Originally posted by gtrogue
Well, the company told me that the player supports external subtitle files but according to reports it does not. I-O Data has even told another user that the player doesn't support subtitles. Until we get some hands-on reports from users over here it's hard to know exactly what we're going to get.

I'd love to pull the trigger on this thing so I can get my HTPC out of the living room but I'm going to wait to see what the US users report.


I agree - I just figure its going to take weeks, if not months, for users to work out the kinks with a company, that seems a bit off the ball, to put it lightly.

Best case scenario - I end up with an IODATA also and I figure out what to do with the Momitsu.

Originally posted by dschamis
TOFU has said that, but it appears that the company has said otherwise, on a number of occasions. I'd rather wait to see how that shakes out before I become the guinnea pig.

I'm the one possibly spreading the mis-information about it not up-converting to 720p/1080i over the component outputs. Last night, I read 72 pages of online user manuals and faqs on the I-O Data website, and can't find anything stating a limitation concerning upconversion of DVD-Video via the component outputs.

...for now...I RETRACT IT....apologies offered...

Anyway, will know for sure tomorrow evening when FedEx delivers it. Stay tuned.

Originally posted by mikemav
Thanks Bjorn! Does it sync w/ iTunes (use iTunes playlists?.......how about your iTunes internet radio stations?) I know the Momitsu stock GUI has a sync w/ iTunes option, but it is only for PC iTunes.

Tom Roper- where did you order your's that it will be there tomorrow? I assume you mean in the US? I must have missed that the US spec one is shipping. Do you know if you will be able to return it if there are problems?

I don't know if I can return it or not, don't know anything about the warranty either. But I-O Data customer service has been very responsive, both on the phone and email so I'm not expecting any problems with them.

I saw where your other question about ordering one was already answered. I've got a FedEx tracking number that says it shipped from San Francisco yesterday, and it's coming tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned...

Tom-
Couple of "guinea pig" questions: do you have a PC, a Mac, or both? Once you try things out, would you be able to try out the Neuston Media Center server instead of Avelink and report back? Internet radio would be a nice add and I want to make sure there is no downside. Bjorn's posts seem pretty clear that is true, which is cool. Don't know if the US version would differ.

Do you have a MyHD card or other source for HD files recorded from OTA? I would love to see how well this plays MyHD .ts files, or those converted to mpeg (if needed.) I have a lot of programs I have recorded as keepers from my the MyHD card and my hacked HD TiVo that I would love to be able to play back on this player just as I would a VIDEO_TS ripped DVD. If you do not, I may be able to put some clips up on an FTP server.

Finally, I do not know if it is a hardware limitation of the Sigma chip to not support .IFO files (ripped DVD w/ menus) or if that is on the server side. It would be interesting to try .IFO with both the stock server and the Neuston. Are there any other PC-side servers written for the Sigma we might try? I wonder if the person from Sigma can comment on .IFO? This seems to be the last thing HTPCs can do that this may not do.

To test the subtitles, I need a DVD title that has them right? Only thing I can think of...I have "THE PASSION" waiting for me to open it from the Netflix sleeve. Isn't that movie sub-titled? (Have not watched it yet).

Why do some of you guys think "up-converting" is so important ?

If you are watching your DVD's and encodes via component video (and soon to be DVI) the images will completely fill your TV, HD plasma, projector screen anyway!

I've just finished testing an Hitachi 42PD5200 plasma screen, with 1024x1024 pixels..... and it produced fantastic looking images from 720x480 and 576 DVD sources....

...So much so, I'm thinking of buying one!


Cheers

The subtitle thing is for DivX files. I assume that DVD-V subtitles work without a problem.
Are you referring to trying the DivX subtitle file mode playback by ripping the movie, extracting the subtitles, and encoding to DivX?

All DVD's have at least one subtitle track so any disc will do for the test.

Originally posted by mikemav
Tom-
Couple of "guinea pig" questions: do you have a PC, a Mac, or both? Once you try things out, would you be able to try out the Neuston Media Center server instead of Avelink and report back? Internet radio would be a nice add and I want to make sure there is no downside. Bjorn's posts seem pretty clear that is true, which is cool. Don't know if the US version would differ.

Do you have a MyHD card or other source for HD files recorded from OTA? I would love to see how well this plays MyHD .ts files, or those converted to mpeg (if needed.) I have a lot of programs I have recorded as keepers from my the MyHD card and my hacked HD TiVo that I would love to be able to play back on this player just as I would a VIDEO_TS ripped DVD. If you do not, I may be able to put some clips up on an FTP server.

Finally, I do not know if it is a hardware limitation of the Sigma chip to not support .IFO files (ripped DVD w/ menus) or if that is on the server side. It would be interesting to try .IFO with both the stock server and the Neuston. Are there any other PC-side servers written for the Sigma we might try? I wonder if the person from Sigma can comment on .IFO? This seems to be the last thing HTPCs can do that this may not do.

- PC user here...no Mac. Is Neuston Media Center server for PC?
- No MyHD card per se, but the native output from my JVC camcorder is mpeg2-TS 720p30, so I should be able to test transport stream files with no problem. Regrettably in this regard, I only have 56k dialup, but I could pm you with my mailing address here in Aurora if you want to burn your clips to a DVD data disk and mail them to me, I would be happy to oblige.
- VIDEO_TS rippped DVD should be no problem for AVLP2. I'll look in the online pdf manual. Seems like you should be able to just put the vobs together with the ifos into a folder, and point to the folder (VIDEO_TS), no? Anyway, if such a limitation exists it can't be on the sigma side since it will surely play menus from DVD disk media, so I would think if such a limitation exists it would be on the AVelink server app.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Why do some of you guys think "up-converting" is so important ?


Because some displays don't do it very well. Plus, if you have the ability to upconvert the signal output via DVI the signal can remain in the digital domain all the way to the display.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
- PC user here...no Mac. Is Neuston Media Center server for PC?
Find it here (http://www.neuston.com/en/mc500download_win.asp)

I'll read your reports and if I am still curious, I may burn you a DVD with some HD transport streams and MPEGs. Thanks

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Why do some of you guys think "up-converting" is so important ?

If you are watching your DVD's and encodes via component video (and soon to be DVI) the images will completely fill your TV, HD plasma, projector screen anyway!

I've just finished testing an Hitachi 42PD5200 plasma screen, with 1024x1024 pixels..... and it produced fantastic looking images from 720x480 and 576 DVD sources....

...So much so, I'm thinking of buying one!


Cheers

I'm with you Brit...my Samsung DLP upscales all content from DVI or component to the native resolution of the panel, 720p...no biggie.

Originally posted by gtrogue
Because some displays don't do it very well. Plus, if you have the ability to upconvert the signal output via DVI the signal can remain in the digital domain all the way to the display.

It does this anyway on mine. For example, 480p from the DVI gets upscaled to 720p.

Originally posted by gtrogue
I've never heard of Macrovision having anything to do with limiting resolution on a component output.
Limiting upconverted output on unprotected DVI is completely stupid. The bandwidth requirements to record the uncompressed digital signal is incredible. I don't know of any recording device available to consumers that could even record it.

Yes, I do realize the Macrovision signal only outputs on the 480/576i signals.

However, the reason for my Macrovision question was that two of Sigmas earlier products based on the 8550 chipset refused to output greater than 480p/576p(PAL) when EITHER CSS scrambling or Macrovision flags were in the DVD stream. I have one of the cards myself the X-Card and the other was the Liteon LVD-2001 (I believe the older Kisses do this also). All of these had hacks to get around this and allow Progressive Component upscaling. I don't expect hacks are built in to any of the the 8620L based players and I might expect Sigma to have used similar firmware in these players - therfore my question.

Originally posted by Paul_PDX
Yes, I do realize the Macrovision signal only outputs on the 480/576i signals.

However, the reason for my Macrovision question was that two of Sigmas earlier products based on the 8550 chipset refused to output greater than 480p/576p(PAL) when EITHER CSS scrambling or Macrovision flags were in the DVD stream. I have one of the cards myself the X-Card and the other was the Liteon LVD-2001 (I believe the older Kisses do this also). All of these had hacks to get around this and allow Progressive Component upscaling. I don't expect hacks are built in to any of the the 8620L based players and I might expect Sigma to have used similar firmware in these players - therfore my question.

So Paul, what do I test it with? How do I find a source that has CSS and Macrovision?

Also on this mpeg2 - transport stream question....

I've got to express some serious doubt about AVLP2's potential for playing these back without skips and stutters if at all. The specifications stated in the online manual mention 10 mb/s data rate. That's not remotely in the range of 1080i HDTV... we'll see...

Tom -- about macrovision
I don't think I can talk about the subject of how to make a DVD with nocss but still having macrovision on this board.
:(

Originally posted by Tom Roper
So Paul, what do I test it with? How do I find a source that has CSS and Macrovision?

Any/All commercially available, studio released films will contain both. Are you talking about a file that has both?

Tom --
I know that some only have CSS from experience -- I think Macrovision charges too much for have a few bits turned on for some publishers so some don't include it. So far all of mine that say Macrovision also have CSS. Some websites talk about some commercial DVDs having Marcrovision without CSS but I have only seen that with methods I can't talk about here (but other than a very few zone 2 and zone 4 disks I have I don't know what disks are like overseas).

I am hoping that newer interpretations of the DMCA and Macrovision guidelines will leave the progressive component totally free on these newer IODATA and Kiss players And I hope the Kiss has DVI-HDCP from the beginning.

TUFU and miyoshi

Is there any way to access USB storage attached to the I-O DATA from a PC that is described in any of the Japanese manuals??

I would love to use the Attached Storage for all of my media for both my PC and the IODATA.

Thanks-


PS -- welcome to the thread miyoshi

Guys, all I'm really asking for is a popular DVD title that I can rent, and see if it plays upconverted (or not), one that you can recommend with some assurance that it contains CSS and Macrovision.

Originally posted by Paul_PDX
TUFU and miyoshi

Is there any way to access USB storage attached to the I-O DATA from a PC that is described in any of the Japanese manuals??

I would love to use the Attached Storage for all of my media for both my PC and the IODATA.

Thanks-


PS -- welcome to the thread miyoshi

I think you'd be better off leaving the drive connected to the PC. The LinkPlayer will only recognize FAT formatted drives which creates some file size limitations. If it's connected to the PC it can be formatted NTFS or HFS+ if it's connected to a Mac and neither of those have file size limitations, at least not one that will cause any problems.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Guys, all I'm really asking for is a popular DVD title that I can rent, and see if it plays upconverted (or not), one that you can recommend with some assurance that it contains CSS and Macrovision.

It's far less common for a DVD to not have Macrovision than to have it. If you rent a couple of new releases, or have some at home, the odds are they contain both Macrovision and CSS.

Mike, Yes the AVLP2/DVDG with NMC seams to grab everything fropm iTunes. I'm not sure if the radio stations are from ITunes or from other place.

I've found out some more about the hichup when showing pictures: Its nothing to do with DVI or high resolution output. It has to do with if you use "HD Mode Browser". Same happens if you use 480i with this flag on. Screen goes all green.

Gotta go to bed and go to Nepal Tomorrow. I'll check in on you in 2 weeks. Have fun!

Originally posted by mikemav
Tom-
Are there any other PC-side servers written for the Sigma we might try? I wonder if the person from Sigma can comment on .IFO? This seems to be the last thing HTPCs can do that this may not do.

We definitely need to try Nero MediaHome. UPNP


Tom Roper
This is a large request in your direction. This thread is huge and very confusing. I think you will even get confused when you start testing too. Can you make some sort of spread sheet for this, what type files, out what type connector's. What plays what don't file size. If not its cool, we can try and put one together from your post and others.

Oh and congrats on being the first.


And for this, I hope this helps you guys. Because I want this thing to upscale.
What is Macrovision ?
http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/macrovision.html
http://www.ps2cover.com/dvddecoder.html

Latter
Jedillwag

Originally posted by jedillwag
We definitely need to try Nero MediaHome. UPNP


Tom Roper
This is a large request in your direction. This thread is huge and very confusing. I think you will even get confused when you start testing too. Can you make some sort of spread sheet for this, what type files, out what type connector's. What plays what don't file size. If not its cool, we can try and put one together from your post and others.

Oh and congrats on being the first.


And for this, I hope this helps you guys. Because I want this thing to upscale.
What is Macrovision ?
http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/macrovision.html
http://www.ps2cover.com/dvddecoder.html

Latter
Jedillwag

I have MediaHome & have never had anything to try it with. Does the I-O info say anywhere it is UPnP? How about the Sigma chip itself. Nero just lists a bunch of Philips Streamium media player boxes and clones, no DVD players yet. That would be cool. Then again, does anyone know if Nero MediaHome supports .ifo? I could not find a help file w/ the program I have.

EDIT- I just checked the Nero server app and in advanced config, it lets you choose the file extensions to share. .ifo is not one of the choices on the list, unfortunately. WHY IS THIS SO HARD? Does Sigma have any comments? I know you do not do software, but do you know if anyone is working on a file sharing/server app that can support DVD menus from a network share? It would be really nice.

It states this in the AVLP2 manual.

Network High Bit Rate Streaming Play Back
Available to play back a video streaming via 10/100 Base-T wired network
Intel UPnP AV (NMPR validated) and Apple Rendezvous Compatible

Also Nero Mediahome transcodes to what file output you want. I am no expert here but i think it means. If you have a device that can only play MP3 on the network and that device can connect to the mediahome, mediahome will turn the wav file on your PC to a mp3 for that device. It has many settings for video as well.

There has been no write up or review on this yet and there are so few upnp devices.

Just a few facts from there web site. And yes I do like the software.

Capture, Edit, Author, and Burn Video
Personalize and customize moving menus, titles, and credits to DVDs: Add new content, delete content, change subtitles, preview in Real-time and playback DVD and other formats with Nero ShowTime.
Backup Your DVDs*
Copy your non-protected DVD movies, keep or edit audio tracks, titles or subtitles, 5.1 Surround Sound, fit an entire DVD onto a CD without loss of quality.

* Does not copy DVDs with copy protection

PLAYBACK AND SHARE
Nero Media Home, our brand-new Media Server, categorizes all your media: first by type (Video, Audio, Photos and Playlists), second by artist, album and genre. Playback the media coming from Nero MediaHome with Nero ShowTime or even on your TV or Hifi (devices have to support UPNPTM-technology).

jedillwag

Some more info.

And the only reason I post this is because from reading, I think with this devices capabilities, and Nero's. We could be very close to the HTPC replacement.

We just have a few things to get worked out, AAC-LC 5.1. And some others.

Nero MediaHome - Features
Transcodes your media files on−the−fly into the format your UPnP device understands
Transcoding

Real-Time transcoding of your media into several different target formats. This ensures upward compatibility of your UPnP™ media renderers. 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.
Supported audio/video formats:

MP3, MP4 (Audio), WAVE, AAC, HE-AAC, OGG Vorbis, WMA, AC3, AIFF,
MPEG-1, MPEG-2, DV-AVI, AVI, DivX, Xvid, ASF, WMV, MP4 (Video), JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF

http://www.nero.com/us/27577.html
ftp://ftp6.nero.com/manuals/nero/Nero6UltraEditionQuickStart_enu.pdf

Couple of quick questions:

Does this unit output composite video (for a touch panel) and component video at the same time?

Does the unit playback MP3's from server with no problem?

Does it display cover-art for movies or music?

Is the component video out to a CRT projector as good as VGA from a HTPC?

Will the DVI version output upscaled VGA for a FP CRT?

Was thinking about getting the 880N for my Barco 808s, would the I-O data LINKPLAYER be a better match?

MP3's I would say yes as long as there are within the spec.

"Does this unit output composite video (for a touch panel) and component video at the same time?"
I do not know. but don't touch panel need a rs232 connection or a USB with a special driver?

Does it display cover-art for movies or music?
We do not know yet.

I hope this help, but probably not. We just do not have all the information for this thing yet.

