Originally posted by mikemav
Speaking of that, whomever reported on the JVC cable's improvements (I recall it may have been Tom?).......... was that comparison against just the shorty factory cable, or that cable & barrell RCA's to a longer component cable? Even if the short factory cable reaches for me, if there is a visible PQ improvement w/ the JVC I may have to consider it.

I have a MyHD connected RGB to my projector, and it is my primary movie DVD player (the cheap Pioneer is for simple wife/kid playback.) I also have a "special" HD TiVo that I can get shows from, if you know what I mean. So I will be able to do good comparison tests vs. HTPC/ MyHD DVD upscaling & from HD sources as well. Should be interesting. I'll report next week when it arrives. Wish I had it for this weekend.

The JVC cable I compared against the short factory cable is without barrel RCA's, just the cable alone.

I don't want to mislead you about the performance improvement. It was subtle, but to my eye it seemed to "clean-up" slightly the background hash, making the image appear more transparent, less cloudy. The JVC seems better shielded around the splits to YPrPb, and the D4 connector fits more snugly in the socket. But the other thing I did, was coil the excess cord and rubber band it. I also tried ferrite core chokes, but there was no benefit so I removed them.

Looking forward (eagerly) to your observations on the HTPC comparison, and would like to offer free baby sitting service to your HD-Tivo when you go on vacation. :)

Originally posted by webboy10169
I have potter3 i'll see if this does the same here. Ripped starwars already and gave the disc's back cant check those.

The eject button thing is an issue. I have not had to reboot my player at all.
I have seen error messages come back from the player but this was when browsing pictures. it seemed as if the network timed out or something. An error message on screen(TV) saying web page unavailable or something like that.

I haven't had and eject problem with mine Do you know what make your loader is? Mine is a DP-306D, made by EPO in Taiwan. Mixed reviews on the company.. referred to as the low quality unit. I know mine is loud. I have the audio stuttering problem too when I jump chapters on both ripped and commercial DVD's, plus with normal play too.

With the exception of the noise and audio stuttering, everything else seems to work well. I'm networked into my media server(winxp, p-4 2.4, Hitachi SATA HD's with NTPS formatting) through my Router (netgear 318fvs) All of my media files (MP3's, MPEG-2's, and JPEG's)play/show without problems. My audio output goes through and optical link to my PioneerVSX-33TX tuner and the Video is linked through the composite to a Pioneer Pro-610HD w/1080i

I'm not doing DIVx so can't comment there... I burn all of my rips (dvd decrypter and dvd shrink) using a Plextor 708 and MAM DVD-R's Everything has played... I wonder if some of the problem with playback is either the DVD loader being poor quality or poor quality DVD-Rs??

I am thinking seriously of RMA'ing mine... If the DVD player is junk and I-O Data can't even get it together enough to ship it with a good DVD player then I'm not sure I want to go any further with it. Point being, that all of the DVD’s I have tried commercial and ripped and all the DVD's play fine in a pioneer and Toshiba DVD's without the stuttering problem. It would be a shame if I-O Data wound-up shooting themselves in the foot because they decided to go on the cheap with the DVD component.

BK

I'd like to know the mode of DVD-ROM in US version of AVLP2
and see whether it had same model with Japan version of AVLP2.
Someone seemed had posted it but I could not find it now.
AVLP2 use EPO's DVD-ROM as in V880 but with different models.
http://www.epo.com.tw/edp.html

Just like I had mentioned previously,the first V880 had loader problem which made many(included me) trying to swap a new DVD-ROM(Lite-On 163 for me). But this problem did not happen to everyone,and with firmware upgrade the problem seemed improved. I knew some had returned V880 just for it's problem of loader.

I didn't test many DVD movies with AVLP2's DVD-ROM.
So far, I had experienced stuttering or skipping of audio but not video in some movies randomly.I'll try more to verify the possible problem of loader
in Japan version.

edit: I had seen the post and the model of DVD-ROM in US version.

Originally posted by Shoebox
I haven't had and eject problem with mine Do you know what make your loader is? Mine is a DP-306D, made by EPO in Taiwan. Mixed reviews on the company.. referred to as the low quality unit. I know mine is loud. I have the audio stuttering problem too when I jump chapters on both ripped and commercial DVD's, plus with normal play too.

With the exception of the noise and audio stuttering, everything else seems to work well. I'm networked into my media server(winxp, p-4 2.4, Hitachi SATA HD's with NTPS formatting) through my Router (netgear 318fvs) All of my media files (MP3's, MPEG-2's, and JPEG's)play/show without problems. My audio output goes through and optical link to my PioneerVSX-33TX tuner and the Video is linked through the composite to a Pioneer Pro-610HD w/1080i

I'm not doing DIVx so can't comment there... I burn all of my rips (dvd decrypter and dvd shrink) using a Plextor 708 and MAM DVD-R's Everything has played... I wonder if some of the problem with playback is either the DVD loader being poor quality or poor quality DVD-Rs??

I am thinking seriously of RMA'ing mine... If the DVD player is junk and I-O Data can't even get it together enough to ship it with a good DVD player then I'm not sure I want to go any further with it. Point being, that all of the DVD’s I have tried commercial and ripped and all the DVD's play fine in a pioneer and Toshiba DVD's without the stuttering problem. It would be a shame if I-O Data wound-up shooting themselves in the foot because they decided to go on the cheap with the DVD component.

BK

1st..My DVD drive is loud also.
2nd..I have the same question about whether the DVD loader being poor quality or the DVD-Rs. This is the first problem I had playing them.
3rd..On cheaping-out with the DVD component. That is a paradox. They provided a solid and attractive unit, functional ergonomic remote, great packaging, documentation, nice 6 color printing on the carton, fine printed materials, sealed, wrapped and complete in every way. But then you look at the cheap D4 component cable and have to wonder.

Originally posted by TUFU
Just like I had mentioned previously,the first V880 had loader problem which made many(included me) trying to swap a new DVD-ROM(Lite-On 163 for me). But this problem did not happen to everyone,and with firmware upgrade the problem seemed improved. I knew some had returned V880 just for it's problem of loader.

Was the Lite-On 163 an easy swap out? Did it solve the problem? Do you think it will fit AVLP2?
Regards...Tom

AVLP2/DVDLA Firmware Update

Version 03-78-041130-01-IOD-234-000
Date December 3, 2004
Update Info

* Fixed the intermittent sound might occur after fast forward, slow
and pause while you are playing DVD-VIdeo.

* Fixed a problem of a gap between pictures and sound when
you play some AVI files.

* Fixed a problem of a stop button on front panel occasionally
might not work properly.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
1st..My DVD drive is loud also.
2nd..I have the same question about whether the DVD loader being poor quality or the DVD-Rs. This is the first problem I had playing them.
3rd..On cheaping-out with the DVD component. That is a paradox. They provided a solid and attractive unit, functional ergonomic remote, great packaging, documentation, nice 6 color printing on the carton, fine printed materials, sealed, wrapped and complete in every way. But then you look at the cheap D4 component cable and have to wonder.

FWIW, I did a firmware upgrade today that was posted 12/03/04. It didn't help anything. I my case I don't think it is a DVD_R quality issue because I have been burning to MAM DVD-R's. Not one coaster. The other thing is that the audio stutter problem with a chapter hop happens with commercial DVD's; Harry Potter, Starwars, Blackhawk Down, etc. too.

I don't see the point in paying full retail and then having to replace the DVD to get it to work right... Back it goes... Or, if they are sincere about customer service and quality, they can cross-ship a replacement unit to me.

If this is just the tip of the iceberg with DVD problems because of the poor quality unit... they are going to be getting a lot of RMA's... This unit has just started shipping and it needs to be top notch. Just have to wait and see how they respond to the email I sent them

BK

While were nitpicking things I don't understand why there is no time counter/info button when viewing video files? Since we cant chapter skip it at least should be easy to index the files and give us a time scale. It would be at least nice to know how many minutes into a movie I bailed out on it.

I couldn't comment on the loudness of the unit as mines on the second floor.
Originally posted by Shoebox I'm networked into my media server(winxp, p-4 2.4, Hitachi SATA HD's with NTPS formatting) through my Router (netgear 318fvs) All of my media files (MP3's, MPEG-2's, and JPEG's)play/show without problems. My audio output goes through and optical link to my PioneerVSX-33TX tuner and the Video is linked through the composite to a Pioneer Pro-610HD w/1080i

I wish i could remember all the crap in the house like that. Various computers(dual P3's and a few P4) tied to the network via 100/1000 (linksys), Cat 6 Patch panel & cabling optical audio and video run to a zektor switch (which has issues syncing up during slide shows and music) to the denon 3803 out to the panny 50" 5 series. Component the whole way.

You have your cabled COMPONENT not COMPOSITE right?

Watched Beauty and the Beast earlier tonight, Ripped as 1 vob ac3 5.1 audio unwatchable. The movie actually skipped a min or 2 ahead in the movie at random. Belle would start to sing and suddenly the song was ending.

Has anyone else seen this behavior?

Wife switched to dvd threw the loader (as kid screams don't shut my movie off!) and the movie was perfect.

I'm going to re rip a movie in multi part vobs to see if it stops skipping. I'm guessing at this point 4+ gig vob's are not agreeing with the player.

seems like something cant keep up. Is this player buffering files?? some one had asked that before i think.

Also there has been no talk about IFO I'm guessing its at the chip level like maybe the sigma chipset isn't programmed to understand IFO files. This would make sense since all the new players based off the sigma chipset claim vob support only. Can anyone comment.

As far as i see it no IFO means no seamless playback of vob's. and that means either 1 big vob (which the player cant handle it seams) or lots of little ones (meaning black screen between vob's).

Webboy, no not exactly what you tried, but I played a DVD video from the network server PC's dvd-rom streamed to the AVLP2. LinkServer recognized only the VOB's. Would not play without audio and video skipping.

Smaller vobs from the PC hard drive seem to play fine. Haven't tried a large rip.

Hate to keep comparing to the gold-standard RP82, but 480p 2:2 cadence 30fps progressive video from a DV camcorder plays better or at least as good on the AVLP2 than it does on the RP82 with the Faroudja FLi2200 set to Auto-2 mode.

A lot of good DVD players don't do 2:2 pulldown properly, resulting in lowered resolution and ugly moire. This player really handles it good, as does the RP82 on Auto-2 mode.

Originally posted by webboy10169 You have your cabled COMPONENT not COMPOSITE right?

Watched Beauty and the Beast earlier tonight, Ripped as 1 vob ac3 5.1 audio unwatchable. The movie actually skipped a min or 2 ahead in the movie at random. Belle would start to sing and suddenly the song was ending.

Has anyone else seen this behavior?

Wife switched to dvd threw the loader (as kid screams don't shut my movie off!) and the movie was perfect.

I'm going to re rip a movie in multi part vobs to see if it stops skipping. I'm guessing at this point 4+ gig vob's are not agreeing with the player.

seems like something cant keep up. Is this player buffering files?? some one had asked that before i think.

Also there has been no talk about IFO I'm guessing its at the chip level like maybe the sigma chipset isn't programmed to understand IFO files. This would make sense since all the new players based off the sigma chipset claim vob support only. Can anyone comment.

As far as i see it no IFO means no seamless playback of vob's. and that means either 1 big vob (which the player cant handle it seams) or lots of little ones (meaning black screen between vob's). [/B]

I' running Component (Y Pb Pr), using a D4 JVC that I had. Don't get me started on what a dumb idea I think it is for these people to market it in the US with a D4 output. Anyway...

Let me rip something into a VOB file and see what I can come up with... However, no reason to think I will have anymore luck then anyone else here has had... I'm interested to see what happens.

I'm curious, why don't you just do a rip with DVD Decryptor Reauthor/backup with DVDshrinkand then a burn to a DVD. I thought about going to HD storage, but good quality DVD-R's are pretty cheap and it doesn't eat up HD space. As it is... use up a lot of HD space recording TV programs to my HD (use a Hauppauge TVcard with a MPEG2 hardware encoder).

Question to anyone: Is anyone familiar with the DP-306D player they are using? I notice disks come out of it pretty warm... warmer then my Plextor 708 burner and much warmer than the Pioneer or Toshiba dvd player.... Something just ain't right here...

BK

hmmm, anybody else notice this on the firmware page:

Microsoft WMA Pro (5.1ch Audio) should be delayed. This update will be on early 2005.

Slightly off topic, I downloaded the "advanced server software from the Japanese support site, it is quite fun trying to decipher the text but I can tell you that the WMV9 demo files play with audio. It seems to take a while for them to start playing but when they do the have sound. Divx worked still. I tried adding the file type "IFO" to the serverconf.xml file but it would not recognize the file type. Not recommending the japanese version just thought I'd mention it's there if you want to play with it. Found it with a google search

hmmm, anybody else notice this on the firmware page:

Microsoft WMA Pro (5.1ch Audio) should be delayed. This update will be on early 2005.



No, but maybe that ties in with the delay on the Kiss DP-600 said to be caused by Microsoft earlier...

...particularly if the Kiss, unlike the AVLP2 doesn't do firmware upgrades online.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Hate to keep comparing to the gold-standard RP82, but 480p 2:2 cadence 30fps progressive video from a DV camcorder plays better or at least as good on the AVLP2 than it does on the RP82 with the Faroudja FLi2200 set to Auto-2 mode.

A lot of good DVD players don't do 2:2 pulldown properly, resulting in lowered resolution and ugly moire. This player really handles it good, as does the RP82 on Auto-2 mode.

Tom, Are you talking about the DVD player in the AVLP2? Is the player in your's the DP-306D? Do you have any info about this player... all I can find is it isn't that good and the EPO site if Taiwan has a spec sheet but it is in Chinese...

Thx, BK

Originally posted by irgaac
hmmm, anybody else notice this on the firmware page:

Microsoft WMA Pro (5.1ch Audio) should be delayed. This update will be on early 2005.

The firmware update I did today (USA) switched the audio choice in the setup menu to either Stereo or Dolby 5.1. There is also a Rollback option button that is created after the update.

BK

Originally posted by Shoebox
Tom, Are you talking about the DVD player in the AVLP2? Is the player in your's the DP-306D? Do you have any info about this player... all I can find is it isn't that good and the EPO site if Taiwan has a spec sheet but it is in Chinese...

Thx, BK

Yes, I was talking about the AVLP2, but good handling of the 2:2 cadence for the 30 fps progressive stream from a DV camera is a consequence of the Sigma EM8620L video processor's deinterlacer, not the EDO loader. I'm sure you knew that, but to answer the other question, yes my AVLP2 does have the EDO DP-306D. How do I know? It's listed on the setup page at the bottom under the firmware version.

Japan model had same DVD-ROM--EPO LDR DP-306D with a firmware version 586H.

I ripped "Master and Commander" to a single 5.86G VOB file to an external USB2.0 hard disc and played well with either fast or percentage forward.
Maybe I should try more files to see whether there are any skip or stutter.

Replaced Lite-On 163 DVD-ROM solved the inital stutter or skip problems in V880. Tring to swap the DVD-ROM to Lite-On 166 was unsuccessful in AVLP2.

Originally posted by TUFU
Tring to swap the DVD-ROM to Lite-On 166 was unsuccessful in AVLP2.

Did you mean the Lite-On 163 to the AVLP2 was unsuccessful? Or as you stated above, Lite-On 166? Sorry if I misunderstood.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Yes, I was talking about the AVLP2, but good handling of the 2:2 cadence for the 30 fps progressive stream from a DV camera is a consequence of the Sigma EM8620L video processor's deinterlacer, not the EDO loader. I'm sure you knew that, but to answer the other question, yes my AVLP2 does have the EDO DP-306D. How do I know? It's listed on the setup page at the bottom under the firmware version.

I am a real novice with video/audio processing systems. I stick the DVD in, close the tray and it has always worked.

What do you feel is the cause of the audio de-sync - stuttering; or complete audio drop-out on commercial DVD's (lets forget the home brewed for the time being) either on a normal chapter progression during play or a manual chapter hop either forward or backward? I am talking about those played in the player (my video and audio streams from the server are fine. not loss of sync with FFW) There is no pattern to this as far as the point that it occurs... appears random... Can sometime be corrected by hitting the pause/play button or doing a chapter hop back and then forward again. The only thing that seems consistent is this only happens at chapter or layer breaks. One other thing I have noticed; I can not break the audio sync if I FFW... only if I chapter hop.

Tom? Keith? Anyone?

Thx, BK

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Did you mean the Lite-On 163 to the AVLP2 was unsuccessful? Or as you stated above, Lite-On 166? Sorry if I misunderstood.

Sorry,I mean when I tried to swap the loader in AVLP2 with Lite-On 166,the AVLP2 can recognize Lite-On 166 but can not play discs from whatever regions.Don't know whether other brands of DVD-ROM will work.

TUFU - you're sure the liteon is region 2? Sorry if it seems like a jerk question, but I had the same problem when i replaced the drive in my lvd-2001 - i simply forgot to slap it into a pc and do the hardware region set before I put it in the player.

Well, the rollback function works. I had to do it because after I upgraded, none of my WMV9, DivX-HD, XviD-HD would work anymore. Rolled back and they started working again.

