Frank,
I tried to attach a max quality jpeg with a frame size of 1280x1024. It originated as a bmp screen shot of Virtual Dub's display of part (2/3) of one frame of my 1920x1080 Divx video. It clearly shows lines converging between 12 and 13.John

There's your problem. You can't take a 1280x1024 section of the 1920x1080 image and claim it is what you would see on your 1280 wide display. You HAVE to resize the ENTIRE image to 1280x720. Then take your measurement.

Your test procedures using virtualdub are completely irrelevant. Sorry.

Frank,
Read your own post. Your jpeg picture is not a subset of the ISO chart. It is the whole ISO res chart. It is trying to use 694 pixels (horizontally) to display the whole reschart. You can't possibly discriminate good resolution with that few pixels. Sorry.

Frank,
Read your own post. Your jpeg picture is not a subset of the ISO chart. It is the whole ISO res chart. It is trying to use 694 pixels (horizontally) to display the whole reschart. You can't possibly discriminate good resolution with that few pixels. Sorry.
John. You are wrong. Here is the entire 1280x720 image. You can see that the other image I posted is the center portion of this.

This picture represents THE BEST POSSIBLE resolution attainable by a 1280x720 display. I score it somewhere between 7 and 8, Not surprising, since there are 720 lines per image height.


http://frankowen.zoto.com/img/original/204b8d484633270690aed08454f9b6c3-.jpg

For completeness, here is a 1920x1080 rendering of the res pattern. This is the BEST possible result of rendiering this pattern on a 1920x1080 display. I would score this somewhere between 10 and 11, not surprising, since we have 1080 lines per image height.

http://frankowen.zoto.com/img/original/857ff37022d2c7b7913543626290289e-.jpg

Hi all

Did somebody try take out DVD-ROM player from Avel Linkplayer and connect to a PC to change regional code?
What do you think about it.

Dear Stuard,

Sorry about that. The DVD region of LinkPlayer is fixed as "2". You cannot change it. Thank you.
Hi all

Did somebody try take out DVD-ROM player from Avel Linkplayer and connect to a PC to change regional code?
What do you think about it.

Dear Stuard,

Sorry about that. The DVD region of LinkPlayer is fixed as "2". You cannot change it. Thank you.
Are you sure? IMHO, region 1 seems more reasonable for the US. Region 2 is EU/Japan.

Frank,
You are using a completely different resolution chart than I am. If we are going to try to compare absolute numbers, we will have to use exactly the same equipment. If you will pass me a link, I will be happy to download your chart and use that.
John

Here you go:
http://frankowen.zoto.com/img/original/857ff37022d2c7b7913543626290289e-.jpg

Display as .jpg file on LP2. Make sure whatever server you are using will scale the image to fit the entire output. (I use wizd, but I think you can use any server..)

Frank,
I placed your res chart on the same timeline with my original reschart and SeeMore's chart. I rendered the combination to a Divx 1920x1080p video file at 5Mbps, bicubic normal.

Virtual Dub at 100% displays my original horizontal resolution on the PC monitor as: clear at 12, indistinct at 13. It displays your chart as clear at 10 and indistinct at 11.

This establishes an equivelence between the two resolution scales.

When I displayed this file from the hard disk on the LP2/HDTV combo, the resolution in my chart measured 8 - 8 1/2, your chart measured 6 - 6 1/2.

Regardless of the differences in absolute readings, the relative readings are consistent and support my conclusion that there is a good deal of missing resolution.

A few days ago I tried to drive my 1280x1024 PC monitor from the LP2 but got no picture on any LP2 setting. I also tried an older PC monitor and got an "out of range" indication...

Bottom Line: There is lots of missing resolution but I can't tell if it is the LP2 or the HDTV, or both.
John

Im not sure about all of these technical comparions, but I am sure of one thing. The LP2, to my eyes, displays the video I extract from my HDtivo, as good, or better than watching or playing it from the HDtivo itself on my RPTV.

Frank,
It displays your chart as clear at 10 and indistinct at 11.

This establishes an equivelence between the two resolution scales.

When I displayed this file from the hard disk on the LP2/HDTV combo, the resolution in my chart measured 8 - 8 1/2, your chart measured 6 - 6 1/2.

Bottom Line: There is lots of missing resolution but I can't tell if it is the LP2 or the HDTV, or both.
John

Yep, this seems consistent with what I would expect. You should see something between 10-11 for "perfect" 1920x1080 rendering. So your measurement of 6-6 1/2 does indicate significant loss of resolution. But we still don't know the cause.

I wonder if the Divx encoding/decoding is the culprit? When you examine the video on your PC using VirtualDub, are you looking at the original, or the compressed video? Did you try displaying the patterns as stills on LP2?

Any chance you can post your divx file somewhere?

Frank,
When I measure resolution on the PC, the res charts have gone through one compression - decompression cycle.

The Divx file is 1.6MB. I would be happy to post it. Does this forum have a facility to post large objects?
John

I'm currently trying to downsize my TS file collection by using WMV9 HD encoder and/or Canopus Procoder 2.04. The encoded files play fine through my PC, but not via the LinkPlayer2. Is there any setting that I need to change in the LinkPlayer2 or any codecs that I should be using when encoding?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Im not sure about all of these technical comparions, but I am sure of one thing. The LP2, to my eyes, displays the video I extract from my HDtivo, as good, or better than watching or playing it from the HDtivo itself on my RPTV.

Vurbano,
For sure, the subjective impression that I get is of a good picture, from the LP2/HDTV, when I look at the high def clips that I have available. However, it is very diffucult to judge resolution when looking at rapidly moving, complex scenes.

To my eyes, HDTV from DirecTV and local high def channels on my HDTV looks great compared to standard definition from any source, which is why it is hard for me to believe that my HDTV could be responsible the missing resolution. However, it is possible...