Jedillwag

Originally posted by A/Vspec
Couple of quick questions:

Does this unit output composite video (for a touch panel) and component video at the same time?

>>not unless there are 2 sets of DAC.

Does the unit playback MP3's from server with no problem?

Does it display cover-art for movies or music?

>>Not with current software

Is the component video out to a CRT projector as good as VGA from a HTPC?

>>Don't think this is possible.

Will the DVI version output upscaled VGA for a FP CRT?

Was thinking about getting the 880N for my Barco 808s, would the I-O data LINKPLAYER be a better match?

>>Read this thread carefully, the DVI from IOData does not support DVD movie. Yes it does upscale, only after ripping the DVD movies to the PC, and then play back using the networking connection.

Furthermore, the DVI version is not released until 2005.

And the only reason I post this is because from reading, I think with this devices capabilities, and Nero's. We could be very close to the HTPC replacement.

I'm sobered by two things:

1.) Low data rates. 10 mb/s for video, 192 kb/s audio. You can get by with low numbers for WM9 720p and DVD-Video, but not true mpeg2 TS at real world bit rates for broadcast quality HDTV.

2.) Less than enthusiastic endorsements from our friends in Japan, Taiwan, Netherlands, UK etc. Observations about explosive audio and stuttering video are a red flag that the processor can't handle the data rate.

At this price point, it's a product we'd like to pin our hopes on for replacing HTPC functionality. Failing that, there's not much to recommend it even for a mainstream standalone DVD player.

I-O Data has been pretty good about supplying information online, even going so far as to recommend you read before you buy. Take that for a disclaimer, if it doesn't do what you want, we told you so.

If the magic 8 ball could speak about what I'm likely to find out tomorrow, it could predict that the LinkPlayer2 is a sampling of good things to come in the future when we have more time to get it right. I remain skeptical that anything about it is going to be exceptional.

One of the DivX guys on another forum commented that the 1.5 Mbps DivX bit rate quoted by I-O Data is not correct. The DivX Certified branding requires higher bit rates than that. He said they are tested with files with ABR's of at least 6 Mbps and peak rates of 30 Mbps. Perhaps I-O Data has mistated the other numbers as well.

The Momitsu V880 got a pretty poor rating in the Secrets Benchmark for its video frequency response from the D/A. The I-O Data claims to use a video D to A 148.5 MHz 12 bit. On paper, that looks pretty good.

Anyone know what the D/A of the Momitsu was spec'd at?

Hello everybody!

I'm back after travelling a lot...

I tried to connect an IBM OEM HDD directly on the internal IDE, but unsuccessfuly!
(Will try with another brand Fat32 reformatted one later).

Regarding upscalling in Component mode, I had no problem with the Video DVD I had handy (retail: Nemo Z2 JP, Le Grand Bleu Z2 JP, Monster Inc Z2 JP, and all my own backup DVD). I will try more later.
The only one I have in PAL format played sluggishly (Gladiator Z2 FR). I will try with another DVD player as a replacement of the internal one.
I do not have personnaly much DivX, so I will use the already posted files either burnt on DVD+R or by LAN and will keep you posted.
So far, all the sound formats I have tried (DTS, DD5.1, DD2.0) have played flawlessly when hooked directly by analog or by the optical output (with correct decoding by my A/V amp.) when played from internal DVD.
As I mentionned earlier the PQ on my Pioneer 403 is stunning (sharp and bright) when connected by component and "upscaled" in 1080i and looks even better than my DENON 2900... Sully's fur of Monster Inc is IMHO, uncredibly sharp and crisp.
When I connected thru DVI, the quality looked even slightly better (direct connection to screen, rather than component to the external pioneer set box and DVI to screen. Unfortunately, my WiFi link is too slow and I could not play ripped DVD correctly. I will connect by LAN cable and test again.
Looking at MP3 playing, most of my collection is sampled between 128 and 192. I did not try them all (some 30k...) but so far so good.
BTW, the internal DVD cannot read my DVD-R DL... looks another good reason to try again another one!.

Will keep you posted
Arrius

I think I can make a final conclusion about macrovision and upconvertion
of DVD-VIDEO in AVLP2(Japan model).(It seemed Arrius had same conculsion).
I connected the S terminal from AVLP2 to DVD recorder(Pioneer DVR-3000)and then with the recorder's S out to my TV. When I tried to record the DVD-VIDEO via S,I received a warning about copy protection. Then, I use a video stablizer(remove macrovision),the DVD recorder can now record the DVD-VIDEO from AVLP2.In the same time,the component output of AVLP2 was connected to my PJ,and I can toggle between 480i/480p/720p/1080i(of course,no signal from S terminal with 480p and higher resolution.
So,my conclusion is even in DVD-VIDEO with macrovision protection,
AVLP2(Japan model)can still upscale the film to 720p/1080i.

When video mode D4480I(component) was choosed,I can get picture simutaneouly from TV via S terminal and PJ via component.

I also experienced occasional lock-up of the player,mostly when I played
some TS and DIVX files and rarely in playing picture or music.
Sometimes,I can powered off the machine with remote,sometimes I should push the power button in the frontal panel off to restart it.

As I had stated previously,some HD TS files played well consistenly but
some had frequent stutter or pause.Powered off the machine and restarted it sometimes can fix it but not always successful. I had tried to use"bitrate viewer" to see the bit rate of these TS files. But I still can not see any relationship between the bit rate and the problems of stutter or pause.I'll test more files.

Hi Wilbert, still not able to download the files.

Hi gtrogue,I had tried to buy these discs one month ago before I have
AVLP2. But they said they did not ship these outside Germany.I'll try again
later.

I don't have any informations about accessing the USB2.0 hard drive connecting to AVLP2 via PC. Even now,the AVLP2 can easily recognize other PC in my home network,but the PC did not show it in the network. So,it was impossible now to access the AVLP2 from PC.Don't know whether there will have support for thesein the future.

Welcome back Arrius,need more inputs from you.
It seemed like that you also have problem to play PAL disc.
I'd like to hear more comments from MIYOSHI about this.

Thanks TUFU,

It looks that we came to the same conclusion: no limitation in upscalling by the component output.

Regarding DVI, I read somewhere that someone "cheated" the AVLP1 by starting playing a DVD from the attached computer and then switch to the internal DVD and succesfully got image from the DVI!.
I need to find this thread again to try it to the AVLP2.

Cheers
Arrius

Hi Tom,

I don't know if I'm speaking for myself when I say, the main interest in the IO Data player is down to Sigma's high-def EM8620L chip-set

The Momitsu V880 player is all well and good but as it only "up-scales" std-def images to larger sizes... it may not be much real use to some of us!


Cheers

I agree.
But the big problem with this device is its issues with the playback of DVD Video Over DVI.
If not for this, I would have already ordered myself one.

Also I don't know weather or not this player is region free?

Originally posted by JS - DBD
I agree.
But the big problem with this device is its issues with the playback of DVD Video Over DVI.
If not for this, I would have already ordered myself one.

Also I don't know weather or not this player is region free? I feel sure IO Data will sort out their HDCP licence soon and will fully enable the DVI output .... Damn those licencing bodies!

Can't help you with the "region-free" question though!

By-the-way, what sort of USB 2.0 devices can this player "see". How about external DVD-ROM and hard-disk drives?


Cheers

On Cover Art: According to the Neuston web site, the new version of their server software (which Bjorn says works on this player) will sync to iTunes and show cover art for those songs which have cover art in iTunes. Nero looks like it goes a step further.....it will also be your centerpoint for loading that media onto your server, and looks up metadata on the fly. So if you have a PC and run the latest Nero 6.6, you (in theory) will be able to rip a CD or lookup your non-tagged MP3s, and then the Nero server updates and streams this info w/ the media to the UPnP device. Pretty cool.

Tom Roper- do you have Nero? I got an OEM copy of the Nero Burning ROM 6 with my DVD burner. Just went to update it last week and I got all these other apps with the downloads (6 part download, I believe.) My existing OEM license worked for the server app (which I did not even know I had.) Does not work for Recode, unfortunately, but that is totally OT. Tom, if you have access to Nero I would love for you to try that server side software as well when you get your I-O player. Thanks!

Originally posted by Arrius
Thanks TUFU,

It looks that we came to the same conclusion: no limitation in upscalling by the component output.

Regarding DVI, I read somewhere that someone "cheated" the AVLP1 by starting playing a DVD from the attached computer and then switch to the internal DVD and succesfully got image from the DVI!.
I need to find this thread again to try it to the AVLP2.

Cheers
Arrius

Very good. Thanks, guys - keep up the good work!

A few days ago Wilbert tried to upload some HD Mpeg4/AC3 encodes with subtitles.

Unfortunately he's unable to host them himself at the moment, but for all those interested.... here they are (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/seemoredigital/avi_ac3_with_subs_from_Wilbert.zip).


Cheers

Originally posted by Tom Roper
I'm sobered by two things:

1.) Low data rates. 10 mb/s for video, 192 kb/s audio. You can get by with low numbers for WM9 720p and DVD-Video, but not true mpeg2 TS at real world bit rates for broadcast quality HDTV.

The chip can easily handle 20 Mbps HD MPEG-2 -- several new HD LCD and plasma displays will be using it for ATSC decoding.

Originally posted by kjack
The chip can easily handle 20 Mbps HD MPEG-2 -- several new HD LCD and plasma displays will be using it for ATSC decoding.

Keith- good to know! Do you know if anyone has found a way to use your chip to play back ripped DVD-Video files w/ menus (.ifo files?) Is that a server-side software issue? Any direction we should look in for adding this capability?

Given that there's quite a bit of conflicting information (not helped by poor IO Data documentation) about this player/chip-set. It might prove useful to have a revised summary of the players positive merits!

How about it Keith?


Cheers

YES

I found some really good info. I will just post the links, and summarize.

1. Ok, it's confirmed by IO Data. It supports Qpel files
http://www.mpeg-playcenter.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2440

2. I do not know what you mean by "official", this one IS official HD player : http://www.divx.com/hardware/detail.php?p=34

Also it DOES support QPel , despite manual says people contacted IO-Data and they confirmed it.
http://forums.divx.com/viewtopic.php?topic=62327&forum=21

3. DivXŽ Certified Technical Specifications
http://www.divx.com/certified/technical.php
(I think this is way above what the IO Data manual states for bit rates)


http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/AVLP2_Forum.php

Jedillwag

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Given that there's quite a bit of conflicting information (not helped by poor IO Data documentation) about this player/chip-set. It might prove useful to have a revised summary of the players positive merits!

How about it Keith?


Cheers

Please don't forget this.

Audio DSP supports MPEG-4 AAC-LC

How do we hear AAC-LC 5.1??????????

Thanks
jedillwag

Originally posted by jedillwag

How do we hear AAC-LC 5.1??????????


This thing would have to have to decode the signal and have 5.1 analog audio outputs.
I believe the reference board the LinkPlayer is based on has multi-channel audio outputs. I-O Data didn't include them.

Has anyone noticed there are 2 sets of RCA connections for analog audio?

See this pic here. (http://shop.iodata.com/shopping/products.php?cat=HNP&sc=AVEL&pId=AVLP2%2FDVDLA&glr=1&img=avlp2_dvdla-3_zoom.jpg)

-Suntan

Well guys, that's positive news from Arrius and TUFU on the upscaling of macrovision, and from Keith Jack on the bit rates for mpeg2 TS.

I hope the improved bit rate also extends to WMV9, which the I-O Data manual states is only 8 mb/s. Although most of the 24 fps WMV-HD trailers are less than that, 30 fps video is happier with the bit rate a little higher, 9.2MB/S seeming to be the sweet spot.

Originally posted by Suntan
Has anyone noticed there are 2 sets of RCA connections for analog audio?

See this pic here. (http://shop.iodata.com/shopping/products.php?cat=HNP&sc=AVEL&pId=AVLP2%2FDVDLA&glr=1&img=avlp2_dvdla-3_zoom.jpg)

-Suntan Can you upload this pic using ImageShack (http://www.imageshack.us/). Us "non US" people can't link to it!


Cheers

Originally posted by TUFU

Hi gtrogue,I had tried to buy these discs one month ago before I have
AVLP2. But they said they did not ship these outside Germany.I'll try again
later.


It would be nice if someone could get their hands on a few of these and see how they work.
I think the problem will be that they are most likely not encoded using WM 9 format. They have multiple audio tracks which, I believe, means they are most likely encoded using WM 10. That would mean that WMP 10 would be required for playback, at least as far as selecting audio tracks and other advanced WMP 10 features goes.
At a minimum a firmware update is probably required to take advantage of WM 10 features. At worst, the advanced features won't be/can't be supported.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Can you upload this pic using ImageShack (http://www.imageshack.us/). Us "non US" people can't link to it!


Cheers
How 'bout this:
http://shop.iodata.com/images/products/zoom/avlp2_dvdla-3_zoom.jpg

Originally posted by gtrogue
This thing would have to have to decode the signal and have 5.1 analog audio outputs.
I believe the reference board the LinkPlayer is based on has multi-channel audio outputs. I-O Data didn't include them.

I thought it would have to decode the AAC-LC anyway to say it supports it.

Can they not just write the code to output the ACC-LC 5.1 here, or is it only a stereo out?

jedillwag

Originally posted by jedillwag
I thought it would have to decode the AAC-LC anyway to say it supports it.

Can they not just write the code to output the ACC-LC 5.1 here, or is it only a stereo out?

jedillwag

AAC-LC doesn't necessarily mean it's multi-channel. It might decode it but unless it can output the decoded signal there's no way to listen to it, at least not all the channels, without multi-channel outputs.

You can't just send it out the digital audio connector because that would be an encoded signal just like DD or DTS. Unless you have a preamp or receiver that can decode the signal it would probably just create horrible noises or no sound at all. I can't say that I've ever seen the AAC-LC 5.1 logo next to the DTS or DD logos on a receiver.;)

As far as the analog audio outputs that are available are concerned, it could only send two channel stereo audio or matrixed surround audio like Pro Logic or Pro Logic II, not discrete multi-channel audio.

SeeMoreDigital and gtrogue

Is there anyway around this AAC-LC 5.1 using Nero Recode2.

I want to and have been using Nero Recode to put my DVD's to External Hard Drive. I want 5.1 audio with them what can I do, am I missing something.

Thanks
jedillwag

You could always keep the AC3 audio. It eats up bits and makes the files a bit larger but it's an option.

I suppose it would be crazy to think that it would transcode AAC 5.1 to DD on the fly ala something like Nvidia Soundstorm and output via digital link, huh. :) :) :)

We can dream...

-Suntan

Originally posted by Suntan
I suppose it would be crazy to think that it would transcode AAC 5.1 to DD on the fly ala something like Nvidia Soundstorm and output via digital link, huh. :) :) :)

Actually, I tried to add that capability to the chip (along with WMA Pro 5.1 to DD), but Dolby wasn't interested in helping us support it.

Originally posted by jedillwag
SeeMoreDigital and gtrogue

Is there anyway around this AAC-LC 5.1 using Nero Recode2.

I want to and have been using Nero Recode to put my DVD's to External Hard Drive. I want 5.1 audio with them what can I do, am I missing something. Not using Recode2 I'm afraid...

Recode2 creates Mpeg4/AAC streams that are automatically muxed into the MP4 container. Which does not support AC3 (Dolby Digital) streams.

I currently generate Recode2 encodes with 2Ch AAC audio (surround sound)., for playback with my Sigma Xcard.

One thing we have not tried yet is to see if this player/chip-set can cope with more one AAC stream and switch between them!

I will have to make some test files available.


Cheers

That would be interesting. I know these media server applications do transcode sources to match what the playback device supports.

kjack, can you comment on the chip handling files encoded with the new WM 10 encoder.

Keith - I'm sure that this is an interim technology for you guys to get a headstart on your HD-DVD/Blu-Ray chipsets, but this would have been a great addition. I'm not sure how many folks actually have processors capable of decoding WMA Pro, but I do know that I sure don't!