Interestingly enough, a Fifth Element HDTV encode I did, the OAR one, which I compressed to a 4.7GB file to fit onto a DVD-R would actually READ the UDF ONLY format DVD-R disc. Guess they added full UDF support in the new firmware instead of only UDF/ISO bridged DVD-R's. Bummer I had to rollback the firmware.

Originally posted by jakob1321
TUFU - you're sure the liteon is region 2? Sorry if it seems like a jerk question, but I had the same problem when i replaced the drive in my lvd-2001 - i simply forgot to slap it into a pc and do the hardware region set before I put it in the player.


1.I used LTNRPC to disable the RPC in LITEON 166S,and I'm sure because I had used DVDINFOPRO to verify it.

2.AVLP2 can correctly recognize Liteon 166S and its firmware version.

3. Region 1 and 3 discs are regarded as "BAD DISC REGION".

4. Region 2 discs can not play.(black screen)

Nero Recode 2.2 is out !
And it includes the MPEG-4 AVC codec (H.264) Can anyone try it on AVER2 ?
I am very interested if EM8620L can handle it .

Originally posted by Lord KiRon
Nero Recode 2.2 is out !
And it includes the MPEG-4 AVC codec (H.264) Can anyone try it on AVER2 ?
I am very interested if EM8620L can handle it . I would not have thought so...

But it might be interesting to know if the audio can be heard, even if the video can't be seen.

I wonder too, whether the EM8620L chip-set can be upgraded at some time in the future for AVC


Cheers

Tufu - so you disabled the region completely? When I forgot to set the region code on my liteon drive before I stuck it in the lvd-2001, that was the exact problem I had. A region 2 disc would show up as invalid, but a commercial region 1 disc would appear to play (based on the time moving forward on the front panel), but nothing would show up on screen. Once I set the drive itself to region 1, everything worked fine.

That being said, I doubt you feel like taking it apart again, I'm just wondering what would happen if you stuck the 166 in the IO Data and tried a dvd-r.

Sending it back today. Hopefully they won't just replace the drive with another of the same piece of junk.

I just updated my firmware:

The DivX-HD trailer I downloaded still plays fine

The skipping of the first second of a WMA audio file is now fixed, except now there is a hiccup a second or so into the file on every WMA file I played.

Once again, would people with updated firmware please check these files, they both are encoded from the same original wav file.

Test MP3 file: (http://home.comcast.net/~ricardo.david/avsforum/test-lame-mp3.mp3) Should play fine (use as reference)

Test WMA File: (http://home.comcast.net/~ricardo.david/avsforum/test-wma-1.wma) Exact same encode as MP3 file



All the best,
Ricardo

Originally posted by Shoebox
I'm curious, why don't you just do a rip with DVD Decryptor Reauthor/backup with DVDshrinkand then a burn to a DVD. I thought about going to HD storage, but good quality DVD-R's are pretty cheap and it doesn't eat up HD space. As it is... use up a lot of HD space recording TV programs to my HD (use a Hauppauge TVcard with a MPEG2 hardware encoder).

Well first off HD space here isnt an issue as im about to add another terabyte to bring the total up to 5. My family room/great room (1st floor) is my theater and all equipment is on the second floor in a closet. The house is pretty much a smart home with everything thats possible to control off a remote is.

So it has become a nuance to go up stairs to put a dvd in even though i do have a 7 changer still wired up. All of my music is digital controlled by a audiotron to all 8 zones and so on. The next logical step is to digitize my dvd collection (500+ movies).

There is a htpc wired to the plasma and system but programming the front end has become tiresome at this point.

So thats the story in a nut shell.

Oh yeah what does dvd decrypter do that dvdshrink doesnt? why add another piece of sorfware into the mix. am i missing something?

RicardoD

First file plays fine, 2nd one skips. This is with the new firmware

I am not sure this firmware as intented to address my initial WMA audio problem but it seems we have traded in one problem for another. Maybe with the WMA Pro firmware is implemented all the WMA issues will be ironed out by then.

Ricardo

Originally posted by webboy10169
Oh yeah what does dvd decrypter do that dvdshrink doesnt? why add another piece of sorfware into the mix. am i missing something?

Thanks for the info. I am running an Ocelot on my server for home systems control. Sounds like you have tons of HD space... You running Raid 5 for you HD array? My server is on the second floor too.. have it in my home office... along with 2 other computers and 3 monitors and 2 printers (I do a lot of photography and do all my processing and printing there) I am in the DVD mode because I archive all the raw photo files to DVD's)

You're probably not missing anything given your setup... What you have is certainly convenient. Thing I like about DVD DeCrypter is it kills all the region and protection... rip to an ISO then I either do a backup or re-author and write the file back as an ISO and burn the ISO with DVD Decrypter.

BK

Originally posted by Shoebox
Thanks for the info. I am running an Ocelot on my server for home systems control. Sounds like you have tons of HD space... You running Raid 5 for you HD array? My server is on the second floor too.. have it in my home office... along with 2 other computers and 3 monitors and 2 printers (I do a lot of photography and do all my processing and printing there) I am in the DVD mode because I archive all the raw photo files to DVD's)

You're probably not missing anything given your setup... What you have is certainly convenient. Thing I like about DVD DeCrypter is it kills all the region and protection... rip to an ISO then I either do a backup or re-author and write the file back as an ISO and burn the ISO with DVD Decrypter.

BK

Yeah were pretty pumped up here with HD space here. 1 server has over a terabyte Theres a snap 4100 server jucied on the network with 1/2 a terabyte another server and a workstation (mce) with a terabyte each.

I have the new asus board in a p4 desktop that machine isnt jucied yet but it comes stock with ata and sata raid on board The new server is going to have as many drives (250 gig) as i can throw at it.

and yes all machines are in a raid configuration. Too costly to do tape backup here.

I updated the firmware today and got the same issues as others reported. HD divx files stopped playing and seemed to lock up the player. I didnt have time to play much with the new firmware. Had company and once i relized i couldnt show any usable HD clips i rolled the firmware back.

Which but the way was painless. I did watch/play 2 rips ( Incubus dvd which i ripped and pearl jam unplugged/uncut from the mtv vault not my rip) that played with no problems. Both were ripped to a couple of vobs and besides the blip in between files all was perfect.

I plan on updating to the latest firmware again and do some more testing as hddivx and hdwmv are not important to me right now.

Some one here had a hd transfer of the fifth element... pm me. Id like to get that and since all my tivos are down as i "upgrade" them i have no means to transfer stuff yet. and i dont think ill be able to get that one off.

Ocelot huh its on the list of things to look at as i need to automate the lights in the house next and hook up all the ir beams around the house.

toys...

I upgraded to the latest firmware and my Digital audio problem persist :(
When I select Digital output in the audio settings I get no audio but if I switch to stereo output the audio works fine
Anyone else with this problem ?
I also noticed that the new firmware changed the label in the audio settings - was labeled AC3 5.1 output before and now Digital output

It worked fine for couple days when I got the unit.

After the firmware upgrade, I notice the absence of the brief static burst I had before, when using the chapter advance. Other than that, no difference for me. WMV-HD is still playing fine.

Strange... I can't even connect to the FW update site. When I press the "FW Update" button it gets highlighted but nothing happens!! Anyone else having the same problem??

Does anyone have a link to the longer D4 component cable? I've searched to no avail....

Originally posted by lifeisfun
I upgraded to the latest firmware and my Digital audio problem persist :(
When I select Digital output in the audio settings I get no audio but if I switch to stereo output the audio works fine
Anyone else with this problem ?
I also noticed that the new firmware changed the label in the audio settings - was labeled AC3 5.1 output before and now Digital output

It worked fine for couple days when I got the unit.

Same here. I for the life of me can't get AC3 to work out of this unit with my Boston Acoustic's HT speakers. But stereo/PCM works fine.

Originally posted by Kermee
Same here. I for the life of me can't get AC3 to work out of this unit with my Boston Acoustic's HT speakers. But stereo/PCM works fine.

I'm glad that the problem isn't only on my box ...
I'm using Pioneer digital receiver
Did yours work for brief period of time as well ?

Originally posted by koss
Does anyone have a link to the longer D4 component cable? I've searched to no avail....

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4680856#post4680856

I get digital audio just fine using the coax ouput to my Pioneer receiver.

And I've found the Linkplayer2 can play most of my HD-DVDR's I've made over the last couple years using Xvid CBR and ac3 at mostly resolutions like 544p or 720p. But it cannot FF them for some reason. I sure hope they fix that.

I also find I can play 1080i server transport streams only by renaming them to .mpg. Even then the sound seems choppy out SPDIF but is better (but stereo) on the analog outputs.

Finally, does anyone know of a refresh command for server files? If you move a new file to a folder the player doesn't seem to know about it right away.

I'm using the new 12/3/2004 firmware. There doesn't seem to be any newer server software yet.

- Tom

Tom:

Instead of renaming your .ts files, just right click on them and create shortcut and they will work just fine

The server software seems to send a complete file listing to the player on first connect, the easiest way I have found to get new files to show is to hit the server button on the remote and rechoose the server.

Originally posted by trbarry
I get digital audio just fine using the coax ouput to my Pioneer receiver.


- Tom

I'm also using coax output to my Pioneer VSX-606S but I get no sound if
the Linkplayer is switched to Digital output ( Stereo is working fine)

This problem started when I played one DivX movie that did produce very distorted sound ... I switched the output to stereo that fixed that problem but since then I'm unable to get AC3 back :(

Once again, would people with updated firmware please check these files, they both are encoded from the same original wav file.
I tested them and had the same exact results that you had. (a hiccup a second or so into the file).

I also had my player lockup on the DIvxHD clips after the firmware update.

The AC3 works fine on my Denon receiver. I am running the sound through a copperbox component switcher before it gets to my receiver.

I had reported eject button issues earlier, and maybe it was all in my head, but with this new firmware my eject button is functioning as it should, and is not locking up my player or acting "goofy"

Ricardo

I was about to purchase this unit until I started to see some negative feedback within this thread. Those of you that own this unit, are you happy overall, or are your regretting your purchase? I ask because people tend to only make posts when they are having issues... and not when things are running great.

Regards,
Ultrajones

I'm returning mine tomorrow, for exchange due to the DVD-ROM drive problem. I don't know how I can stand to be without it.

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

Same here - have you been able to fix it ?

Originally posted by ultrajones
I was about to purchase this unit until I started to see some negative feedback within this thread. Those of you that own this unit, are you happy overall, or are your regretting your purchase? I ask because people tend to only make posts when they are having issues... and not when things are running great.

Regards,
Ultrajones

I am very happy with mine. I have not seen the problems that others have though so I may have just lucked out or maybe they are the exception. I think it may be too soon to tell. I can say that I use mine much more over the network than I do by dropping a DVD in the drive.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
I'm returning mine tomorrow, for exchange due to the DVD-ROM drive problem. I don't know how I can stand to be without it.

My DVD-ROM in the AVEL is noisy comparing to KiSS - is this normal ?

Originally posted by ultrajones
I was about to purchase this unit until I started to see some negative feedback within this thread. Those of you that own this unit, are you happy overall, or are your regretting your purchase? I ask because people tend to only make posts when they are having issues... and not when things are running great.

Regards,
Ultrajones

If you are looking for the DVD player to play ripped and commercial DVD's, I would wait to see what develops as far as the audio problems being solved with DVD play (see my earlier posts). I have an email into support and will see what they have to say on Monday when they reply.

If the DVD player isn't important to you then I would go for it. Keeping in mind that I just play MPEG-2 videos from my server without any problems.... Others seem to be having a whole host of problems with DIVx and other formats.

It is certainly better that the piece of junk PRISMQ is peddling (see their forum for the growing complaints), and from what I have seen here I-O Data's support seems to be better too.

As for myself... If they are unable to solve the DVD, audio stuttering, and dropouts, along with the occasional freeze then it goes back, because that is a deal breaker for me. I know others have suggested to just get a cheap DVD player... I have a Pioneer that plays everything... But I got this to use the DVD too and it was part of the deal. For me it is kind of like buying a new car and finding the A/C doesn't work and the only available solution to the problem at the time is to open the windows... Forget it... It either all works right or it is history.

Hope this helps...

BK

By the way, I'm using to upgraded firmware too and like TRBarry, not having any problem getting digital audio 5.1 playback via the SPDIF coax.


Originally posted by lifeisfun
My DVD-ROM in the AVEL is noisy comparing to KiSS - is this normal ?

I can't comment on the KiSS, but if your AVLP2 DVD ROM drive is making lots of "seeking" noises, it could be having a hard time reading. Mine has trouble reading when the optical pickup is toward the outside edge of the disk on DVD-R media.

I was about to purchase this unit until I started to see some negative feedback within this thread. Those of you that own this unit, are you happy overall, or are your regretting your purchase? I ask because people tend to only make posts when they are having issues... and not when things are running great.

I'm not sure yet. I've probably been luckier than some on the various issues. But my own satisfaction will depend upon (at least):

- Proper FF and rewind support for Xvid.

- Proper transport stream playback support

- Proper WM9 VCM/ac3 support (I haven't tested this yet but read about the green blocks)

- Support for the WM9 purchased discs, at least in stereo output. Auto recoding to 5.1 ac3 for my receiver would be even nicer, but less important than the other issues above.

- Better testing on my own to see what I can get away with on both Xvid & WM9 peak bit rates and encoding options. (kjack, do you know for Xvid?) I wouldn't have purchased the player if there didn't seem to be a good way to encode my own HD DVD-R's in at least one of those formats and the stated 1.5 mbps for Xvid would certainly not be enough. Since the player likely can't support WMA 5.1 audio I also think that means AC3 for me even if I have to use WM9 instead of Xvid.

But I'm optimistic something will be worked out. ;)

- Tom

Anyone have a problem trying to get a Windows Media playlist to play in the background with a photo slideshow? All links appear to be set up properly in the server software, but when I start the slide show no music. Works fine if I place the ripped WMA files in their own folder rather than using a playlist. I am running the latest firmware upgrade (3 December).

Also, anyone know what the peak bit rate is for windows media audio files? I know the book says 192kbps max. but I read in this thread some have gone higher. Anyone had any luck playing Windows Media Audio Lossless bit rates? Mine won't play these. I have started ripping music at 192 kbps but would like to go higher to improve the audio quality. What is the actual peak audio bit rate for this player?

I was about to purchase this unit until I started to see some negative feedback within this thread. Those of you that own this unit, are you happy overall, or are your regretting your purchase? I am very happy with the player. I have only played back one commercial DVD on it, but it played fine. I do not plan on playing DVD-Rs on it and have not even tested that feature. I bought the unit to play media back off of the USB connected hard drive or the network. My old DVD player can handle DVDRs but I have only used that feature one time (just to test it).

Of course, as I mentioned, DD5.1 works fine on my receiver. If it did not, I would be very dissapointed with the unit.

Originally posted by Tom Roper

I can't comment on the KiSS, but if your AVLP2 DVD ROM drive is making lots of "seeking" noises, it could be having a hard time reading. Mine has trouble reading when the optical pickup is toward the outside edge of the disk on DVD-R media.

My drive has steady noise (while spinning) It would be nice to
cut down on it's speed. I believe that KiSS cut down the speed on
it's drives to only 2x or 4x since when couple people replaced those drives they had to apply firmware patch to the drive it self to reduce the speed.
This makes it virtually silent....

I actually spent most of the afternoon yesterday testing various DVDR's and stuff. I was not looking for DVD noise but I can say I never noticed it. And all but one of my DVDR's & DVD's played fine.

I did have an HD copy of Dinosaur that would not play and I had to turn the machine off and on to continue. That was a DVDR that would play fine in my HTPC. But I don't know how I encoded it and didn't check its properties so it might be some weird experiment of mine.

- Tom

If you thinking of replacing the DVD drive you may try ASUS E616P2 - it does not have reduced speed but very quet and with very good access time :
http://usa.asus.com/products/optical/dvd-e616p2/overview.htm

(no region free firmware yet :( )

Originally posted by Lord KiRon
If you thinking of replacing the DVD drive you may try ASUS E616P2 - it does not have reduced speed but very quet and with very good access time :
http://usa.asus.com/products/optical/dvd-e616p2/overview.htm

(no region free firmware yet :( )

Thanks for the sudgestion !
I'll wait and if I can't get the AC3 working after the Dec. firmware upgrade
I'm going to RMA the unit as well....

Originally posted by lifeisfun
My drive has steady noise (while spinning) It would be nice to
cut down on it's speed. I believe that KiSS cut down the speed on
it's drives to only 2x or 4x since when couple people replaced those drives they had to apply firmware patch to the drive it self to reduce the speed.
This makes it virtually silent....

The drive IS quiet and turning at slow speeds when it's not having trouble reading data blocks to buffer. It WILL turn at slow speeds when it's able to buffer enough data blocks. The high speed mode is a red flag. I'm encouraging you to test it fully with whatever hard-to-read media you can come up with.