First question. If I play a DVD through the link player 2 and then play it using my Sony carousel will I see a difference? Second question. I have a regular ethernet cable between my link player and my Cisco Router. It is mentioned that a cross over cable is preferred. How important it that? Question three. Will compressing a DVD using DIVX change the quality of theDVD picture? fourth question. Is it important to obtain a static IP address or use DHCP between my computer and the player? I have HD programs that I have downloaded and want to understand the wisdom of compressing them using DIVX and play them through the network? Thanks for any help! David

Frank,
I ran some new tests today to try to get a handle on the possible influence of the video codec. I created a new video file in Mpeg2 HDV 1920x1080 @ 25Mbps, 14.3MB, from the same source material that I sent to you as a Divx file.

Interestingly, the resolution goes up a notch compared to Divx on the LP2/HDTV combo (but not on the PC monitor- still 12-13 on my chart). On the LP2/HDTV combo it measures 8.5-9 horizontal AND 6-6.5 vertical on my chart. This would seem to implicate the divx codec in the LP2 as a possible problem.

Still picture display from the LP2/HDTV is interesting because the vertical resolution goes way up to match the horizontal res (your chart) at 7.5-8. This is significant because it raises the bar on what my HDTV can display in the vertical axis. Note that the LP2 is using completely different software to decompress a jpeg image than it uses to decompress video.

Bottom line: We now know that my HDTV can display at least 8.5-9 in the horizontal axis and 7.5-8 in the vertical.

John

David / Flabingo,
IMHO, the wisdom of Divx (or Mpeg4) lies in its ability to drastically reduce the video file size to the point that a high definition movie can be stored on an ordinary DVD disk, while Mpeg2 HDV requires several disks (or a practically non-existant high definition DVD player and new HD media).

Of course, file size becomes less of a problem if you store the video files on an external USB2 hard drive on the LP2. Ditto for a LAN, if your wife can stand booting up the computer to watch TV...

The picture quality, using Mpeg2 HDV or Divx, depends on the video bit rate (25Mbps for Mpeg and 5Mbps for Divx) and other parameters, as well. I have noticed macro-blocking in low contrast regions when rendering 1920x1080 Divx at 3-4 Mbps.

As a practical matter, transcoding a high definition movie with good quality to Divx needs a LOT of computer power and compute time.

John

David

You dont need a crossover cable when plugging the LP2 or UHDL devices into a router. You only need a crossover cable when plugging a UHDL directly into the LP2 as you would need if you tried to plug two computers together with ethernet without a router.

Also I gave the LP2 a static address. When I let it obtain one on its own it seems to go right to my ISP and get one which doesnt work. It doesnt seem to play well with my routers' DHCP server. Its just easier to assign a static one.

Also I have found no need to compress any of my HD mpeg2 material to Divx and I have no plans to do so. It would be far too time consuming and yield a degraded image. Large files extracted from my HDtivo play fine over the network.

I have HD programs that I have downloaded and want to understand the wisdom of compressing them using DIVX and play them through the network?

Transport Stream play great on my LP2. I also encode movies, documentaries and other programs that I wish to keep, using Xvid and Auto GordianKnot. Yes, it's very time consuming and requires considerable computing power, however it does compress between 2:1 and 3:1, so it's a space saving measure.

I will agree that, particularly with an HD Lite source, encoded results are noticeably not as good as the original. On film based material, it's less obvious. On programs that I really don't want any loss whatsoever, I just keep the original transport stream. Fortunately, the LP2 plays both transport streams and Xvid encodings just fine for me. I've not experienced any of the issues that others have reported.

BTW, I'm considering switching to E* since they are at full resolution for their HD Pak, and supposedly, just as of last night, they are saying that Voom will be brought back to full resolution within the next month. I know that encodings of full resolution material will yield better results than from an HD Lite source.

The biggest advantage (IMHO) in converting HD TS to DivX is so that entire movies (programs) will fit on a single DVD and still be HD. It's much more likely that we'll watch an HD version of a movie we have if we can plop in the DVD and play away. If it's multiple DVDs, it's rare. The closest we've come to date is when watching last season's 24. But even in that case, FOX's underuse of the bandwidth meant that each episode would fit on one DVD (with NULL packets removed). But we haven't dug out any of the 15-20 movies I've archived onto multiple DVDs to watch them.

Xesdeeni

Thank you for your help. It gives me a much better understanding of what I should expect from my player and DIVX. Each day I am moving in the direction of time shifting and less archiving. I compare it to old newspapers. I bought the whole Seinfeld series a year ago(180 episodes) and I watched one disk. I did record the Elton John Show this week and that is a keeper. I read that they intend to have Super Bowls every year, so I really don't have to keep last years. Thanks again. David This is off subject but I have two subwoofers and someone told me recently that I should connect both of them. What do you think?

Someone try this player with CTR projector like a G70 ?
With mine , the picture is too dark : I had to increase brightness to 80% and contrast to max (with a philips 963 : bright 40 and contrast 80 ).
I've done the mod , but no effect on that brightness problem .

Bottom line: We now know that my HDTV can display at least 8.5-9 in the horizontal axis and 7.5-8 in the vertical.

John
It is good to know that you are zeroing in on the capabilities of your display, but it sounds to me like you are mixing measurements made with your pattern (for horizontal res) with ones made from mine. In your pattern, you scaled the image more in the horizontal dimension, which would have the effect of inflating your measurements. In addition, your pattern is only a subset of the entire res pattern. I'll bet your display is probably ~7.5-8 in BOTH horizontal and vertical. (Remember, of course, that these figures are "per height" measurements, as intended by the design of the chart. Your 16:9 display obviously has more absolute total lines of resolution in the horizontal dimension than it has in vertical...)

It would STILL be helpful to get some testing done on some TRUE 1920x1080 displays. Anyone?