Later,
Bill

OK.
I just do not understand why my recodes that conform to the bit rates specified by sigma would not work. Nero's web site states it is in Dolby Digital format.

So why would this play and not give sound out the optical or coax.

here is a clip from sigma's facts.

"What kind of MPEG-4 support is provided?

The MPEG-4 video must conform to ISO MPEG-4 Simple or Advanced Simple profile, without global motion compensation (GMC). Up to 5.1 channels of MPEG-4 AAC-LC audio is supported.

For storing personal content using MPEG-4 on CD or HDD, AVI files are used to contain the audio and video data; these must be stored in the ISO 9660 format. Typically, the audio will use the MP3 or Dolby Digital format. "

Originally posted by jedillwag
The MPEG-4 video must conform to ISO MPEG-4 Simple or Advanced Simple profile, without global motion compensation (GMC). Up to 5.1 channels of MPEG-4 AAC-LC audio is supported. Yep, Recode2 can do this, no problem at all.... and places the streams in the MP4 (not AVI) container.

Originally posted by jedillwag
For storing personal content using MPEG-4 on CD or HDD, AVI files are used to contain the audio and video data; these must be stored in the ISO 9660 format. Typically, the audio will use the MP3 or Dolby Digital format. " Note that the "AVI container" is mentioned now (not MP4).

In order for you to hear 6Ch (aka 5.1) AAC-LC streams, that have been passed from the IO Data player via the "optical" or "electrical" connection, you need to have an amplifier capable of decoding them... and as far as I know only Sony made such an amp. but it's now "discontinued"


Cheers

Hello,

Latest from tonight: The sluggish PAL image does not get better when you change the internal DVD by another model (Plextor or Ricoh).
For DVD-R DL nothing changed also, but I need to confirm the firmware level for all of the tested DVD drive.
I tried also to plug the DVD drive thru a USB 2 adapter. Both Plex and Ricoh were detected, but I was not able to read any kind of CD, DVD or divx...

More tomorrow!

Cheers
Arrius

Originally posted by Arrius
Hello,

Latest from tonight: The sluggish PAL image does not get better when you change the internal DVD by another model (Plextor or Ricoh).
For DVD-R DL nothing changed also, but I need to confirm the firmware level for all of the tested DVD drive.
I tried also to plug the DVD drive thru a USB 2 adapter. Both Plex and Ricoh were detected, but I was not able to read any kind of CD, DVD or divx...

More tomorrow!

Cheers
Arrius

Have you tried just playing a DVD-R DL playback on the factory drive?
Does it work?

DVD-R DL with a DVD Video image and
DVD-R DL with just divx/wm9 files..

inquiring minds want to know!

Fedex has confimed that they have the unit....

but I'm leaving Sunday for business, and I won't be home until the following Sunday.

Of course, the unit should be waiting for me when I get back..

But no testing until then.
:mad:

Mishagray,

Yes I did, but only DVD video image, and it does not work too (that's one of the reason I opened and swap drives). I'm not using DL for other purpose. I use DVDram for storage.

I will dig a little bit more tomorrow...
For now I will get some sleep, it's 2:43.

Arrius

Okay,

For all you guy's with one of these IO Data players, here's another encode for you to try...

This one contains: -

1280x720 PAL Mpeg4 (XviD) video + 2Ch AAC + 2Ch AAC audio, in MP4

Which hopefully you can switch between: -

Please download it here (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/seemoredigital/XviD_video+2No_2Ch_AAC-LC_audio_tracks.zip).


Cheers

This may seem like a dumb question, but if this chipset supports the IDE interface, all the codecs required, and has the throughput to handle the data, why couldn't this unit eventually be upgraded to support IDE HD-DVD drives, and therefore media?

Or is that a business decision within Sigma?

For just using an ide HD-DVD or ide Blueray drive that would likely just take changes to the firmware (software in the bios). But that is the easy part.

It is very unlikely that the current Sigma hardware would support the final HD-DVD decryption spec (CSS and Microsoft content management are very likely not the final spec for what the movie industry will use).

By then there will be next generation type devices doing the same stuff using a Sigma 9630L (my imaginary part number).

Originally posted by jakob1321
This may seem like a dumb question, but if this chipset supports the IDE interface, all the codecs required, and has the throughput to handle the data, why couldn't this unit eventually be upgraded to support IDE HD-DVD drives, and therefore media?

How I wish it could! :)

There may be changes to the drive interface to SATA. Also the chip cannot support the new AACS scheme likely to be adopted to replace CSS. The chip also does not support all the video codecs and profiles/levels mandated for Blu-ray and HD-DVD players. Or the new subtitling and interactivity requirements.

I just happen to be in Japan at the moment for the Blu-ray and HD-DVD meetings. :)

Originally posted by jedillwag
Up to 5.1 channels of MPEG-4 AAC-LC audio is supported.

Oh, that is incorrect. The chip currently only supports 2-channel AAC-LC.

Originally posted by kjack
Oh, that is incorrect. The chip currently only supports 2-channel AAC-LC. Damn.... what a pisser... I thought as much!

Does the chip-set support multiple 2Ch AAC-LC tracks/streams in MP4. And how about subtitles in MP4?


Cheers

Originally posted by kjack
Oh, that is incorrect. The chip currently only supports 2-channel AAC-LC.

Well I will unfortunately bow out now. I was almost there Qpel, .ts file, .mp4.

Well kjack
Send me a PM when you guys have a chip set that does support AAC-LC, and hopefully AAC-HE 5.1 audio. And maybe even Nero Digital certified.

Thank everyone.
See you when the next great thing comes around.
jedillwag

Originally posted by jedillwag
Well kjack
Send me a PM when you guys have a chip set that does support AAC-LC, and hopefully AAC-HE 5.1 audio. And maybe even Nero Digital certified.

Thank everyone.
See you when the next great thing comes around.
Sorry, I have to pipe up now...
Dang! I suspect you will be waiting for a REAL long time to get EXACTLY what you want... (forever, maybe). I think the condescending tone is unnecessary, given the amount of information kjack has provided. If you don't know what VHDL or Verilog is, and have never designed an IC even 1/100th as complex as this, you should respect those that do. Given you're addressing your comments at kjack, I think you really should be more respectful in how you voice your intention.

I'll step off my soapbox now, and crawl back under my rock.

It was not meant to be condescending. Text sometimes just comes out that way.

I meant it more as a request, Please PM me if the next chip set supports these features.

And just to prove it heres the first apology I have probably ever see in a forum. Instead of a couple of expletives!!

My apologies.
Jedillwag

I'm sorry to keep you guys in suspense. The AVLP2 arrived today about 11:30 am this morning FedEx. I've been working with it all afternoon.

Basically, I can't recommend it, for picture quality issues. Wait for the DVI model if you can.

I'll have more to say about it later.

Had tested the files from Wilbert and SMD.

Two files from Wilbert(avi_ac3_srt and avi_ac3_ssa) did not show subtitles.

One file from SMD (Xvid+2No_AAC-LC) can only hear sound of director's comment(?).

Originally posted by TUFU
Had tested the files from Wilbert and SMD.

Two files from Wilbert(avi_ac3_srt and avi_ac3_ssa) did not show subtitles.

One file from SMD (Xvid+2No_AAC-LC) can only hear sound of director's comment(?). Damn again!

No 'srt' or 'ssa' subs in AVI. And no AAC audio track selection in MP4... what a disappointment.

Has anybody here tried multiple audio streams/tracks in AVI? Does this implementation work instead?


Cheers

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jedillwag
YES

I found some really good info. I will just post the links, and summarize.

1. Ok, it's confirmed by IO Data. It supports Qpel files
http://www.mpeg-playcenter.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2440

I would NOT spred any info from this source (mpeg-playcenter.com)



2. I do not know what you mean by "official", this one IS official HD player : http://www.divx.com/hardware/detail.php?p=34

Also it DOES support QPel , despite manual says people contacted IO-Data and they confirmed it.
http://forums.divx.com/viewtopic.php?topic=62327&forum=21

This is based on information from mpeg-playecenter aswell :)

3. DivXŽ Certified Technical Specifications
http://www.divx.com/certified/technical.php
(I think this is way above what the IO Data manual states for bit rates)


http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/AVLP2_Forum.php

Jedillwag

Basically, what's wrong is this:

- The 720p/1080i high def picture from the component video is soft.
- It appears out of focus, noticeably loses some fine detail at 720p compared to computer playback with WMP10 on VGA input on Samsung 50 inch DLP.


It does most things right:
- WMV-HD playback is smooth and stutter free at all times.
- DVD-Video can be played at 480i/480p/720p/1080i. No problem with Macrovision or CSS.
- It accepts much higher data rates than stated, without objection.
- The loader is fast and trouble-free.
- Passes AC3, DD5.1 and DTS 5.1 through SPDIF Toslink and Coax on DVD-Video.
- Unit never locked up, or had to be rebooted for lockup.
- Easy to use.
- Robust, quality construction, made in China, excellent packaging and documentation, shipped complete.
- Overall glitch-free, works as advertised.

Will not play:
- mpeg2 transfer stream 1280x720 at 18.4MB/s, picture freezes, unit does not lock up.

Will play:
- mpeg2 program stream 1280x720 at 18.4MB/s, smooth and no stuttering.
- All DVD-Videos played beatifully. This is a very nice player for watching DVD movies. The mpeg decoder renders a vivid DVD-Video picture with excellent detail, contrast, color balance and saturation.

I have not tried:
- AVel Link Server or networking, and given the soft focus, loss of fine detail at 720p, I may not bother.

I don't know whether I'll decide to keep this.. It has 100% smooth stutter free WMV9 playback, my HTPC does not. But hi-def images from the HTPC are detailed and sharp, the AVLP2 is not.

Again, my recommendation is wait for the DVI/HDMI equipped model, if you can.

Tom,

Thanks for the hands on report. Finally a good user summary. I will be receiving mine on 11/17. Man thats a long time... It is in Fedex's hands (via Ground), shoulda done two day shipping. But it gives me time to run my network cable to the back of my stereo cabinet.

Since my needs are 480p only, your component video softness at 720p concerns aren't killing my enthusiam yet. Hopefully, the DVI version of the player will take care of that for those who have video displays that can support full HD. My main concerns are about stability and its server software.

Ricardo

That's great news Tom,

Just to confirm, what player/model number have you got?


Cheers

Hey Tom, how long is the D4 to component cable they include?

Hey Tom,

You were able to play WMVHD Disc directly in the player ?

also how does the pq compare to your other dvd players?

Tom,

How do 1024 x 768 JPEGs look? Thanks!

Originally posted by Tom Roper
- The 720p/1080i high def picture from the component video is soft.
- It appears out of focus, noticeably loses some fine detail at 720p compared to computer playback with WMP10 on VGA input on Samsung 50 inch DLP.
Can you quantify exactly how soft?

The Bravo D1 (another DVD player with a Sigma Designs chipset) also has soft component outputs, as illustrated by this Video Frequency Response graph (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/graph2.cgi?fields=Y_1_MHz,Y_2_MHz,Y_4_MHz,Y_6_MHz,Y_7-16_MHz,Y_8-36_MHz,Y_10_MHz&values=0,-0.44,-2.51,-6.12,-8.01,-10.47,-13.03) and this animated screenshot comparison (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=9303).

That brings up another good point: does this current Sigma chip support a DVI-I output? I know I-O does not have the DVI US version available and has issues w/ the HDCP license apparently. but that makes me wonder if DVI-I is even possible on this chip from any player (such as the upcoming KISS, or the overseas version of this model.) If a DVI to VGA adapter can be used, a lot of us with projectors and RPs with VGA in may be interested, especially given the improvements this made on the last Sigma based player like the D1.

Originally posted by wally0206
You were able to play WMVHD Disc directly in the player ?

I'll second this question. My evaluation unit should be here before Thanksgiving, but I'm most curious about this particular feature.

Originally posted by mikemav
That brings up another good point: does this current Sigma chip support a DVI-I output? I know I-O does not have the DVI US version available and has issues w/ the HDCP license apparently. but that makes me wonder if DVI-I is even possible on this chip from any player (such as the upcoming KISS, or the overseas version of this model.) If a DVI to VGA adapter can be used, a lot of us with projectors and RPs with VGA in may be interested, especially given the improvements this made on the last Sigma based player like the D1. Of course it can!

Read some of TUFU's and kjack's posts and have a look at Sigma's developement kit for this chip-set: -

http://www.sigmadesigns.com/graphics/product_pics/DVD8620LNET.jpg


Cheers

Originally posted by Ursa
I'll second this question. My evaluation unit should be here before Thanksgiving, but I'm most curious about this particular feature.

TUFU has said that his will not play the HD-WMV discs he's tried including T2. The original HD WM discs used online DRM activation, the T2 disc used this type of DRM. I imagine the player cannot play these discs. The newer HD-WMV discs use on-disc DRM and should be playable. The problem is that none of the newer discs are available outside of Europe. Plus, they are encoded using the new WM 10 encoder which may throw is some features that may not be supported by the player, like multiple audio tracks, multiple subtitle tracks, etc.

Originally posted by RicardoD
Since my needs are 480p only, your component video softness at 720p concerns aren't killing my enthusiam yet. Hopefully, the DVI version of the player will take care of that for those who have video displays that can support full HD. My main concerns are about stability and its server software.

Ricardo

Stability seems good. 480p and DVD-Video upconverted to 720p looks very nice. Even the 720p WMV-HD looks nice at 720p. It's only when I get closer than about 6 ft to the 50 inch screen, and toggle inputs on the TV between PC (D15-VGA) and Component, that the difference jumps out at me. The AVLP2 looks good, but switching to the HTPC and "oh my gawd" the image snaps alive with 3D-like depth to the texture. The colors become a saturated pallete without noise or grain, even though the overall color intensity, hue and contrast of the picture has been carefully matched between them as closely as I can. The HTPC image just contains more fine detail, transparency, and less noise. All is not perfect with the HTPC, because I get some infrequent annoying stutters. The AVLP2 plays 720p WMV-HD perfectly smooth and stutter free, even though the data rate of my test disk (9.3MB/s) exceeds the stated spec... 8.0MB/s

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital

Just to confirm, what player/model number have you got?

This player is the AVLP2 DVDLA, it says on the box. If you meant my former player, that is a Panasonic RP-82.

Originally posted by gtrogue
how long is the D4 to component cable they include?

Short! Not more than 2.5 - 3 ft. You have to use it because of the D4 connector, and that's kind of a worry because the 3 component leads look poorly shielded, a possible source of noise in the output.

Originally posted by wally0206

You were able to play WMVHD Disc directly in the player ?

also how does the pq compare to your other dvd players?

Yes, I played the WMV-HD disk directly in the player, but this disk was of my own making, shot with a JVC GR-HD1 720p camcorder. The disk is 1280x720, 30fps, 9.3MB/s, and WMA9 audio 192KB/S. I do not have a commercial WMV9 disk with digital rights management (DRM) to test, sorry.

The pq compared to my Panasonic RP82 is very respectable. The image quality from either one beats what I'm watching right now, (EMPIRE RECORDS) in 1080i on satellite HDNet Movies, since DirecTV began increasing their compression, dropping the broadcast resolution and data rate, resulting in "HD-LITE." But basically, the pq between the RP82 and AVLP2 is more alike than different. The AVLP2 is upconverting to 720p on my set at the moment, and does seem very slightly sharper, but I run the RP82 on the Cinema 1 setting which is a softer setting. At the moment, the RP82 has a little better shadow detail. But I would just qualify those observations by saying they are so close, you could null any differences by tweaking the color decoder and user settings of your tv set. The AVLP2 again, has a very respectable DVD-Video playback quality that shouldn't disappoint.

Originally posted by MVBJJ
How do 1024 x 768 JPEGs look?

I haven't hooked up the AVeL Link server software yet to find. I'll let you know as soon as possible.

Thanks for confirming your players details.


Cheers

Originally posted by Erik Garci
Can you quantify exactly how soft?

