVHD samples... )

I'm gonna try the previous firmware version to see if it's any better on .ts play.

All in all, I think this thing has a lot of POTENTIAL, but is still not ready for prime-time. Here are some things that need to be fixed:

1) MUST have seamless play through split .ts and/or .vob files...
2) Need for better navigation. FF/RW (or at LEAST skip ahead x seconds...) and bookmarks need to work for streamed HD files. Ripped DVD vob play should honor chapter marks. DVD menu support for ripped DVDs would be nice.
3) Need zoom improvements to address non-anamorphic widescreen titles, and overscan issues. Current modes are somewhat confusing..

Maybe I should take a look at wizd.. doesn't that solve the split-file play issue? Maybe it will have better streaming performance as well.

potus- I know you may not have seen this since it is such a long thread, but I discovered (also being a MyHD convert) that if you run your .ts files through VLC streaming wizard to save them to disc as a program stream, this converts the .ts to a .vob without transcoding or loss of resolution. The high-def .vob plays much smoother and with full transport controls on the LinkPlayer. VLC is free, and I just ran 3 or 4 files through at a time and had all my archives converted to .vobs in an afternoon.

ditto what mikemav said...

Does anyone have a Pronto CCF file for this player to share?

Thanks,
Jason

When i put movies or songs on a Data DVD or USB Drive I have to play them one by one. Is there a way to play all them without have to pick them indivialually.

I organized movies or song into folders and would like the play all the song/movies in that folder.

The advanced server will allow you to play the whole folder at once.

-geno

Originally posted by tokyogeno
The advanced server will allow you to play the whole folder at once.

-geno

I'm running the Data DVD from the DVD slot.

Do you mean that if I go out and buy a MS computer and install the advanced server I will get a new menu system for DVD and USB drives played from the LinkPlayer2.

Must the advanced servers's computer be online or does just installing the advanced server change the LinkPlayer's firmware?

Originally posted by CoolCanuck
Does anyone have a Pronto CCF file for this player to share?


I second that ... or is anyone with a pronto able to do an IR scan to figure out if any descrete commands are available at all?

Right now this is the one device in my system that can't be effectively used in the macros.

Originally posted by jackshakes
I second that ... or is anyone with a pronto able to do an IR scan to figure out if any descrete commands are available at all?

Right now this is the one device in my system that can't be effectively used in the macros.

I asked for this about 20 pages back in this thread... no response

Im guessing either everyone who owns this player is sitting with it infront of them or is too busy playing with it. Makes it hard for us to use whos equipment isnt in the same room as our screens.

I guess ill have to have my pronto learn the remote. Any one wanna take a stab at designing a color interface for the pronto?

So I have read through all 100+ pages of this thread and I still am a bit unclear as to whether the linkplayer2 can playback Nero Digital files (h.264/AVC). Now, I know that via the advanced server (i.e. transcoding) I could play them back, but what about through just the basic server package. Has anyone tried this?

Originally posted by webboy10169
I asked for this about 20 pages back in this thread... no response

Im guessing either everyone who owns this player is sitting with it infront of them or is too busy playing with it. Makes it hard for us to use whos equipment isnt in the same room as our screens.

I guess ill have to have my pronto learn the remote. Any one wanna take a stab at designing a color interface for the pronto?

Yeah I thought I had remembered that coming up before which is why I hadn't said anything about it lately.

I myself don't have a pronto so I couldn't be of help with the interface. I'm mainly interested in getting the hex codes so I could program them into my MX-700 and share with that crowd.

I am correct that the prontos can learn a few commands from the remote and then do an IR scan to figure the rest out including any hidden discretes correct?

Originally posted by tracy_bolte@hotm
So I have read through all 100+ pages of this thread and I still am a bit unclear as to whether the linkplayer2 can playback Nero Digital files (h.264/AVC). Now, I know that via the advanced server (i.e. transcoding) I could play them back, but what about through just the basic server package. Has anyone tried this? No it can't. Because Sigma's EM8620 chip-set does not support Mpeg4/AVC - and can't be upgraded to do so.

Just to make matters a little clearer. NeroDigital does not automatically mean "Mpeg4/AVC".

A couple of years ago, NeroDigital began offering Mpeg4/SP and ASP but in Dec 2004 they added Mpeg4/AVC.


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
No it can't. Because Sigma's EM8620 chip-set does not support Mpeg4/AVC - and can't be upgraded to do so.

Just to make matters a little clearer. NeroDigital does not automatically mean "Mpeg4/AVC".

A couple of years ago, NeroDigital began offering Mpeg4/SP and ASP but in Dec 2004 they added Mpeg4/AVC.


Cheers

Thanks. That does suck that it can't play H.264 natively. Am I correct in my assumption that it can play it back via the advanced server? After all, it is just using a direct show filter...

Originally posted by tracy_bolte@hotm
Thanks. That does suck that it can't play H.264 natively. Am I correct in my assumption that it can play it back via the advanced server? After all, it is just using a direct show filter...

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the next LinkPlayer due out later this year is supposed to be based on the newest Sigma chip which does add H.264 support to it's repertoir. If you're looking for this support specifically, it may be worthwhile to wait for the new version (who knows - maybe they'll even toss in 6 channel analog audio outputs, but don't hold your breath ;) ).

Is there any point in waiting for the DVI version of the LinkPlayer to arrive in North America? (I am not interested in the wireless option)

Put another way, will the DVI version support HDCP? Is the current hardware even able to support HDCP?

Is HDCP needed to fully use the DVI port?

Originally posted by tracy_bolte@hotm
Thanks. That does suck that it can't play H.264 natively. Am I correct in my assumption that it can play it back via the advanced server? After all, it is just using a direct show filter... No again....

Both the currently available I-O DATA players decode supported streams in hardware, using Sigma's EM8620 chip-set... No video decoding is carried out in software!


Cheers

Tracy,

From what I read if you are running Advanced Server and have the required codecs installed on the PC running the Adv Server software then it will transcode the file to Mpeg2 format on the fly. Now whether it works with all codecs is a question that needs to be explored. I haven't tried to much with mine yet since time is tight but I have the software running (both the Linkplayer Server software and the Adv Server) to play with it and it seems to work pretty good so far.

I would suggest installing and running the Adv server software and trying it out to see if the conversion works for you.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
No again....

Both the currently available I-O DATA players decode supported streams in hardware, using Sigma's EM8620 chip-set... No video decoding is carried out in software!


Cheers

Incorrect.

Sort of.

While the player does not use software decoding, using the advanced server will transcode anything the PC can decipher into MPEG2 and stream that to the player.

Originally posted by irgaac
Incorrect.

Sort of.

While the player does not use software decoding, using the advanced server will transcode anything the PC can decipher into MPEG2 and stream that to the player. I see... no wonder there has been so much discussion about the "Advanced Server" software!

Hopefully the software can support Nero's version of Mpeg4/AVC codec. Does anybody know whether the the server software can support/transcode standard Mpeg4/AAC streams in .MP4 container?