- Frank

The biggest advantage (IMHO) in converting HD TS to DivX is so that entire movies (programs) will fit on a single DVD and still be HD. It's much more likely that we'll watch an HD version of a movie we have if we can plop in the DVD and play away. If it's multiple DVDs, it's rare. The closest we've come to date is when watching last season's 24. But even in that case, FOX's underuse of the bandwidth meant that each episode would fit on one DVD (with NULL packets removed). But we haven't dug out any of the 15-20 movies I've archived onto multiple DVDs to watch them.

Xesdeeni

I guess Im lazy. I have come to the decision that I would just rather keep buying Hardrives than be swimming up to my eyeballs in DVD's and spending hour upon hour of my time waiting for Mpeg2 to mpeg4 conversion process. 3 DL DVD's at wallmart run 12 dollars while a 250 GB SATA 3gb/s WD2500 drive can be had for under 100 bucks and there is no walking back and forth to load or unload the DVD. Talk about lazy :D

ok. I just received my player last week. Ok, I am slower than the rest of you. Anyway, they have this unit as a certified HD Divx player. But does anyone know if this player can play DIVX 6 files? I don't mind converting my dvd's to divx but I want to keep the AC3. I don't want 2 channel .

but as it is pointed out. it's just as easy to just keep the dvd's as vobs and run them that way, I get the AC3 and orig files. Is there a smaller uncompressed fromat to keep files in other than vob's? I have found that most movies are under 4 gig using decryptor. Which is good since Fat32 won't support over4 gig files.

I also did not know that I had to update firmware after firmware. I thought I would have updated the newest one. But I found out I had to download about 6 in a row to be current.

I have had one problem. I can not steam HD over my lan. I get a pause about every 5 sec. Not sure where the lag is. I need to fix this becaue HD is usually well over 4 gig. someone said something about removing null packets to reduce the size. I need to check this out. But i would like to stream the HD. DVD runs fine streaming. so, I am thinking that my lan is not handling the required bandwidth. perhaps it's the usb nic I have on my pc. I can try using the hardwire nic and see if that makes a difference. I am using a belkin cable router.

also not liking the file server only supporting one folder. that doesn't really allow me to have dvd or files on multiple drives.

ok. I just received my player last week. Ok, I am slower than the rest of you. Anyway, they have this unit as a certified HD Divx player. But does anyone know if this player can play DIVX 6 files? I don't mind converting my dvd's to divx but I want to keep the AC3. I don't want 2 channel ..

It can usually play them fine but it doesn't support any of the new features such as chapters.


but as it is pointed out. it's just as easy to just keep the dvd's as vobs and run them that way, I get the AC3 and orig files. Is there a smaller uncompressed fromat to keep files in other than vob's? I have found that most movies are under 4 gig using decryptor. Which is good since Fat32 won't support over4 gig files.
..

You can get them smaller by recompressing to DIVX/XVID/WMA but at the cost of a lot of time and a small amount of quality. Most of us use NTFS for our server drives so we can have larger files (such as single VOB versions of our movies or HD TS files).


I also did not know that I had to update firmware after firmware. I thought I would have updated the newest one. But I found out I had to download about 6 in a row to be current...

One of the annoying thing about all of these Sigma based players.


I have had one problem. I can not steam HD over my lan. I get a pause about every 5 sec. Not sure where the lag is. I need to fix this becaue HD is usually well over 4 gig. someone said something about removing null packets to reduce the size. I need to check this out. But i would like to stream the HD. DVD runs fine streaming. so, I am thinking that my lan is not handling the required bandwidth. perhaps it's the usb nic I have on my pc. I can try using the hardwire nic and see if that makes a difference. I am using a belkin cable router.
..

I had similar issues with a Dlink wireless router. Every time it tried to communicate with wireless or the uplink to lan it would pause the wired connections (about every 5 seconds). I think it may be something to do with UPNP but I never figured out for sure. my solution buy a very cheap switch (NOT HUB), unplug the PC and the LP2 from the router and plug them in the switch, connect the switches uplink to the router. After that all of the LP2 to computer trafic completely bypasses the router and ran at best possible speeds.


also not liking the file server only supporting one folder. that doesn't really allow me to have dvd or files on multiple drives.

Alot of us use a server called WIZD -- it has a thread here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=496964&highlight=wizd
and on the IODATA forum.

You can get it here:
http://www.geocities.com/flipflop7146/wizd.html

It can also remove the pause between vobs when playing a DVD from your hard disk.

It can usually play them fine but it doesn't support any of the new features such as chapters.

Well, I had converted about 10 shows to divx6 before I got the player so that i would be ready. but then when I tried to play them. I had no video and no audio. just a black screen. But this was before I did all the firmware update. I will try converting one more file. but really, does converting a dvd to divx just to have it upconverted to 720p really make any sense?????

You can get them smaller by recompressing to DIVX/XVID/WMA but at the cost of a lot of time and a small amount of quality

Yeah, I was also using a NTFS server for my larger files. but most movies can be stored in 1 vob under 4 gig. And it's nice to just use a USB device and free up my desktop for other stuff like recording my HD with MYHD card while downloading torrents from the net and copying backing up my dvd copies and fun stuff like that. Ok, fine. I need an additional pc.

I am thinking about setting up a AVX1 pc so I can pull the shows off my LG LST-3410a. I just need to figure out what kind of box I am wanting to make. I am thinking I am liking the mini ixs'

yeah, I know I could recompress the file. I wasn't wanting to do that. Just wanted to know if there was another non compressed format other than vob that supports 480p with AC3. Not that I mind keeping them as a vob.

One of the annoying thing about all of these Sigma based players

I am up to date now. so, it's all good. I love the easy update though. can't complain about that.