The Bravo D1 (another DVD player with a Sigma Designs chipset) also has soft component outputs, as illustrated by this Video Frequency Response graph (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/graph2.cgi?fields=Y_1_MHz,Y_2_MHz,Y_4_MHz,Y_6_MHz,Y_7-16_MHz,Y_8-36_MHz,Y_10_MHz&values=0,-0.44,-2.51,-6.12,-8.01,-10.47,-13.03) and this animated screenshot comparison (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=9303).

I looked at the graph and the animation. I can't measure the frequency response, so no comment on the former. About the animation, I'd guess that's representative for what I am noticing. It can be better, should be better.

My subjective observation is it's not as sharp as the component outputs from the JVC camera playing the same mpeg 1280x720 file. The image from the AVLP2 component outputs at 720p/1080i may look fine depending on your perspective and display type. But if you have a digital, native display panel device, i.e. DLP, LCD etc., I think the advantage for bit mapping 1:1 pixel perfect with a DVI or VGA connector will leave you disappointed somewhat at the AVLP2 component video quality at 720p/1080i. You have to get up close enough to see it of course. I would only restate my recommendation that if this is a concern, wait for DVI model.

Hi again Tom,

Just as a matter of interest what's the output resolution is your 50" screen?


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Hi again Tom,

Just as a matter of interest what's the output resolution is your 50" screen?


Cheers

It's a Samsung DLP RPTV using the Texas Instruments' HD2 chip at native panel resolution 1280x720.

Just to add...

The monitor has a DVI input in current use by a Sony DirecTV HD200 hi-def satellite receiver, and a D15 VGA input that supports 1280 x 720 @ 60hz refresh rate. The VGA is hooked up to a HTPC.

The monitor is also capable of down-converting 1920x1080i @60hz to 720p 60hz through the DVI or component inputs.

I've seen 1080i and 720p component input that was better than what I'm getting with the AVLP2. The camera that I shot the 720p footage also has 720p/1080i component outputs that resolve better than the AVLP2.

That said, DVD-Video looks good on the AVLP2, and it might be fair to say that upconverted 480 DVD-Video from a store bought DVD looks about like down-converted 720p WMV-HD. Shouldn't be this way, but...

Good info Tom. So if I am reading your posts correct, if I just want to use the player for DVD-Video playback, either with a physical DVD disc or via my DVD server over the network I should get HTPC results for my Barco 808s via the component video output for my massive 500+ DVD collection?

That is all I am really looking for as I can use my HTPC to playback what limited (two WMV-HD discs) HD I have.

I've ordered mine, should be here the middle of next week.

I have a CRT display so I'll try to provide some feedback for those out there who don't have FPD's. I don't have any HD sources at the moment but I can compare the upconverted output to the output of my FLI2300 equipped scaler. I'll grab the files posted earlier in the thread for some HD references.

Excellent! I will hold out then until you test it with a CRT. ;)

I find it odd that you find the component images from the player "soft"!

I'm currently using a Sigma Xcard (EM8475 chip-set) which is hooked up to an 42" 1280x768 plasma via component video.

I find the component images almost as good as those from my Arcam DV78 stand-alone (which also has DVI and HDMI outputs). Even when passed thru' my DSS amplifier.

On a different note... are there any DSS amps with DVI/HDMI inputs and outputs yet?


Cheers

Originally posted by gtrogue
I've ordered mine, should be here the middle of next week.

I have a CRT display so I'll try to provide some feedback for those out there who don't have FPD's. I don't have any HD sources at the moment but I can compare the upconverted output to the output of my FLI2300 equipped scaler. I'll grab the files posted earlier in the thread for some HD references. Why not download some test clips in readyness for the big day?


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital

I find it odd that you find the component images from the player "soft"!

I'm currently using a Sigma Xcard (EM8475 chip-set) which is hooked up to an 42" 1280x768 plasma via component video.

I find the component images almost as good as those from my Arcam DV78 stand-alone (which also has DVI and HDMI outputs). Even when passed thru' my DSS amplifier.


For 720p content, in the case of the AVLP2 I find the component output softer than VGA output at the same resolution from an HTPC. You might not find it soft, or you might be ignoring that analog output comes from a separate D to A chip, and may not be related to the Sigma chip at all. Or you may not find the output soft.

Maybe soft is too strong a word anyway. To say the image lacks some of the finer details for 720p output might be more appropriate, when compared to VGA output, and probably DVI/HDMI.

Generally speaking, I find component outputs very nearly as good as digital. On my HD200 Sony satellite receiver, it's very hard to see much difference between DVI and component when using good cables. But again, really good component cables are not an option on the AVLP2 because of the D4 connector, you have to use the supplied cable, which is not shielded very well.

On the AVLP2, it's pretty easy to spot the difference. My setup for testing was this:

I played a 720p WMV-HD file from a hard disk on the HTPC, connected to the VGA input of the Samsung monitor.

I played the same 720p WMV-HD file copied to a DVD data disk and played in the AVLP2 connected to the 720p component input of the Samsung monitor.

I started both files playing at the same time, so they were nearly synchronized.

Then I used the remote control for the Samsung monitor to switch back and forth between inputs. In this way, I was viewing the same material, at the same time for a direct A/B comparison.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
...I started both files playing at the same time, so they were nearly synchronized.

Then I used the remote control for the Samsung monitor to switch back and forth between inputs. In this way, I was viewing the same material, at the same time for a direct A/B comparison. Here we thousands of miles apart... doing the same kinds of tests ;)


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Of course it can!

Read some of TUFU's and kjack's posts and have a look at Sigma's developement kit for this chip-set: -

http://www.sigmadesigns.com/graphics/product_pics/DVD8620LNET.jpg


Cheers

I know it supports DVI, I just did not see anywhere it was DVI-I. A lot of newer devices only support DVI-D, which will not allow the use of a DVI to VGA adapter since no analog signal is present. This is how Hollywood prefers it, and given all the HDCP talk about this player, I wondered if the analog high res signal was present on the DVI output. If there is somewhere that confirms this, great! I would love to use VGA to my existing switcher & projector, if not from this player, than maybe from another like the KISS if possible. Just looking for more info. I will check out the Sigma website to see if they have any details.

From the beginning of the thread, I did not comment much about the picture qulaity of AVLP2 becuase I think I'm not qualified to say much about this even this is a very important part for DVD player.

I did not use HTPC but I had V880 and used it's DVI-I connecing to DVI of
Mitsubishi D1208(1024X576) and DVI-A to AE100(840X484?)using a DVI SPLITTER.
The AVLP2 seemed only output DVI-D not DVI-I(I had tested this with my
DVI splitter in AVLP2 and I can only get DVI-D signal). Maybe I did not say it clearly in the previous posts.

But I'll second the opinion of Tom about the term"soft" if I'd roghly describe the picture of component output in AVLP2.

I'll talk much abotu V880 because V880 had been discussed so much in forum. So,if I could not give a more objective comment for AVLP2,then a subjective comparison of both may give you guy some help.

Most people got V880 just for its DVI output not component and most were not satisfied with V880's component as you can see in most threads discussing V880. When I see DVD movies in DVI for a whiLe ,then changed to component, the term"soft" pop out from my brain. To me,it means lack of detail,less sharp and clear, and less colorful. I'd like someone to test this using something more objectively.

To me, the picture qulaity in AVLP2 is much better from DVI than from component just like V880 doing. Also the picture quality of DVI in AVLP2 seemed a little better than that in V880. But I'm not satisfied with the component part of both players. I'd like seeing someone to compare the component part of AVLP2 to other component DVD player.Maybe you can get some informations from the discussing thread of V880.

Hi Tom,glad to hear that you did not experience any sound or lock-up problems. I'll wait for you to play more dvds and files and see what happen. If all are OK,then it is probably my player's problem not a bug in the machine.

My hope had been that in omitting the DVI, I-O Data would provide a high quality component output. Pity.

Id be very interested in this player when they release the DVI version in the states

Originally posted by Tom Roper
My hope had been that in omitting the DVI, I-O Data would provide a high quality component output. Pity.

I think the Gamecube uses the Japanese D type connector. You may want to see if Monster or some other cable company makes a high quality component connector kit for the Gamecube if you'd like a better set of cables.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
It's a Samsung DLP RPTV using the Texas Instruments' HD2 chip at native panel resolution 1280x720.
Is that RPTV calibrated to display 720p component with 1:1 pixel mapping? Some displays let you calibrate their analog inputs to achieve 1:1 pixel mapping by adjusting controls such as "pixel clock" and "pixel phase". If it is not calibrated for 1:1, then the display's internal scaler may be causing some of the softness.

yes, it seems the gamecube has a d connector as well.

or you can build your own: http://www.gamesx.com/avpinouts/jdcon.htm

Wow, I turn my back for a day or so and this thread blows up! Tom, it's good to hear that you have had a relatively positive experience so far, with the exception of component PQ. To be honest, I kinda expected that the component would be a little soft - unfortunately, these companies put so much time into perfecting the DVI output and are in such a cost-crunch, that the analog path almost always suffers (high quality D/A converters that will work at these bitrates can get expensive). We saw the same thing on the Bravo and Samsung up-converting DVD players so it doesn't surprise me too much (though I was hoping I was wrong).

I would be very interested in hearing about your AvelLink Server experience when you get to it (no rush - like I said, I am waiting for the DVI version to release in the U.S. anyways).

Thanks everyone for all the reviews!

Originally posted by mikemavl
I know it supports DVI, I just did not see anywhere it was DVI-I. A lot of newer devices only support DVI-D, which will not allow the use of a DVI to VGA adapter since no analog signal is present. This is how Hollywood prefers it, and given all the HDCP talk about this player, I wondered if the analog high res signal was present on the DVI output. If there is somewhere that confirms this, great! I would love to use VGA to my existing switcher & projector, if not from this player, than maybe from another like the KISS if possible. Just looking for more info. I will check out the Sigma website to see if they have any details. Not so long ago I asked Keith Jack this in a PM: -
Also, can you confirm whether your DVI ouput connection makes use of "analogue output" pins C1-C5. Or is it "digital only" ? And got the following response: -Analog RGB outputs are disabled on the newer chips when playing DVDs. For other content, it is up the manufacturer whether or not to support it.

Cheers

Keith Jack

A lot of people running a lot of speculations here , so can you please answer on few questions rased here (at least on the questions you can/allowed) . I gathered some of them here :

1. Can EM8620L play QPel ?

2. What the maximum / maximum average bitrate for the chip ?

3. Even if chip can't play multichanel (5.1) ACC LC audio , what are the chances according to YOUR estimation of implementing stereo downmix, for example in software(firmware) ? Or in worst case , let's say just playing left and right front channels only (well may be with addition of center :) ) ?

Originally posted by Erik Garci
Is that RPTV calibrated to display 720p component with 1:1 pixel mapping? Some displays let you calibrate their analog inputs to achieve 1:1 pixel mapping by adjusting controls such as "pixel clock" and "pixel phase". If it is not calibrated for 1:1, then the display's internal scaler may be causing some of the softness.

1.) I know exactly what you are talking about!
2.) Pixel clock timings are not adjustable in my Samsung monitor in the service menu.
3.) But you are exactly right! I do have 1:1 pixel perfect timing on the VGA input, and by comparison of viewing the same file played on the HTPC versus AVLP2, I am thus able to verify that the AVLP2 component output is has over scan, probably about 3-4%.

A possible solution would be if the AVLP2 itself had a secret menu, or some other mechanism for adjust the scaler/pixel clock timings. Couldn't the Momitsu do this? I thought I saw some topics on that subject.

TUFU, you are not alone. I have noted occasional, random, infrequent playback issues on DVD-Video, picture freezing, stacatto sound.

It's actually been more stable for me playing the WMV9. And it seems stable mostly for DVD-Video, but I have seen the instances above. It happened to me after a fast forward or fast reverse or pausing operation. It would sometimes fix itself, or sometimes I could fix it by a brief press of the FF or FR, or worst case, stopping play altogether.

It doesn't appear to happen frequently, but I have seen it. I haven't noticed it happen when just allowing the unit to play without invoking some kind of user input from the remote control device.

In spite of the issues and limitations I've experienced, at this point I would mention again that DVD-Video playback has been surprisingly good. It produces an impressive picture, free from digital artifacts. I think this speaks to the quality of the Sigma mpeg decoding.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
1.) I know exactly what you are talking about!
2.) Pixel clock timings are not adjustable in my Samsung monitor in the service menu.
3.) But you are exactly right! I do have 1:1 pixel perfect timing on the VGA input, and by comparison of viewing the same file played on the HTPC versus AVLP2, I am thus able to verify that the AVLP2 component output is has over scan, probably about 3-4%.

A possible solution would be if the AVLP2 itself had a secret menu, or some other mechanism for adjust the scaler/pixel clock timings. Couldn't the Momitsu do this? I thought I saw some topics on that subject.

Tom- Thanks for the continued info. Now I am more curious to try one. I have a projector (NEC HT1100) which lets me fine-tune all inputs, including component, and set the overscan for 0%. Perhaps this is a limitation of your display's component input and not the DVD player? What kind of HTPC do you use? What graphics card/ DVD player? Do you use FFDShow or other tweaks, and if so, what DVD decoder filters, etc.. Be nice to know what we are comparing against. Out of curiosity, do you have the ability to set component output of your HTPC? For instance, a lot of ATI users use a dongle or home made cable to get component if their display does not have VGA. Is that something you could easily try for comparison? I am thinking it may be your display that just looks better on VGA.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
...A possible solution would be if the AVLP2 itself had a secret menu, or some other mechanism for adjust the scaler/pixel clock timings. Couldn't the Momitsu do this? I thought I saw some topics on that subject. This is one of the reasons why I designed my 720p "test cards". They should help you set up your equipment... they did with mine ;)

EDIT: With all this talk about WMV. Does anybody know whether it's possible to play WMV9 video streams placed in the AVI container (ie: WMV9 VCM)?


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
EDIT: With all this talk about WMV. Does anybody know whether it's possible to play WMV9 video streams placed in the AVI container (ie: WMV9 VCM)?


Cheers

TUFU tested one of my WMV9 VCM encodes. WMV9-HD @ 6 Mbps w/384 kbps AC3 audio in an AVI container. He got 'green splotches' on the screen. So it sounds like it kind of works, but not perfectly.

Originally posted by Kermee
TUFU tested one of my WMV9 VCM encodes. WMV9-HD @ 6 Mbps w/384 kbps AC3 audio in an AVI container. He got 'green splotches' on the screen. So it sounds like it kind of works, but not perfectly. Can you confirm the pixel frame size of the encode TUFU tested?


Cheers

Originally posted by mikemav
Perhaps this is a limitation of your display's component input and not the DVD player?

In my case it would seem so, although again the JVC GR-HD1 camcorder has 720p/1080i component video output, and transmits a snappier picture under the same constraints of the non-adjustable pixel timings of the Samsung monitor.

My HTPC is P4 2.8ghz HT and Nvidia FX Go5200. I use Zoom Player and VMR9 (video mixing renderer 9), Reclock 1.5, and Powerstrip to set the timings. The Samsung monitor projects some optical overscan to the screen. Accordingly, with Powerstrip I can change the timings to display the full frame by dropping resolution to 1248x696, or accept the overscan and display 1:1 bitmapped pixel perfect at 1280x720, (which is what I do.)

I haven't been using the HTPC for DVD-Video. I was using the Panasonic RP82 standalone player for that. It's 480i/p component only, so you can't draw any conclusions about 720p component output performance from it. The AVLP2 DVD-Video performance via component output seems at least on par with the Panasonic.

My HTPC includes the following installed mpeg codecs:
InterVideo
MainConcept
Ulead
Pixela

...but again, I have only been using it for WMV9 and Jpegs.

I think the ATI dongle adapts DVI-I or VGA to component. In any case, my card doesn't support it. The point for me is to not use the HTPC, if I can replace its WMV-HD playback functionality with the AVLP2.

This particular iteration of the AVLP2 seems better suited for analog, raster type display.