My testing was all done with original DVD discs and comparing to the
KiSS player they were all noisy ( fine on KiSS ) :(

Originally posted by Lord KiRon
If you thinking of replacing the DVD drive you may try ASUS E616P2 - it does not have reduced speed but very quet and with very good access time :
http://usa.asus.com/products/optical/dvd-e616p2/overview.htm

(no region free firmware yet :( )

That's great, but it's intended for the PC drive bay. How do you make this fit inside the AVLP2?

XviD demonstration of AVeL LinkPlayer2
-------

I made a 9 minute 38 second XviD clip of the AVeL LinkPlayer2 in action from start-up and streaming from the AVeL Link Server with various media types and shows some of the screens for navigation of the player.

It demonstrates:

1. Playback of a sample 1280x720p DivX-HD (5.0.3) encode of HDNet 2002 Hawaiian Tropics I made. And how FF (Fast-Forward) works in it. Audio is AC3 interleaved into AVI container. Average video bitrate is 6 Mbps. (Two-pass VBR encode).

2. Playback of a sample 1440x1080p anamorphic PAR flagged XviD-HD (1.0.2) encode of Matrix Reloaded I made. (Source was 1080i/29.97 telecined to 1080p/23.976). Audio is AC3 interleaved into AVI container. Average video bitrate is 8 Mbps (Two-pass VBR encode).

3. Playback of the Magic of Flight 1440x1080p anamorphic flagged WMV9-HD sample from Microsoft. Notice there's no audio. That's because the audio is WMA Pro.

4. Playback of the Shark Tale 1280x720p DivX-HD trailer available from www.divx.com.

5. Playback of 1280x720p XviD-HD (1.0.2) encode of The Incredibes movie trailer played on INHD. Source was 1080i transport stream. Interleaved AC3 in AVI container. Average video bitrate is 6 Mbps (Two-pass VBR encode).

6. Playback of a TV show encoded in XviD. Demonstration of FF.

7 and 8. Playback of another TV show encoded in XviD. Demonstration of FF and RW several times.

9. Demonstration of MP3 playback.

The demonstration XviD is approximately 53.1MB. Since I have limited bandwidth, please PM me to get the link to the download and if you're TRULY interested in seeing what it looks like. If someone else can host the file for me, please let me know too.

The capture was done via an ATI AIW 8500DV. Audio was from the stereo RCA jacks. Video was from the S-Video output. The LinkPlayer2 was left in 'HD Browser' mode.

Thanks!

Originally posted by Tom Roper
That's great, but it's intended for the PC drive bay. How do you make this fit inside the AVLP2?

Don't know, but KiSS is also using standard PC drives in players....

Ultrajones,

You can pry my linkplayer2 from my cold dead hands. Yes, we are reporting issues, mostly to get the attention of IODATA who has been very responsive to issues to date, and to confirm that others see the same thing. It has been very stable, my wife loves it, and it was plug and play, not sure I could same the same if I went the HTPC route. We are just at the beginning of these types of units so I am not surprised by the Version 1.0 issue.

My WMA files ripped at maximum bit rate play (but I still get that hiccup one second into the file, with the old firmware it would chop the first second of audio off) . WMA lossless is not supported, yet. See my earlier threads. As of now I still have confidence in IODATA to resolve these issues.

I mostly play MPEG2 files from my SageTV recordings, and then play Xvid files of childrens shows and DVDs that my kids watch again and again. Since I bought this unit I ripped all my Xmas CDs and have been enjoying shuffle play on 200 xmas songs. Great for the upcoming holiday get togethers.


All the best,
Ricardo

Originally posted by Kermee
XviD demonstration of AVeL LinkPlayer2
-------

I made a 9 minute 38 second XviD clip of the AVeL LinkPlayer2 in action from start-up and streaming from the AVeL Link Server with various media types and shows some of the screens for navigation of the player.

It demonstrates:

1. Playback of a sample 1280x720p DivX-HD (5.0.3) encode of HDNet 2002 Hawaiian Tropics I made. And how FF (Fast-Forward) works in it. Audio is AC3 interleaved into AVI container. Average video bitrate is 6 Mbps. (Two-pass VBR encode).

2. Playback of a sample 1440x1080p anamorphic PAR flagged XviD-HD (1.0.2) encode of Matrix Reloaded I made. (Source was 1080i/29.97 telecined to 1080p/23.976). Audio is AC3 interleaved into AVI container. Average video bitrate is 8 Mbps (Two-pass VBR encode).

3. Playback of the Magic of Flight 1440x1080p anamorphic flagged WMV9-HD sample from Microsoft. Notice there's no audio. That's because the audio is WMA Pro.

4. Playback of the Shark Tale 1280x720p DivX-HD trailer available from www.divx.com.

5. Playback of 1280x720p XviD-HD (1.0.2) encode of The Incredibes movie trailer played on INHD. Source was 1080i transport stream. Interleaved AC3 in AVI container. Average video bitrate is 6 Mbps (Two-pass VBR encode).

6. Playback of a TV show encoded in XviD. Demonstration of FF.

7 and 8. Playback of another TV show encoded in XviD. Demonstration of FF and RW several times.

9. Demonstration of MP3 playback.

The demonstration XviD is approximately 53.1MB. Since I have limited bandwidth, please PM me to get the link to the download and if you're TRULY interested in seeing what it looks like. If someone else can host the file for me, please let me know too.

The capture was done via an ATI AIW 8500DV. Audio was from the stereo RCA jacks. Video was from the S-Video output. The LinkPlayer2 was left in 'HD Browser' mode.

Thanks!

WOW! Impressive except for the FF/RW. Thanks Kermee! Now should I buy or wait for the flood of players (I hope).. .

MVBJJ,

I am observing the same behavior with slides shows and music. If I assign the music for a slideshow to be a folder of music files it plays fine. If I assign the music for a slideshow to be a Windows Media playlist I get no sound. The playlists work fine in pure music mode but doesn't seem to be supported in slideshow.

Likewise I get the same behaviour in reverse. In the MUSIC settings, if I set a photo slideshow for a music folder of files it works fine, but if I set a photo folder for a Windows Media playlist it doesn't work.

All the best,
Ricardo

Has anyone tried a dual layer DVD-R?

Originally posted by RicardoD

My WMA files ripped at maximum bit rate play (but I still get that hiccup one second into the file, with the old firmware it would chop the first second of audio off) .

Me too! Hiccup is annoying, but not as bad as the first problem of chopping the first part of the audio off. I have reported this to I-O Data via email to tech support as I am sure many others have as well. Hopefully I-O Data will address in future firmware upgrade.

Ricardo, I also reported the playlist problem in slide show mode.

--MVBJJ

Originally posted by DouglasCleary
Has anyone tried a dual layer DVD-R?

Yep... Same problem as I reported with commercial DVD's and single layer DVD-R... Short version is:

Audio drops and/or stuttering at chapter and layer breaks. These are random. Will play fine one time and the next with get a lockup or audio problems.

From my experience both commercial, DLDVD-R and SLDVD-R have exhibited this problem. These same disks play flawlessly on my Pioneer 525, as they always have, and an El-Cheapo (forget the model) Toshiba.

I have email a long list of problem to IOData...see what happens

Everything works fine from the server (I don't do DVIx... I stream MPEG2 video from the server. In a nut shell the DVD player is a problem and the server software needs some work. All my audio plays fine through my Pioneer receiver using digital optical connections (DTS, Dolby5.1, MP3's) from various sources.

BK

I realize these players and discs are based on red lasers and limited in bitrate (10 Mbps?) and capacity (9.4GB) but I think they should be sufficient for full length WMV9 or MPEG-4 HD Hollywood release DVD movies. NO?

Question: So why isn't the DVD forum and the studios endorsing this stuff? Based on the studios recent announced support of blue laser based HD-DVD and Bly-ray, I don't see much hope for the red laser stand alone HD DVD players beyond being a niche videophile device. It appears the studios will be waiting another year before releasing any substantial number of HD res DVD stuff, most likely on one of the two blue laser formats.

It was recently mentioned by a Sigma designs rep who regularly posts on this forum that the KISS DP-600 is a working unit already able to play Hollywood WMV9 HD DVD titles. Apparently the DRM stuff is built into the European released discs. Strange.

Think we in the USA will ever see Hollywood WMV9 HD DVD titles working on USA model DVD players?

Are you sure HD-DVD are blue ray ? I thought they are red ...

Also as far as I know only future Sigma chip will be designed fully for HD-DVD and Blue Ray (but I think we have here someone that can answer this in more detail ;) )

Charles, your questions are valid, but beaten to death elsewhere. In this thread, most of us already have HD video files, audio, photo, music, and don't care who the studios are endorsing.

Previously in the thread Keith said that he can't foresee these chipsets supporting HD-DVD or blu-ray simply because they'll probably have certain proprietary aspects that still aren't finalized, like DRM and audio codecs.

HD-DVD is blue laser. Unlike Blu-ray, the discs are essentially the same construction-wise, thus the ability to just switch over existing plants.

As far as WMV video currently being produced - would *you* want to spend the effort to release discs that only a very limited number of people can play, when it's clearly not going to be the format moving forward?

i'd be willing to bet that HD-DVD discs will come out in droves [maybe 20-30 discs, not bad for a new technology] next year.

Three things: Microsoft is rushing to market with the Xbox2. It will be released a full year before the PS3, and will support HD-DVD playback.

Toshiba will also be releasing IDE HD-DVD drives next fall as well. All the HTPC geeks will be wanting to upgrade fairly quickly, i imagine.

I don't think standalone HD-DVD players will be over $500, either. You know there will at least be a cheaper-than-that Sigma-based player available fairly quickly, because the current chipset has proven they can handle the streams themselves with great results, which seems like the biggest hurdle.


The most important point is that unlike the Laserdisc/VHS to DVD changeover, the switchover to HD-DVD will be substantially easier. Most newer dvd releases are mastered in HD anyway, and most "extras" on HD-DVD's will be in standard resolution anyway (to save disc space), so they already have the content. People make the comparison to DVD-Audio and SACD, but I think that's apples to oranges. DVD-Audio and SACD require new content from studios. HD-DVD will be using content already available. I think there are way too many naysayers around.


Blu-ray may be superior technology, but history has shown that incremental upgrades usually win out.

Originally posted by jakob1321

As far as WMV video currently being produced - would *you* want to spend the effort to release discs that only a very limited number of people can play, when it's clearly not going to be the format moving forward?


When you say "limited" you mean every person with a new PC, right? There is a huge number of people that can play WMVHD DVD's and that number is only going to continue to grow. Plus, with WMV being the dominant format for downloadable movie services it is quite likely that as the download market continues to increase the popularity of WMV capable standalone players would also increase.
Never underestimate the power of Microsoft's marketing department.

I Just recieved an email from IOData re: longer d4 component cables

"Yes, we will start to sell it this week. Please give us a couple of days."

I received my player about a week ago and have had good luck playing vob files from my special "HDtivo". I get occasional audio problems but they seem to be easley solved with a pause/stop or a FF/play or RW/play. Set the whole thing up on home network in 15 minuets. My main media room display is a 4:3 70" diag Transvision-1 DLP set up as a rear projector. I have many 169time Dvhs recordings tried copying to PC then ran thru Mpeg2repair and found that the player would not recognize a Transport stream file (.ts). Picture on my transvision were as good as I get with other sources JVC30000 and HDtivo. I don't have DVI on this unit. I also have a Panny 50" plasma 5 series (No DVI) and the playback results are excellent. The AVeLLinkPlayer2 could potentially replace my HTPC witch would be welcome. I could use some advise on converting transport streams to vob or some other format that the player supports and not loose the HD quality or AC3 audio. I am a noobie at HD file encoding and am looking for a simple solution.

I've read through most of this thread but am still unclear about some things.


I will be getting the new SONY HDV camcorder and want to output 1080i to HIGH DEF DVD and play on a DVD player such as the one from IODATA.

I don't want to have to connect the IODATA player to any PC or network or external drives. I just want to be able to pop in a burned DVD and have it play. There is a WM9 HD encoder built into my video editing software so I'm guessing I can use that right?




Keep in mind no computer and no external drive connected to IODATA player.
Questions:

1. Will a burned DVD with a WM9 HD file play without being connceted to external drive, or computer?
2. Is there a free (or under $100) DIVX HD enocder I can use (I only see ones for license) that will recognize the SONY HDV source footage. Will these DIVX files play straight from dvd?
3. Is ther a free (or under $100 ) XVID encoder I can use that will recognize the SONY HDV source footage? Will these XVID files play straight from DVD?
4. Is there a free (or under $100) H.264 MPEG-4 encoder I can use that will recognize the SONY HDV source footage? Will these H.264 MPEG-4 play straight from DVD

IODATA's web site says that the Dec 23 hardware update would support playing back trasnsport streams which should be perfect for your needs :)

SNOOTS: "IODATA's web site says that the Dec 23 hardware update would support playing back trasnsport streams which should be perfect for your needs "

That might work. But would the IODATA player need to see the transport stream (.ts) codec located on a connected hard drive or computer?

I would just like it to play from a burned dvd.

I don't really have a grasp on how the IODATA player plays all these different files of differing codecs. Are the codecs built into the firmware?

The transport stream has nothing to do with any video codecs. The video "inside" the .ts file is like any other MPEG video so you don't need any extra codecs to play it back.
They are much like VOB files on a DVD which contain MPEG-2 video, AC3 and other audio formats, and subtitles. The .ts file is just a container for the multiple streams that make up the broadcast. The devices that record HD are not encoding the video, they are simply recording the muxed signal that is being broadcast.

Originally posted by Charles Moore
I've read through most of this thread but am still unclear about some things.


I will be getting the new SONY HDV camcorder and want to output 1080i to HIGH DEF DVD and play on a DVD player such as the one from IODATA.

I don't want to have to connect the IODATA player to any PC or network or external drives. I just want to be able to pop in a burned DVD and have it play. There is a WM9 HD encoder built into my video editing software so I'm guessing I can use that right?




Keep in mind no computer and no external drive connected to IODATA player.
Questions:

1. Will a burned DVD with a WM9 HD file play without being connceted to external drive, or computer?
2. Is there a free (or under $100) DIVX HD enocder I can use (I only see ones for license) that will recognize the SONY HDV source footage. Will these DIVX files play straight from dvd?
3. Is ther a free (or under $100 ) XVID encoder I can use that will recognize the SONY HDV source footage? Will these XVID files play straight from DVD?
4. Is there a free (or under $100) H.264 MPEG-4 encoder I can use that will recognize the SONY HDV source footage? Will these H.264 MPEG-4 play straight from DVD

Yes, you can play WMV9 720p from a DVD disk without a network. I have a GR-HD1 so I know what you are after. But...native support for the Sigma EM8620L Video Processor chip inside the AVLP2 is 720p. It will upscale to 1080i. You won't see any difference between your 1080i video on this player, and video you downconvert to WMV9 720p.

Okay, I've got my AVLP2 boxed up to ship back to I-O Data for an exchange due to the DVD loader problem reading DVD-R disks.

I thought it would be a good idea to protect my privacy by deleting the fields in the IP setup. I set them all to 000's, primary address, primary DNS, secondary DNS, default gateway, subnet mask. I clicked on "save," rebooted....and thereafter it's completely DEAD. (No snickering from the peanut gallery.) I'm sure you IP experts are laughing...but no way to undo it that I know of. Even the loader doesn't work. You can't even turn it on or off with the remote. Doh! Anyway, it's going back.

Don't do it.

Originally posted by Charles Moore
1. Will a burned DVD with a WM9 HD file play without being connceted to external drive, or computer? Yes, but there is a pixel frame size limitation!

Originally posted by Charles Moore
2. Is there a free (or under $100) DIVX HD enocder I can use (I only see ones for license) that will recognize the SONY HDV source footage. Will these DIVX files play straight from dvd?The Sony HDV camcorder outputs high-def Mpeg2 streams, so with the right "encoding application" such as, Dr DivX, Virtual DubMod etc, you should be able to generate high-def DivX encodes.... Don't forget however, the Sigma chip-set supports a maximum Mpeg4 pixel frame size of 1280x720.

Originally posted by Charles Moore
3. Is ther a free (or under $100 ) XVID encoder I can use that will recognize the SONY HDV source footage? Will these XVID files play straight from DVD? Unlike the "fully blown" version of the DivX codec, the XviD codec is free.

Just in case you are confused. DivX, XviD, 3ivX, FFmpeg, NeroDigital, are all Mpeg4

Originally posted by Charles Moore
4. Is there a free (or under $100) H.264 MPEG-4 encoder I can use that will recognize the SONY HDV source footage? Will these H.264 MPEG-4 play straight from DVD On the 03 Dec 2004, Nero's Recode2 (which comes as part of Nero Vision Express 3) was released and now includes Mpeg4/AVC (aka: H.264) encoding.

However, Sigma's chip-set does not support this format.


Cheers

I've been reading this topic (and others) for what seems like hours and still can not find a couple answers I've been looking for.

1) Does this player upconvert to 1080i thru the D4 connector using the DVD drive in the player with material that have macrovision?

2) On standard 4:3 material (television programs on DVD) does the player "pillerbox" (ie squeeze) the material so when a monitor displays the program the picture has bars on the sides.