I had similar issues with a Dlink wireless router. Every time it tried to communicate with wireless or the uplink to lan it would pause the wired connections (about every 5 seconds). I think it may be something to do with UPNP but I never figured out for sure. my solution buy a very cheap switch (NOT HUB), unplug the PC and the LP2 from the router and plug them in the switch, connect the switches uplink to the router. After that all of the LP2 to computer trafic completely bypasses the router and ran at best possible speeds.

hmm...worth a try. I do have a few linksys cable routers laying around. I could try it that way. see if it makes a diff. I just got the unit and am suppose to give it to my mom so she can give it to me in 10 days. she doesn't know I had the package shipped to me. hehe. so, I need to box it back up and take it to her to wrap.



thanks for the other server link and all the other info.

Well, I had converted about 10 shows to divx6 before I got the player so that i would be ready. but then when I tried to play them. I had no video and no audio. just a black screen. But this was before I did all the firmware update. I will try converting one more file. but really, does converting a dvd to divx just to have it upconverted to 720p really make any sense?????


Although the DOCs and website say it doesn't upconvert DVDs it does -- any DVD or VOB will upconvert to the the setting you specify just like it does with WMV,DIVX,XVID,MPEG2,etc.

Just discovered the Linkplayer2 (ok, where have I been) and have one question...can it access media on an external hardrive connected to a PC/Mac? I realize the I-O Network Drive is best scenario, but just want to know if I need one right away when I order the Linkplayer2. Currently, most of my media is located on a Maxtor drive connected to my MAC (firewire).

Thanks in advance to anyone who knows the answer.

Just discovered the Linkplayer2 (ok, where have I been) and have one question...can it access media on an external hardrive connected to a PC/Mac?

Yep, no problem... Depending on the server software you run, you may have to make aliases of the files on that drive and put them in your "movies" folder...

Z

Thanks! Another quick quesiton? Any idea if a new model will include DVI in the near future? Really excited about getting one but can't believe it doesn't include this output.

you mean this. http://www.iodata.com/products/products.php?cat=HNP&sc=AVELK&ts=2&tsc=15&sc=AVELK&pId=SRDVD-100U

The newer DVI version is being sold by JVC. I think it retails for $375. The only diff between the SRDVD-100U and the older one is the DVI. One is DVI the other is component but the price difference is $125. I couldn't see paying that for DVI out.

Thanks! Another quick quesiton? Any idea if a new model will include DVI in the near future? Really excited about getting one but can't believe it doesn't include this output.

Right now the JVC one is having issues with HDCP on some DVI only screens. If you have an HDMI port on your monitor no one has mentioned any problems so that might also affect whether you want to try the JVC one right now.

I've been trying Auto Gordian Knot 2.26 for encoding my MPEG2-TS files that I've recorded into the more compressed XViD HD format so that I can fit a movie into a DVD-R.

It seems to always encode the entire movie successfully, but I am noticing that as I play the XViD HD file on my LinkPlayer2, that the audio gets more and more delayed as it gets deeper into the movie.

Is this a playback issue or an encoding issue. I'm a novice at this, so what should I be looking for. I do know that I have the latest firmware for my LinkPlayer2 which is the August one.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Update Dec. 20/05: My PC plays this XViD HD file fine with audio in sync using VideoLan (VLC). Anyone else experience this when playing their XViD HD files?

======================================================
Here is the log of a conversion I did lately of Monster-In-Law:

[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] AutoGK 2.26
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] OS: WinXP (5.1.2600).2
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Job started.
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Input file: E:\Video\Movies\VuHD1 HD-Monster in Law (5.1).mpg
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Output file: E:\Video\Movies\VuHD1 HD-Monster in Law (5.1) XviD.avi
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Output codec: XviD
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Audio 1: Audio Stream 0 AC3
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Subtitles: none
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Format: .AVI
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Target size: 4480Mb
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Custom audio settings: Original
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Started encoding.
[12/19/2005 8:10:25 AM] Demuxing and indexing.
[12/19/2005 8:17:55 AM] Processing file: E:\Video\Movies\VuHD1 HD-Monster in Law (5.1).mpg
[12/19/2005 8:17:55 AM] Source resolution: 1280x720
[12/19/2005 8:17:55 AM] Found NTSC source.
[12/19/2005 8:17:55 AM] Source aspect ratio: 16:9
[12/19/2005 8:17:55 AM] Color correction enabled.
[12/19/2005 8:17:55 AM] Analyzing 60fps HDTV source.
[12/19/2005 8:24:41 AM] Percentage of 3:2 dupe patterns: 86.05
[12/19/2005 8:24:41 AM] Dupes are not found.
[12/19/2005 8:24:41 AM] Output will contain 376718 frames
[12/19/2005 8:24:41 AM] Audio1 size: 301,674,240 bytes (287.70 Mb)
[12/19/2005 8:24:41 AM] Overhead: 1,047,552 bytes (1.00 Mb)
[12/19/2005 8:24:41 AM] Video size: 4,394,898,688 bytes (4191.30 Mb)
[12/19/2005 8:24:41 AM] Running compressibility test.
[12/19/2005 8:24:41 AM] Writing the following script to E:\Video\Movies\agk_tmp\VuHD1 HD-Monster in Law (5.1) XviD_comptest.avs
===========================================================
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\autocrop.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\ColorMatrix.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\RemoveGrainSSE3.dll")