Memo to I-O Data:
I wish you would hurry up with bringing the DVI/WIFI model to the U.S. market. I've seen enough, to confidently buy one of those if you'd just make it available to us in North America.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Can you confirm the pixel frame size of the encode TUFU tested?


Cheers

The encode was done 1280x720p, square pixels at 29.97 fps. It was done in VirtualDubMod 1.5.4.10 using the WMV9 VCM. Complexity was set to 'Auto', buffer was set to 2000 ms. It was two-pass. Average bitrate was 6,000 kbps with a max peak of 10,000 kbps.

Can EM8620L play QPel ? Yes. Along with 1-point GMC for DivX.

What the maximum / maximum average bitrate for the chip ? I knew the questions were going to get harder. :) It all depends on what else the chip is doing that can use memory bandwidth, the codec tools used, number of motion vectors, etc. For MPEG-2, 30 Mbps / 20 Mbps is a good number. For WMV9, 15 Mbps / 8 Mbps is a good number.

Even if chip can't play multichanel (5.1) ACC LC audio , what are the chances according to YOUR estimation of implementing stereo downmix, for example in software(firmware) ? Or in worst case , let's say just playing left and right front channels only (well may be with addition of center :) ) ?

I wouldn't hold my breath even though the audio DSP can handle it. Although I orginally spec'd 5.1, until now, there has been no requests for it. We are now focused on implementing the more advanced audio codecs.

Thanks for the confirmation Keith,

Personally speaking I had always assumed the chip-set supported DivX's 1warp-point GMC, even though it stated otherwise on Sigma's web site... Shame it's not 3warp-point though!

Originally posted by kjack
... Although I orginally spec'd 5.1, until now, there has been no requests for it. We are now focused on implementing the more advanced audio codecs. "More advanced audio codecs"... What can these be?

When it comes to 6Ch playback, I would have thought AAC is up there with the best, especially AAC-HE. Even more so now it's the favoured audio stream to use along-side H.264/AVC

I find it really odd there's has been no requests for 6Ch analogue outputs... don't these manufacturers carry out any form of customer research?


Cheers

More advanced audio codecs"... What can these be? I could tell you, but then... :)

When it comes to 6Ch playback, I would have thought AAC is up there with the best, especially AAC-HE. Even more so now it's the favoured audio stream to use along-side H.264/AVC. We consider AAC-LC and AAC-HE to be different... :)

kjack Just wanted to say thanks on your reply .

Also your last answer (both parts of it :) ) very ... interesting and informative :)

Another small question, I think the answer is "yes" but just to be sure - can chip handle old "DivX Audio" , which is subversion of old WMA ,I think v2, codec ?

One thing I also hope that Sigma is continues with usage of it's supirior MPEG4 decoding video content routines. And does not trade them of for dobiouse speed and price adventages.
The EM85xx MPEG4 output is WAY better then on ESS and MTK based players (I did some testing by connecting 2 players to same TV and playing same movies), so I hope you will continue on this fine tradition.

On the other hand despite great MPEG4 part, your DVD part was buggy, hoply you fix this in new chip.


Btw: it's great when you have someone from company to talk to :)

Tom --
Although I am sure the one to one issues are what is making it soft I have
another question about your Samsungs settings -- do you have DNiE turned on for your component inputs? On mine the default was on for all the inputs except the PC (VGA) one.

Paul, as an early adopter of the original Samsung 2002 model HLM507W, my set does not have DNIe. Sometime in 2003, Samsung offered an upgrade board to add the functionality of discrete remote control codes, and DNIe. I passed on this opportunity because the upgrade board went to a non-adjustable color decoder (not to be confused with settings for RGB gains and offsets) for digital inputs, which I felt was a mistake.

I am assuming you have DNIe turned off on yours.

That said, aside lacking a DVI output, and probably sharing a few of the buggy quirks that plagued the Bravo and Momitsu, overall I really like the picture quality from the I-O Data LinkPlayer2.

Yes, you can do a few things with sharpness, edge enhancement on your Samsung to mostly overcome what analog component fundamentally can't totally overcome, not being able to bit map pixel for pixel to the native resolution. I still think even as far as component video goes, that the I-O Data Linkplayer is slightly sub par.

In other areas of picture quality, it really excels, the mpeg decoding is really clean and vivid. DVD-Video looks really good.

When I said "buggy," a couple things come to mind. Sometimes after I fast forward, the sound drops out or becomes stacatto. It has a little bit of a problem reading all parts of my DVD-RW media. It does playback VRO files, but has some glitches when trying to fast forward through them. On VRO files, mpeg files, and WMV9 files, no time code is displayed on the unit window.

Of all the video files I've played back, surprisingly WMV9 is the most stable format. You can reliably fast forward and reverse throughout the program. DVD-Video is almost as reliable, and additionally is faster FF and RW speeds, while displaying a timecode. An occasional audio burp or silence afterward, but infrequent and not a major problem. A quick pause-resume operation restores audio.

The DVD-Video feature set is very basic with few adjustments. Fortunately, what it lacks is really not needed due to the excellent mpeg decoding.

The very best DVD players sometimes score highly due to their ability to handle irregular cadences, minimize Y-C delay, have no pixel cropping, and other aspects that don't always relate to a subjectively good picture. That probably describes how the I-O Data would stack up under the crux of technical measurements. I believe Sigma decoders are flag readers, and thus work really well on properly flagged content, as most DVD-Video movie releases usually are. It really looks good on the DVD movies I played on it, without exception:

Sea Biscuit
The Spy Who Shagged Me
Heat
American Beauty
The Fifth Element
Not Another Teen Movie
Behind Enemy Lines
The Sixth Sense

Also played an assortment of DVD-Video recordings from a Panasonic DVDR E80H recorder that looked very good. It did have a little of the aforementioned trouble with a DVD-RW disk. It does not play DVD-Ram media. No DVD-Audio or SACD support, and no audio up-sampling of CD audio supported.

This unit generally works as advertised, and is worth the price of admission. I eagerly await the model with DVI and WiFi, which I will purchase as soon as it becomes available in the U.S. market.

Thanks Tom -- sounds like a good review to me--
so far the only things it is lacking for me are:

1) region free (I would love to play my zone 2 PAL disks without putting them on the hard disk first.

2) NAS type operation where I could access the storage attached to the IODATAs USB ports from my PC on the lan. (this would let me shut off my main pc when not in use and still have all of my media available to either the IODATA or the PC, or my laptop when I connect it to my net).

3) DVI would be nice but it isn't a show stopper for me at this point.

4) Same with having timing adjustments like the momitsu to get one to one -- not a show stopper.


Because of 1 and 2 I will wait a bit longer to see how the Kiss plays out and also to see if any open server projects get started for these devices...

I believe Sigma decoders are flag readers, and thus work really well on properly flagged content, as most DVD-Video movie releases usually are.

This chip is capable of motion adaptive deinterlacing, so perhaps they will enable it a future software upgrade.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital


I find it really odd there's has been no requests for 6Ch analogue outputs... don't these manufacturers carry out any form of customer research?


Cheers

In the States, I haven't seen that too much, so it might not be thought of a lot. Although, I can see why people would want it...

Avellink owners --

How is the on screen ui for selecting music to play ?

Does it allow playlists to be created on screen or do they have to exist in advance?

Is the server software posted anywhere on the iodata site???

Does it support shuffle play like a CD changer would??

I'd like to answer your question, Paul...but the player keeps dying when I try to connect to the server. It picks up that the server is there, and will attempt to use it, but if there are any files in the folders, it will give me a URL error (?). If I assign the paths in the server software to empty folders, it just says that there isn't any media available.

Also, the player seems to have some pretty strict UDF compatibility standards -- I had to force Xbox Compatible burn in Nero to get it to read the discs I made.

Okay guys. I just got my Linkplayer. I'll give you as much info as I can but keep in mind I'm not a audio/video expert by any stretch.

First off, I am supremely pi$$'d off at the crappy component cable they give you. I believe someone mentioned this previously but let me tell you- it's completely worthless. It's about 2 feet in length and I had to put the player on the ground next to my tv at an angle and it barely reached the inputs on the back. I'm going to write an e-mail to Iodata after this and give them a serious reaming and demand they send me a good length cable. I will return this otherwise. It's inconceivable they would require you to use a custom cable and give you such a short length. The power cable is about the same length but it's a standard cable so it's replacable.

On to the substance of the unit. I was only able to test the few WM9, DIVX, and MPEG-2 files(.mpg not .ts) that I have. Most of what I have are .ts streams.

The video quality is definitely soft as was mentioned by a couple other posters. I have a 57" Hitachi RPTV and I don't have access to HD programming in my apartment so I have very little to directly compare this unit to quality-wise. I have seen Voom on two different DLP screens and that was much much more crisp and vibrant. The color seems quite pale to me but the video still looks very good. It's definitely HD quality, just not the best.

For some reason, I wasn't able to get any dvd-r's or dvd-rw's to read in the player itself. I don't know why but I'm hoping it's something with the formatting. I used UDF rather than ISO when I burned the files with NERO, maybe it doesn't like that. Maybe it doesn't like Verbatim discs or something. This is something I'm going to experiment with in the next few days. I tried putting a dvd-r in my pc's drive and sharing that over the network and the player played for about 3 seconds and froze. That was the only time I had to reset the player.

As far as playback of certain file types, WM9 seemed to work pretty much flawlessly. Surprisingly(to me anyway) so did DIVX HD trailers from the DIVX site. Seeking can take a few seconds but the 4-5 files I tried didn't jump or jitter after seeking. I don't have surround sound so all the sound is going RCA out to my tv. The Praying Mantis WM9 720p clip from Discovery Channel HD had the channel logo cut off on the right. I had the player set to play everything at it's actual size so I'm not sure what that was about. I have a full-length retail WM9 porno I downloaded called "Island Fever 3" that looked good but the audio was not playing.

It was a mixed bag for .mpg HD files. I was unable to play any of the NASA clips I downloaded from some government ftp. They stopped playing after 3 seconds but it didn't lock up or anything. The files that played really well were "Ice Age"(1080i?) off ABC, "Private Ryan" off HBOHD(720p), and some PBS travel shows(1080i). There was one(I can't recall at the moment) were the audio was absent so I assume it was something the player didn't like. Most encouraging was the .ts stream I converted to .mpg with HDTV2Mpeg. It was a Tonight Show clip and played almost perfectly- the sound was choppy for the first few seconds. Another clip did the same thing.

I played some regular mpeg clips that were various non-HD sizes and they all played fine. The Star Wars Trilogy 720p trailer had no audio but played and looked good.

Of everything I played, I never saw any artifacts or compression. My overall impression of the player is very favorable for what I need it for. I will get the DVI version when it comes out and sell this one most likely. I only spent about an hour testing this thing so all this is very early in the process. I haven't tried any store-bought dvd's yet. I didn't buy this for regular dvd's and I will probably use my Denon DVD-1600 for those as I doubt the AveL will match its quality(I could be wrong).

A couple quick last notes. I wasn't able to connect and check for a firmware update. I think I need to change some IP setting or something for internet access. Also, my tv is a year old and I haven't had it professionally calibrated yet. I don't know how much that will affect my experience but I'm not going to spend $500-600 on that until I have HD programming to watch regularly.

I really wish someone could come up with a cable for this thing in case Iodata doesn't provide replacements. I looked around but couln't find anything on the internet for a D4 connector to component. I heard something about Gamecubes using the same connector but I went up to Ebgames and looked at one and it's not the same thing. I can't stress enough how short and completely impractical this cable is.

I hope all this helped. I'll reply to questions if there are some, I'm probably forgetting a bunch of stuff but my hands aren't use to typing so much. Besides I have HL2 and Halo2 to get back too....

So what part of the gamecube uses D4 connectors? Froogle lists a bunch of extension cables that would probably lengthen the cable, but not replace. :(


http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=gamecube+cable&btnG=Search+Froogle



I recently had to change to using video switching on my pre-amp, so I'm more concerned about the quality as opposed to the cable length. Though re-sequencing my components to get the player closer will suck. :(

I think it is a big mistake that I-O DATA sells this product in US with D connector rather than 3 RCAs component.In my country,it is easy to get a
D to component cable with a price around 2m/20-40$. Some people even make and sell these cables by themself.

Hi woodface,I had probably downloaded same NSAA clips and also experienced same problems (stop after 3 seconds playing).

Yep....it's not the standard Gamecube cable. It's the Gamecube to component cable, and those are harder to find. You can order one directly from Nintendo. The standard AV cable for the nintendo won't work, but the Component cable used the Digital IO port onthe back of the 'Cube. They quit putting that on the units around may or so, because so few people used it.

As far as DVD-r's - as stated in my post, it's very touchy as far as the UDF file system. I had to burn three or four different dvd setups before I finally got one that it would read. Means I have to go back and reburn all the high def dvd's i've created. Try 1.02 as the format version.

I'm about to send mine back for a different reason - the server software stinks. The HD stuff is a nice to have (tried the same mpeg files of the shuttle launches and stuff, had the same playback error), but the networking was what I was hoping for, and the server software is really hit and miss. Disappointing.

Also - it doesn't do passthru on DTS cd's.

Hey TUFU- Thanks for your work on the early posts. That was a big part in my decision to get this. I've had a little more time to mess around and I'm more and more impressed.

One problem that scares me is this dvd-r problem. In the back of the manual it states in reference to dvd-r's "Only UDF/ISO bridge and ISO 9660 are supported, UDF and PacketLight are not supported" . In Nero, ISO/UDF profiles don't allow files greater than 2GB. That pretty much rules out ANY HD files on dvd unless there is a firmware update or you split all your movies into 2GB files.

This is a pretty big kick in the b@lls. I think a lot of people would be turned off of this if you can't play anything off of dvd's in the player itself. Am I missing something?

I'll try burning some more dvd's and see what works. The ones I've been trying have been UDF 1.02 and none of them worked. I'm going to try a ISO 9660 with some small files and see how that goes. I'll look into the Gamecube cable, the Gamecube at Ebgames didn't have a port on the back that looked like this connector. Maybe it was one that didn't have it

My player should arrive tomorrow (11/17). I just finished routing the Cat5 cable to the back of my stereo cabinet. However this 2ft D4 to component cable is not going to work for me. This is serious mistake. They should have just provided a D4 to component adapter, then users can run whatever length cable they want. Now i have to spend more money on a longer cable run solution, or go to Radio Shack and buy male to male RCA adapters.

Sounds like nobody has got the server software running yet.

All the best,
Ricardo

I've had my AVeLLink for a week and you can trick it into playing MPEG2TS files over the network. If you put a link/shortcut to the .ts file in your "MyVideos" folder it will recognize and play it. It will not recognize the .ts file itself. Go figure! Strange bug?

IOdata says the firmware update in December will officially support MPEG2TS files. He was very surprised I was able to get it to work at all.


Keith

I've got the server software running perfectly. I've played just about every video file on my hard drives. A few were weird codecs and wouldn't play but it played vob files, mpegs, avi's, etc. Jpegs look pretty good as well. Mp3's sound as they should. I really have had no problems at all with the server software.

If any of you are waiting on your players to arrive I would suggest e-mailing Iodata about this D4 cable. If they get enough people threatening to return their units unless they get a replacement, I think that might prod them a bit. I already fired off my e-mail. Nothing obscene or anything but I let them know I was returning it unless they replaced the cable with at least a 6ft cable. It's not really practical to have a dvd player on the ground next to your TV. Maybe it's some kind of metric conversion error or something. 2 ft instead of 2 meters. Or whatever they use in China

Thanks for that .ts trick, Pixelist. I'm going to try that. Sure would be easier than converting 500 gigs of .ts files

Will this player with a firmware update play TS files in HD 1080i via DVI output when using a 4.5gig DVDR in 5.1 Dolby Digital if so encoded?

Is this possible?

I still can't get it to see Nero, which is odd since it's supposed to be a uPNP device. I can get the link server working with a very small number of files, but if the directories contain hardly any level of subdirectories, the player just brings up an empty white screen. weird.