Cheers

Using the Advanced server you can play ANYTHING on the Linkplayer2 that your PC can play. If the codecs aren't installed on your PC, then they wont play on the Linkplayer. If they are installed and the file plays on your PC then it will play with the Advanced server on the Linkplayer2.

Thanks everybody for the help. Unfortunately, I don't get my Linkplayer until Monday....oh, how I hate to wait!!! However, as soon as I get it, I will try out some H264/AVC stuff and see if it transcodes properly....I will report my findings. ;)

Does anyone know if the Linkplayer reads the 16:9 info in the VOL header in an MPEG-4 .avi file? I have a Sony 36-inch XBR SDTV that offers 16:9 Vertical Compression which gives a resulting image very close to 480P with anamorphic material. I would like to recreate that effect with MPEG-4, but I don't know if the Linkplayer will allow it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Does anyone know if the upcoming update of the player hardware will also output upconverted video over component?

In other words, should I think about buying now (my BenQ 6100 projector has no DVI in, so I need component in), or can I gamble and wait for the new player, which has more features?

Originally posted by bshor
Does anyone know if the upcoming update of the player hardware will also output upconverted video over component?

In other words, should I think about buying now (my BenQ 6100 projector has no DVI in, so I need component in), or can I gamble and wait for the new player, which has more features?

Current version of the North American unit upconverts over component.

This has been answered many times. The player has upconverted to 720p/1080i since day one.

Originally posted by spyfy
Using the Advanced server you can play ANYTHING on the Linkplayer2 that your PC can play. If the codecs aren't installed on your PC, then they wont play on the Linkplayer. If they are installed and the file plays on your PC then it will play with the Advanced server on the Linkplayer2.

You can't play QuickTime or Real files. At least I think I tried that.

Do you think that the regular server will ever be able to play WMV8 or lower? It's nice that you can play it on the Advanced, but I hate not being able to FF or REW. I could understand if the regular server could play WMV8 but not 9, but why can't it play a lower version than 9?

maybe the correct statement is ... anything WMP can play?

Yes, that's correct. It can play anything WMP can play on your PC. Sorry for the confusion.

Originally posted by spyfy
Yes, that's correct. It can play anything WMP can play on your PC. Sorry for the confusion. There is a direct-show filter for QuickTime and a splitter for RealMedia that will enable both types of streams to be played in WMP9/10 (and any other direct-show based media player ;)


Cheers

Well there you go. I was right to begin with. ;)

Originally posted by jackshakes
I myself don't have a pronto so I couldn't be of help with the interface. I'm mainly interested in getting the hex codes so I could program them into my MX-700 and share with that crowd.

I am correct that the prontos can learn a few commands from the remote and then do an IR scan to figure the rest out including any hidden discretes correct?

I have a JP1 remote and created a device code file and upload it to yahoo JP1 group last month.

Here's the url Linkplayer Device Code (http://www.cowboy.net/~jun/Avel_Linkplayer_2.txt)

It's a text file, can be read by IR program.

Unfortunately, I did not find any discrete code for this player. I'm working on programing my remote to add the discrete function one of these days.

The link doesn't work

Originally posted by lmengel
I'm running the Data DVD from the DVD slot.

Do you mean that if I go out and buy a MS computer and install the advanced server I will get a new menu system for DVD and USB drives played from the LinkPlayer2.

Must the advanced servers's computer be online or does just installing the advanced server change the LinkPlayer's firmware?


I just assumed that you would have had the above - if you don't then my comments are not applicable.

I bought the AvelLink Player without a built-in DVD player as I just wanted to stream files from my PC to the TV (still analog) so the PC is integral to my setup.

Geno

Originally posted by lifeisfun
The link doesn't work

Sorry, guess it doesn't work if not subscribed. I change the location. Should be working now.

No, this isn't what I meant. I know the current version of the player upconverts, that's not the issue. It's that I know there's ANOTHER version of the player coming out soon. Since I know that upconversion over component is of questionable status (from the perspective of manufacturers, not us consumers), I'm asking if people know/can speculate about the future version of the player being able to upconvert.

Originally posted by epsilon
This has been answered many times. The player has upconverted to 720p/1080i since day one.

One thing I would like addressed with this player is 4:3 dvd's. Say for instance Seinfeld, I pop in the dvd and I get the black bars on the left and right and the aspect ratio is correct. But if I rip the same dvd and stream the vob from the server, my black bars are gone and I am stuck with using the stretch modes that are pretty weak.

Originally posted by Ripnickus
One thing I would like addressed with this player is 4:3 dvd's. Say for instance Seinfeld, I pop in the dvd and I get the black bars on the left and right and the aspect ratio is correct. But if I rip the same dvd and stream the vob from the server, my black bars are gone and I am stuck with using the stretch modes that are pretty weak.

For Seinfeld, I just use AutoGK to convert it to AVI. And then the aspect is correct again. And a lot smaller. I wish it will support second audio though.

I do think they need to do something to prevent burn in though for 4:3 material.

Originally posted by bshor
Since I know that upconversion over component is of questionable status (from the perspective of manufacturers, not us consumers), I'm asking if people know/can speculate about the future version of the player being able to upconvert. I would not hold out too much hope for this. As it would seem, the only reason the I-O DATA players are able to up-convert is due to an over-sight at Sigma's end..... Here's what Keith Jack had to say about the up-convert situation a few days ago: - Originally posted by kjack
The capability is supposed to be disabled so companies cannot over-ride it in software. Turns out it was not possible to quickly implement with our new SW architecture. Yes, engineering told me, and I forgot... :o ... Sadly, I don't think the same mistake will happen again!


Cheers

I guess I don't know why IO does not have the same menu for playing files (no shuffle, or play all) as it does off the network.

Would that not be a simple addition?

Ouch, this doesn't bode well for the next generation of link player then. I wonder if the upscaling will function on the DVI output? If so we could get a DVI to VGA converter to address that but of course that is additional expense.

I guess we should get them now before the mistake is fixed on the next generation! IMO if they remove the upscaling ability I wouldn't be as interested in the player and would look to other alternatives. I would go back to the HTPC solution to get the funcitonality I am looking for/needing.

I'm having a real problem lately transcoding in Advanced Server. The files stutter and stop and sometimes don't play at all. I only have 1ghz and 192 RAM and I don't want to upgrade either because I hope to get a new computer in 6 months or so. Is there anything I can do, something like increasing virtual memory or partitioning my disc. I really hesitate to get into the latter because I've never done it before and am afraid of hosing my computer.

Has anybody noticed that they added this to the web page?

"*LinkPlayer doesn't have an upscaling function. The current market available DVD movie (480p SD) is by 480p out with no scaling even if LinkPlayer setting is 720p or 1080i HD mode. 720p DVD disc will come in a market, and it can be played by 720p output."

I just ordered mine, so I hope it still upscales....