movie = mpeg2source("E:\Video\Movies\agk_tmp\VuHD1 HD-Monster in Law (5.1) XviD.d2v")
cropclip = autocrop(movie,mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples=10,aspect= 0,threshold=34,samplestartframe=0,leftadd=0,rightadd=0,topad d=0,bottomadd=0)
fixed_aspect = 1
c_width = width(cropclip)
c_height = round(height(cropclip) / fixed_aspect)
input_par = float(c_width)/float(c_height)
input_par = (input_par > 1.4) || (input_par < 1.25) ? input_par : (4.0/3.0)
out_width = 704
out_height = round(float(out_width) / input_par)
hmod = out_height - (floor(out_height / 16 ) * 16)
out_height = (hmod > 4) ? (out_height + (16 - hmod)) : (out_height - hmod)
new_aspect = (float(out_width) / float(out_height)) / fixed_aspect
autocrop(movie,mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples=10,aspect= new_aspect,threshold=34,samplestartframe=0,leftadd=0,rightad d=0,topadd=0,bottomadd=0)
LanczosResize(out_width,out_height)
RemoveGrain(mode=2)
ColorMatrix("Rec.709->Rec.601",mmx=true,hints=false)
SelectRangeEvery(300,15)
===========================================================
[12/19/2005 8:31:55 AM] Duration was: 7 minutes 14 seconds
[12/19/2005 8:31:55 AM] Speed was: 43.39 fps.
[12/19/2005 8:31:56 AM] Compressibility percentage is: 132.64
[12/19/2005 8:31:56 AM] Chosen resolution is: 960x544 ( AR: 1.76 )
[12/19/2005 8:31:56 AM] Predicted comptest value is: 71.52%
[12/19/2005 8:31:56 AM] Running first pass.
[12/19/2005 8:31:56 AM] Writing the following script to E:\Video\Movies\agk_tmp\VuHD1 HD-Monster in Law (5.1) XviD_movie.avs
===========================================================
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\autocrop.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\ColorMatrix.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\RemoveGrainSSE3.dll")

movie = mpeg2source("E:\Video\Movies\agk_tmp\VuHD1 HD-Monster in Law (5.1) XviD.d2v")
cropclip = autocrop(movie,mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples=10,aspect= 0,threshold=34,samplestartframe=0,leftadd=0,rightadd=0,topad d=0,bottomadd=0)
fixed_aspect = 1
c_width = width(cropclip)
c_height = round(height(cropclip) / fixed_aspect)
input_par = float(c_width)/float(c_height)
input_par = (input_par > 1.4) || (input_par < 1.25) ? input_par : (4.0/3.0)
out_width = 960
out_height = round(float(out_width) / input_par)
hmod = out_height - (floor(out_height / 16 ) * 16)
out_height = (hmod > 4) ? (out_height + (16 - hmod)) : (out_height - hmod)
new_aspect = (float(out_width) / float(out_height)) / fixed_aspect
autocrop(movie,mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples=10,aspect= new_aspect,threshold=34,samplestartframe=0,leftadd=0,rightad d=0,topadd=0,bottomadd=0)
LanczosResize(out_width,out_height)
RemoveGrain(mode=2)
ColorMatrix("Rec.709->Rec.601",mmx=true,hints=false)
===========================================================
[12/19/2005 10:49:58 AM] Duration was: 2 hours 18 minutes 1 second.
[12/19/2005 10:49:58 AM] Speed was: 45.49 fps.
[12/19/2005 10:49:59 AM] Expected quality of first pass size: 79.42%
[12/19/2005 10:49:59 AM] Running second pass.
[12/19/2005 3:13:07 PM] Duration was: 4 hours 23 minutes 8 seconds
[12/19/2005 3:13:07 PM] Speed was: 23.86 fps.
[12/19/2005 3:13:07 PM] Job finished. Total time: 7 hours 2 minutes 42 seconds
=========================================================

It seems to always encode the entire movie successfully, but I am noticing that as I play the XViD HD file on my LinkPlayer2, that the audio gets more and more delayed as it gets deeper into the movie.

Is this a playback issue or an encoding issue.

...

Update Dec. 20/05: My PC plays this XViD HD file fine with audio in sync using VideoLan (VLC). Anyone else experience this when playing their XViD HD files?

I was going to suggest it was an encoding issue, but your last update seems to rule that out.

I've experienced the same "sync creep" encoding DVDs with Nero - adding more chapter points seemed to fix the problem.

Matt

I've experienced the same "sync creep" encoding DVDs with Nero - adding more chapter points seemed to fix the problem.However.... encoding DVD's with Nero (and I'm presume you're referring to Nero's Recode2) will generate encodes with AAC audio not AC3.


f13dfx,

Have you checked to see if there's any "creep" when playing these encodes on your PC. If the creep is hard-coded, you should be able to fast-forward directly to the end of the encode to detect it ;)

If you find there is a problem you can't get to the bottom of, I suggest you head over to Doom9 and post your query within the relevant Gordian Knot section. Which can be found here (http://forum.doom9.org/forumdisplay.php?f=17) ;)


Cheers

Hello!
I just purchased IMAX WMV HD titles, Dolphins, Magic of Flights, Coral Reef, Fighter Pilot. These play ok from DVD drive as WMV HD.

The system is :

CPU AMD Athlon 4800+ X2 dual core
Memory 2GB
M/B ASUS A8N SLI
Hard Disk 250GB x 2
OS WIndows XP SP2


I copied the wmv to Hard Disk and run Windows Media Connect 2.
They started to play with LinkPlayer2 but they sopped playing in the middle.
I tried many times and the location where the movie stops are always different.
According to I-O Data tech support, the wmv might exceeded the limit of the LinkPlayer2 which I can hardly believe. I picked up 720P file.

Is there anyone who succeeded to play those WMV HD titles with LP2 ?


Next, I uninstalled Link Server and installed Advanced Link Server.

ALS showed up in the server list of the LinkPlayer2. When ALS is clicked, after a while LP2 cannot find the ALS.
ALS is running at 192.168.1.50:8010
From the PC ping to LP2 works fine.


Please advise how to connect to ALS.


Next, I I followed the procedures described at this forum
avs-vb/showthread.php?t=527136&page=6&pp=30
to unDRM the WMV HD files to transcode them to 6Mbps.