Originally posted by Spizz
Will this player with a firmware update play TS files in HD 1080i via DVI output when using a 4.5gig DVDR in 5.1 Dolby Digital if so encoded?

Is this possible?

AVLP2 can play TS files in HD 1080i via DVI output as long as the files are less than 4G in size in DVD-R. I had tried several files but I'm not sure whether those files are really DD5.1 encoded. AVLP2 can not recognize a file more than 4G recorded in DVD-R just like the limitation in FAT32 hard disc.I don't think this limitation can be changed by future firmware upgrade.

So if I burn of a TS file that is less than 4gig they player will regonise it and play it without stuttering? How about that grey line that appears when playing back some TS files?

Originally posted by jakob1321

Also - it doesn't do passthru on DTS cd's.

You said cd's, and I assume that's what you meant. In case you didn't, it passes thru DTS fine on my DVDs...FWIW.

Originally posted by woodface
Hey TUFU- Thanks for your work on the early posts. That was a big part in my decision to get this. I've had a little more time to mess around and I'm more and more impressed.

One problem that scares me is this dvd-r problem. In the back of the manual it states in reference to dvd-r's "Only UDF/ISO bridge and ISO 9660 are supported, UDF and PacketLight are not supported" . In Nero, ISO/UDF profiles don't allow files greater than 2GB. That pretty much rules out ANY HD files on dvd unless there is a firmware update or you split all your movies into 2GB files.

This is a pretty big kick in the b@lls. I think a lot of people would be turned off of this if you can't play anything off of dvd's in the player itself. Am I missing something?

For burning DVD-R's, I have Drag 'N Drop, and several other programs...Ulead Movie Factory, TMpgEnc DVD Author, anyway...mostly I use Drag 'N Drop...I mention this because it doesn't offer any options for choosing UDF/ISO bridge and ISO 9660...don't know what it's using. But DVD-R's with files mpeg2 and WMV9 larger than 2 gig are playing fine for me without problem. Only problem I've had is it's a bit spotty on some -RW media.

I had tried about 20 TS clips(720p or 1080i) either from DVD-R or from networked hard disc. Most played falwlessly in video but with stuttering sound from digital output. Some clips as mentioned previously became freeze about 3 seconds after playing. I don't know what cause these difference.But expreiences with TS files from others seemed more encouraging than mine.
I did not see any grey line.

Originally posted by TUFU
...Hi woodface,I had probably downloaded same NASA clips and also experienced same problems (stop after 3 seconds playing). The 720p NASA clip I have runs at 60fps (or there about), which may be the reason the player b0rks.

As for the 1080i clips... Are they 1080 or are they 1088?


Cheers

Originally posted by TUFU
... I had tried several files but I'm not sure whether those files are really DD5.1 encoded.... If you want to establish the stream types in your encodes, why not run them thru' GSpot 2.52 Beta01 (http://gspot.headbands.com/GSpot252b01.rar) first. The beta releases are much improved :D


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
If you want to establish the stream types in your encodes, why not run them thru' GSpot 2.52 Beta01 (http://gspot.headbands.com/GSpot252b01.rar) first. The beta releases are much improved :D


Cheers

Thanks

No wonder why I can not see any informations with GSPOT 2.21.
Now,I can see what stream types my files have.
I'll check my files and report them later.

Originally posted by jakob1321
Yep....it's not the standard Gamecube cable. It's the Gamecube to component cable, and those are harder to find. You can order one directly from Nintendo. The standard AV cable for the nintendo won't work, but the Component cable used the Digital IO port onthe back of the 'Cube. They quit putting that on the units around may or so, because so few people used it.

As far as DVD-r's - as stated in my post, it's very touchy as far as the UDF file system. I had to burn three or four different dvd setups before I finally got one that it would read. Means I have to go back and reburn all the high def dvd's i've created. Try 1.02 as the format version.

I'm about to send mine back for a different reason - the server software stinks. The HD stuff is a nice to have (tried the same mpeg files of the shuttle launches and stuff, had the same playback error), but the networking was what I was hoping for, and the server software is really hit and miss. Disappointing.

Also - it doesn't do passthru on DTS cd's.

Now that a few people have this player, and especially since you are complaining about server software, can someone try the alternatrive servers for the Sigma chip. Earlier in this thread I posted links and info about a few alternatives. The most promising one seems to be the Neuston here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4641547#post4641547) (also available for Mac), which enables internet radio on the Momitsu 880N. Someone else mentioned the UPnP server than comes with Nero 6. Also may be worth a try as it has advanced tagging, etc..

Please before you return the player, if someone could give one of these a try. Thanks

Tom -

I meant CDs. It does DTS on DVD's fine. I'm probably one of ten people in the world with a collection of DTS CDs, so I'm not that surprised it mishandles them. My Lite-on played them fine, so I wonder if it's an IO-Data software issue or the new chip.

The Neuston server software (which I also tried) didn't work. It's essentially the same thing as the LS software. I've narrowed the problem down to:

it's reading filenames that it doesn't like and hanging on that
it's reading a file format that it doesn't like and hanging on that
it could be the number of levels of subdirectories
or it could just be the number of files in general.

It's supremely frustrating to get it to work with pointers to a specific movie/picture/music folder and then have it die when I re-orient it to my actual collection.


Twonky didn't work, neither did Nero, but it doesn't show up as a UPnP device, so I'm surprised that anyone got it to work. And before anyone asks, I double checked that my XP install had the universal plug n play add-on installed. Anyway, I'll quit hijacking the thread since no one else is having problems.

Originally posted by jakob1321
... I'm probably one of ten people in the world with a collection of DTS CDs... Eleven now :D


Cheers

OK. I got totally confused with this D4. Is this Analog or Digital?

Is this their way of getting around the upconversion via component?

Will this work cable work? http://www.lik-sang.com/image.php?category=76&products_id=777&img=gc_dvcable
--
Edit: my mistake. the link above seems to be for TV with japanese d-input.

I purchased a ASUS extreme AX600XT PCIX video card for my new pc It has a D4 connector on it and came with a 6 foot cable (D4 to conponent) you may try them for a new cable. Ill let everyone know if it works as im ordering my player today.

Thanks for all the great info in this thread it took a while to read all 14 pages. but now i know what to expect from this unit.

BTW, there should be this japanese digital to VGA made for game cube.

Yea! Yea! Yea.

I finally got the Link Server software to work...it's apparently all xml based, and they're not filtering the directory names. So, if like me, you have ANY directory with an ampersand or other character special to XML ('&' is about the only allowable in Windows) it will kill the entire server.

File names are correctly handled. Now to figure out why most of my Jpeg's will show a preview but not actually load up.

Edited to add - anybody got the divx.com/vod stuff to work? I put in the key it generates (always generates the same one) and the Divx site says that the key is only compatible for AvelLink Player2 devices. Which, you know, is what I selected.

Don't know what version of software do you have in US version of AVLP2.

The software in Japan model included "avel link software" and "avel link advanced software". Both of them can exist and work simutaneously.
The avel link advanced software had been upgraded from 1.5,1.51 to1.52 now within one and a half month. So what is the version of software in US
version of this player? Have you guy upgrade your software or firmware?

Also, I just upgraded my firmware minutes ago(2nd firmware within one month). It seemed that the new firmware may fix some sound problems or something I'm not sure. I'll test it later.

I did not experience any problems while accessing the files in my PC with even up to3 levels of subdirectories.

For DVD-R ,I tried at least 10 DVD-Rs in data mode and 10 DVD-Rs in DVD-VIDEO with the most easy NERO EXPRESS without any problems.

Now I'm ready to try the softwares of Neuston Media Centre and NERO MEDIAHOME.

11/20/2004 Update:

Gamecube component video cable does NOT work with Linkplayer2

Anybody else got a solution for a longer cable? Is there a D4 to component adapter, a very short dongle type solution? My quick google searches didn't turn much up.

You can also get RCA couplers at Radio Shack (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=274-898) (Part# 274-898) $5.99 + tax. Then add another run of standard component video cables. I hate the idea of adding more connectors to the video chain however.

All the best,
Ricardo

Mine showed up today. Ya'll are right, that cable sucks. Although, it's not any cheesier than most of the OEM cables you get from other manufacturer's. The problem is that, outside of the GameCube cable, you can't find D4 to component/RGB cables anywhere in the US.

I-O Data should really be sending a D4 to component dongle out with this thing so we can use our regular component cables.

Maybe somebody should send a link to I-O Data with the URL of this thread in it. Perhaps someone there may even comment.

I was about ready to pull the trigger on a Momitsu...I know it is still early in the product release but do any of you who have bought it find this player superior to the Momitsu or vice versa... Component Video quality and Networking features and abilities..I've been reading threads on both players but its hard to quantify other than that the Avel gives you Networking for 100 less than Momitsu but has no DVI. So other than No DVI, is the AVel a V880 killer or not?

As far as the cable goes, I find it pretty difficult to go spend another $30 on a cable when it's Iodata's fault. I have a huge problem with that but if they keep ignoring my e-mail then I may have no choice. I don't really want to return it now that I've got everything working smoothly on it.

I tried doing a firmware update after finally getting the dns settings right and all I get is a blue page with Chinese characters on it. It looks like a 404 page or something. It definitely connected to the page but there isn't anything there.

The only dvd I've been able to get working is a ISO 9660 disc. Maybe if I try something besides Nero I can get around it.

The shortcut trick pixelist mentioned works great for .ts files. The only drawback is you can't navigate video, only play and pause. Good enough until the official support for .ts.

I don't think the GameCube cable will work, the picture of the D4 connector on the AVLP2 looks nothing like the Digital A/V connector on my GameCube.

Woodface,

I agree that having to spend another $30 for a longer cable is unacceptable. I think the $5.99 Radio Shack RCA to RCA coupler is what I am going to end up doing. They really should have made it a short dongle that you plug your normal component video cable into. For most people this unit replaces an existing DVD player, we already own the component cables. I plan to write an email as well to iodata.

Ricardo

A cable like the one included with this

http://grandtec.com/hivision2.htm

D4- Component FEMALE..thats what should have been included. I would not be surprised if that was what they intended for US models but mixed up with the supplier.

Originally posted by Jets
D4- Component FEMALE..thats what should have been included. I would not be surprised if that was what they intended for US models but mixed up with the supplier.

I don't think so - the website shows pics of the included cable and they clearly intended on sending a D4-Component(MALE) cable, though the pics made the cable look longer than 2'. I wonder if anybody at IODATA did any research here in the U.S. before they decided to do this to us - I'm sure these cables are probably abundant in Japan, but not so much here. I guess the coupler as mentioned by RicardoD is always a possibility, but I am concerned that the added connector junction might inject some small amount of noise. Boy am I glad I am waiting for the DVI version :D

Woodface - I wouldn't give up on Nero just yet. Some people have gotten UDF to work. If you're using any flavor of Nero 6, when you go to create a UDF disc,
click the "UDF" tab under the compliation properties. There should be a checkbox for "Make Xbox Compatible" (which is really DVD-Video compliant, not just Xbox compliant). I did two different dvd-r's like this and had no problem.

I know the first thing i did when i plugged it in was to put in a DVD-r I had burned of Attack of the Clones and was peeved that it didn't play.

IOData owners with a USB2 drive attached to your AvelLinkPlayer--

Could one of you who has an XP PC on your network open a dos box (CMD)
and run the following command?

net view \\n.n.n.n

where n.n.n.n is the IP address of your IODATA.

Does anything show up???

Got my player on Monday, and have yet to find a fix for this problem.

Digital output, I can't get 5.1 Dolby audio to play.

I have a Sony 5.1 amp, so the have a very bright blue light that pops on when the amp is receiving 5.1 audio. So with the player set to send 5.1 audio, the blue light comes on, but no audio will play.

I have a ticket in with I-O Data, they are sending it up to a engineer.

The Menu only has two choices, 5.1 audio or Stereo audio...there is no setting to select PCM or Bit stream audio for digital output.

It feels like a firmware fix... anyone have a clue on this?

thanks,

mb1010

Has anyone tried Shoutcast radio streams with this player?

Originally posted by monkeyboy1010
Got my player on Monday, and have yet to find a fix for this problem.

Digital output, I can't get 5.1 Dolby audio to play.

I have a Sony 5.1 amp, so the have a very bright blue light that pops on when the amp is receiving 5.1 audio. So with the player set to send 5.1 audio, the blue light comes on, but no audio will play.

I have a ticket in with I-O Data, they are sending it up to a engineer.

The Menu only has two choices, 5.1 audio or Stereo audio...there is no setting to select PCM or Bit stream audio for digital output.

It feels like a firmware fix... anyone have a clue on this?

thanks,

mb1010

DD 5.1 works fine for me with DVD-Videos and .avi files that have AC3 audio.

I believe the setting you refer to only has to do with the default audio track that is selected on a DVD. The bitstream is still output via the digital audio cables no matter which you select. If "Stereo" is selected the PCM track on the disc is selected by default. Selecting 5.1 does what it sounds like.

I received my player today and have messed around with it a little tonight.

The install went without a hitch. The Avel Link software installed without a problem and all my media files were recognized.

DivX files played back from my server are nice and sharp. I can't figure out how to get external subtitle files to work with my DivX video. At this point it doesn't look like it's supported.

Like others have mentioned the upconverted DVD playback is a bit soft, especially compared to the 1080i output from my FLI2300 equipped scaler. I should add, though, that I have only played one DVD and then I only looked at the menu. I'll try some more later.

I haven't watched any HD stuff yet but I will as soon as my wife finishes Nanny 911.:)

I'll report more after I've played a bit more.

Got my player tonight. Don't really have a review yet but just some comments.

* D4 to component cable is very short as commented earlier, I lucked out and it is just long enough for my needs

* setup was straightforward, just followed the included instructions and got my link server up and running quickly (I have a W54g Linksys router)

*I was great to see my mpeg2 files from my SageTV & Hauppage card on my PC in the family room projector

*plays my AutoGK Xvid MPEG4 files no problem

*it shows my 3076 x 2052 jpeg files from my Canon Digital Rebel no problem, in the manual is says it doesn't support Jpegs this big but it does

*The manual is lacking in describing all the setup options What does "Enable HD browser mean?"

*tried a firmware update and was presented with a Japanese language on a blue screen, don't know what happened

In the coming days I will start trying to play all the different files that have been posted. Video quality seems fine, but remember I am using a Panasonic AE100 which is only a 848 x 480 projector but I love it.

All the best,
Ricardo

Originally posted by Paul_PDX
IOData owners with a USB2 drive attached to your AvelLinkPlayer--

Could one of you who has an XP PC on your network open a dos box (CMD)
and run the following command?

net view \\n.n.n.n

where n.n.n.n is the IP address of your IODATA.

Does anything show up???

"System error 53 has occurred" appeared when I tried to use "net view"
to access IP of AVLP2.

Originally posted by mikemav
Now that a few people have this player, and especially since you are complaining about server software, can someone try the alternatrive servers for the Sigma chip. Earlier in this thread I posted links and info about a few alternatives. The most promising one seems to be the Neuston here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4641547#post4641547) (also available for Mac), which enables internet radio on the Momitsu 880N. Someone else mentioned the UPnP server than comes with Nero 6. Also may be worth a try as it has advanced tagging, etc..

Please before you return the player, if someone could give one of these a try. Thanks

I installed Neuston Media Centre.Unfortunately,while tring to access the PC from AVLP2,I received the warnng message"Unauthorized access,please try again".Bjorn said it's OK for him to use this software.I'd like to see comments from others.

IODATA posted support software today (11/17) on their USA website. Its under Device Drivers but called AVLP2 Series Support Software.

IODATA AVLP2 Support Software (http://www.iodata.com/usa/support/downloads.php?pId=AVLP2%2FDVDLA)

Its two files in a zip:
1)Avellink-17e.exe (this must be the server software)
2)avellinkx-130.dmg (what's a dmg file?)