I suppose the DVD upscaling could be disabled in a future firmware update. (This is probably likely, in fact..) Current versions still seem to upscale.

I only hope they are smart about it, and only disable it for CSS-protected DVD content. This is really the ONLY one they are obligated to disable. (i.e. there is no reason why they should have to disable upscaling for user-generated 480i(or p), or any other non-CSS-protected content.)

I hope there will be soon hacked firmware to remove any restrictions.

Originally posted by potus
I suppose the DVD upscaling could be disabled in a future firmware update. (This is probably likely, in fact..) Current versions still seem to upscale.

I only hope they are smart about it, and only disable it for CSS-protected DVD content. This is really the ONLY one they are obligated to disable. (i.e. there is no reason why they should have to disable upscaling for user-generated 480i(or p), or any other non-CSS-protected content.)

What is upscaling? Does it have a better picture? I don't have a HD set yet was going to get one later this year when the improved DLP chip sets come out.

Thanks
MH

Originally posted by PeterS
Anyone playing MUSIC on this unit?

I would love to know about ID3 tag support and if it orders properly by track-name.

Thanks

Not sure what you mean but I play a lot of music with my player. I have it sync with I-Tunes and it plays great. It displays the Artist and Song name on the TV screen. Hope this is what you mean.

MH

RE: Advanced Server

It won't play anything that WMP can play -- it works with most types and transcoding but not all. Two examples -- WMA Pro and WMA Lossless both appear as standard WMA to the Advanced Server so it passes it along without trancoding even if you add Transcode=Yes setting.


RE: ID3 tag support -- Regular server supports them for MP3 at least -- I don't believe it does for WMA. It adds virtual folders for artist and album but it doesn't use the track number for ordering. I switched all of my audio to nn Trackname.mp3 format.

Anyone rolling their own pronto files via learning, please please please learn all the commands into a seporate page, then create all your buttons & controls seporately that just link to the commands.

This will allow other folks to easily change the look and feel of your learned codes. I'll be sure and do it this way if I wind up being first (which may be awhile). I don't have color.

Anyone know if there is a Harmony config yet? I'm tired of programming my pronto, and the Harmony for the bedroom system was real easy to setup.

Originally posted by highgrovemanor
Anyone rolling their own pronto files via learning, please please please learn all the commands into a seporate page, then create all your buttons & controls seporately that just link to the commands.

This will allow other folks to easily change the look and feel of your learned codes. I'll be sure and do it this way if I wind up being first (which may be awhile). I don't have color.

I too have other obligations on the plate which has stopped me from having my pronto learn the link player, I had planned on designing 2 screens for the link player 1 for dvd function and one for network functions.

If anyone plans on designing a interface do it in color then anyone can convert it to B/W if needed B/W designs on a color pronto look bad, but there is little to no difference if its done in color and then converted to B/W for regular prontos.

If i find the time ill start playing...

call me an idiot here ... but what exactally is the problem with upscaling video anyway? is someone afraid you'll upscale their 408p dvd then reburn it to another dvd and sell it?

Originally posted by highgrovemanor
Anyone rolling their own pronto files via learning, please please please learn all the commands into a seporate page, then create all your buttons & controls seporately that just link to the commands.

This will allow other folks to easily change the look and feel of your learned codes. I'll be sure and do it this way if I wind up being first (which may be awhile). I don't have color.

Anyone know if there is a Harmony config yet? I'm tired of programming my pronto, and the Harmony for the bedroom system was real easy to setup.

I have the Harmony and it works fine. I don't believe I even had to learn any commands, but I may be forgetting something. Anyway, works fine.

yeah but the harmony can do without descrete codes ... my MX-700 works fine if you don't consider that I can't really power the device on and off effectively in macros.

Originally posted by jackshakes
yeah but the harmony can do without descrete codes ... my MX-700 works fine if you don't consider that I can't really power the device on and off effectively in macros.

Why is there a need to power it off? I leave mine on all the time. It seems quiet & other than the blue light (which does not turn off with the remote anyway IIRC), I can see no other reason to turn it off. Unless you have an auto-sensing AV switch?

I leave mine on always also -- It especially helps if leavea a DVD in the drive or if you have any USB devices attached otherwise startup times increase dramatically.

Also as with the MX-700 my MX-800 manages it great.

Originally posted by jackshakes
call me an idiot here ... but what exactally is the problem with upscaling video anyway? is someone afraid you'll upscale their 408p dvd then reburn it to another dvd and sell it?

No you are not an idiot. The Hollywood piracy folks are the idiots.

Apparently the "problem" is that since component output is not "copy-protectable" (like HDMI is), then theoretically you could build a recorder that would take the component signal directly and record it. (yeah, right...)

There's lots of discussions on this in other areas of AVS... It's another case of copy-protection crippling honest people while doing nothing to deter real criminals.

- Frank

that's what I figured ... but to me it seems then that they would have a problem with any video being passed over the component outputs (even 480i/p) ...

I guess I don't see why they wouldn't have a problem with 480i/p but would with 720p or 1080i ... i mean don't get me wrong the upconverts look good ... but it's not THAT big of a difference

I guess I don't know why IO does not have the same menu for playing files (no shuffle, or play all) as it does off the network.It has been a while since I had music on my USB external hard drive, but I thought hitting play instead of select would play everything in the folder.

Quick question, does anyone rip DVDs and store them on a hard drive as a completed MPEG and play it from this device to their TV?? and also, can i access my all my stored DVD rips and choose which one i want and play through my network on my HDTV without any delays or sound sync issues?? Please help, I am so close to buying this that its killing me. I need this bad and would love to have this. I am also considering this device, http://www.kiss-technology.com/?p=558&v=users

Does anyone know this one?? which is better?? please help.

The kiss has older chipset ... avoid ( or wait for the new DP-6xx line)

Usually I rip the DVD to VOBS and play them but MPEG2s have played across the network without issue - both wireless and wired.

To get a consistent DTS stream I had to stay wired.

Quick question, does anyone rip DVDs and store them on a hard drive as a completed MPEG and play it from this device to their TV?? and also, can i access my all my stored DVD rips and choose which one i want and play through my network on my HDTV without any delays or sound sync issues??I rip to VOB, too. However, I have an HD "all-in-wonder" card on my computer that records directly to mpeg. Thus far, I have not had problems playing back video or sound on my TV from my computer via the linkplayer.

questions to anyone who bought sharktale, while my daughter was watching it on dvd, i noticed that at exactly 1:15.48 that the picture gets all scrambled and looks like a digital set top box looking its signal briefly. Has anyone else noticed this? Could i have a defective dvd?? i've tried it on a few other dvd players and it doesn't do it, but they arent' connected through component either. So i'm going to see if i can borrow another dvd to try and see if it's still there if it is then it's probably the dvd player.

Originally posted by jackshakes
that's what I figured ... but to me it seems then that they would have a problem with any video being passed over the component outputs (even 480i/p) ...