I run VMware to create Virtual Machine for clean install.
Now installed Windows XP SP1 Japanese in VM.
Then installed WMP 9 Japanese.
blackbox.dll 9.0.0.2980
drmclien.dll 9.0.0.2980
drmstor.dll 9.0.0.2980
drmv2clt.dll 9.0.0.2980
wmvcore.dll 9.0.0.2980

I changed the ini as follows:
wmvcore=1;ieCache‚©‚çkid�E‚¤‚Ì‚ÉŽg—p
drmv2clt=1;blackbox&indivbox‚Ì—\”õ—p
drmclien=0;DRM1‚ÅŽg—p
blackbox=0;DRM2‚ÅŽg—p
indivbox=0;DRM2‚ÅŽg—p

Running sidda.exe generated the .key file.
drm2wmv_e.exe -v MagicOfFlight720.wmv

It generated file [NoDRM]-MagicOfFlight720.wmv
But when it is played, only garbage is displayed.

This movie was purchased on DVD-ROM and it plays ok on PC.
When it first played out of DVD drive, it does not go out to Internet to get the license. license is on the DVD-ROM.

The whole process did not generate DRM folder.

Please give any advise to solve this problem.


Happy Holidays
pjo :)

01/03/05

Just an addendum to the below.
AFTER upgrading firmware (ALL) everything seems to be functioning.
It said nowhere that you need to update the firmware 1 at a time and there were about 10 of them stacked up.....
SO, make sure you do through ALL the firmware upgrades!!

I am converting my DVD to Divx to save space.
I figure a DVD will take up 7-8GB and you can compress that down to .75GB with little quality loss.
----------------------------------------------


Hi all...been reading through here and am new to these parts.
Just got a new Linkplayer for Christmas and and having a problem as posted a few above.

While streaming a movie from computer to Linkplayer the audio slowly gets out of sync as the movie progresses.

I used the Divx 6 Convert program with default settings for Home Theatre.

I don't think that the actual encoding is a problem as the movie file seems fine (ie, I jumped around in it and played segments on the computer...they all seemed in sync).

I have tried several other options but still have not found the right combination..

I have tried Nero Recode now (nice program) using the Cinema settings and it showed up on menu but would not play (black screen freeze-up)...although the trailers off the Nero website play fine...go figure!

Any input on any or all of this and/or suggestions on encoding techniques or software that might help would be appreciated!

Also, on another note.....

I have downloaded some of the WMV HD trailers off of Windows Media website. The picture is stunning but there is no sound....
Am I missing something?

(several hours after posting the above)

Lastly, I now realize that this machine is not for the faint of heart after going through the many firmware updates to get current...yikes!!... not entirely user friendly I'd have to say.

Sad though because this machine definately has potential....now... to get the sound sync'd up.....

Thanks in advance for your input....

I used the Divx 6 Convert program with default settings for Home Theatre.

JDunn - What kind of files are you re-encoding? Why not just stream the originals?

Z

Hello!
I just purchased IMAX WMV HD titles, Dolphins, Magic of Flights, Coral Reef, Fighter Pilot. These play ok from DVD drive as WMV HD.

The system is :

CPU AMD Athlon 4800+ X2 dual core
Memory 2GB
M/B ASUS A8N SLI
Hard Disk 250GB x 2
OS WIndows XP SP2


I copied the wmv to Hard Disk and run Windows Media Connect 2.
They started to play with LinkPlayer2 but they sopped playing in the middle.
I tried many times and the location where the movie stops are always different.
According to I-O Data tech support, the wmv might exceeded the limit of the LinkPlayer2 which I can hardly believe. I picked up 720P file.

Is there anyone who succeeded to play those WMV HD titles with LP2 ?


Next, I uninstalled Link Server and installed Advanced Link Server.

ALS showed up in the server list of the LinkPlayer2. When ALS is clicked, after a while LP2 cannot find the ALS.
ALS is running at 192.168.1.50:8010
From the PC ping to LP2 works fine.


Please advise how to connect to ALS.


Next, I I followed the procedures described at this forum
avs-vb/showthread.php?t=527136&page=6&pp=30
to unDRM the WMV HD files to transcode them to 6Mbps.

I run VMware to create Virtual Machine for clean install.
Now installed Windows XP SP1 Japanese in VM.
Then installed WMP 9 Japanese.
blackbox.dll 9.0.0.2980
drmclien.dll 9.0.0.2980
drmstor.dll 9.0.0.2980
drmv2clt.dll 9.0.0.2980
wmvcore.dll 9.0.0.2980

I changed the ini as follows:
wmvcore=1;ieCache‚©‚çkid�E‚¤‚Ì‚ÉŽg—p
drmv2clt=1;blackbox&indivbox‚Ì—\”õ—p
drmclien=0;DRM1‚ÅŽg—p
blackbox=0;DRM2‚ÅŽg—p
indivbox=0;DRM2‚ÅŽg—p

Running sidda.exe generated the .key file.
drm2wmv_e.exe -v MagicOfFlight720.wmv

It generated file [NoDRM]-MagicOfFlight720.wmv
But when it is played, only garbage is displayed.

This movie was purchased on DVD-ROM and it plays ok on PC.
When it first played out of DVD drive, it does not go out to Internet to get the license. license is on the DVD-ROM.

The whole process did not generate DRM folder.

Please give any advise to solve this problem.


Happy Holidays
pjo :)

Regarding Coral Reef WMV HD,
After installing DRM update for WMP 9, KB891122, LP2 played entire movie ok.

Regarding the Advanced Link Server, XP SP2 firewall was stopping ALS.
ALS installer did not set the firewall correctly. Link Server installer set the firewall ok. So I did not realize that I have to do it manually for ALS.

Regarding other titles,
LP2 stops playing in the middle. Other three titles have higher bit rate so the LP2 Sigma chip cannot play them smoothly.
I still need to unDRM those and transcode to less than 8Mbps.