The server software I have, which came on the CD is "Avel Link Server v1.7e"

TUFU what does the Advanced Link Server software have the the regular Link Software does not?

All the best,
Ricardo

Thanks Ricardo.

Ack...it's 52 friggin MB's. Sigh...I'm gonna have to get broadband one of these days. It's a 3 hour download at 56k, if my ISP will even permit it.

I wonder if it will fix the soft picture???? Wishful thinking probably.

One question...I thought to update the firmware you had to be connected to the internet. Is that to say that you download the ZIP file, unpack it to your server, then choose the Firmware Upgrade from the LinkPlayer2 menu? So if you download the update, do you still need the internet connection for validation or something?

When somebody does this, please post how you did it.

I had the same problem with the Nueston. So I think we're out of luck there.

Originally posted by RicardoD
TUFU what does the Advanced Link Server software have the the regular Link Software does not?



The avel link software in Japan model of AVLP2 is 1.6.2a.
I had downloaded the above avel link software 1.7 but I can't find
any differences between both. Don't know whether the 1.7 version had included the functions of ADVANCED software in Japan model.

In my early posts I said I experienced stuttering and without sound during playing WMVHD DEMO ,and both of these problems could be fixed by using avel link ADVANCED software . Also,there are several items to be choosen in ADVANCED software which probably let you choosing whether or not using the decoding in your PC . So if you played well with WMVHD DEMO,then probably the 1.7 version had included some functions in ADVANCED software.

In Japan model,both of avel link softwares can exist simutaneously and shown in AVLP2 with different port 8000 and 8010.

If you want to try Avel Link Advanced Server for XP,it can be downloaded from here.
http://www.iodata.jp/lib/
choosing title "A"----AVLP2/DVDG----WINXP----RED TRIANGLE--Download

Don't know whether it works for US model.

Firmware upgrade was via upgrade items in setup menu.
In Japan model,just push it then I will see 2 lines of characters in Japanese.
Move to choose the first line and it will show whether you had the newest firmware , if not then you will see a page of statement about firmware upgrade.Then you scroll down to the bottom and choosing upgrade to start.That all you should do, the player will receive and upgrade firmware by itself and restart the machine automatically.

Originally posted by TUFU
If you want to try Avel Link Advanced Server for XP,it can be downloaded from here.
http://www.iodata.jp/lib/
choosing title "A"----AVLP2/DVDG----WINXP----RED TRIANGLE--Download

Don't know whether it works for US model.

Firmware upgrade was via upgrade items in setup menu.
In Japan model,just push it then I will see 2 lines of characters in Japanese.
Move to choose the first line and it will show whether you had the newest firmware , if not then you will see a page of statement about firmware upgrade.Then you scroll down to the bottom and choosing upgrade to start.That all you should do, the player will receive and upgrade firmware by itself and restart the machine automatically.

Well that's how the procedure is outlined, but Ricardo put up a link to the software update, which I downloaded via my Web browser. What's up with that?

Tom,

The software link I posted I think is for the server side software and I believe it is the same version as what is contained on the shipping CD (version 1.7 of Avel Link Server). I haven't installed it and don't know what the second file is, the *.dmg file. I may try and install the downloaded software tonight.

The firmware shows that it is updated via the internet but when I go to do it, it is a japanese language page, and I have no idea whether I am looking at a web page or just some internal screen from the firmware. I am going to try and post a picture of it tonight. At a minimum it should be a dual language page. I also need to write down the version of the firmware I have and compare it to what version TUFU is running.

Now I am interested in getting the advanced server, but only if I can get it in English.

All the best,
Ricardo

Check this link
http://www.iodata.jp/lib/doc/avlp2dvdg_fup1.htm

You can see the newest firmware version in Japanese and also the changes made by firmware upgrade.

Originally posted by RicardoD
Tom,

The software link I posted I think is for the server side software and I believe it is the same version as what is contained on the shipping CD (version 1.7 of Avel Link Server). I haven't installed it and don't know what the second file is, the *.dmg file. I may try and install the downloaded software tonight. Ricardo

Thanks Ricardo. I figured that out after I posted. This is what happens when there is sleep deprivation...

Ricardo, dmg files are disc image files used on the Mac. On a Mac dmg files can be mounted like any other drive and accessed as such.

I think the version of the Avel Link Server posted on the website is the same as what is shipping on the CD packed with the US version.

I've had no joy playing back any of the WMVHD content on Microsoft's site. The video plays back fine over my LAN, including the 1080p clips they have available, but there is no audio. I think the audio issue has to do with it being encoding using the WM9 Pro audio codec which, as far as I know, the player doesn't yet support.

As others have pointed out, I-O Data doesn't have an english language version of the firmware page available so it's pretty hard to check or get new firmware.

For streaming playback here's what I have successfully played so far (100Mbps wired LAN):

-DivX files larger than 2GB
-DivX files encoded at 4Mbps and higher average bit rates
-DivX files encoded using Qpel
-WMVHD files with 720p and 1080p video. The caveat being no sound.
I haven't tried any DivX HD files yet but I'm sure they'll playback fine.
-VOB files stored in VIDEO_TS folders. The IFO's are not recognized so you can't just select the VIDEO_TS folder and launch the "DVD" with full navigation but you can select the first VOB of the movie and it will playback fine, moving to the next VOB in the sequence as the previous one ends. The VOB files played back without a hitch over the network.

Here's what's not working:

-Subtitles stored as external files (.srt, .ssa) for avi's. Subtitles work as expected for VOB files played over the LAN.
-No playback of WMV files that use DRM


As an aside, how hard would it be for I-O Data to incorporate a bookmark feature for streamed video files? It seems like it's something that could be incorporated on the server side pretty easily and a firmware update could take care of the hardware side. Being able to resume playback of files stored on the server would be a great addition.

All in all I'm liking the player. I still need to try out more commercially available DVD's to see how they look but so far the image quality is acceptable. The WMVHD stuff looks awesome. The subtitle thing definitely needs to be fixed.

Every time I look at IODATA's USA website I am finding something new. Either I haven't been looking at it carefully or they are constantly updating it.

On this IODATA USA webpage (http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/AVLP2_Setup.php) , it talks about the advanced server:

What's Advanced LinkServer?

It support to playback any data, which is played by Windows Media Player, with our Direct-Show-Filter (realtime software transcoding to MPEG2). It have more compatibility with I-O DATA video products for example, XVD capture card

English Advanced LinkServer is coming early 2005. Free download to all LinkPlayer users. Now just wait please.



Now I get it. The advanced server feeds an MPEG2 stream to the Linkplayer from anything that will play in Windows Media Player. As TUFU discovered earlier, the image quality isn't the best when this is done but at least you will get the video. Who knows what bitrate or resolution is used for this realtime encoding. From TUFU's earlier problem with DivX HD files, it looks like if you have an HD file it is realtime encoding to MPEG2 at a lower, perhaps VGA resolution.

All the best,
Ricardo

Nice to see they are finally fleshing out the web site. From http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/AVLP2_FAQ.php

D4 Connector
D Connector Standard (JP: D Tanshi Kikaku) is Japanese original one. The functionalrity is same as the universal components. This standard has some types, D1 480i, D2 480p, D3 720p, D5 1080p. The D4 connector supports D4 1080i high definition video input. Our LinkPlayer has D4 to Component cable in the package, so you can enjoy a large screen (with component input) by this cable. No reduce performance. Don't worry.


According to that the soft playback is not due to the cable :(

Originally posted by gtrogue
The video plays back fine over my LAN, including the 1080p clips they have available...


Of course it has to downconvert the ouput to either 720p or 1080i...

Good observations though.

Originally posted by irgaac
Nice to see they are finally fleshing out the web site. From http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/AVLP2_FAQ.php



According to that the soft playback is not due to the cable :(

Agree...I don't think it's the cable causing the soft output. My concern was that it looks poorly shielded, but it doesn't seem to be picking up interference. I tried some clamp-on ferrite cores...no difference.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Of course it has to downconvert the ouput to either 720p or 1080i...

Good observations though.

Here's an interesting OT question:

Which looks better (especially on a display with a native resolution of 1280x720) - 720p video or downconverted 1080p video (downconverted to 720p)? I know this topic has been beaten to death with 720p vs. 1080i input to the display, but this is a little different.

Originally posted by Dolfo
Which looks better (especially on a display with a native resolution of 1280x720) - 720p video or downconverted 1080p video (downconverted to 720p)? I know this topic has been beaten to death with 720p vs. 1080i input to the display, but this is a little different. As yet, there's no such thing as "broadcast" 1080p and 1080p encodes are pretty rare... In fact I've only seen samples from Micro$oft...

On a slightly different note. I re-encode all my Mpeg2 1080i sources to Mpeg4 720p... and they look perfectly good to me!


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
As yet, there's no such thing as "broadcast" 1080p and 1080p encodes are pretty rare... In fact I've only seen samples from Micro$oft...

On a slightly different note. I re-encode all my Mpeg2 1080i sources to Mpeg4 720p... and they look perfectly good to me!


Cheers

Most of the HD-WMV videos and maybe even the Divx-HD video clips are encoded in both 720p and 1080p - isn't this what we were talking about?

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Of course it has to downconvert the ouput to either 720p or 1080i...

Good observations though.

Right, I was simply saying that the extra bandwidth required for streaming and the decoding by the player works fine.

Originally posted by Dolfo
Here's an interesting OT question:

Which looks better (especially on a display with a native resolution of 1280x720) - 720p video or downconverted 1080p video (downconverted to 720p)? I know this topic has been beaten to death with 720p vs. 1080i input to the display, but this is a little different.

The 1080p WMVHD video downconverted to 1080i looks much better than 720p upconverted to 1080i on my CRT display. The scaling process to go from 1080p to 1080i is much easier than the 720p to 1080i process. Less artifacts should be introduced when downconverting the 1080p as compared to upconverting 720p.

Originally posted by gtrogue
The 1080p WMVHD video downconverted to 1080i looks much better than 720p upconverted to 1080i on my CRT display. The scaling process to go from 1080p to 1080i is much easier than the 720p to 1080i process. Less artifacts should be introduced when downconverting the 1080p as compared to upconverting 720p.

Thanks - I thought that would be the case on a CRT, though I wasn't sure if it would be that noticeable. Does anybody with one of these players have a fixed-pixel set (LCD/DLP) that they can do the same comparison on? I am just trying to get an idea which mode will look better on my GWIII :D

Now that a few more people have these maybe someone has an answer to this rather specific question.

Can this thing play files that are: Xvid video with 2 or more consecutive B-frames NOT packed bitstream, muxed with Ogg Vorbis in a .OGM container with chapter points? For extra credit, how does it handle AR with such files?

The main question is, how does it handle files that were encoded with packed bitstream vs without?

I relize it is pretty specific, I would really like to move my upstairs HTPC on to other things, but I don't want to have to re-encode all my movies.

Thanks guys.

-Suntan

Originally posted by Dolfo
Most of the HD-WMV videos and maybe even the Divx-HD video clips are encoded in both 720p and 1080p - isn't this what we were talking about? As far as I'm aware, none of DivX's HD encodes are in 1080p.

As for Micro$oft's 1080p encodes, yes they look great but whether we will ever get to see such content broadcast or streamed to our homes. Or made available in large quantities in disc format is debatable.

Then of course, manufacturers we will need to produce 1080p progressive set top boxes, stand-alones and capable screens to view them on - otherwise producing true 1080p content is un-necessary.... even if many people end up viewing it on 720p screens.


Cheers

Suntan,

I would be willing to try some experiments for you, but you have to do the leg work and get these encodes to me. PM me if you want to figure out the best way to transfer these files. Email could work if you make small test files to check out the different cases you mention. Down the road I want to make that spreadsheet that tracks what plays and what doesn't.

Right now I am just using my AutoGK generated files with the Xvid codec and VBR MP3 audio.

All the best,
Ricardo

Suntan,

Like Ricardo said, if you make the files available I'll test them.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
As far as I'm aware, none of DivX's HD encodes are in 1080p.

As for Micro$oft's 1080p encodes, yes they look great but whether we will ever get to see such content broadcast or streamed to our homes. Or made available in large quantities in disc format is debatable.

Then of course, manufacturers we will need to produce 1080p progressive set top boxes, stand-alones and capable screens to view them on - otherwise producing true 1080p content is un-necessary.... even if many people end up viewing it on 720p screens.


Cheers

OK, I guess you are making an unrelated point - I was asking (out of curiosity) about the difference in quality between existing clips which are available in both 720p and 1080p on a fixed-pixel display. I know that networks do not now and probably never will broadcast in 1080p, but that doesn't address my question or my curiosity.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital

Then of course, manufacturers we will need to produce 1080p progressive set top boxes, stand-alones and capable screens to view them on - otherwise producing true 1080p content is un-necessary.... even if many people end up viewing it on 720p screens.


Cheers

I don't think it's unreasonable to think that a 1080 DLP chip and larger 1080 fixed pixel displays for HT use will be producible for reasonable costs in the future. FPD's are progressive by nature so 1080p content would be perfectly suited for them. You can already buy LCD displays that support 1600x1200 resolutions that can playback 1080p content without any loss of vertical resolution and only a small amount of horizontal loss. Of course a smallish 1600x1200 LCD costs as much as a larger DLP TV equipped with a 1280x720 chip but that's beside the point.;)

Highend CRT projectors and CRT computer monitors can already scan at high enough frequencies to display 1080p content.

I was once told by an engineer that the CRT's in many HD-ready RPTV's are capable of scanning at high enough frequencies to display 1080p but the supporting systems, power supply, video processing, etc., are intentionally limited to protect the margins of the high end consumer and professional markets.

Well... technically, down converting 1080p to 720p, for viewing on an 1280x768 HD screen, will introduce some distortion because all the pixels have to be interpolated.

That said, even the pixels from a 720p source have to be slightly "up-sized", prior to filling a 768 screen!

It makes you wonder why nobody ever got round to manufacturing true 1280x720 screens... doesn't it?


Cheers

@RicardoD and gtrogue

Well I am stuck with dialup so transfering is a big PITA. I will look at making a couple of short encodes of various combinations, particularly of .OGM content, over the weekend but I am scheduled to have my 7uy delivered tomorrow afternoon so I may be busy this weekend :) :) While I am at it, if anyone has any requests for Xvid encodes done a specific way (custom matricies, custom Aspect Ratios, etc.) let me know.

I was kinda hoping that someone with extensive MPEG4 experience would be able to answer this in his sleep (-cough- SeeMoreDigital -cough-) ;)

-Suntan

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital

It makes you wonder why nobody ever got round to manufacturing true 1280x720 screens... doesn't it?


Cheers

Thank the computer world for that one.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Well... technically, down converting 1080p to 720p, for viewing on an 1280x768 HD screen, will introduce some distortion because all the pixels have to be interpolated.

That said, even the pixels from a 720p source have to be slightly "up-sized", prior to filling a 768 screen!

It makes you wonder why nobody ever got round to manufacturing true 1280x720 screens... doesn't it?


Cheers

I thought Sony was the only company that manufactured an off-HD resolution fixed-pixel display. i.e. - aren't other DLP/LCD/LCoS sets standard 1280x720 to give a true native resolution of 720p? I thought that was true, but I may be wrong.

It makes sense that the decimation (interpolation is used for upconversion and decimation is used for downconversion) would introduce a little noise, but was curious if this was noticeable and how that downconverted 1080p image compared to the native 720p image.

My curiosity may not make sense to you, but it doesn't make me any less curious.

Originally posted by Suntan
Can this thing play files that are: Xvid video with 2 or more consecutive B-frames NOT packed bitstream, muxed with Ogg Vorbis in a .OGM container with chapter points? For extra credit, how does it handle AR with such files?

The main question is, how does it handle files that were encoded with packed bitstream vs without? Sorry Suntan... I missed your post.