3) How does the video quality compare to the Momitsu or the neuneo players.

With these answers I feel I can order one of the above players in the next day or 2. TIA.

Adam

Originally posted by ahennings
I've been reading this topic (and others) for what seems like hours and still can not find a couple answers I've been looking for.

1) Does this player upconvert to 1080i thru the D4 connector using the DVD drive in the player with material that have macrovision?

2) On standard 4:3 material (television programs on DVD) does the player "pillerbox" (ie squeeze) the material so when a monitor displays the program the picture has bars on the sides.

3) How does the video quality compare to the Momitsu or the neuneo players.

With these answers I feel I can order one of the above players in the next day or 2. TIA.

Adam

1. Yes
2. Well 4:3 DVD material will format correctly on 4:3 screen, and if your using a 16:9 screen you will have pillars. This is not an effect of the DVD player, it is the player correctly displaying the video at it's correct AR. The player has settings so you can stretch the video to match your 16:9 screen if you wish not to see the pillars, most 16:9 sets have the ability to do this internally, you would need to pick which looks best to your eye.
3. I have neither of these players, and again quality would be subjective.

hope this helps,

mb1010

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Yes, but there is a pixel frame size limitation!

The Sony HDV camcorder outputs high-def Mpeg2 streams, so with the right "encoding application" such as, Dr DivX, Virtual DubMod etc, you should be able to generate high-def DivX encodes.... Don't forget however, the Sigma chip-set supports a maximum Mpeg4 pixel frame size of 1280x720.

This confuses me. I've made several 1440x1080p DivX and XviD (MPEG-4) with the stream flagged with PAR 16:9 and my AVeL LinkPlayer2 plays them back perfectly fine.

Can anyone chime in? (Keith?)

I can't believe that the I-O DATA AVEL LINKPLAYER2 provides absolutely no kind of timer/counter/progress bar when playing back an AVI file. There is no way to tell how far you are into the video. No way to tell how much time is left until the end. No way to know what point you need to FF to if you stop it and come back later.

I sent email to iodata asking about this, and here is the reponse I got this morning:

"Thank you for your e-mail.
Unfortunately time is not displayed while playing back an AVI file.
However for our future reference, we highly appreciate your concern."

Now I'm wondering how to interpret that (especially if English is not his/her first language -- not sure about that)... Do we think it is likely that they will implement some kind of a timer-feature in the near future, or is this just a blow-off comment and it's not even on the radar?

Does anyone else feel as I do -- that the lack of a timer-feature is a major disadvantage and it even prevents me from recommending this networked DVD player? Without that timer-feature, I feel like I need to keep shopping for alternatives. I'm really bummed out about this.

I hooked up my trusty Panasonic RP82 after sending the LinkPlayer back to I-O Data for replacement due to the DVD-Rom loader problem.

I never would have imagined saying this, but the RP82 is a bit of a disappointment after the beautiful upconverted DVD Video I've been enjoying on the LinkPlayer2. The image on the LinkPlayer2 is better, more accurate colors, complete absence of color banding, and a more detailed picture.

It's going to seem like a long wait.

Dermanj,

I agree that a timer/counter/progress bar would be a great feature and would love to see it implemented in a future firmware/server upgrade.

In general FF/RW of the video files is not on par with how a computer plays these types files. You only can jump forward by a percentage in 1% increments. So if your file is 1 hour long, each percent is 36 seconds, if its 2 hours long, then a percentage is 72 seconds. It would be nice if these could be a user entered fixed amount. This is one of the weak points of the user interface in my opinion but for me not a deal breaker.

If you leave a video, you just have to note at what % you stopped the file by clicking forward or back on the arrow keys, prior to stopping.

All the best,
Ricardo

Hi:
My linkplayer arrived today and I have been fooling around with it for a couple of hours. I only hooked up the component cables because I thought I had an extra optical cable around which it turns out I did not have. I have an old computer 566 MHz PIII hooked to a router and then a cable modem. I hooked the linkplayer to the router as well. Then I misread the manual and went through the trouble of assigning the computer and linkplayer IP addresses when I really did not need to. This also led to trouble downloading the updated firmware. Once I changed both devices to automatically assigned IP addresses the firmware downloaded fine. All the commercial DVD's I put in worked fine and serving my digital photos off the computer to my 50" plasma was a breeze. Then I downloaded a HD WMV sample from the microsoft web site - Living Sea which leads to my first question -

If the HD-WMV file is 720p should I change the player to match or can I leave it at 1080i?

The file played fine served off of my slow computer to the Linkplayer. This same file can not play on my computer alone as the processor is too slow.

Then I tried to play the HD trailer for Ray which has DRM - this did not work at all - Is I/O data planning to support DRM?

Next I came across the device code for DIVX in the setup menu which said to go to www.divx.com/vod to sign up. I signed up and entered my device code for the linkplayer. Then the divx site gave me a small file to download to make sure it played OK on the linkplayer. The divx site said to burn the file to a cd and insert it into the divx dvd player (the linkplayer) but I decided to try to just serve it from my videos folder to the linkplayer. This didn't work at all - the linkplayer wasn't even seeing the file (a .tix file) in the folder. I don't know anything about divx so I don't know if this file should have played as is or if I really needed to burn it to cd and carry it across the room.

When I was moving files around on my computer with the linkserver running it wasn't clear how the linkplayer was updating its lists of available media. Sometimes the new files would show up right away and other times I would have to turn the linkplayer off and back on or close and restart the linkserver. How exactly does this work?

Like a couple of other people here, I bought the linkplayer to go with a HD camcorder that I am getting for Christmas so I don't really need any functions other than the HD-WMV playback from disc - though the other stuff is pretty nice to have.

Thanks,
Joseph

Originally posted by Kermee
This confuses me. I've made several 1440x1080p DivX and XviD (MPEG-4) with the stream flagged with PAR 16:9 and my AVeL LinkPlayer2 plays them back perfectly fine.

Can anyone chime in? (Keith?) This is indeed interesting!

1440x1080 (1,555,200 total) pixels is supposed to be the pixel frame size for WMV9 content. And 1280x720 (921,600 total) pixels is supposed to be the pixel frame size for Mpeg4 content...

That said, I was hoping that the maximum Mpeg4 pixel frame size was not set in stone and that as long as the max pixel count did not exceed 921,600 total, PAR signalling could have been used to create "higher vertical" resolution images... But you seem to have blown this theory out of the water!

Can I ask... what container are you storing your Mpeg4 streams in?


Cheers

I had no trouble playing back the 1080p WMVHD samples that Microsoft has available.

Tom - I elected not to send mine back...they seem to be extra cheapy drives. I don't feel like going through several cycles of repair hoping to get one that lasts. I'll probably just sell it and buy the DVI version in a few months.

The firmware update (while fouling up a bunch of other issues) fixed the eject button issue. However, half the mpegs (which are non HD) which would play before won't now. I just get a blank screen or a an error message that they're encrypted. very odd. I also no longer have a problem with a couple of commercia dvds I had problem with in the previous firmware.

Originally posted by ahennings
I've been reading this topic (and others) for what seems like hours and still can not find a couple answers I've been looking for.

1) Does this player upconvert to 1080i thru the D4 connector using the DVD drive in the player with material that have macrovision?

2) On standard 4:3 material (television programs on DVD) does the player "pillerbox" (ie squeeze) the material so when a monitor displays the program the picture has bars on the sides.

3) How does the video quality compare to the Momitsu or the neuneo players.

With these answers I feel I can order one of the above players in the next day or 2. TIA.

Adam

1. Yes
2. 4:3 content is pillarboxed. The player actually does "squeeze" the 4:3 video so it is displayed correctly on a 16:9 display. Unlike what was mentioned earlier, however, there is no way to make it zoom to fit your screen. With 4:3 or non-anamorphic material using the zoom control on the LinkPlayer only zooms inside the 4:3 frame within the 16:9 area of the display, i.e., the black bars on the sides can never be eliminated. Not really an issue for true 4:3 AR content but letterboxed 4:3 content ends up being a postage stamp in a sea of black on a 16:9 display with no way to zoom the video to fill the screen unless your display allows you to use it's picture controls when feeding it anything but 480i. My display does not so I can't/won't use this player for non-anamorphic DVD's.

3. Can't say as I don't have those players but the upconverted picture quality is excellent on my CRT display. I would say if you have a raster type display this player is a good choice. I'd wait until the DLP model is released if you have a fixed pixel display.

Originally posted by gtrogue
I had no trouble playing back the 1080p WMVHD samples that Microsoft has available.

Yes. The operative phrase is "plays them back."

It doesn't output 1080p, so it's converting it. In the same sense 1920x1080 or any frame size larger than 1280x720 is being "played back," but not likely at the true resolution.

Paging Keith Jack...

But, interesting anyway because mine would not play back even the 720p Microsoft WMV-HD demo of "Pinball."

Just puts up a message "non supported codec."

It plays all my 720p WMV-HD camcorder recordings though.

Originally posted by gtrogue
I had no trouble playing back the 1080p WMVHD samples that Microsoft has available. Can you confirm the pixel frame sizes of the WMV9 files you've tried?

According to some of Sigma's information, the following frame sizes are supported: -

Can the EM8620L Series decode high-definition programs?

Yes. The following high-definition sources are supported (maximum values):

MPEG-2: One 1280x720p60, 1920x1080i30 or 1920x1080p30 program
MPEG-4: One 1280x720p30 program
WMV9: One 1280x720p30 or 1440x1040p24 (1.85:1 anamorphic) program
Note, Sigma have written 1440x1040p and not 1440x1080p

It seems further clarification is required for Mpeg4 and WMV9 content.


Cheers

Originally posted by jakob1321
Tom - I elected not to send mine back...they seem to be extra cheapy drives. I don't feel like going through several cycles of repair hoping to get one that lasts.

You could be right...we'll see.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Can you confirm the pixel frame sizes of the WMV9 files you've tried?

According to some of Sigma's information, the following frame sizes are supported: -

Note, Sigma have written 1440x1040p and not 1440x1080p

It seems further clarification is required for Mpeg4 and WMV9 content.


Cheers

These seem pretty useless:
mpeg2 1920x1080i30, 1920x1080p30,
(the latter possibly having some benefit for the Sony FX1 camcorder.)

The 1440x1040p24 would possibly be very useful for WMV9 movies (1.85:1), but again you don't have an output mode for it that's native.

The output modes are NTSC 480i, NTSC-Japan, 480p, 720p, 1080i.

So I see the support for these formats as being actual *conversions*, not native.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
These seem pretty useless:
mpeg2 1920x1080i30, 1920x1080p30,
(the latter possibly having some benefit for the Sony FX1 camcorder.)

The 1440x1040p24 would possibly be very useful for WMV9 movies (1.85:1), but again you don't have an output mode for it that's native.

The output modes are NTSC 480i, NTSC-Japan, 480p, 720p, 1080i.

So I see the support for these formats as being actual *conversions*, not native. Even more important then to confirm the actual pixel frame sizes of the Mpeg4 and WMV9 source(s) played.

Can anyone oblige....


Cheers

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Yes. The operative phrase is "plays them back."

It doesn't output 1080p, so it's converting it. In the same sense 1920x1080 or any frame size larger than 1280x720 is being "played back," but not likely at the true resolution.

Paging Keith Jack...

I understand that it is only "playing them back". My display won't accept a 1080p signal so it is being converted to 1080i on the output side. My only point was that the chip can handle and convert a WMVHD 1080p video file as an input source.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Can you confirm the pixel frame sizes of the WMV9 files you've tried?


1440x1080p

I should add that the audio doesn't playback because all the commercially available WMVHD content uses the WMA 9 Pro audio codec and the LinkPlayer doesn't yet support it. The video plays back perfectly and looks excellent.

Originally posted by gtrogue
... My only point was that the chip can handle and convert a WMVHD 1080p video file as an input source. Can you please confirm the files full properties, in say Windows Explorer?


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Can you please confirm the files full properties, in say Windows Explorer?


Cheers

See my post right above this one.

Many thanks gtrogue,

I hate cross posting :eek:

I wonder whether Kermee could do the same with his Mpeg4 content!


Cheers

EDIT: If the I-O DATA player had been fitted with 6Ch "analogue" outputs (as per Sigma's "full" development kit) I very much doubt there would have been any problems with the WMA 9 Pro audio codec, or 6Ch AAC ;)

Can someone tell me how long it takes support to reply to emails?

For support emails sent to the USA email address are the replying from the USA or Japan?

Thx, BK

Has anyone tried any of the IMAX films available in 2-disc (DVD and WMV-HD)? I have one (Speed - large format WMVHD 2 disc set.) I will be getting my player today or tomorrow, so after I get it set up, I can try the HD disc to see how it plays. Box does not indicate what res it is, however. Or if it has 2-ch audio on the HD recording in addition to WMA-Pro (which will be supported later.) So I think the best I can hope for now is good video playback w/ no audio, as others have found.

On another topic- does anyone have any experience (outside of this player) with the Nero server? Since the next firmware upgrade will support UPnP, this is yet another option for us to try after that time. I wonder if any added features could be added with this (or other) 3rd party server software? some real wishes- lookup of metadata (like CDDB/cover art & DVd cover art) when adding media files to the server. Some HTPC front-ends do this now (like Meedio or DVD Lobby.) Then the server app could push this info to the I-O GUI instead of just a file list- that would be awesome! Since Nero is a pretty robust suite of apps, I did not know if their content server had any features tied to it like this.

Finally, I have to ask one more time, KJack (or anyone else) - is there any info about .ifo files you can share? Is it a hardware limitation to not play them from the server, or do we just need changes to a server app to support this file type for DVD menu navigation? Sorry to keep asking. Keep up the good info everyone. Really appreciate all the good stuff.

Originally posted by mikemav
I wonder if any added features could be added with this (or other) 3rd party server software? some real wishes- lookup of metadata (like CDDB/cover art & DVd cover art) when adding media files to the server. Some HTPC front-ends do this now (like Meedio or DVD Lobby.) Then the server app could push this info to the I-O GUI instead of just a file list- that would be awesome! Since Nero is a pretty robust suite of apps, I did not know if their content server had any features tied to it like this.



Kinda like THIS (http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/archives/000206.php)
more: Server/organizer info (http://www.playattv.com/eng/product/nmp4000/product2.htm)
GUI: here (http://www.playattv.com/eng/product/nmp4000/product3.htm)

Originally posted by mikemav
Has anyone tried any of the IMAX films available in 2-disc (DVD and WMV-HD)? I have one (Speed - large format WMVHD 2 disc set.) I will be getting my player today or tomorrow, so after I get it set up, I can try the HD disc to see how it plays. Box does not indicate what res it is, however. Or if it has 2-ch audio on the HD recording in addition to WMA-Pro (which will be supported later.) So I think the best I can hope for now is good video playback w/ no audio, as others have found.

The files will not playback because the LinkPlayer doesn't support Windows Media DRM. The firmware update at the end of the month is supposed to add WM DRM support as well as WMA 9 Pro support. At that point the WMVHD DVD-ROM's available here in the US as well as the ones available overseas should play.

http://openshowcenter.sourceforge.net

Don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but the fine folks at IO-Data told me that the UPnP support was a bug issue, not a new feature, so they'd hope to have it resolved in the next update or two.

Originally posted by gtrogue
I understand that it is only "playing them back". My display won't accept a 1080p signal so it is being converted to 1080i on the output side. My only point was that the chip can handle and convert a WMVHD 1080p video file as an input source.

And that's a very good point indeed!

I think even if your display *could* support 1080p, 1080i is still all you would get, because I-O Data seems to indicate on the display readout the only output modes it has, NTSC, 480p, 720p, 1080i.

And I think that's actually true in the case of 1080i native source also, gets downconverted to what the max resolution the chip can decode, (720p), and back out as upconverted 1080i to the display. I could be wrong, hoping for clarification on this.

So the question would be, is it any better to watch 1080p WMV9 than to watch 720p WMV9?

Either way, even for native 720p sources I don't think the scaler is being bypassed, which is probably a flaw in the concept.

1080i is fine for me since it's the best my Tosh RPTV can do. I hadn't even thought of it as downrezzing. Though I hope to have a 1080p display someday.

- Tom

Kermee,

Could you please confirm the pixel frame size of the high-def Mpeg4 content you have tested with the I-O DATA player?


Cheers

Consider the hypothetical semi-clueless shopper, knows enough to be dangerous:

He hears or reads that something plays 1080p, and that he can connect it to the 9 inch tv in the kitchen via the composite connector. He says, "I can watch the best, highest quality 1080p HDTV WMV9 encoded movies right from my kitchen table!"

...and he's correct.

But you know the difference.

Originally posted by Tom Roper

And I think that's actually true in the case of 1080i native source also, gets downconverted to what the max resolution the chip can decode, (720p), and back out as upconverted 1080i to the display. I could be wrong, hoping for clarification on this.
Downconverting to 720p and then upconverting to 1080i wouldn't make any sense. If the chip is capable of downcoverting 1080p to 720p then it is capable of downconverting 1080p to 1080i. In either case the 1080p video is being input and processed.