The current problem to unDRM using VM is the final output wmv has unDRMed but when it is played, only block noises are displayed. Any advise ?

Cheers
pjo

Ok, I have also had "sync creep". Here are some issues I am having.

I am using MYHD-130.

I am not sure if I have audio creep if I play the TS file, but if I use HDTVTOMPEG to cut out the comercials the I-O player will freeze at each cut point. I can get around this if I hit the FF on the remote. Very annoying. Just messing around, I used DR. DIVX and converted the TS to DIVX 5. When I do this, I do not get a freeze at each cut point however, I do get sync creep. The problem isn't hard coded in the file though. Because if I stop the show and FF to the point where I last ended, I have sync again.

I asked a few post before if the I-O plays DIVX 6 files. I converted a movie to DIVX 6 and wasn't able to play it on my player, however if i removed the divx 6 codec and use the divx 5 codec I can play it with no problems.



Oh, and I did fix my streaming problem I had before. It must have been the cheap USB NIC I was using because once I hard wired the network the streaming problem went away. Oh, unless I try to send a file that has show with 4 subs. Then it doesn't like it very much. Very very bad. If I record a show on digital 84 QAM. it also has 3 other broadcast along with it. so, sending 84.1-.4 in one file isn't a good ideal. Nor did I even want it to. Running this file through HDTVTOMPEG will allow me to strip only the show I want and then it streams fine.

New Firmware Dec 27 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: December 27, 2005
The latest Version: 11-36-051215-02-IOD-234-000

[ Update Info ]
Additional Functions
- Added the FAST mode on the drive speed menu for high bitrate MPEG2-TS playback.
Fixed Following Problem
- Not allowed in the case of file name letter counts, file sizes, or file amounts.
- Dropping frames happen after restarting from pausing on DVD-Video play.
- Audio is not synchronized on DivX files with JointStereo audio.
- Some music files don't come out via Digital / Coaxial outputs.
- Audio doesn't work for a while after restarting from slow playback.
- Dropping sounds happen on music playback.
- Some video files stops from USB devices.
- Some DLNA compliant devices can recognize just only 10 items in the file list.
- Some DivX files cannot be reversed.
- The system stopped on playing music files from Rhapsody server.

[ After Updating ]
- No more "Roll Back" accepted after this updating
- After updating, the default setting will be loaded (Display Mode: Composite/S-Video US NTSC ). Therefore, if you connect to TV via the D4 (component) out, you need to change the display mode again. Please try to push the "TV MODE" button some times after rebooting.

[ Tips ]
Try to update this version from 28th morning (Pacific Ocean Time).

Will the LP2 play DVD ISO files stored/Ripped to a Network Attached Storage Box?

I got the AvelLinkPlayer2 for Christmas. It replaced my hacked Apex DVD player. I plugged it into my LAN, updated the firmware, installed the server on my PC and voila! All good, all DHCP, no muss, no fuss. (I hope its hackable so I can put up my own background and screen saver! :)

I want to get away from accumulating DVDs, and I want to convert my VHS to DivX files and get rid of the tapes. What method do you folks prefer for VHS to DivX converesion?

Which software package is preferred by folks on this list for encoding to DivX. I have AGK running on my PC at home right now to see how well that works. It seems as if the resultant file will be with an AVI extension though. Is that the norm with DivX encoding.

Besides the movies, one of my primary uses for the the player is to play music files over my network. I'm converting old LPs to WAV files (not to MP3s since I prefer non-lossy audio files). All seems well in that regard except the navigation. If I am listening to an LP and hit the back button, instead of returning me to the page I was on, say LPs 41 thru 50, it reverts to page 1. I have to then navigate again to the page with LPs 41 thru 50; that is verrry annoying.

Another odd thing, of my WAVs which were ripped from CDs (using Exact Audio Copy) most are returning "Invalid WAV format" errors. It is my belief the player should play anything WMP can handle, n'est pas? WMP has no problem with my ripped CDs. I'll attempt another firmware update and see if this is resolved.

Bob Burns
San Francisco

Ok, I have also had "sync creep". Here are some issues I am having.

I am using MYHD-130.

I am not sure if I have audio creep if I play the TS file, but if I use HDTVTOMPEG to cut out the comercials the I-O player will freeze at each cut point. I can get around this if I hit the FF on the remote. Very annoying. Just messing around, I used DR. DIVX and converted the TS to DIVX 5. When I do this, I do not get a freeze at each cut point however, I do get sync creep. The problem isn't hard coded in the file though. Because if I stop the show and FF to the point where I last ended, I have sync again.

.

I also am having audio creep problems on files I have edited with H2M. I also had creep problems on a file I got from potus which he had edited but I don't know what program he used. These files play back fine when using MyHD. FF does fix it for me also (LP didn't freeze at the cut points - playback spead up - but ff brought lip sync back)

I tried this with both the old and the new firmware so it looks like the LP2 is only good for unedited files for me until I figure out what is causing the problem

Ralph, does "new firmware" mean the one from this week or October?

Ralph, does "new firmware" mean the one from this week or October?
I just got it tonight - I haven't noted any problems with it but I haven't tried much either

I also am having audio creep problems on files I have edited with H2M. I also had creep problems on a file I got from potus which he had edited but I don't know what program he used.
I also used H2M for cutting out commercials. Perhaps this is the problem? Are there other options out there? (though I happen to like H2M...)

- Frank

I also used H2M for cutting out commercials. Perhaps this is the problem? Are there other options out there? (though I happen to like H2M...)Me too...so I hope that IO-Data can fix their TS playing to sync better after cuts. I downloaded the demo of VideoReDo just to see if the AVeL Player liked its editing better, and it does. Commercials edited via VRD don't cause glitches and lip-sync with the AVeL. But the downside is, not only do you have to pay for and learn a new editor, it's way slower than H2M to process files--and its commercial detector is far less accurate and far slower than that in H2M. Not a pleasant prospect, IMO.