As I don't have one of these players I can't answer your questions :(

I can however provide to encodes for people here to test... including some anamorphically signalled ones with and without packet bit-stream, within the .AVI and .MP4 containers... I don't do .OGM


Cheers

Most LCD displays, not sure about plasma, are 1024x768.
The latest iterations of DLP chips have been 1280x720, I believe the "Mustang" chip was the first.
I don't know for sure about LCoS but I believe there are 720 versions of those as well. Sony introduced a 1080 LCoS display a while back. It doesn't really matter with LCoS anyway as only 6 people actually own a display based on the technology.;)

SeeMoreDigital,

If you make the files available I'll give them a try tonight.

Originally posted by Dolfo
I thought Sony was the only company that manufactured an off-HD resolution fixed-pixel display. i.e. - aren't other DLP/LCD/LCoS sets standard 1280x720 to give a true native resolution of 720p? I thought that was true, but I may be wrong. My current screen is a 42" Pioneer 1280x768 plasma. But not so long ago I tested a 42" Hitachi 1024x1024.

I was able to run the two screens side by side and I have to say the Hitachi was amazing considering it's around half the price of the Pioneer...


Cheers

Originally posted by gtrogue
Most LCD displays, not sure about plasma, are 1024x768.
The latest iterations of DLP chips have been 1280x720, I believe the "Mustang" chip was the first.

Actually, I thought most of today's LCD TVs were true 1280x720, just like the DLP. I know the Sony LCDs are 1386x788 or something odd like that - they certainly have more than 1024 rows. Oh, wait - 1024x768 would be the appropriate size for a 4:3 LCD. Is that what you were referring to? Sorry, I typically only think about 16:9 TVs anymore :)


Originally posted by gtrogue
I don't know for sure about LCoS but I believe there are 720 versions of those as well. Sony introduced a 1080 LCoS display a while back. It doesn't really matter with LCoS anyway as only 6 people actually own a display based on the technology.;)

These are typically 1280x720 as well. It's too bad these never succeeded - I owned a Philips Cineos for a while and the picture was AMAZING, but there were too many other issues to stick with it.

Speaking of decimation...

I was displaying some jpegs on my linkplayer from some large jpeg files, approx 3000x2000 and outputing to my 480p display. These are close to 3MB jpeg files and you could tell the machine slowed down with these larger file sizes. Tonight I am going to do some quality tests to see if scaling down the photos to 480 vertical resolution will improve the quality. I think photoshop will do a better job of decimationt than the on the fly reduction done my the linkplayer.

Ricardo

Originally posted by RicardoD
I think photoshop will do a better job of decimationt than the on the fly reduction done my the linkplayer.

Ricardo

I would think so - they should have more advanced smoothing filters to help maintain PQ as well.

It should be noted that my above discussion is limited to RP LCD sets as I don't know much about plasma, FP, or smaller sets - most of my research was focused on RP Digital because that is what I was in the market to buy. Maybe that's why there was so much confusion.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Agree...I don't think it's the cable causing the soft output. My concern was that it looks poorly shielded, but it doesn't seem to be picking up interference. I tried some clamp-on ferrite cores...no difference.

Did you get a chance to try the camcorder cable on your AVLP2 yet?

Anybody had much luck with using it via wireless yet? I had no problem with pictures...but it seems to do quite a bit of prefetching before it actually starts playing video or music, and when I'd be listening to albums the five or six seconds between songs would drive me nuts. THis was on a 11g network, and it handled large files fine, so it seemed to be a latency issue. I wound up running network cable through the attic today.

More importantly -- anybody had any success with Nero? No matter what I'm doing I can't get my system to see the LP as a plug and play device.

Originally posted by TUFU
Also, I just upgraded my firmware minutes ago(2nd firmware within one month). It seemed that the new firmware may fix some sound problems or something I'm not sure. I'll test it later.
TUFU,

Did you update the firmware through the player's setup menu? I am asking this because I can't see any recent firmware update available, through the setup menu. From IO-Data's Japanese site, the latest version seems to be the one dated November 1 (03-42-041101-01-IOD-231-000).

Thanks in advance...

There's some definite tearing and smearing going on with this thing. If somebody has time, throw in Finding Nemo and check out the reds.

I think photoshop will do a better job of decimationt than the on the fly reduction done my the linkplayer. Mine would bring up a white screen on "Photos" because it could not process the jpegs that were over their specs. I have been going into photoshop and resizing them. It appears to fix the problem.

My firmware revision is (for USA model AVLP/DVDLA):

03-19-041018-01-IOD-234-011

which doesn't match any of the numbers shown on the Japanese firmware revision link provided by TUFU.

There is also a File System Version, and DVD ROM Firmware of 586H

Haven't had a chance to do too much else tonight, I will check out Finding Nemo first chance I get.

All the best,
Ricardo

Originally posted by irgaac
Did you get a chance to try the camcorder cable on your AVLP2 yet?

- Yes. It does work.

- No, it's not improved, the picture is still soft.

- It's about 4-5 ft long.


Everyone...what we are talking about is the D4 component cable of a JVC GR-HD1 camcorder, which should be available from JVC. No part number is listed for it in the camcorder owners manual. Ask for it by camera model, GR-HD1.

http://www.jvcservice.com/store/ProductDetail.asp?part=QAM0465-001

QAM0465-001 D CABLE 47.27 from JVC

Originally posted by Tom Roper
- Yes. It does work.

- No, it's not improved, the picture is still soft.

- It's about 4-5 ft long.


Everyone...what we are talking about is the D4 component cable of a JVC GR-HD1 camcorder, which should be available from JVC. No part number is listed for it in the camcorder owners manual. Ask for it by camera model, GR-HD1.

I'm going to amend this to say there actually is in my application, an infinitesimal improvement in the form of the elimination of a very, very slight RF herringbone interference that seems to be coming from the LinkPlayer2 itself.

If you don't have this problem, then the only benefit of this cable is the increased length. The JVC cable does snap more firmly into the D4 socket, and appears to be shielded slightly better, although it's no Monster (tm) cable.

Anybody confirm the Finding Nemo smearing problem? I don't have this title. My recollection is that it's mentioned by Secrets as one of the notorious problem titles for torture testing de-interlacing chips.

Originally posted by rscariah
TUFU,

Did you update the firmware through the player's setup menu? I am asking this because I can't see any recent firmware update available, through the setup menu. From IO-Data's Japanese site, the latest version seems to be the one dated November 1 (03-42-041101-01-IOD-231-000).

Thanks in advance...

Yes,I update through setup menu.
Don't know whether your AVLP2 is Japan or US version.
In Japan model,the update procedure should be:

1.In setup menu,move cursor to "upgrade"(5th item in whole 6 items)--press enter

2. Two lines of Japanese characteristics will appear.
The first line means "check possible upgrade".
The second line means" back to setup menu."
Move cusrsor down-- the cursor will stay in the second line rather than
the first line(Curiously,that is why I can't get upgrade first time)-- then move cursor up to the first line-- press "enter"
3.If your firmware is the newest,there will have 2 lines of statement,and all
you can do is back to setup menu.
If your firmware isn't the newest,there will have a page of statements.
Then you scroll down the page TO THE BOTTOM and you'll find
the upgrade button. Choose it and press "enter"
4 Wait for automatic download and upgrade

Originally posted by TUFU
Yes,I update through setup menu.
Don't know whether your AVLP2 is Japan or US version.
In Japan model,the update procedure should be:

1.In setup menu,move cursor to "upgrade"(5th item in whole 6 items)--press enter

2. Two lines of Japanese characteristics will appear.
The first line means "check possible upgrade".
The second line means" back to setup menu."
Move cursor down-- the cursor will stay in the second line rather than
the first line(Curiously,that is why I can't get upgrade first time)-- then move cursor up to the first line-- press "enter"
3.If your firmware is the newest,there will have 2 lines of statement,and all
you can do is back to setup menu.
If your firmware isn't the newest,there will have a page of statements.
Then you scroll down the page TO THE BOTTOM and you'll find
the upgrade button. Choose it and press "enter"
4 Wait for automatic download and upgrade

I have AVLP2/DVDG (Japanese version). Thanks for the step by explanation regarding updating the firmware. Actually I had updated the firmware couple of times to bring it to the version released on November 1. As I can't read Japanese, it was through "trial and error".

What is the firmware version you have? Is it 03-42-041101-01-IOD-231-000? (The firmware version is shown on the bottom of the first page of the setup menu. I have to scroll down using the down arrow to see this.)

Thanks

Yes.I had same version number.

@SeeMoreDigital

I don't do .OGM

Any particular reason? (Please don't say "because I knew it would have problems with stand alone players in the future...")

Thanks,

-Suntan

An observation about the extended length JVC D4-component cable:

I was hasty when I pronounced no video improvement. It actually does make a difference. It's slight, it's subtle, because it doesn't actively do anything except seemingly, transparently pass more signal.

It does a better job rejecting background RF interference. By losing most or nearly all of the background haze, without doing anything obvious, there's just more detail and realism remaining to the 720p WMV-HD picture.

I tried this JVC D4-component cable after receiving a PM from irgaac, who gave me a heads-up about it, that the cable had the same D4 connector and might work. But I didn't get around to trying it, skeptic in me, until he asked again. I went over and swapped cables, saw that it worked, and then posted that it worked. I spent no more than a quick 20 seconds glancing at the picture without any keen enlightenment or particular interest, until I unplugged it and went back to the AVLP2 D4 cable. That's when I really noticed that by comparison, a background haze/fog with slight herringbone RF interference was jumping out at me. I tried moving the cable around, wiggling on the connector, re-routing the cable. Not much you can do or worry about when it's already only 2 ft long.

So I again swapped back to the JVC cable. It's longer, so I coiled up the excess and put a rubber band around it. The connector fits much tighter in the D4 socket. Turned everything back on and noticed the haze and interference gone.

I'm critical on PQ, or I wouldn't be telling you this. I could spot the difference. I continued watching, and noticed several things, the brightness and contrast were slightly up, the color saturation was slightly up, and my hand was reaching for the Samsung monitor remote control to twiddle the user menu settings. My habit is that once I have it set properly, (and I spend a lot of time doing it,) I leave it alone, therefore I have a baseline that I'm used to.

I made some corrections to the settings for contrast, color, sharpness and tint, viewing the same 720p WMV-HD clip I've been watching over and over, and evaluating the AVLP2 with.

It's not possible to add anything more subjectively, but objectively noting, when I was finished adjusting, below are my before and after numbers to put this into some kind of perspective.

I'm not advocating everyone run out and purchase an expensive JVC cable, $47..., but if you need the extended length, and/or are really picky about getting the best possible picture quality from the current AVLP2 setup, it's worth considering.

Before:
Contrast - 100
Brightness - 53
Sharpness - 58
Color - 36
Tint: R48 - G52

After:
Contrast - 90
Brightness - 53
Sharpness - 25
Color - 34
Tint: R50 - G50

(My Samsung monitor is ISF calibrated...)

Put another way, it's not *boosting* the color, contrast or sharpness.

It is *revealing* more of what was formerly masked by the haze.

Do you still think the picture is soft with the new cable and your adjustments?

Originally posted by irgaac
Do you still think the picture is soft with the new cable and your adjustments?

What I want to avoid doing, is first saying it's no better, later saying it's slightly better, to now saying it's a whole lot better, thus escalating the hopes, expectations and hype.

But on some level, what I'm noticing and calling an improvement is significant enough that I can't seem to stop commenting on it. I'm not being paid a commission for selling D4 cables...

So is it still soft? I'm struggling with your question. I'm thinking that *soft* is possibly too strong a term for this. I'm not sure I can call what I'm seeing soft anymore. It looks pretty darn textured, and detailed.

When I looking into this Gamecube adapter, I realized the "D4" may be the same connection that is used on several other devices. I have an old Sega Dreamcast VGA adapter that looks like it may be the same cable. It is a little orange box that has a D4 or similar connector to plug into the console, and then a female VGA port on the other end. I wonder if there is a chance that would work? Perhaps the I-O cannot output in the RGB colorspace, but even if the Y Pb Pr (component) could pass thru the VGA connection, I could use a high quality VGA to 5-wire adapter and just use the R, G. B cables for the component signal. If I had one of these players I'd be glad to try, but I am waiting to see what the Kiss DP600 looks like. My distributor now tells me they are trying to get these out befroe the end of the month.

If anyone has a Dreamcast and the I-O, check to see if the connections look the same. I wonder if the Playstation 2 video output is D4 as well? Monster makes nice cables for the PS2.

"CLEAN" is the word I'm looking for. Not soft, not hard. The picture is "clean."

I will need to get home to see for sure about my Dreamcast comment. From looking more on the web, it looks like it may have a different shape and pin-out. I will see when I get home.

Originally posted by mikemav
I will need to get home to see for sure about my Dreamcast comment. From looking more on the web, it looks like it may have a different shape and pin-out. I will see when I get home.

The D series goes from 1 thru 5 currently --
4 is needed for 1080i, 5 does 1080p and even a bit higher.
If the Dreamcast is a D cable it is probably a lessor one for 480i

Anybody looking at the Kiss unit? I wonder how they compare.

I've sent two e-mails to Iodata now about this D4 cable and heard nothing. I replied to one of the people who replied to my earlier questions about the unit and I also filled out the contact form. They replied to 2-3 of my e-mails fairly quickly when I was asking questions about the player before it was released but now it seems like they're aren't real attentive. I gave them the url for this thread at around page 21 where the subject of the cable was brought up.

I can't really understand ignoring someone that was enthusiastic enough to pre-order a product. I'm only asking for something to be corrected that obviously is wrong. I don't think any reasonable person would believe a 2 ft custom-made cable is acceptable for a device that is obviously meant for home-theater where cord length is always a necessity. It's not like I can go up to Best Buy and get a new one. I shouldn't have to shell out $30 to get one either. I'll give them a little more time to reply but this is the idiotic stuff that really sends me over the edge. I've got this dvd player sitting on the floor next to my tv which is a little inconvenent. Iodata's going to need to brush up on their English profanity for my next e-mail

I have Sega Dreamcast and the 480p conversion box (BTW: Ferrari F355 looks great on this thing on my 480p projector).

Anyway the Dreamcast VGA device is NOT the same connector as on my Avel Linkplayer2.

All the best,
Ricardo

Here are some screenshots I took with my digital camera

Main setup screen:
http://home.comcast.net/~ricardo.david/avsforum/setup-menu.jpg

I figured out that Enable HD Browser Mode just turns the Linkplayer's menus into a much finer HD resolution images, it tells you the system must reboot to make this change. This is in the manual, must have overlooked it(this screen shot is with HD mode disabled)

The Video Zoom option: Fit to Screen, Full Screen or Actual Size.
I have been playing around with but haven't noticed much change. Perhaps I am not using the type of files where this makes a difference.

DivX(R) VOD = DivX Video On Demand, when you hit this button you get this pop up window:
http://home.comcast.net/~ricardo.david/avsforum/reg-code.jpg

Then if you hit OK, it generates and reports this new code. So what was the point of that? What am supposed to to with this code? I have no idea? Anybody? (I get this same pop-up window when I hit the URL/code button on the remote)

When you go to the firmware menu and hit the Check for Firmware Update, I get this:
http://home.comcast.net/~ricardo.david/avsforum/firmware.jpg
... and I am stuck on that third line from the top, arrows keys do nothing

I am going to ask a Japanese friend of mine translate this for me.

All the best,
Ricardo

I just got my AVLP2 player (US Version) It was a piece of cake to get online and setting up the server software went seamlessly. The only thing that I'm really stuck on is updating the Firmware; TUFU's instructions are awesome (throughout this thread!) but they don't seem to work for the America's version of the player. My cursor is stuck on the second line of characters regardless of any contortions I try with the direction keys on the remote. Has anyone figured this out?

Thanks!

I don't think there is a firmware update available for the US version.

Hi RicardoD, I think gtroque is right.
The screen you posted said that your firmware is the newest firmware.
It was just the screen I see when I had newest firmware and tried to upgrade.
The version number in US version is different from Japan version.
I think there is no firmware available for upgrade in US version now.

The first firmware update ought to be to change that firmware update screen to English