I guess I don't see why they wouldn't have a problem with 480i/p but would with 720p or 1080i ... i mean don't get me wrong the upconverts look good ... but it's not THAT big of a difference

Yeah, you're right, they should be just as worried about recording 480i/p. Your hypothetical "component video recorder" would be able to capture ALL the information the source has to offer via 480i/p component (assuming you have a decent DVD player, that is..)

However, the cat is already out of the bag on this one. Millions of component-out DVD players have already been sold. Hollywood really can't proclaim that these are now all illegal.

This whole DVD-upscaling restriction is just plain stupid.

Originally posted by potus
Millions of component-out DVD players have already been sold. Hollywood really can't proclaim that these are now all illegal.

It's not like Hollywood just started saying they are "illegal". Manufacturers doing it are violating a license agreement [contract] and are getting caught. Players are now being bought at random from all over the world and being tested.

License agreements for newer technologies now include a minimum ($1M) and maximum ($8M) fine to get management's attention and ensure their engineers don't run amuck. This is one reason only verified, encrypted, and properly signed DRM code can be run on our latest chip.

New forum up and running ! :)
Should we move conversation over ?
It would be way more organised :)


http://www.iodata.com/usa/forum/

Originally posted by lifeisfun
New forum up and running ! :)
Should we move conversation over ?
It would be way more organised :)


http://www.iodata.com/usa/forum/

I am heading there right now.

see you there :)

Originally posted by kjack
It's not like Hollywood just started saying they are "illegal". Manufacturers doing it are violating a license agreement [contract] and are getting caught. Players are now being bought at random from all over the world and being tested.

License agreements for newer technologies now include a minimum ($1M) and maximum ($8M) fine to get management's attention and ensure their engineers don't run amuck. This is one reason only verified, encrypted, and properly signed DRM code can be run on our latest chip.

I think you misunderstood. I'm not talking about upscaling players here. I was talking about run-of-the-mill non-upscaling component-out DVD players. (480i/p output ONLY) Certainly there are no restrictions on building these, are there?

BTW, is there ANYTHING you can say to refute the stupidity of the upscaling restriction? Is there any shread of sanity in it? Perhaps I am unaware of all the facts, but it seems pretty dopey to me.

Has anybody here tried Nero's MediaHome server software?

Apparently it allows directories of media to be shared, and can filter which types of files to share. And offers real-time transcoding.

Here's what Nero has to say about it: -
"Nero MediaHome offers Real-Time transcoding of your media ... ensures upward compatibility of your UPnP™ media renderer's. So you will always be able to playback the newest and most efficient audio and video formats even if the renderer does not support it by native."http://img141.exs.cx/img141/2082/neromediahome8th.th.jpg (http://img141.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img141&image=neromediahome8th.jpg)

Transcoding options are set by a tab in the MediaHome configuration. The output format can be set to low-bitrate MPEG2 amongst others...


Cheers

I have this product but have been unable to get my linkplayer to connect to it.

Were can I get a copy so I can see if it will work with the V880N?

nero.com

Originally posted by potus
I think you misunderstood. I'm not talking about upscaling players here. I was talking about run-of-the-mill non-upscaling component-out DVD players. (480i/p output ONLY) Certainly there are no restrictions on building these, are there? Sorry - I misundersood!

BTW, is there ANYTHING you can say to refute the stupidity of the upscaling restriction? Is there any shread of sanity in it? Perhaps I am unaware of all the facts, but it seems pretty dopey to me. I think you summed it up pretty well. :)

Originally posted by epsilon
a.b.hdtv and a.b.hdtv.repost are the obvious ones.


These groups have freaking terbytes of posts.. what provider are you using to get to this content..? Giganews would kill your wallet and the other news providers are set at freaking 256kbs DL speed.. ?????????????


F.

Originally posted by flamaest
These groups have freaking terbytes of posts.. what provider are you using to get to this content..? Giganews would kill your wallet and the other news providers are set at freaking 256kbs DL speed.. ?????????????


F.

Ive been pulling stuff down from my cable provider (optonline) but my connection is pretty much wide open...

Originally posted by snoots
I have this product but have been unable to get my linkplayer to connect to it.

I think you may need to run LinkPlayer Server in addition to the nero mediahome. The uPnP support seems to be provided by LinkPlayer Server, NOT the LinkPlayer itself. I was able to get Microsoft Media Connect working this way. Though, I personally don't see any advantage to it. Just presents a slightly different organization of the media.... I think it is supposed to transcode, but so far, I have not been able to test that.. I have no media that the linkplayer cannot play natively.

In my case, the "Windows Media Connect" items show up as sub-folders in the root of each "VIDEO", "MUSIC", "PHOTOS" section for the selected server. When you navigate into this "folder", you are presented with the Windows Media Connect organization of the media. (author, genre, etc..)

If Nero MediaHome is uPnP server (which is my understanding), it ought to work similarly.

I tried Nero MediaHome but it does nothing for the Linkplayer. Neither did it do anything for the computers on my network. My linux box displayed an XML script and another Windows computer didn't see anything. MediaHome does not tell you (unlike AVeL's server) what port number it is using so you will want to set that manually. That was how I pointed to it with the Linkplayer. I'll install Nero Showtime on the other Windows machine and see if it sees it. The Linux box sees and displays the AVeL server.

I have found that recoding HD ts and ps files with Nero Recode was not quite as good as Divx's quality. However Recode works with large file and Dr. Divx seems still has a bad bug as it will more often than not screw up and produce an undersized file with low bitrate regardless of settings. I get better results with Movie Transformer though it is slower than Dr. Divx.

Looks like I'll have to watch to see what happens to folks who want to be first to get the firmware downloads as I don't want to lose the upscaling and especially the HD on the component output.

Bummer!

Thanks for trying it... It looked pretty good on paper too :eek:


Cheers

Originally posted by webboy10169
Ive been pulling stuff down from my cable provider (optonline) but my connection is pretty much wide open...

I get mine from my cable provider but am limited to 10 gigs a month. Does not take long to use that up.

Anyone know of another news provider that's reasonable in cost?

or another forum to look for this topic?

Originally posted by kjack
License agreements for newer technologies now include a minimum ($1M) and maximum ($8M) fine to get management's attention and ensure their engineers don't run amuck. This is one reason only verified, encrypted, and properly signed DRM code can be run on our latest chip.

So you're saying IO-Data has to remove this upscaling capability or risk fines? So it's not a question of if we will lose, just when.

In non HD browsing while viewing a slideshow of pictures after the picture transitions to the next the screen goes black and there is a very loud consistent "clicking noise" coming from the amp. As if the denon is trying to sync up to the linkplayer. In HD browsing mode it only happens 2 times while trying to show the avel picture then when it tries to display the first photo.

It also does the same thing when trying to listen to music.

Anyone else seeing/hearing this?

Originally posted by lmengel
I get mine from my cable provider but am limited to 10 gigs a month. Does not take long to use that up.