I can tell you that, using the same video, one encoded at 1080p and one at 720p, the 1080p version looks better than the 720p version when output at 1080i.

I had a quick question for everyone here:

Has anyone tried any downloaded ts files converted with hdtvtompeg2 to see if they play?

Some of these are 19280 *1080i and I was curious if they would play before I bought the player, I can provide test samples. Thanks.

I haven't tried one but Sigma Designs' spec for the chip says it supports MPEG-2 at 1920x1080i30 and 1920x1080p30.

If I were to upload one to you, could you try it for me sir?

Thanks.

Sure. I can try it when I get home tonight.

I will be around tonight. I can create a 10mb clip and upload it to you. Let me know when is good for you. Let the testing begin :)

I'm curious about the WMA 9 Pro audio support. How exactly is this thing going to handle it? With no multi-channel analog audio outputs how exactly will the surround information be transported. I don't have a stereo capable of decoding WMA9 Pro audio so passing it out the digital audio connections doesn't do me any good. It would seem that PCM or two channel analog audio is all the player will be capable of.
Does this thing have the horse power to re-encode the audio to DD on the fly? I wouldn't think so.
Anybody got any ideas?

Tom,
The scaler can scale to 1080p. I assume I-O Data didn't implement it because 99.9% of the people in the US don't have displays capable of supporting that resolution.

Let me see if I understand what you're saying:

1. File is demuxed.
2. Video is scaled.
3. Video is decoded.
4. Video is scaled.
5. Video is ouput.

Is this sequence what you're thinking?

Originally posted by repdetect2
I had a quick question for everyone here:

Has anyone tried any downloaded ts files converted with hdtvtompeg2 to see if they play?

Some of these are 19280 *1080i and I was curious if they would play before I bought the player, I can provide test samples. Thanks.

Yup works fine, I off loaded some video from my D-VHS deck and ran it through hdtv2mpeg, edited out commercials, played just fine.

MB1010

most ts files play fine via the shortcut method

edit: MB beat me to it :)

Originally posted by monkeyboy1010
I recorded Arrested Development (if you haven't seen this show, run now, see it) on FOX last night to my DVHS machine, then I downloaded it via DVHS Tool to the PC using HDTVtoMPG (http://www.doom9.org/Soft21/DigiTV/HDTVtoMPEG2_1.11-Beta.zip) I edited out the commercials and created a MPG file to serve from the PC.

The file plays back perfectly on the AVel including the AC3 5.1 stream (if only I could get my amp to decode it correctly ;) )

mb1010

I realized I had posted about this a couple of weeks ago....

Originally posted by gtrogue
I'm curious about the WMA 9 Pro audio support. How exactly is this thing going to handle it? With no multi-channel analog audio outputs how exactly will the surround information be transported. Quite honestly, I don't believe it can!

Originally posted by gtrogue
Does this thing have the horse power to re-encode the audio to DD on the fly? I wouldn't think so.
Anybody got any ideas? I don't think so either... maybe Keith Jack can confirm!


Cheers

Does this thing have the horse power to re-encode the audio to DD on the fly? I wouldn't think so.
Anybody got any ideas?

I don't think it takes that much horsepower to encode ac3 since they don't have to do a very good job of compressing and don't care much about the bit rate. For instance ac3filter can do that now.

But there are no promises they intend to do that. And obviously there are not enough audio output connecters for six channels without something like that. I guess I'm not betting on it.

- Tom

Originally posted by trbarry
I don't think it takes that much horsepower to encode ac3 since they don't have to do a very good job of compressing and don't care much about the bit rate. For instance ac3filter can do that now.

But there are no promises they intend to do that. And obviously there are not enough audio output connecters for six channels without something like that. I guess I'm not betting on it.

- Tom I guess there would also be licensing issues should converting 6Ch AAC or 6Ch WMA over to 6Ch DolbyDigital (or 6Ch DTS), ever become a reality!


Cheers

Thanks Monkeyboy,

I am going to place my order for one this evening then...

Originally posted by monkeyboy1010
Yup works fine, I off loaded some video from my D-VHS deck and ran it through hdtv2mpeg, edited out commercials, played just fine.

MB1010

I cant get my linkplayer to play any TS files :( I updated the firmware (only got player today) straight away. Should I rollback firmware and wait til 23rd Dec update>
I've tried shortcut trick and whilst it shows file, the screen goes black and nothing happens.
I'm not impressed with the upconverting into my HS20 but I currently use a Pioneer 939 into a Lumagen Vision scaler at 720p with lovely results so maybe I'm expecting too much. I'm more interested TS and WMV-HD stuff anyway, I have some Imax WMV-HD discs but of course have to wait til next firmware update to enjoy them :)
Would love to sort the TS issue out though. I currently have a Rokulabs HD1000 that I'm using for them and would really like to ditch the machine in favour of the linkplayer if I can.
Any help would be appreciated :) (I'm a UK HD lover by the way ;) )

hehe, no sooner did I type this than I rolled back firmware and TS stuff works via shortcut method, now just have an audio issue grrr.
This is the price for early adopting I guess ;)

monkeyboy1010
did you get your AC3 sound working ?

Originally posted by lifeisfun
monkeyboy1010
did you get your AC3 sound working ?

Not through my Sony amp, and the newest firmware didn't fix the problem either. Something about the bitstream the Sony amp dosen't like.

mb1010

While I'm going over old gripes.... I had mentioned this before, I noticed that the DD and DTS symbols don't illuminate on the player. Anyone else have this problem?

One more question for everyone here, has anyone tried any xvid/divx 640 * 480 anime on this player?

My old phillips dvp-642 had some problems displaying the information and the subtitles where cut off....

I have read the whole thread tonight and dont think anyone has mentioned PIDs yet (for TS files).
When I started using the Roku HD1000 I found that 80% of the TS stuff I sourced had to be processed using something like TStoATSC/TStoATSC3, this was the only way to stop audio stuttering. I find that the Linkplayer is exactly the same as I tried a new file tonight and it's unwatchable due to audio stuttering yet files I have processed are fine. I was really hoping to be able to bypass the processing side of things as it is very time consuming abd after running something through TStoATSC3 you end up with 133mb files (and lots of them) and the prospect of processing and then rejoining can be very time consuming :(
Any comments?

Originally posted by monkeyboy1010
Not through my Sony amp, and the newest firmware didn't fix the problem either. Something about the bitstream the Sony amp dosen't like.

mb1010

Same here...It drives me crazy :mad:

------------
still no DD or DTS on the display

While I'm going over old gripes.... I had mentioned this before, I noticed that the DD and DTS symbols don't illuminate on the player. Anyone else have this problem?

---------------

Me too... The picture is great.. but miss the whole "home theater" experience without DD/DTS. I wrote to IOData but have not had response so far. Hope they fix it else this unit may have to go back.

Originally posted by nishantha
------------
still no DD or DTS on the display

While I'm going over old gripes.... I had mentioned this before, I noticed that the DD and DTS symbols don't illuminate on the player. Anyone else have this problem?

---------------

Me too... The picture is great.. but miss the whole "home theater" experience without DD/DTS. I wrote to IOData but have not had response so far. Hope they fix it else this unit may have to go back.


Looks like there is more of us than I thought ....

Originally posted by monkeyboy1010
While I'm going over old gripes.... I had mentioned this before, I noticed that the DD and DTS symbols don't illuminate on the player. Anyone else have this problem?

Yes no indicator of whether its DD or DTS.

Originally posted by nishantha
Me too... The picture is great.. but miss the whole "home theater" experience without DD/DTS. I wrote to IOData but have not had response so far. Hope they fix it else this unit may have to go back.

OK how? its still passing the proper stream out the optical? I'm decoding DD, DD ex, and DTS no problem.

Originally posted by webboy10169
Yes no indicator of whether its DD or DTS.



OK how? its still passing the proper stream out the optical? I'm decoding DD, DD ex, and DTS no problem.

That's the million dollar question.

I have a Sony amp that can't decode it's DD stream, but can decode any other DD stream it gets. Yet It can decode it's DTS stream.

I have a Techniques amp that can decode all it's streams.

very very annoying

mb1010

Originally posted by gtrogue
Tom,
The scaler can scale to 1080p. I assume I-O Data didn't implement it because 99.9% of the people in the US don't have displays capable of supporting that resolution.

Let me see if I understand what you're saying:

1. File is demuxed.
2. Video is scaled.
3. Video is decoded.
4. Video is scaled.
5. Video is ouput.

Is this sequence what you're thinking?

Disregard that. I pulled the post immediately after I posted it because the clarification I was asking for was already presented, when it was stated by I-O Data (in the email reply) that the following formats are supported:

1920x1080i30
1920x1080p30
720p30

etc.

Thanx

Originally posted by monkeyboy1010
That's the million dollar question.

I have a Sony amp that can't decode it's DD stream, but can decode any other DD stream it gets. Yet It can decode it's DTS stream.

I have a Techniques amp that can decode all it's streams.

very very annoying

mb1010

So so far this is an issue with sony amps any others having this issue?
I suspect the sony amp is looking for something in the stream thats not there or is in a different place.

My Sony receiver works fine but I am using optical.

I wasn't having any problems with pass-through of DD5.5 or DTS streams.

I was not able to play TS streams, although I had not tried the shortcut method. To get the file to display, I renamed it to filename.mpg, but it would not play, unsupported codec I think it displayed. My source for TS files again was from the JVC camcorder, 720p30. They played great converted to WMV9 though, which was whole point of the AVLP2 for me.

Where's our UK friend...museumsteve...Womble Mpeg Video Wizard lets you change PIDs fairly painlessly I think, and you can download a 30 day trial.

What's troubling is the observation that you have to rollback the firmware to play TS? Anybody else notice this? Could it just be that all TS is not created equal?

I wasn't even aware there was a DTS or DD symbol on the AVLP2 display. I look at my receiver to see what the audio stream type is. DTS and DD5.1 both passthrough fine via the SPDIF coax.

Lastly...anybody having any playback problems with marginal DVD-R media, or playback toward the end of a full disk?

Tapping fingers awaiting my replacement AVLP2. The pain without it is excrutiating.

I'll give womble a try this week, however my HS20 is going on Friday and then I have a week or so to wait for my shiny new HS50 ;) I can see myself getting the DVI version (Linkplayer) as soon as it's available :).
I had a look at Amazon WMV-HD disc through WMP10 on PC tonight and could notice the difference over the d/l trailer from MS through the Linkplayer's D4/component. I dont want to look at any drastic changes of course until the next firmware update is available, I dont think my Roku HD1000 will be going anywhere just yet.

---
So so far this is an issue with sony amps any others having this issue?
I suspect the sony amp is looking for something in the stream thats not there or is in a different place.
----

Mine is a Kenwood receiver and I can't get any DD/DTS passthru EXCEPT for the DVD "Scarface". Go figure..

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
This is indeed interesting!

1440x1080 (1,555,200 total) pixels is supposed to be the pixel frame size for WMV9 content. And 1280x720 (921,600 total) pixels is supposed to be the pixel frame size for Mpeg4 content...

That said, I was hoping that the maximum Mpeg4 pixel frame size was not set in stone and that as long as the max pixel count did not exceed 921,600 total, PAR signalling could have been used to create "higher vertical" resolution images... But you seem to have blown this theory out of the water!

Can I ask... what container are you storing your Mpeg4 streams in?


Cheers

AVI container with AC3 384 DD 5.1 interleaved. (Ssssshhh! Don't tell anyone I'm using AVI! ;) )

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Kermee,

Could you please confirm the pixel frame size of the high-def Mpeg4 content you have tested with the I-O DATA player?

Cheers

From my post here in this thread when I made the XviD demonstrating the AVeL LinkPlayer2, will tell you have I have tried so far:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4763052#post4763052


2. Playback of a sample 1440x1080p anamorphic PAR flagged XviD-HD (1.0.2) encode of Matrix Reloaded I made. (Source was 1080i/29.97 telecined to 1080p/23.976). Audio is AC3 interleaved into AVI container. Average video bitrate is 8 Mbps (Two-pass VBR encode).
The sample is 76 seconds long. I encoded the entire movie at 1280x720p though to give enough bitrate for the video and I know people will scream "Bloody Murder!" that the average video bitrate was only 4 Mbps, the results were absolutely stunning in PQ for MOST people. All of this and it fits onto a single-layer DVD-R/+R with DD 5.1 384kbps AC3.

The 1440x1080p sample was just to test PAR. Also, the average video bitrate on the 1440x1080p sample was almost 8 Mbps just to put a hammer and definitive answer that I-O Data's documentation on 1.5 Mbps maximum DivX/XviD video bitrate is completely incorrect.

Anyway, there is butter-smooth playback on the sample and proper AR with no audio stutter or anything. Also, I used B-VOP's. Just 1 consecutive to keep within the "DivX-HD Certified" standard only allowing "Adaptive Single Consecutive". Anyway, I tried 2 and 3 and it caused stutter in the video. ;)


http://www.hs2000talk.com/images/xvid_anamorphic.png

Originally posted by repdetect2
I had a quick question for everyone here:

Has anyone tried any downloaded ts files converted with hdtvtompeg2 to see if they play?

Some of these are 19280 *1080i and I was curious if they would play before I bought the player, I can provide test samples. Thanks.

Yes. I use HDTVtoMPEG2 1.11 Beta and it works great on my transport streams. Kind of a 'patch' until I-O Data can release the firmware to play transport streams directly since it's silly to put another layer (program stream) on top of it to play it back.

...

I leave for 24 hours and this thread explodes. ;)

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Quite honestly, I don't believe it can!

I don't think so either... maybe Keith Jack can confirm!

Cheers

In regards to WMA9 Pro 5.1, either it's going to get downsampled to stereo from the I-O Data unit, or sent out the coax/optical as a bitstream to one of the few receivers on the market that can decode WMA9 Pro 5.1 (One of the Pioneer Elite receivers come to mind).

There's a 166 MHz 32-bit RISC CPU in the EM8620L chip, but I doubt there's enough cycles left to process WMA9 Pro 5.1 into AC3.

Originally posted by museumsteve
I cant get my linkplayer to play any TS files :( I updated the firmware (only got player today) straight away. Should I rollback firmware and wait til 23rd Dec update>
I've tried shortcut trick and whilst it shows file, the screen goes black and nothing happens.
I'm not impressed with the upconverting into my HS20 but I currently use a Pioneer 939 into a Lumagen Vision scaler at 720p with lovely results so maybe I'm expecting too much. I'm more interested TS and WMV-HD stuff anyway, I have some Imax WMV-HD discs but of course have to wait til next firmware update to enjoy them :)
Would love to sort the TS issue out though. I currently have a Rokulabs HD1000 that I'm using for them and would really like to ditch the machine in favour of the linkplayer if I can.
Any help would be appreciated :) (I'm a UK HD lover by the way ;) )

Rollback the firmware. There have been sporadic reports that any HDTV playback on the unit with new firmware (12/03/2004... Or 03/12/2004 for some of you other folks) will lock/freeze the unit.

I just happen to be one of them where HDTV playback is broken on the new firmware. I had to rollback. I'm curious to see what resolution output folks are using with the new firmware and are not locking up. My output is at 1080i. Wonder if it doesn't lock up at 720p or any of the other resolutions... Or I'm just barking up the wrong tree.

Originally posted by monkeyboy1010
Not through my Sony amp, and the newest firmware didn't fix the problem either. Something about the bitstream the Sony amp dosen't like.

mb1010

Same club. Different brand. Boston Acoustics. I can only get 'Stereo' mode working. AC3 gives me a quick burts of 'noise' when the AC3 stream starts from the I-O Data and then silence.

Originally posted by repdetect2
One more question for everyone here, has anyone tried any xvid/divx 640 * 480 anime on this player?

My old phillips dvp-642 had some problems displaying the information and the subtitles where cut off....

I own two Philips DVP642's and never had overscan/aspect-ratio issues with 640x480 resolution DivX/XviD's. Are you NTSC or PAL? 4:3 or 16:9 screen? And components? S-Video? Or composite? I haven't had any aspect-ratio issues with the LinkPlayer2 so far on either a 4:3 screen on 16:9 screen over components.

Off-topic but my only huge gripe about the Philips DVP642 was it's inability to support custom MPEG matricies in DivX and XviD streams. Only standard MPEG and H.263 matricies were supported.

LinkPlayer2 supports custom MPEG matricies.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Disregard that. I pulled the post immediately after I posted it because the clarification I was asking for was already presented, when it was stated by I-O Data (in the email reply) that the following formats are supported:

1920x1080i30
1920x1080p30
720p30

etc.

Thanx

I'm so tempted to make a 1280x720p60 (59.94) sample to see if it plays on it. I could watch the Hawks LOSE again or did I delete the transport stream...

Okay. I'm done hijacking 'Page 46' of this thread. *Whew*.

Found this deal to add capacity to the io-data unit!

* Microcenter - external USB2 160GB hard drive $60 after rebate
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=179475
Purchase price is $110 at Microcenter stores and Microcenter.com. A $50 mail-in rebate is available. Add $6 shipping if ordered online.
see other recent deals involving: computer hardware, data storage
see more information on this deal. Email this deal to a friend.