Anyone know of another news provider that's reasonable in cost?

or another forum to look for this topic?

Hmmm 10 gigs a month christ im pulling that down a day...

I use to use uncensorednews 35 bucks a month for 2 gigs a day.
giganews is unlimited for 25 bucks a month they limit the connections to 4.

what about dsl is that limited too?

Originally posted by lmengel
So you're saying IO-Data has to remove this upscaling capability or risk fines? So it's not a question of if we will lose, just when.

That's what Zenith did with the 318 as I understand it. Which is why I am glad there is a revert choice for firmware upgrades. However, I guess they could remove that revert feature as well. Which is why I will not be updating firmware until I hear some feedback here first. I may also order my second player to have in case this happens in the future, I could have an "unlocked" one now rather that one that out of the box does not support component upscaling. Unless someone can figure out how to download the firmware files & update from disc or local host. Then we could keep a copy of the current firmware on file & flash a future purchase with the old unlocked firmware. Is that possible?

Originally posted by kjack
This is one reason only verified, encrypted, and properly signed DRM code can be run on our latest chip.

That's unfortunate then, because if users can't play their own legally obtained unencrypted content from camcorders and unencrypted content from DVDRs, the new chip is not going to achieve a strong following.

Originally posted by mikemav
That's what Zenith did with the 318 as I understand it. Which is why I am glad there is a revert choice for firmware upgrades. However, I guess they could remove that revert feature as well. Which is why I will not be updating firmware until I hear some feedback here first. I may also order my second player to have in case this happens in the future, I could have an "unlocked" one now rather that one that out of the box does not support component upscaling. Unless someone can figure out how to download the firmware files & update from disc or local host. Then we could keep a copy of the current firmware on file & flash a future purchase with the old unlocked firmware. Is that possible? Would you believe Philips' latest firmware update for their DVP630/632 and DVP640/642 range of players added MacroVision only. No wonder they did not bother reporting this in their ChangeLog.

I guess this is why, "modded DVD player firmware" web sites have started to appear!


Cheers

Originally posted by kjack
[License agreements for newer technologies now include a minimum ($1M) and maximum ($8M) fine to get management's attention and ensure their engineers don't run amuck. This is one reason only verified, encrypted, and properly signed DRM code can be run on our latest chip. [/B]

That is total nonsense. You're telling me that I can't play legally recorded media from WinTV or VHS tapes I have archived to DVD's, or cam media... All because you have chosen to be a pawn of DRM and all else/others, be hanged. What about our rights? To me it says screw the consumer/end-user. Thankfully, your's isn't the only game in town.

Originally posted by Shoebox
That is total nonsense. You're telling me that I can't play legally recorded media from WinTV or VHS tapes I have archived to DVD's, or cam media... All because you have chosen to be a pawn of DRM and all else/others, be hanged. What about our rights? To me it says screw the consumer/end-user. Thankfully, your's isn't the only game in town.

you can still play them in 480i/p mode ... just can't upscale it to 720p or 1080i ...

it sounds to me like the whole industry has just gone anti-piracy crazy and are doing anything that sounds like it may have a remote chance of reducing the amount of illegal content being produced and sold.

so even though it seems taking away the ability to upconvert over components seems to do nothing for the war against piracy ... we'll be forced to live with it anyway.

i mean, considering most consumers have no idea the difference between 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i (they simply know 'progressive' is the new hot marketing item, so of course they want it) they won't know the difference anyway.

likewise, the same ignorance means movies ripped and being sold on the black market in 480i/p format will sell just as well as movies ripped at the up converted 720p or 1080i.

so i still have yet to come across one reason why disabling the upconverting feature over components will make one bit of difference other than piss the people on this forum off.

but ... i'm not calling the shots ... and the masses are saturated with people who don't know the difference and won't even notice. so I guess we stand no chance.

Originally posted by Shoebox
That is total nonsense. You're telling me that I can't play legally recorded media from WinTV or VHS tapes I have archived to DVD's, or cam media... All because you have chosen to be a pawn of DRM and all else/others, be hanged. What about our rights? To me it says screw the consumer/end-user. Thankfully, your's isn't the only game in town.
Id like to add that this is not by Sigma's choice... Im sure this comes much higher up. Sigma or any other chip set manufacture just gives the ability to use the full potential of the output capability of there chip set. The end manufacture must be in line with the laws...

So in essence there is no other game in town every one must by the rules that are being set...

What commercially-available devices are able to record from component input (even 480i -- 480p, 720p, 1080i notwithstanding)?

I know of only one ... the DVDR 985, one of the first DVD recorders available on the US Market. It is specifically designed to record only 480i - non encrypted - signals.

Although you can output 480p, 720p, or 1080i over analog, what can you use to record this output? Even DVHS devices can record only via firewire.

I suppose the products offered by 169time (directv, etc., high definition output to firewire) could fall under these govt. regulations. What exposure do the folks who purchased (or upgraded) this hardware have legally?

Just look at the hassles that Kalediscape is having with DCSS at the moment ... and they have a license!

It's like "cavet recorder"!:D

I recall reading somewhere that Macrovision protection doesn't work on the upconverted component signal, only on 480i or 480p signals. So if the DVD requests Macrovision protection, then the player must output 480i or 480p in order to meet the Macrovision obligation.

Other upconverting players (for example Momitsu V880 and Zenith DVB318) disable upconversion if Macrovision is required, but allow upconversion if Macrovision is not required.

Even some upconverting video processors refuse to upconvert if the input has Macrovision protection. For example the Yamaha RX-Z9.

I'm curious as to what Sigma Designs and I-O Data's take on this is?

i think the hdtvwonder can ... i'll have to check. I know it has an input adapter for component video ... dunno if it's higher than 480i tho...

Let's not confuse the government's role in this. Keith's post said "licensing."
It means the manufacturers are voluntarily agreeing to the restriction in order to receive the license.

If it's true that next generation media processors from Sigma will require verified, encrypted, properly signed DRM code to be *RUN* on their latest processors, that means your DVD transfers of home video of the kids summer vacation won't play on Aunt Mildred's new DVD player, in which case, the compatibility of the current DVD-Video format is dead.

Forseeing this future, one could envision DVD-Recorders no longer able to play Hollywood titles, because the media processor could not be licensed to play back "non-verified, non-encrypted, non-signed DRM code" of its own creation.

The insistence upon verified, signed DRM code, and encrypted media processors, encrypted ram, encrypted D/A's in order to "run" on the latest processors without providing a mechanism for cross-compatibility with unsigned, non-DRM protected content creates a dividing line between a player intended solely for playback of Hollywood content, and the original intent of the Digital Versatile Disk (DVD).

I won't buy it. Let them eat cake.

I wouldn't worry unless IODATA entirely overreacts. From what I understand the DVD and Macrovision licenses only specifically restrict output to a max of 480p in 2 cases:

1. Macrovision protected content being played on an analog output.
2. Encrypted content being played on an Digital output which doesn't enforce HDCP.

In no case do they prohibit the upscaling of a persons own personal recordings (such as DV to DVD home videos) although most big name brands have gone entirely away from theis issue by only upscaling on their more expesive HDMI or DVI + HDCP players.

I wouldn't be surprised if some day we lose (1) however if macrovision is off and encryption is off I don't expect to ever be restricted from component upconversion by IODATA.

Originally posted by KJack
License agreements for newer technologies now include a minimum ($1M) and maximum ($8M) fine to get management's attention and ensure their engineers don't run amuck. This is one reason only verified, encrypted, and properly signed DRM code can be run on our latest chip.

Paul_PDX,

You may be confusing (2) issues, the current concern over upscaling, and the future concern over the direction taken by manufacturers voluntarily. Put into the proper perspective, note that Sigma already settled a lawsuit with MPAA by agreeing to license restrictions. You can read about that subject on the Sigma Designs website.

The above quote from Keith is illustrative of how seriously Sigma regards the concern. It's their choice to make as a manufacturer, and my choice to reject as a consumer.

I don't think it's an overreaction to view this course as a departure from the undertaking that resulted in the current I-O Data AVeL LinkPlayer2.

It's worth repeating...."This is one reason only verified, encrypted, and properly signed DRM code can be run on our latest chip."

It couldn't be more clear.

wow this conversation is quickly reminding me of the "oh my god i bought a HDTiVo and now its a paperweight because of MPEG4 threads".

But speculation is fun.

Yes it is a no no to up-convert over component (a entirely outdated connection that will be eliminated soon anyway) It took zenith a year to get caught. I have never updated the firmware for this reason.

Copy protection is a joke it doesn't work we all know that and thats why there trying to design a system that does work and it wouldn't surprise me if macro-vision gets left in the dust for a better protection scheme for the new formats that are coming, that will make dvd outdated also.

In the mean time yelling about it here does little to no good you can take the approach ive taken and mail letters to the powers that be in government voicing my opinion every time these discussion are about to wind up on the congress and Senate floor. Ive even gone there to be part of the digital music formats war that took place to voice my opinions.

Of course this was when i was running a INTERNET streaming radio station that was put out of business because of the BS licensing deals put in place.

If it's true that next generation media processors from Sigma will require verified, encrypted, properly signed DRM code to be *RUN* on their latest processors, that means your DVD transfers of home video of the kids summer vacation won't play on Aunt Mildred's new DVD player, in which case, the compatibility of the current DVD-Video format is dead.

Uhmm there is no copy protection on home brewed dvd's at least none of the ones Ive burned. It would seem logical that the new chipset would look for the Hollywood signatures and then not up-convert that but if no signatures is found then up-convert. correct me if im wrong on this...

In the mean time i will continue to do exactly what ive been doing rip everything (destroying copy protection) and do away with dvd just like ive done with cd's.

Originally posted by webboy10169
Uhmm there is no copy protection on home brewed dvd's at least none of the ones Ive burned. It would seem logical that the new chipset would look for the Hollywood signatures and then not up-convert that but if no signatures is found then up-convert. correct me if im wrong on this...

In the mean time i will continue to do exactly what ive been doing rip everything (destroying copy protection) and do away with dvd just like ive done with cd's.

It would seem logical...yes. But that's not what Keith's quote addresses!

The literal reading of his quote says the newest media processors from Sigma will "run" only verified, signed DRM protected.

Does it say "up-converting" in there? NO!!

The literal translation would be that de-crypted, macro-vision stripped rips would not "run" on the new processor because it only "runs" content that IS. <-- And that's the insidious message I think we are being prepared for.

So, do we hold out a logical, common sense interpretation, or do we accept that Keith is here posting as a representative for Sigma, going to great pains to educate us all about a future of planned encryption mechanisms not just on Sigma processors, but signed ram, rom, and encrypted output devices.

Imagine the irony if you had to CSS re-encrypt your rips, had to digitally sign them with your own signature to get them to play.

Hysteria? I hope so!

Ok i must be way to tired because now that makes sense hmm interesting. Is this pertaining to any and all output connections? Because as far as i can see HDMI and DVI seem to be the future connection. not that i care for either one but this is where the industry is going. Is there even a device on the market that upconverts with a hdmi connector (excluding the HDTiVo)? And none of the devices with dvi upconvert over it right.

Originally posted by webboy10169
... Is there even a device on the market that upconverts with a hdmi connector (excluding the HDTiVo)? And none of the devices with dvi upconvert over it right. I don't know of any HDMI devices and I can't imagine there will be any manufactured in the future either!

But here are a couple of up-converters with DVI connecions: -

http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/kdfire1080p.asp

https://www.digitalconnection.com/store/Product_Details.asp?ProductCode=VPS2300

But you probably already know about these!


Cheers

Tom, you misunderstood what kjack was saying. The processors are designed so that the DRM code itself has to be encrypted and digitally signed, NOT the content. They are making sure no one rolls their own firmware that says decrypt everything no matter what

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
I don't know of any HDMI devices and I can't imagine there will be any manufactured in the future either!

But here are a couple of up-converters with DVI connecions: -

http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/kdfire1080p.asp

https://www.digitalconnection.com/store/Product_Details.asp?ProductCode=VPS2300

But you probably already know about these!


Cheers

Yes i am familiar with them i actually considered the Hanna by Key Digital. But the cost to run a dvi cable 50 + feet was tourture (2 1/2 years ago).

This whole upconvert issue has filtered over to
IOData's forums (http://www.iodata.com/usa/forum/showthread.php?t=72) where they have commented

There will be plenty of HDMI upconverting players, since it is an ecnrypted connection no one will have a problem with it upconverting just like DVI.

Originally posted by webboy10169
Yes i am familiar with them i actually considered the Hanna by Key Digital. But the cost to run a dvi cable 50 + feet was tourture (2 1/2 years ago). If you are serious about pumping digital video signals those kinds of distances you might find SDI based systems a better bet!

A couple of years ago I made a 50+ foot DVI lead for an exhibition stand... Wiring 8No pairs of low loss 2 core cable with separate screen, nearly killed me... but it worked :D


Cheers

unfortunately the comment on IOData's forum doesn't make things 100% clear to me ...

the question was will a future firmware upgrade remove upscaling functionality ... the response was:

"Yes, that's right. At this moment, upscalling function is a just rumor. To be honest with you, our next product may support it. But the final spec is not decided yet. Thank you."

Is he referring to removing upscaling as the rumor ...or upscaling period? They seem to be denying the upscaling ability of the player on their website ... so I'm not 100% sure he was answering the question that was being asked.

Originally posted by jackshakes
unfortunately the comment on IOData's forum doesn't make things 100% clear to me ...

Me either (seems ESL) i just wanted to point out that the conversation has stated over there too.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
If you are serious about pumping digital video signals those kinds of distances you might find SDI based systems a better bet!