Enjoy,
Fabian

Originally posted by Kermee
I'm so tempted to make a 1280x720p60 (59.94) sample to see if it plays on it. I could watch the Hawks LOSE again or did I delete the transport stream...

I don't know how I overlooked that one, 1280x720p60 (59.94), but since that's generic ATSC 720p, that one probably needs no test.

FWIW, I was able to play 720p30 WMV9 before and after the firmware upgrade, but was unable to play the Microsoft WMV9 demo "PINBALL" either before or after. Someone want to confirm that?

Can the unit's cd-rom be made region free?

I just happen to be one of them where HDTV playback is broken on the new firmware. I had to rollback. I'm curious to see what resolution output folks are using with the new firmware and are not locking up. My output is at 1080i. Wonder if it doesn't lock up at 720p or any of the other resolutions... Or I'm just barking up the wrong tree I am locking up with Divx Hd on the new firmware and I am using 1080i. I have rolled back for that reason. I may try rolling forward to the new firmware and using 720P instead. I guess it is worth a shot.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
I don't know how I overlooked that one, 1280x720p60 (59.94), but since that's generic ATSC 720p, that one probably needs no test.


I have 2 .ts files @ 720p60 neither will show video, audio works fine.

Originally posted by nishantha
---
So so far this is an issue with sony amps any others having this issue?
I suspect the sony amp is looking for something in the stream thats not there or is in a different place.
----

Mine is a Kenwood receiver and I can't get any DD/DTS passthru EXCEPT for the DVD "Scarface". Go figure..

Same problem here - Pioneer receiver

Originally posted by Kermee
There's a 166 MHz 32-bit RISC CPU in the EM8620L chip, but I doubt there's enough cycles left to process WMA9 Pro 5.1 into AC3.

According to KiSS interview the EM8620 and it's DSP is "that powerfull" that only gives 22% CPU utilization playing HD DRM content with WMA9 Pro sound !

Hi Kermee,

Your confirmation that Mpeg4 can be encoded up to a pixel frame size of 1440x1080, is indeed very good news :D

The only problem I can see is that most encoding applications only encode Mpeg4 in 16x16 macro-blocks. Which would mean the vertical pixel count would have to rise to 1088.

Can I ask if you've tried muxing any of your 1440x1080 Mpeg4 encodes into the MP4 container?


Cheers

Got an email yesterday regarding the audio drops and noise of the DVD player

Noise: They are working on a firmware update to slow the drive down. Apparently it is running at full speed all the time and this is the reason for the noise... someone here mention a similar problem with Denon drives

Audio Drops: Stated the drive might be defective, but asked if I could wait for a firmware update... then said the drive was defective and I should RMA it to replace it. I asked for a clarification and waiting for a reply.

The email was sent from an IP in Japan. So it looks like tech support is located there. That, or he was sending his replies through their email server in Japan.

Originally posted by lifeisfun
Same problem here - Pioneer receiver

I have a pioneer VSX33TX set to auto detect and it is picking up DTS, DD, THX from my DVD's. The panel lights up with the appropriate audio indication and surround sound speaks are showing on-line. I have tried about 20 commercial DVD's and a bunch of DVD-R's too. All work. I am connected using the digital optical output, which is the same that I used with pioneer DVD 525.

I tired a digital coax and it worked too.

Hi, I want to know if support PAL/NTSC and multiregion

Originally posted by Kermee
In regards to WMA9 Pro 5.1, either it's going to get downsampled to stereo from the I-O Data unit, or sent out the coax/optical as a bitstream to one of the few receivers on the market that can decode WMA9 Pro 5.1 (One of the Pioneer Elite receivers come to mind).

There's a 166 MHz 32-bit RISC CPU in the EM8620L chip, but I doubt there's enough cycles left to process WMA9 Pro 5.1 into AC3.

That's what I figured. It kind of sucks that I-O Data didn't include multi-channel analog audio outputs.
This issue seems like a huge oversight considering WMVHD playback is one of the players features and 99.9999999999999% of all preamps and receivers won't decode a WMA Pro bitstream. Here I come DPL-II!

What's the net summary on this no multi-channel analog audio output? Can someone summarize what this means the linkplayer2 can't do? I'm waiting for mine, I ordered it last week and I'm still waiting for it (fedex ground sucks!)...

I have a Creative Labs decoder that decodes DD's, DTS, DTS EX, etc. I use an optical cable. Should I worry I can't enjoy those audio streams, or even AC3 sound in xvid/divx encodes when played using the player?

Originally posted by eddiefg
What's the net summary on this no multi-channel analog audio output? Can someone summarize what this means the linkplayer2 can't do? I'm waiting for mine, I ordered it last week and I'm still waiting for it (fedex ground sucks!)...

I have a Creative Labs decoder that decodes DD's, DTS, DTS EX, etc. I use an optical cable. Should I worry I can't enjoy those audio streams, or even AC3 sound in xvid/divx encodes when played using the player?

The player will pass the digital bitstream to a receiver. If your receiver is able to decode the bitstream then you will have no problem with the audio. The problem is that most (nearly all) preamps and receivers can't decode the WMA bitstream. The inability of your receiver to decode the bitstream means that the LinkPlayer will have to decode the audio and then pass it as an analog signal to an amplifier. Since the LinkPlayer lacks multi-channel analog audio outputs, like those on SACD and DVD-Audio players, you will be limited to stereo audio from the back panel analog stereo outputs. In other words, no discrete multi-channel audio when watching WMVHD material. All commercially available WMVHD discs use WMA Pro 9 audio exclusively.

I don't know much about Windows Media files but I assume that other audio codecs can be used for homegrown files.

Originally posted by gtrogue
That's what I figured. It kind of sucks that I-O Data didn't include multi-channel analog audio outputs.
This issue seems like a huge oversight considering WMVHD playback is one of the players features and 99.9999999999999% of all preamps and receivers won't decode a WMA Pro bitstream. Here I come DPL-II! The misery of not having 6Ch analogue outputs does not just stop with being unable to play WMA pro streams.... you can't play 6Ch AAC-LC streams either - which is a must have element of the MP4 container.

According to Keith Jack (of Sigma), nobody has asked for the "development kit" that offers 6Ch analogue audio..... In my opinion Sigma should not have offered them a choice.

Arguably..... there would not have been this mess if all players contained 6Ch analogue outputs as standard.


Cheers

Originally posted by gtrogue
I don't know much about Windows Media files but I assume that other audio codecs can be used for homegrown files.

It played regular 2-ch WMA (non WM9-Pro 5.1) as Linear PCM via the SPDIF/coax for me.

Originally posted by gtrogue
The player will pass the digital bitstream to a receiver. If your receiver is able to decode the bitstream then you will have no problem with the audio. The problem is that most (nearly all) preamps and receivers can't decode the WMA bitstream. The inability of your receiver to decode the bitstream means that the LinkPlayer will have to decode the audio and then pass it as an analog signal to an amplifier. Since the LinkPlayer lacks multi-channel analog audio outputs, like those on SACD and DVD-Audio players, you will be limited to stereo audio from the back panel analog stereo outputs. In other words, no discrete multi-channel audio when watching WMVHD material. All commercially available WMVHD discs use WMA Pro 9 audio exclusively.

I don't know much about Windows Media files but I assume that other audio codecs can be used for homegrown files.

That's brutal :-( I suppose also in the future any new digital audio streams the player can' t handle will always fall back to this - the 2ch output the player has. That's a bummer, and I suppose firmware can't fix this at all? (that is, add support for decoding WMA Pro 9 say, and output the result on the digital connections in multi-channel? (err, I guess I'm asking for WMA to convert to DD or something? ...)

p.s. This post is huge! This player almost deserves its own board!

Originally posted by Tom Roper
It played regular 2-ch WMA (non WM9-Pro 5.1) as Linear PCM via the SPDIF/coax for me.
I thought maybe it would but didn't know if the multi-channel audio would be downmixed and converted so it could be output via the coax or optical audio connections.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
The misery of not having 6Ch analogue outputs does not just stop with being unable to play WMA pro streams.... you can't play 6Ch AAC-LC streams either - which is a must have element of the MP4 container.

According to Keith Jack (of Sigma), nobody has asked for the "development kit" that offers 6Ch analogue audio..... In my opinion Sigma should not have offered them a choice.

Arguably..... there would not have been this mess if all players contained 6Ch analogue outputs as standard.


Cheers

Could the 6Ch boards increase manufacturing enough to not make them a worthwhile pursuit?
I can't see the firmware and software development being anymore complicated since they are going to include the decoding anyway.

Originally posted by gtrogue
Could the 6Ch boards increase manufacturing enough to not make them a worthwhile pursuit?
I can't see the firmware and software development being anymore complicated since they are going to include the decoding anyway. The thing I find most bizarre is that, prior to the I-O DATA payers release, Sigma was promoting their chip-set as offering WMA9 Pro 5.1 and AAC.

So, this begs the question, how the hell did Sigma think 6Ch audio was going to be heard by the end user..... telepathy perhaps!

What was in their minds when they allowed the manufacture and distribution of an "half-assed" development kit.

In my opinion, some people over at Sigma f**ked up big time. And they are too embarrassed to admit it!


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
The thing I find most bizarre is that, prior to the I-O DATA payers release, Sigma was promoting their chip-set as offering WMA9 Pro 5.1 and AAC.

The product brochure for this chip still states the same. Personally, I think it was an oversight on the part of Avel that the WMA audio was not somehow handled correctly, though that would have meant investing in some R&D to come up with a chipset that autodetects the audio digital stream from the Sigma chip and converts to discreet analog streams to be sent out via RCA connectors or something.

I'm not sure it is fair to blame Sigma since they are decoding the audio from the container and sending it out the digital audio output just as they say they do.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Hi Kermee,

Your confirmation that Mpeg4 can be encoded up to a pixel frame size of 1440x1080, is indeed very good news :D

The only problem I can see is that most encoding applications only encode Mpeg4 in 16x16 macro-blocks. Which would mean the vertical pixel count would have to rise to 1088.

Can I ask if you've tried muxing any of your 1440x1080 Mpeg4 encodes into the MP4 container?


Cheers

Ah. 1088. That I can fix and test again.

I haven't tried muxing into an MP4 container yet, but will do so tonight after I get home from work and give the results.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
It played regular 2-ch WMA (non WM9-Pro 5.1) as Linear PCM via the SPDIF/coax for me.

I can vouch for this too. Either muxed into a WMA or WMV file. I made a sample 1280x720p/30 clip with WMA (Non-Pro) 2-channel muxed into WMV and the audio plays fine.

Originally posted by gtrogue
I thought maybe it would but didn't know if the multi-channel audio would be downmixed and converted so it could be output via the coax or optical audio connections.
I'm certain at the bare minimum, WMA 9.x Pro 5.1 audio COULD be handled the following way:

1. Stereo downmix to the on-board 2-channel analog outputs. (Can almost guarantee that).
2. Possibly stereo downmix to 2-channel linear PCM on optical/coax.
3. WMA 9.x Pro 5.1 bitstream output on optical/coax. (Another, can almost guarantee that).
4. WMA 9.x Pro 5.1 transcode to AC3 5.1 with bitstream output on optical/coax. (Extremely wishful thinking, but doubt it would happen, though I could be utterly wrong).

Originally posted by Dolfo
The product brochure for this chip still states the same. Personally, I think it was an oversight on the part of Avel that the WMA audio was not somehow handled correctly, though that would have meant investing in some R&D to come up with a chipset that autodetects the audio digital stream from the Sigma chip and converts to discreet analog streams to be sent out via RCA connectors or something.

I'm not sure it is fair to blame Sigma since they are decoding the audio from the container and sending it out the digital audio output just as they say they do. With respect.... I believe there's nothing wrong with the chip-set. The fault most certainly lies with Sigma allowing "development kits" to be manufactured and supplied that are not capable of passing out what their own chip-set was designed to decode.

Personally speaking, I have little interest in Micro$oft's audio and video products, as their strangle hold in the world of computing is already too dominant and I don't like the thought of such dominance moving over to the media world as well.

But it's laughable promoting a player that's supposed to be able to support high-def WMV DVD content... when it clearly can't. And any fix would be a severe compromise solution!


Cheers

So forgive me, but who's observation is it that it doesn't play WMA9-Pro 5.1 audio? Who's tested this?

Originally posted by Tom Roper
So forgive me, but who's observation is it that it doesn't play WMA9-Pro 5.1 audio? Who's tested this? Tom... how would you go about being able to listen to all six audio channels.

Surely you are not expecting that we should all go out and buy new DSS amps?

Originally posted by Dolfo
The product brochure for this chip still states the same. Personally, I think it was an oversight on the part of Avel that the WMA audio was not somehow handled correctly, though that would have meant investing in some R&D to come up with a chipset that autodetects the audio digital stream from the Sigma chip and converts to discreet analog streams to be sent out via RCA connectors or something.

I'm not sure it is fair to blame Sigma since they are decoding the audio from the container and sending it out the digital audio output just as they say they do.

Sigma already has a reference board design that includes multi-channel analog outputs. I'm just curious why I-O Data used the the stereo reference design instead of the multi-channel design.

Had they gone with the multi-channel design all the necessary hardware would already be on the board.

Originally posted by Kermee

4. WMA 9.x Pro 5.1 transcode to AC3 5.1 with bitstream output on optical/coax. (Extremely wishful thinking, but doubt it would happen, though I could be utterly wrong).

Unless there's stong evidence to the contrary, what is there to conclude this won't happen? Has anyone actually tested? It doesn't seem unlikely to me at all. The AVLP2 is licensed by Dolby Labs.

Anybody have TMPGEnc 3.0 Express?

If somebody does, would they try encoding a few minutes of any popular DVD title with AC3 to WM9 video and WMA9-Pro 5.1.

I would gladly do this, but no AVLP2 to play it on at the present.

Alternatively, I could do a few seconds on a low video bit rate clip, and email the file to somebody with the AVLP2.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
Anybody have TMPGEnc 3.0 Express?

If somebody does, would they try encoding a few minutes of any popular DVD title with AC3 to WM9 video and WMA9-Pro 5.1.

I would gladly do this, but no AVLP2 to play it on at the present.

Alternatively, I could do a few seconds on a low video bit rate clip, and email the file to somebody with the AVLP2.
Can you create the file and upload it before 4 PM EST? If you can I can give you temporary login on my ftp server to upload it. That way you don't have to make the file small enough to email. I can try it when I get home tonight.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
So forgive me, but who's observation is it that it doesn't play WMA9-Pro 5.1 audio? Who's tested this?

I've tested it.

WMA 9.x Pro 2-channel or 5.1 = No Audio
WMA 9.x Non-Pro 2-channel = Audio

I thought it had been stated before that a future firmware upgrade would enable (some type?) of playback of WM9-Pro audio (along with DRM content, I would imagine.) I did not think it was supported yet.

Originally posted by gtrogue
Had they gone with the multi-channel design all the necessary hardware would already be on the board. Very true. I think some people are forgetting when Keith Jack was asked the following: -.... 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)? He replied: -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.Seriously... How lame is this reply?


Cheers

Originally posted by Kermee
I've tested it.

WMA 9.x Pro 2-channel or 5.1 = No Audio
WMA 9.x Non-Pro 2-channel = Audio

Let me clarify:

WMA 9.x Pro 2-channel or 5.1 = No Audio from Analog Outputs

I have no equipment that can decode WMA bitstreams from the coax/optical S/PDIF.

Well, I guess testing WMA Pro 9 is impossible right now considering the player needs a firmware update to be able to handle it correctly. We'll have to wait until the 23rd to find out for sure.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
You are forgetting when Keith Jack was asked the following: -He replied: -Seriously... How lame is this reply?
Cheers
So basically assuming at least WMA Pro is pumped out the coax/optical, we'd all need new receivers for even just plain 2-channel stereo?

I guess this all assumes that the I-O Data will do is pump the WMA Pro bitstream and not transcode to Linear PCM or even analog 2-channel outputs?

You know, I'm in the same boat as others where if WMA Pro isn't "properly" supported, it would of 'bothered' me during the purchasing process but wouldn't of stopped me.

The DivX/XviD-HD + AC3 (and I'll delve into AAC soon) playback and network ability alone was worth it. However, let's hope this doesn't set a precedent of misrepresentation of what a unit can or cannot do.

Basically, all of my MPEG-2 HDTV content is being transcoded to XviD/AC3 and I'm extremely happy. When I move into my new home in February, I can have an I-O Data on my InFocus 4805 in the HT room, another unit in my gaming/computer room hooked up to my aging Toshiba 40H80, and another in my bedroom on a HDTV-set 'yet-to-be-determined'...

... without having to go through the trouble of building an HTPC. My needs are simple. Video. Audio. Pictures. I've got tons of el cheapo notebooks on WiFI for Internet surfing.

Now if they can just get the AVeL LinkPlayer2 Link Server and I-O Data firmware to support VIDEO_TS/AUDIO_TS/IFO's...

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Very true. I think some people are forgetting when Keith Jack was asked the following: -He replied: -Seriously... How lame is this reply?