At some point and time i will have to go digital as it is in my opinion that component will eventually be phased out. At the time of construction of my house, cost was a factor in running certain wiring (3/4 of a mile of wire in my house). so the short end of it is if i want to pull any new wiring to the plasma (my equipment is on the second floor) i have to go around the house. A distance over 50 feet but short of 75. I did pull 3 cat6 and 5 rg6 4 wire(ir control) and some other stuff cant remember.

Back on topic add shark tale to the list of dvd's that dont play properly.

Originally posted by irgaac
Tom, you misunderstood what kjack was saying. The processors are designed so that the DRM code itself has to be encrypted and digitally signed, NOT the content. They are making sure no one rolls their own firmware that says decrypt everything no matter what

Thanks irgaac! I too am tired...(sigh).

What is the issue with the Shark Tale DVD?


Originally posted by webboy10169
Me either (seems ESL) i just wanted to point out that the conversation has stated over there too.



At some point and time i will have to go digital as it is in my opinion that component will eventually be phased out. At the time of construction of my house, cost was a factor in running certain wiring (3/4 of a mile of wire in my house). so the short end of it is if i want to pull any new wiring to the plasma (my equipment is on the second floor) i have to go around the house. A distance over 50 feet but short of 75. I did pull 3 cat6 and 5 rg6 4 wire(ir control) and some other stuff cant remember.

Back on topic add shark tale to the list of dvd's that dont play properly.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
That's unfortunate then, because if users can't play their own legally obtained unencrypted content from camcorders and unencrypted content from DVDRs, the new chip is not going to achieve a strong following.

You can still play your own unencrypted content any way you like.

Originally posted by Shoebox
You're telling me that I can't play legally recorded media from WinTV or VHS tapes I have archived to DVD's, or cam media...

As long as the content is not encrypted and associated with a DRM scheme, you can do anything with it you like.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
If it's true that next generation media processors from Sigma will require verified, encrypted, properly signed DRM code to be *RUN* on their latest processors, that means your DVD transfers of home video of the kids summer vacation won't play on Aunt Mildred's new DVD player, in which case, the compatibility of the current DVD-Video format is dead.

You will still be able to enjoy your own personal content any was you wish since it has no DRM scheme associated with it. I was merely pointing out the efforts to minimize hacking of DRM schemes.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Does it say "up-converting" in there? NO!!That's because DRM has moved beyond the simple "yes/no" answer to "are you allowed to upconvert?". Now the encrypted content will include copy control information (interpreted by the DRM scheme) that says for this particular movie, how the analog/digital audio/video outputs are to be controlled.

If the content is your personal content, is not encrypted and has no DRM scheme associated with it, you will be able to do anything you want with it.

Imagine the irony if you had to CSS re-encrypt your rips, had to digitally sign them with your own signature to get them to play. Sorry, it wouldn't work! :)

OK, I have to retype this since I haven't posted 5 messages and I had the URL listed in here that did NOT get me to the advanced server software, so forgive my frustration please. Looking here in the forum I didn't find a direct link to that software, so I'm asking that someone, anyone PLEASE post it here. Again, a direct link to the file is what I (and I'm sure others) need. I tried the only link I could find here, and that did me no good since I don't read Japanese.

TIA!

http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/AVLP2_SW.php

I haven't been following this thread for a few weeks, so I log on today to find out up-converting is going to be shut-down with a firm ware upgrade?
So a few questions: Is this in the current firmware update? If not is it safe to update to the current one 2/04/05?


The other Tom Roper

Up conversation MAY be shut down in the future, has it NO will it MAYBE...

Ok IODATA really needs an english translater within there service/ tech support.

I emailed them 3 issues.

I asked about the possible support if IFO as we never really got a clear cut answer wether it was a chip set issue or a player issue, I went as far as explaining exactly what a ifo is and what its construction is. There answer:

We don't care of IFO files. But have you tried to use Advanced Server?
If your IFO file is recognized by Windows Media Player, it will work.


They dont get it. And the problem with this is if they dont understend it, it will never happen.

2nd i asked about some discrete codes for universial remotes Its always better to get hex code rather them learn every function.
They refered me to this page http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/AVLP2_FAQ.php#ML_Remote

which states "We never take care of any compatibility with other learning type remote control devices. "
nice no hex codes no discrete code....

Third i relayed the problems we are having with .ts files after the firmware upgrade (some not playing others have to be paused then played). There response

Yes, that's right. We are modifying the Advanced Server to support .ty file. Please give us a couple of weeks. Thank you.

While this is great i never asked anything about .ty files

Frustrated rant mode off

Just ordered an I-O DATA AVEL LINKPLAYER2. I need to stay away from AVS Forum, its the most expensive free site I ever visited. I'm quite concerned about the firmware that will disable analog upconvert, I suspect we can always go back to old firmware.
Maybe with all this copy protection, too many software titles in the future won't play on the hardware and the masses will demand refunds. That may deter Hollywood. They cannot see the forest thru the trees. No copy protection will be unbreakable, especially massed produced titles.

<edit>
incorrect information removed
</edit>

Buffers! We need buffers! I'm trying to play some of the WMVHD clips wirelessly over 802.11g and they play anything but smoothly. I know, hard-wired would be better, but there's no reason the player shouldn't be able to handle this by buffering content.

I think we should STOP asking about the component upconvert feature, especially to IODATA.

The more you ask the quicker they gonna disable them. Get it now when you can. And stop asking this same question over and over. Those you have it know what it can do. Period.

What a long thread!

Is this player chroma bug free?

Dave

I haven't seen it but i wasnt specifically looking for it with all the fun and excitement with this player. I will have to look at toy story and monsters inc again for it.

for those who dont know what the chroma bug is here http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_2/dvd-benchmark-special-report-chroma-bug-4-2001.html

Originally posted by gwlbe
<snip>
Maybe with all this copy protection, too many software titles in the future won't play on the hardware and the masses will demand refunds. That may deter Hollywood. They cannot see the forest thru the trees. No copy protection will be unbreakable, especially massed produced titles.

I think that Hollywood lawyers may have already deterred it somewhat reminding their overly aggressive CEOs that to make a large number of expensive HDTV sets worthless might well result in a bunch of class action suits that Hollywood might lose. The tech industry similarly needs to get it through these CEO heads that no one is going to be recording off component inputs.

You're right no copy protection will be unbreakable and I would also say cops won't be interested in enforcing any "induce" laws. The "induce" laws will be just like prohibition and likewise wholesale ignored.

Knowing a bit about the background of the Grand Alliance where were the Hollywood CEOs when HDTV was being formulated? My bet they were too busy snorting cocaine and counting money to be paying attention. :D

Originally posted by gwlbe
I need to stay away from AVS Forum, its the most expensive free site I ever visited.

That is such a great quote, lol

I am curious why upscaling is related to copy protection.

Dave

Windows Media DRM Hacked? No.
February 3, 2005
By DRM Watch Staff

A number of stories have been floating around the Internet, starting roughly two weeks ago, about Microsoft Windows Media DRM being cracked. We have seen such stories on eHomeUpgrade.com, the highly regarded Pho digital music email reflector, and various blogs. We normally do not comment on coverage of DRM issues in other media, but we have gotten a number of inquiries about this one. We believe it's in the best interest of the industry to assure everyone that these stories are false. Some -- though not all -- of the websites and blogs have posted corrections or recanted.

Evidently, this game of "telephone" or "whispering down the lane" started when someone found an old web page with instructions from a hacker calling himself "Beale Screamer" on how to remove encryption from Windows Media files. Unfortunately, this page had neither a visible publication date nor a reference to any particular version of Windows Media. Somewhere along the line, "Beale Screamer" morphed into "some Japanese hackers." The truth is that "Beale Screamer" did hack Windows Media DRM, but the version he hacked was v. 7, three major revisions back from the present v. 10, and he did so in 2001.

We know of no hack to any current version of Windows Media DRM

Ive edited my prior post caught in the hype...

Originally posted by satviewer2000
Windows Media DRM Hacked? No.
.
.
We know of no hack to any current version of Windows Media DRM

Well, that's a load off my mind. We can once again safely roam the streets at night.

I have an HD TS file that was created by a R5000. It plays fine with a MyHD card, but I would really like to see if the linkplayer is able to pay it. I don't really have anywhere to upload it.....If anyone has somewhere to upload it to and would be interseted in testing it please let me know....I can make a small recording if necessary.

Darin

wow i just pulled down a 17 min mpeg of the foo fighter in rio seems like it may have been recorded off Asian TV not sure. its shot in 1080I 50 frames.

Didn't know the player could deal with 1080i50 very impressed in the overall quality of the video although whom ever mix it is horrid.

Unfortunately i don't think it feasible to archive this format. 17 mins yielded 2.4 gigs.

Has any one had any luck informing iodata that they broke ts playback with the latest firmware? I played a few more clips today (super bowl commercials and trailers) that play in fast forward for the first few seconds after pressing play-pause-play to actually make them play.

How is the TS playback video quality compared with, say, MyHD?

Regards,
Dave

Webboy, for what speak of English is no translation will be apparent. Thank you for the kindly concerns, we hope of plans to have it not available though of a couple weeks it should be more presently.

We appreciate your satisfaction of .TY file playback! IFO skip of thankfully include in release cancellation of advance server, if possible.

I-O Data Support Team!

ROTFLMAO...

Originally posted by webboy10169
Has any one had any luck informing iodata that they broke ts playback with the latest firmware? I played a few more clips today (super bowl commercials and trailers) that play in fast forward for the first few seconds after pressing play-pause-play to actually make them play.

I am on a mac and transport streams worked fine before the latest update - I even was able to watch 720p streams using 802.11g! But since the update, most streams do not play correctly, even hard wired and even if I roll back the firmware. I realize they are saying the mac server update is still to come, but why doesn't it work like it did when I roll back the FW?

Zach

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Webboy, for what speak of English is no translation will be apparent. Thank you for the kindly concerns, we hope of plans to have it not available though of a couple weeks it should be more presently.

We appreciate your satisfaction of .TY file playback! IFO skip of thankfully include in release cancellation of advance server, if possible.

I-O Data Support Team!

We're doomed! We'll never be able to get our issues across to them! I do appreciate their prompt firmware updates and willingness to fix things, but when they aren't sure about what an IFO file is, and confuse TS files with TY (tivo) files, it makes me wonder...

Hopefully either Buffalo or Kiss will understand English enough to support their products in the US or UK (oh I just remembered Kiss is Swedish -- they probably speak English better than us Americans ;) ).

KiSS ain't Swedish my friend :)
Danish

Originally posted by lifeisfun
KiSS ain't Swedish my friend :)
Danish

My Bad but just as good for English support!!

Back on topic I guss -- I wish I knew someone who could write fluent Japanese to forward our issues to IODATA engineers-- I've just been looking at their forum and it's admin seems to be the same level of English proficiency as the support emails we have been seeing in this group.

Sigma must have some Japanese-speaking people on their team (or access to somebody at IODATA that speaks English well enough to broker these types of deals). I wonder if kjack would be willing to forward some of these concerns/questions to those channels if we could articulate them in an organized manner? Helping us communicate with their customer would definitely be in their best interest (at least I would think so).

Any comments, kjack (sorry to put you on the hotseat)?

I don't think summitting a problem report in English is a problem.
I am sure they can read and take some time to think about the problem report.

Most people make mistake when typing on a forum. heck, I think of one thing and type something else. At least, they have people reading the forums and constantly make firmware changes. Don't discourage them from reading and response on the forums. I do think they need a better web (product engineer) support person to deal with english speakers in order to support their customer.

I worked with a lot of Japanese engineers, they may not speak the language well, but they work hard and great to work with (not to mention very smart also). A bit hard to understand them, but they do understand well when you try communicate to them especially write to them.

Give the guy a break man. The player works fine, very decent player in fact.

I just bought this about 2 weeks ago and am pretty happy with it.

I am downloading movies from my camcorder which is uses PAL. I am trying to convert these files (15 gigs) to DIVX so I can play them on my Avel Linkplayer2. When coverted to DIVX the files are only about 1 GIG. I am using Intervideo DVD creator2 to try and convert the raw AVI to DIVX

No luck getting them to play over the network so far. Is there better software to use for the conversion?

Is there anything special I need to know about playing these with the player?

My TV is Samsung HDTV 42" 1080i

Any feedback is appreciated.

Hi mherman2,

What application did you use to convert your DV.avi to Mpeg4 (DivX).avi? And what type of audio stream did you encode along with the Mpeg4... MP3, WAV etc?

Provided your Mpeg4 .avi file(s) have been encoded correctly you should have no problems playing them back!


Cheers

I bought a video capture device from Plextor and that came with "Intervideo DVD Creator 2" software which does have DIVX conversion software. I am not using that video capture though, I am loading the raw AVI onto the PC through a firewire and just using the conversion software. It has about 10 different DIVX quality levels you can choose from. I chose the highest qulity one nmaed "Certified home theatre highest quality (MP2).

The raw Video is in PAL however my TV is NTSC. I'm not sure if this matters since it is converting it a file for playback. If I need to convert it I can do that with NERO I guess.

Mike

Originally posted by mherman2
...I am not using that video capture though, I am loading the raw AVI onto the PC through a firewire and just using the conversion software. It has about 10 different DIVX quality levels you can choose from. I chose the highest qulity one nmaed "Certified home theatre highest quality (MP2). Can you run the DivX file thru' an "media file checking tool" such as Gspot (http://gspot.headbands.com/gspot252dl.html) or MediaInfo (http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/screenshots.html). I think maybe your audio stream is not compatible!


Cheers