Cheers

I don't quite know why you chose that quote because it doesn't seem to be related to what you posted. Sigma does have a multi-channel analog reference design and using it wouldn't require a downmix.

Plus, wasn't Keith Jack specifically referring to AAC 5.1 when he made those comments?

It would seem that a stereo downmix has to be possible with WMA Pro 9 or, at the very least, transcoding to linear PCM. Otherwise there's no reason for I-O Data to add support for it because only the three people in the entire world that own a receiver capable of decoding the WMA bitstream will be able to take advantage of it.

Maybe a lot of receivers and preamps in Japan support WMA bitstream decoding and I-O Data just didn't do enough market recent in the US to know that not many here do. Who knows?

Originally posted by Kermee

Now if they can just get the AVeL LinkPlayer2 Link Server and I-O Data firmware to support VIDEO_TS/AUDIO_TS/IFO's...

Some adventurous coder out there needs to take up the mantle and development us a homegrown server app that will do what we want.;)

Originally posted by gtrogue
I don't quite know why you chose that quote because it doesn't seem to be related to what you posted. Sigma does have a multi-channel analog reference design and using it wouldn't require a downmix. In support of your post. What I was trying to point out is that... Yes, the 6Ch analogue output "development kit" exists. But according to Keith Jack, nobody has asked for it!

My argument is... why should they have to ask for it. It should be supplied as standard. If it was, none you guys would be in this mess. You would all have lovely players capable of spinning, HD WMV DVD's with WMA pro 5.1 audio, or HD Mpeg4 with 6Ch AAC-LC.


EDIT: Oh and Sigma don't appear to be interested that much because they are working on supporting "more advanced" audio codecs... Lets hope they are only 2 channel!!!!


Cheers

Oh, I guess I'm just used to people quoting me and contradicting my posts. ;)

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
In support of your post. What I was trying to point out is that... Yes, the 6Ch analogue output "development kit" exists. But according to Keith Jack, nobody has asked for it!

My argument is... why should they have to ask for it. It should be supplied as standard. If it was, none you guys would be in this mess. You would all have lovely players capable of spinning, HD WMV DVD's with WMA pro 5.1 audio, or HD Mpeg4 with 6Ch AAC-LC.


EDIT: Oh and Sigma don't appear to be interested that much because they are working on supporting "more advanced" audio codecs... Lets hope they are only 2 channel!!!!


Cheers

Some companies would rather put their own Engineering model together rather than pay the higher price for the full-featured develeopment kit. Why is it Sigma's responsibility to govern their customer's design development process? They made a powerful chip and provided the means to develop a Networked DVD Player based on this chip. The 6-channel development kit isn't provided as standard because not every comany who uses this chip is interested in this capability. It was IODATA's oversight that created this problem when they failed to order the "Networked DVD Player Development Kit" for the development of their Networked DVD Player.

From http://www.sigmadesigns.com/products/DVD8620LNET_faq.htm

Is Dolby Digital output supported?

Dolby® Digital, DTS® and WMA9 Pro are output onto S/PDIF for interfacing to a Dolby Digital, DTS or WMA9 Pro compatible surround sound receiver. Dolby Digital and WMA9 Pro may also be decoded and output onto the 5.1-channel analog audio outputs or down-mixed and output onto the 2-channel analog audio outputs.



As far as the I-O Data design goes, they have a price point to meet and design accordingly. If it is not what you want don't buy it. It's pretty friggin simple.

Originally posted by doctorxxx
Hi, I want to know if support PAL/NTSC and multiregion

I tried a Reg 2 PAL DVD ast night and it doesn't work :( I dont have any region free PAL discs yet.
I did manage to get some PAL Beta firmware from IOdata Japan after a few friendly emails but after being told by them it ewas very buggy at the moment I haven't bothered with it yet.

Originally posted by irgaac
From http://www.sigmadesigns.com/products/DVD8620LNET_faq.htm



As far as the I-O Data design goes, they have a price point to meet and design accordingly. If it is not what you want don't buy it. It's pretty friggin simple.

I hear what you're saying and my decision to purchase the thing would not have been swayed because of this either way.

However, as far a price point goes, Sigma has already done all the work on the board design, just like they did with the non multi-channel board, so I doubt the development costs would have been much higher to go with the multi-channel board. After all, I-O Data is added support for the codec anyway and the decoder is already in the box.
The same with manufacturing, the boards themselves are identical with the exception of a few new traces and a few cents worth of connectors along with a few extra holes cut into the sheet metal case they had to manufacture anyway. The multi-channel design probably would have added a couple of dollars to the overall manufacturing costs.

Originally posted by Dolfo
... Why is it Sigma's responsibility to govern their customer's design development process? They made a powerful chip and provided the means to develop a Networked DVD Player based on this chip. The 6-channel development kit isn't provided as standard because not every comany who uses this chip is interested in this capability. Because Sigma, designed and built this "development kit": -

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

But for some reason, they've left it up to prospective buyers to "hack away" certain implementations!

I would fully understand why some companies might have wanted to sell players without DVI, ethernet or USB. But in my opinion, the 6Ch analogue outputs should not have been open for debate... especially as one of Sigma's main promotional points was support for 6Ch WMA.

I don't have the patience to argue with somebody who lacks common sense so you win - go buy a Kiss player.

Originally posted by Dolfo
I don't have the patience to argue with somebody who lacks common sense so you win - go buy a Kiss player. Sadly, nobody at Kiss is able to confirm which Sigma developement kit they are going to use. And Keith Jack (who's seen one of the units) is not willing to confirm either!

As for common sense... it can cut both ways!

If I-O DATA want to save money, the big saving are in DVD-ROM drives, PSU's, remote controls, cases, front panel displays, crappy interconnect cabling and even packaging!

Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
If I-O DATA want to save money, the big saving are in DVD-ROM drives, PSU's, remote controls, cases, front panel displays, crappy interconnect cabling and even packaging!

Exactly!! Given this, why did IODATA decide to save $5k-$10k (just a guess here) by NOT ordering the correct development kit? It was likely a cost-savings effort that led to an oversight. Why is Sigma to blame for this? Are they supposed to give their development kits away for free (and eat the development cost of those themselves) to ensure that companies like IODATA don't miss anything? If they were to do this, the cost of developing those kits would be folded into the cost to buy the chip (probably significantly because development of these development kits is not cheap).

Sigma did their job by manufacturing the chip. Providing the various development kits is an extra effort they went through to provide a means to help with development of different types of platforms that may want to use this chip. If IODATA decided that they wanted to create a Networked DVD player based on this chip, but didn't want the added expense of buying a development kit, Sigma is perfectly justified in expecting that IODATA's Engineering Team is capable of providing the necessary HW/SW to fully utilize this chip without the help of the development kit.

Can you please folks vote in my poll to see how extensive
is the AC3 problem - Thanks !
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=479273

In the consumer electronics it is all about cost points/part counts/ and margins. Every maker of a Sigma based player looks at the features vs who is their target for both customer and price points and decides what to include and what not to. If they think 80% of their buyers don't need multichannel audio jacks they won't include it if it saves them money. Its all about what features give you how many extra buyers at a good return.

Don't blame Sigma for making reference samples with different levels of options and then having a manufacturer not use them. Also remember right now there is not much that uses multichannel WMA. Most multichannel is AC3 or DTS and this set does that great out the digital outs. If this box was $500 I would expect it all to be there for now this is a great deal at these prices. We are early adopters often here -- for IODATAs main customer base this set upscaling DVDs and doing HD res JPGs may sell them more units than would the multichannel outs.

I am playing with my LinkPlayer and trying to see what it can do. A lot of my ripped DVD files are kids movies that are 4:3. I have both 4:3 & 16:9 sets hooked up to my component matrix switch. I have the player set to 720p. When I play back a vob file from a movie I am sure is 4:3, it is still zoomed to fill 16:9 screen. Is there a way around this? The zoom function on the remote seems to do nothing during playback of files like this (I was trying Bug's Life 4:3 version, and Beavis & Butthead, for example.) I tried settting DVD tab in Link Player to both 4:3 settings as well as 16:9. Any ideas? Ideally I would like true widescreen content to fill the 16:9 space, and 4:3 to be pillarboxed on my 16:9 display. Is this not possible with ripped DVDs, or do I have something set wrong?

Originally posted by Dolfo
Exactly!! Given this, why did IODATA decide to save $5k-$10k (just a guess here) by NOT ordering the correct development kit? It was likely a cost-savings effort that led to an oversight. Why is Sigma to blame for this? As I've said before, I feel Sigma are to blame because they should never have developed and sold a "development kit" without 6Ch analogue outputs. As gtrogue has already pointed out, the cost savings in this regard, would have been minimal.

Far too little when you consider how much more flexible the player would have been!


Cheers

Originally posted by Paul_PDX
... Also remember right now there is not much that uses multichannel WMA. Most multichannel is AC3 or DTS and this set does that great out the digital outs. This is ridiculous!

This chip-set was specifically designed for "show-boating" high-def content, including HD WMV9 DVD's which, only contain WMA pro 5.1 audio and Mpeg4 with AAC in MP4.

To then allow the distribution of a cut-down development kit... is like selling a sports car with crappy tyres and a two gallon fuel tank... It should never have been allowed to happen... it was a cut too far!

EDIT: Plus, if I buy a player thats capable of displaying high quality, high-definition images, why should I be forced to listen to 2Ch audio or some down-mixed compromise?


Cheers

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
As I've said before, I feel Sigma are to blame because they should never have developed and sold a "development kit" without 6Ch analogue outputs. As gtrogue has already pointed out, the cost savings in this regard, would have been minimal.

Far too little when you consider how much more flexible the player would have been!


Cheers

So, then, for all video ONLY applications that decide to use this chip, those customers should be forced to pay extra for a full-featured dev kit?

Also, who's to say that IODATA bought ANY of the available dev kits? These are offered to help with development of a product and, like I said earlier, some companies opt to NOT buy any of the vendor's kits because they have some sort of an Engineering model for their product in the pipeline that they plan to use for development. If this is the case (I can't imagine IODATA just decided to buy the wrong kit), then offering just one full-featured dev kit would not have changed the end result. You seem to be assuming that IODATA bought one of the cheaper dev kits to save a couple of thousand dollars and I am saying that they might not have bought ANY of the available kits.

Can someone summarize what is working and what isnt working as advertised on this player at this point?

Originally posted by Dolfo
So, then, for all video ONLY applications that decide to use this chip, those customers should be forced to pay extra for a full-featured dev kit?
Jeez... who said anything about them being forced into buying a "full-featured" dev kit? Not me!

All I have said is (and I will say it again). Sigma should not have allowed themselves to allow the removal of the 6Ch analogue outputs. Other implementations such as DVI, Ethernet and USB... I can understand.

This is supposed to be a high-def player after-all... is it not. High-def should also extend and include the players audio capabilities to?

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
Jeez... who said anything about them being forced into buying a "full-featured" dev kit? Not me!

All I have said is (and I will say it again). Sigma should not have allowed themselves to allow the removal of the 6Ch analogue outputs. Other implementations such as DVI, Ethernet and USB... I can understand.

This is supposed to be a high-def player after-all... is it not. High-def should also extend and include the players audio capabilities to?

So, what if IODATA decided to not buy any development kit? How is offering one full-fetaured kit going to help them if they aren't going to buy it anyways? You're blaming Sigma for providing a variety of dev kits without addressing how this would make any difference in a situation where the customer isn't interested in buying a dev kit at all.

Originally posted by mikemav
I am playing with my LinkPlayer and trying to see what it can do. A lot of my ripped DVD files are kids movies that are 4:3. I have both 4:3 & 16:9 sets hooked up to my component matrix switch. I have the player set to 720p. When I play back a vob file from a movie I am sure is 4:3, it is still zoomed to fill 16:9 screen. Is there a way around this? The zoom function on the remote seems to do nothing during playback of files like this (I was trying Bug's Life 4:3 version, and Beavis & Butthead, for example.) I tried settting DVD tab in Link Player to both 4:3 settings as well as 16:9. Any ideas? Ideally I would like true widescreen content to fill the 16:9 space, and 4:3 to be pillarboxed on my 16:9 display. Is this not possible with ripped DVDs, or do I have something set wrong?

I'm gonna bump my own question so it does not get lost in all this analog output talk. Also, if someone could be so kind as to remind me of the trick to get .ts files to play. I know it involves an shortcut/alias, but I lost the bookmark where I had the specifics saved. Thanks

Originally posted by SpeedyHTPC
Can someone summarize what is working and what isnt working as advertised on this player at this point?

There really isn't anything that is not working as advertised, they specifically say on the website that DRM WMV and WMA Pro are not available yet and that really is the only thing not working at the moment.

That is not to say there aren't any problems. Some folks can't get DD or DTS passthrough to work with their receivers. Some folks are having problems with DVD-R playing correctly. A couple of people have reported, myself included, that the extras disk for Harry Potter 3 does not play. the latest firmware update seems to cause more problems than it fixes. It fixes and audio stutter when you first play some files but breaks some DivX HD and .ts playback.

If I have missed anything some of the regulars will jump in and smack me in the head :)

edit: forgot one more problem I am seeing, 720p60 does not play on my player. I get audio but no video.

Originally posted by mikemav
I'm gonna bump my own question so it does not get lost in all this analog output talk. Also, if someone could be so kind as to remind me of the trick to get .ts files to play. I know it involves an shortcut/alias, but I lost the bookmark where I had the specifics saved. Thanks

Not sure I can help you with the 4:3 issue. The shortcut trick is simply to create a shortcut to the .ts file in one of your watched folders on the server, it will then show up in the list and be able to be played.


edit: need to learn how to type :)

Originally posted by Dolfo
So, what if IODATA decided to not buy any development kit? How is offering one full-fetaured kit going to help them if they aren't going to buy it anyways? FACT: I-O DATA did buy one of "Sigma's" development kits.

FACT: It was Sigma's decision to make and offer low spec development kits

AND: As far as I know. Sigma don't offer their chip-sets without one of their development kits.


Cheers

SMD: Unless you have seen the contract between IOD and Sigma those are not facts, they are opinions.

Everybody gets the fact that you want 6ch analog audio.

This player doesn't have it.

Go beat your dead horse somewhere else please.

Originally posted by irgaac
SMD: Unless you have seen the contract between IOD and Sigma those are not facts, they are opinions. With respect... There is no other possible way of coming to any other conclusion!


Cheers

I want the AC3 to work with my receiver ...Am I beating dead horse as well ? ;)

If Sigma is at all like other hardware part suppliers I know the different versions of Sigmas Development prototypes all cost approximately the same to the manufacturers (probably below Sigma's cost). They make different versions to make their customers happy and we (consumers) aren't their customer.

Sigma makes its money selling large quantities of the Chip to manufacturers -- ift doesn't need to make money on the dev kits & prototypes.

The manufacturers decide the key stuff- do we add DVI? do we add wireless? do we put an internal hard drive on the second ide port? do we add 6 channel analogue audio? do we add coax or toslink or both?

Every question comes down to cost point: cost for extra suppliers for each part, cost of managing extra parts thru the mfg process, fab costs, extra steps involved. What we think of as a 10 cent extra RCA cinch jack may add 50 cents to a dollar to the final cost at wholesale. There are 6 jacks in 6 channel analog and a much bigger version of pcboard to be fabricated and extra support chips for the circuitry, etc.

Consumer electronics makers are very price concious $249 for a new device might let an unkown Japanese maker get noticed in the US. Say in the end they decide the extra manufacturing costs require them to sell at $265, it may put the new customers for dollars of mfg too high in iodatas
mind and might lose them more customers than they gain.

In the CE business lots of decisions are made over items that cost a few cents. Also right now IODATA is selling direct -- if they go retail the price will either go up or they will make even less margin.

Don't get me wrong I would like WMA 5.1 very much and I would pay extra for it -- but I don't think any of my friends would at this time and I have several with HD sets -- they all wow about DVD and JPGs at this poiint not European HD movies.

Currently I am very pleasantly surprised at how responsive IODATA is being to the advanced type customer -- I expect it will ecourage them to think closely how they do their DVI version for the US market and it might convince them it is worth going after an all the bells and whistles version if there is enough interest. In the end I expect Kiss will be the player that ends up with more feature since they already make mult versions of their 8550 based players (some with hard disks, some with PVRs even) (but the Japanese are into toys too so Iodata may surprise me.)

I-O Data needs to at least provide PCM output of downmixed WMA Pro audio. Otherwise it's pretty useless to me since having both analog audio and digital audio assigned to a single video input on my stereo receiver isn't possible and probably isn't for most people. Switching back and forth between the two is a real PITA.

Like I said before, only three people in the whole world have preamps or receivers capable of decoding the WMA bitstream and their names are Ballmer, Gates, and Allen.

Originally posted by SeeMoreDigital
FACT: I-O DATA did buy one of "Sigma's" development kits.

FACT: It was Sigma's decision to make and offer low spec development kits

AND: As far as I know. Sigma don't offer their chip-sets without one of their development kits.


Cheers

How the hell do you know this? Do you work for either company? Development Kits are OFTEN sold as OPTIONAL equipment. If you do not know for sure, do not falsely call it FACT just to support your argument.

Originally posted by Dolfo
How the hell do you know this? Do you work for either company? Development Kits are OFTEN sold as OPTIONAL equipment. If you do not know for sure, do not falsely call it FACT just to support your argument. Why not open up your player and findout who's name is on the main board?

I have seen posted pictures of the insides of several Sigma 85nn based DVD players -- Momitsu V880n, Bravo D2 and in a Kiss DP508 all are similar to the Sigma prototype all had Sigma 85nn chips inside and all were slightly different (with Momitsu and Liteon both made in China the closest in design to each other but still different from the Sigma kit).

I am sure a hardware company like IODATA does not buy their boards from Sigma Designs and just put them in a case -- they tweaked them for the Japanese market and at the same time figured out how to make them as cheap to produce as was needed.

I wouldn't go so far as to blame Sigma for I-O Data's failings.

I do, however, think it's completely retarded for I-O Data to put out an advanced DVD player that supports advanced codecs and not have any way to actually get the content out of the player. It's like putting a supercharged engine in a Porsche and not connecting it to the drive train- a glut of useless horsepower.


You can look at the back panel of the LinkPlayer and tell they are using the reference design. The only difference is the D4 connection in place of the component connection. I'd even bet that the traces off the board are identical to the board with component connectors they just used the crappy D4 connector instead of a component connector.

Originally posted by lifeisfun
I want the AC3 to work with my receiver ...Am I beating dead horse as well ? ;)

Not at all bud, I feel for you. At least there is a chance you will get what you want where as SMD... well I have already said my piece on that.

Let me get this straight - you are under the impression that this development kit is used inside the player somewhere? If so, you have no idea what a development kit is.

The development kit is a TOOL that IODATA can use to get a first cut at their software running while their hardware development is under way. Once they have working hardware, the can move their development from the dev kit to the real product. These kits often cost $5k EACH at least so it wouldn't make much sense to package them inside a $250 player. They are so expensive because they include a LOT of debug ports that are useful in the SW development and a lot of accompanying logic to control and drive these debug ports. Plus, they are sold at very low quantities so the NRE costs must be made up in larger chunks.

I have no doubt you will be able to find the Sigma name on the main board inside - their name is on their chip and may even be listed as a vendor on the board.

Originally posted by Paul_PDX
I have seen posted pictures of the insides of several Sigma 85nn based DVD players -- Momitsu V880n, Bravo D2 and in a Kiss DP508 all are similar to the Sigma prototype all had Sigma 85nn chips inside and all were slightly different (with Momitsu and Liteon both made in China the closest in design to each other but still different from the Sigma kit).

I am sure a hardware company like IODATA does not buy their boards from Sigma Designs and just put them in a case -- they tweaked them for the Japanese market and at the same time figured out how to make them as cheap to produce as was needed.

They manufacture the boards themselves or under contract but Sigma provides nearly everything you need in the development kits. The individual companies can modify things the way they want if they choose to do so.
You could buy the development kit if you wanted and start churning out the hardware based on the files provided by Sigma in a few weeks, provided you had the cash, of course.
The firmware would be the only thing you'd have to really work on to individualize the player.

Originally posted by gtrogue
I wouldn't go so far as to blame Sigma for I-O Data's failings.

I do, however, think it's completely retarded for I-O Data to put out an advanced DVD player that supports advanced codecs and not have any way to actually get the content out of the player. It's like putting a supercharged engine in a Porsche and not connecting it to the drive train- a glut of useless horsepower.


ok my final word on this.

How does DD and DTS get out of the player? Oh that's right over one of the digital connections, not over analog. How will WMA Pro get out of the player? Same way. I don't see anyone screaming that they aren't decoding DTS to 6 ch analog. I'm stuck with 2 channel stereo for WMA Pro either way, my receiver doesn't have 6 ch analog input and doesn't decode WMA Pro. Is that Sigmas or I-O data's fault too?

Originally posted by irgaac
ok my final word on this.

How does DD and DTS get out of the player? Oh that's right over one of the digital connections, not over analog. How will WMA Pro get out of the player? Same way. I don't see anyone screaming that they aren't decoding DTS to 6 ch analog. I'm stuck with 2 channel stereo for WMA Pro either way, my receiver doesn't have 6 ch analog input and doesn't decode WMA Pro. Is that Sigmas or I-O data's fault too?

It's Sigma's of course - they should have provided the 6-channel audio inputs or the digital WMA decoder for your receiver manufacturer ;)

Originally posted by irgaac
Is that Sigmas or I-O data's fault too?

It's I-O Data's fault.
DD is the defacto standard in digital audio, it is required on all DVD-V discs. DTS has gained in popularity and is supported by nearly all receivers and preamps released in the past 5 or 6 years, even the low end ones. Even barring that, PCM is required on all DVD-V discs so a digital stream is always available from standard DVD's no matter what formats your receiver or preamp support.

AFAIK, WMA Pro decoding is supported on maybe one receiver available in the US and I don't see many more on the horizon.

Not including a way to get the multi-channel audio from a format you say the player supports is a marketing blunder.

Look at it this way, what if DTS was an even tinier niche format and only one receiver on the market could decode it, and it is a luxury high-end receiver.
If you were a company about to launch your first product in the US would you tell everybody your new, $250, hi-tech, network DVD player supported DTS and then only provide the encoded signal via a digital connection.
Do you not think that is mistake?

I'm not saying that it is a product killer, just that it seems like a huge oversight on I-O Data's part.

It says "I-O Data" on the circuit board, which looks exactly like the Sigma prototype board minus the DVI connector and ASICs.

Where does IODATA say they support WMA PRO multichannel. Most WMA PRO use so far is ripping lossless TWO channel WMA PRO audio. I expect the firmware update will support that out of either the Digital (PCM) or analog jacks.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
It says "I-O Data" on the circuit board, which looks exactly like the Sigma prototype board minus the DVI connector and ASICs.

Tom -- since you've looked -- are you saying the MINI-PCI socket is there for wireless?? Or did they design that out also. If it is there you have just made my day for a new project.

Originally posted by Paul_PDX
Tom -- since you've looked -- are you saying the MINI-PCI socket is there for wireless?? Or did they design that out also. If it is there you have just made my day for a new project.

You'd think they would use the same circuitry and just leave out the components that aren't necessary.
If I was designing a reference board, and I have, I would have tried to design the layout so that a single board design would work for multiple configurations.


Paul_PDX, I-O Data says that WMVHD will be supported with a firmware update. Commercially available WMVHD DVD's contain only multi-channel WMA Pro audio and the download sites, like CinemaNow, also use multi-channel WMA Pro audio in many of the films they offer.

Originally posted by Paul_PDX
Where does IODATA say they support WMA PRO multichannel. Most WMA PRO use so far is ripping lossless TWO channel WMA PRO audio. I expect the firmware update will support that out of either the Digital (PCM) or analog jacks.
Digital PCM would be a good compromise for me. Providing only a downmixed analog stereo output is pretty worthless to me.

I think the socket is missing Paul, but the silk screening for it is on the board.

I'll put up a picture(s). Then I want to respond to mikemav's questions on the 4x3.

Standby Houston...

AVLP2 Circuit Board 200kb (http://vsdrives.com/graphics/avlp2brd.jpg)

The frame size was larger than what AVS forum allows, so this image comes from my own webspace. Accordingly, I'm going to remove it after 24 hours due to bandwidth limits on my ISP account. Enjoy it while you can.

I did solder mini-pci socket to my laptop ( Vaio R-505G) without
any problems :) It works great

This is how it worked on mine:

- I would select 720p or 1080i output on the setup menu.
- From the DVD settings tab, choose 16x9

Thereafter, a DVD-Video played from the rom drive would display pillar boxed if 4x3, or full frame if 16x9. Pressing the zoom button on the remote would toggle between Zoom1, Zoom2, Zoom3, Zoom4.

If the DVD-Video was played from a hard drive on the server, (i.e. vob files), it worked a little differently. The zoom button on the remote gave different choices, Actual Size, Fit to Screen, Full Screen.

- When I selected Actual Size, it played inside its own small window in the middle of the 1280x720 DLP native panel, i.e. black bars top, bottom, left, right.

- When I selected Fit to Screen, the 4x3 played pillar boxed.
- When I selected Full Screen, it played stretched to 16x9, i.e. short people fat faces.

If it's not working this way for you, I would try connecting directly to your monitor, bypassing the AV receiver and its scaler, and see if that makes a difference.

Thought I'd make my contribution to what the iodata site refers to as "Now the fastest review in English words!"

Got the unit over a week ago. Unlike everyone else here, I was largely influenced by cosmetic reasons. I have a 50" DLP TV in the family room that is attached to a modded XBox, but this time I needed something for a more formal great room, and my adoring bride wasn't about to let me shove another XBox in there!

My first attempted solution for the great room was a D-Link MediaLounge. What an incredible dog. Because my main interest is streaming, I thought could give up the fact that it didn't have a DVD player. For three painful days, my only bar for success was to get it play a divx movie--any mpeg4 movie--all the way through. Never happened once. So back it went.

The next day, I literally stumbled onto the iodata site--almost the same week they began selling them on-line. So I crossed my fingers and ordered one. Here are a few observations:

The unit is very nicely designed and looks great in this room. Even with the blinding blue light.

The DVI controversy has passed me by, because I only have a 35" Toshiba analog TV for this room, and I'm using the component inputs. Judging by the posts on this thread, I can tell I don't have the sophisticated eyes you guys do. I don't even know what "chroma" means, unless it's the shiny metal parts they put on italian car bodies.

Nevertheless, the picture looks great to me.

I have a Linksys WRT54GS wired/wireless router. Ace home designer that I am, I managed to put both TVs nowhere near a network jack. As a result, both the XBox and the LinkPlayer require wireless bridges. (Again, I'm using Linksys.) I set my network up as G-only for a little more speed. Don't know if that was actually necessary.

It's fun having both units, for comparison's sake. I consider an XBox running XBMC to be pretty much the gold standard for this sort of thing. It offers tons of services and they are mostly robust. It is so useful as a media server/internet device, I've never even considered playing games on it.

I have a Maxtor external usb 2.0 drive attached to one of my computers, and that's where I keep my media. No fancy networking. I use the LinkPlayer server and ccx server software to access it. For a brief period of time, I bought a Linksys NSLU2 Network Storage Link to do some fancier stuff, but you would not believe how slow those things are.


-------------------------------------
STREAMING MOVIES

BENEFITS: The LinkPlayer hurdled over that first bar with ease. It has flawlessly streamed every divx video allowing me to change audio tracks, on so rendered files, if I choose. What a pleasure. I ripped a DVD and streamed the VOBs. Again, no problems over the wireless there. Same with the HD Divx trailers I downloaded. The server software is dead simple and it's nice to be able to include multiple directories. As far as I'm concerned, the sale is made. Love it.

Also, I was wrong about giving up the DVD player. Glad I waited for a unit that had it all.

DRAWBACKS: The Xbox/XBMC comparison shows you what happens when you have a few years of software development behind you. The LinkPlayer server can sorta sometimes maybe FF and REW, but you have to cross your fingers every time. You can crash the whole thing pretty easily during this part; other movies don't FF/REW at all. I don't know why it does that weird scanning thing before FF.

Comparatively, the Xbox/XBMC can FF/REW at blinding speeds, even over wireless. I wondered at first that perhaps some of my movies had been rendered without keyframes and that might be preventing the FF on the LinkPlayer, but the same movie on the XBox performs just fine. The XBox has a nice touch of using the scene buttons to advance by keyframe, and I wish the LinkPlayer did as well. A real zoom might be lovely. On divx movies, the zoom selections are the one everyone will always use (Fit to Screen) and two others no one will ever use (Full Screen/Actual).

I didn't see any evidence that LinkPlayer can use subtitle files, despite any claims to the contrary. That's a pretty big drawback.

XBMC has a nice feature in its file listings. It recognizes when you end the file names for multiple-file movies in "-cd1.avi" "-cd2.avi" etc. It does this thing called "stacking" where it displays them as a single movie name. And when you watch a movie so split, it links them as it plays. The LinkPlayer simply considers them separate movies. Just another sophisticated touch on XBMC that I wish I had on the LinkPlayer

On the original firmware, I was disappointed at how often audio/video would lose sync. The 12/3 update seemed to go a long way toward fixing that. Still, I was watching a movie with my daughter today that lost sync, and we ran downstairs to the XBox TV to finish watching it. :-)

------------------------------------
SOFTWARE

BENEFITS: Easy to set up and it works.

DRAWBACKS: This is the most primitive part. On XBMC, not only do I have all the niceties of easy, fast, and useful menu navigation, I can do stuff like check the weather and get IMDB info on any of my divx files. Plus much, much more.

I played briefly with the more advanced NEUSTRON server. It's a little further down the road than the LinkPlayer's, but as someone else already noted, it doesn't access the LinkPlayer on the Windows platform. I keep thinking I could figure out the problem and patch it, but I'm not feeling that ambitious on this one. I also played with the open source server that's out there, but I don't think it's quite ready for prime time. Still, nice to know that other people are attacking the issue and that I now have Apache installed on my PC, just like the cool network guys. I look forward to the day we have a nice, sharp, useful, and informative server.

I don't know if it's fixable, but the response time following button presses on the remote is maddeningly slow. As a result, I often wind up overclicking the up and down buttons, then clicking on what I hope is my selection, only to see the cursor continue to the previous or next item and selecting that. Have to get slower on the trigger finger, I guess.


------------------------------------------
PICTURES

Haven't fiddled with this much. Seems OK.


--------------------------------------------

INTERNET RADIO

BENEFITS: I've heard it a few times. That's not great because....

DRAWBACKS: ...I've spent a lot of time trying to make it work. Internet radio on the LinkPlayer is extremely primitive. To date, I have not been able to get any channel with a bitrate of 128 to play. Only lower bitrates. Sadly, my all-time favorite I-radio station, "Radio Paradise" is one such station. Right now I-radio on the LinkPlayer is very hit and miss, mostly miss.

I noticed with both anticipation and disappointment that the next major firmware will include Rhapsody. Anticipation, because this suggests to me that iodata knows LinkPlayer needs major work to make it I-radio ready, and they are working on that now.

Disappointment, because I wonder why it has to be a pay service? There are plenty of free ways to get I-radio, and I can't imagine ever paying for Rhapsody. I don't really consider the server's ability to interface with I-tunes as a reasonable solution, because even then you can only get the stations you have previously saved as folders. I prefer a live menu.

Compare this to what Kiss Technology has done. They have provided a lovely web radio service for their users that is exellently designed and manageable. Iodata should do the same. I hope the competition between the two companies encourages them to do so.

Further down the road (I imagine), but something I would still like very much to see, is something pretty to watch on the screen while the I-radio plays. Those little software apps are ubiquitous--I hope iodata adds one to the LinkPlayer server one day.


-----------------------
OVERALL

I'm really pleased with this unit. I love the company's unique take on the English language. Their enthusiasm for their product is very clear on their website, which means a lot to me. One of the sharpest things they have done is list the details of what and when we should expect the next firmware upgrade. As a result of their emphasis on communication, I'm a little less concerned about the little bugs and glitches than I might otherwise be. It tells me this is an important product to them and one that will steadily improve.

Hi:
I picked up a wireless adapter for my linkplayer tonight and it seems to be working OK. It is a Linksys Wireless-G Game Adapter model WGA54G. It looks exactly like the Microsoft Xbox Wireless Adapter that I already have to connect Xbox to the router (i.e. its a little box with a power adapter, ethernet connection, and antenna). It served pictures fine from computer but I do not have a large enough assortment of video files to try serving them from the computer as well. The one file I tried was the HD WMV sample file of the Living Sea from the microsoft web site. This file doesn't serve well off my computer even with a hard wire so it was not really indicative of anything when it froze after about 30 seconds.

Can anyone direct me to a source for a few sample video files with sound in different formats. If so, I can give them a try and report back.

I had trouble playing a avi file I downloaded onto a CD and put directly into the linkplayer. It was supposed to be a HD episode of Smallville. On my computer at work it played the sound but no video in Windows media player (on a 2 Ghz computer) but in the linkplayer it is not playing any sound though the video looks very good. Again this may be a problem with the file since I got if for free from an unknown source (**********).

One more question - the linkserver manual doesn't list a processor speed requirement (at least that I could find) but I am sure that there must be system requirements for smooth playback of all the supported file types. Could anyone guess what this might be?

Thanks,
Joseph

Someone had posted the inside of Japna version AVLP2 in the below link.
http://www.myav.com.tw/vbb221/upload/showthread.php?s=&threadid=145846
You can see what are the differences between both.

Originally posted by Tom Roper
AVLP2 Circuit Board 200kb (http://vsdrives.com/graphics/avlp2brd.jpg)

The frame size was larger than what AVS forum allows, so this image comes from my own webspace. Accordingly, I'm going to remove it after 24 hours due to bandwidth limits on my ISP account. Enjoy it while you can.

Thanks for the picture, Tom. It looks like they are ready for the DVI port (you can see the solder marks where the connector will one day be installed) - just waiting for the licensing now I guess.