I am not sure it is an I-O problem as much as it is a HDTVtoMPEG issue. The support page for this app is also on AVS so I jumped over there and took a look. Looks like there is t his issue outside of I-O players. Has anyone tried using MPEG2Repair after making the cuts to see if it fixes the problem. I'll try it out tonight and report back. Here is the web site for the prog. MPEG2Repair (http://users.adelphia.net/~mwilczyn/mpeg2repair/)

from the web site: "The goal of repair is to create a fully Mpeg2 compliant file that will not crash, hang, or stall decoders which were not designed to deal with errors"

...Commercials edited via VRD don't cause glitches and lip-sync with the AVeL. But the downside is, not only do you have to pay for and learn a new editor, it's way slower than H2M to process files...The "downside" is far outweighed by the fact that VideoReDo Plus actually works! Not sometimes, or most of the time, but all the time! Further, the learning curve is ridiculously short--VRD is very easy to learn and the audio graph it has is just great.

I have tried H2M and ProjectX and MPEG2Repair and have had problems with each of them. Why bother when a reliable solution exists, unless of course you can't afford it.

Potus run-don't-walk to the videoredo site and give it a try (free for 15days).

salreus--

It is an LP2 problem, since transport streams, by nature, may include discontinuities and TS players need to adjust. H2M-edited streams have more frequent discontinuities (one at every cut point, in fact) but those cause no problem for MyHD and FusionHDTV players and the IO-Data player should take them in stride too, IMO.

Laser--

My experience with H2M and MyHD playback is that it "works" all the time too. And now that Cris has integrated a truly accurate 4:3 commercial sniffer it would be really onerous to switch--even if VRD weren't so relatively s-l-o-w. :(

TPeterson--

I was saying it wasn't the LP2's fault only because other systems have the same problem after using H2M.

ahhhh....But the LinkPlayer2 wasn't a TS player origanally. Only through firmware was it able to play TS. Not saying I don't agree with you and saying that with firmware they should be able to fix the problem also and i hope they do. Hey, I am just happy that it plays the native files instead of having to convert them. Hopefully I-O will end up fixing the problem. But it could also be "fixed" on the H2M side as well. If there are programs that correct the discontinuties, then H2M could also impliment this into the program. Hey, here is a even better idea. Lets have it fixed at both sides. In H2M and in LP2.

-sal

salreus--

The point is the discontinuities cannot all be eliminated from TS. There will be some occasionally in nearly any OTA-sourced file. So the player should expect and deal with them rather than requiring preprocessing of every file to remove them.

I agree completely with what you are saying. I do think it would be better for the LP2 to be more forgiving when it comes to errors. I agree that any TS file is going to have some or a lot of discontinuities that should be looked over by the player. And this must be the case already or else no TS file would play. The odds of me having all clean TS files before cutting is not likely. So, the player must accept these errors. What is different when the file is cut? Is that a different type of error that the player doesn't like? I am guessing this is detailed in the H2M thread but I haven't read up on it. So, thanks in advance for you input. I guess I don't understand what the difference between an error a cut would create vs a discontinuty created by just a bad feed at that time. Why does the LP2 choke up on one and not the other?

I have been using VideoReDo Plus for some time to delete commercials and convert files. VRD will re-encode the sections between a cut and that is correcting the timestamps. H2M does not do this it is just remuxing and that is probably why the sound is getting off which I've noticed too. Probably due to MPEG-2 licensing reasons H2M can't off that for free.

As usual I'm not going to update the LP2 for a couple weeks to see what the verdict is. I didn't do the October update for this reason.

salreus and Brian C--

The H2M cuts are all simple removals of complete GOP sections (I-frame to I-frame). There is no recoding or MUXing. That's one reason that it's so fast. The difference, from the player's POV, between those and a reception-error discontinuity is that the delta-t is bigger for the commercial cut than for a bad packet. (In fact, my guess is that the LP2 does not correct for the reception errors and the resultant tiny lip-sync errors are simply not noticeable) However, there are occasionally also counter-rollover discontinuities in TS timestamps that are even bigger, so it's not simply that the players can assume only small delta-t and be OK--they really do need to make frequent checks for A/V sync for reliable TS play.

Check this out. A renewal model coming Jan 3.


Dear All,

This model is, how can I say, a renewal model. Not a new model. So it should be so nice for all potential customers also current LP2 owners. Don't worry... And wait for the next news letter. But anyhow I highly recommend new customer to wait for a couple of days. Thanks.


http://www.iodata.com/usa/forum/showthread.php?p=6068#post6068

Check this out. A renewal model coming Jan 3.
Hmmm, I wonder what this could be. Can't be just a major firmware update can it? They're saying potential customers to wait, so maybe new hardware? Hopefully it's them replacing the crappy drive they have and other bugs. I'm on the fence about the Linkplayer2 and a little weary of buying one, so it's a good thing I waited (hopefully). We shall see. Tuesday can't get here fast enough. :)

Ive had no problems with my drive but it does sound like a revised LP2 model for new customers and a trade up program for existing owners.

Brian C, Salreus, and T Peterson,

I'm glad to see some discussion of the LP2's MPEG2_ts playback shortcomings at long last. I've been writing about the issue for months over at I-O Data forums (http://www.iodata.com/usa/forum/showthread.php?p=6115#post6115) but I haven't gotten anywhere. I feel like I'm the lone voice calling out in the woods. I-O Data's response has been: "We have never seen this problem in the QA tests." I now have a couple hundred MPEG2_TS files that won't play and I'm getting impatient. Passing my streams through VLC's advanced options helps some of the time but this is a major nuissance for so many .mpg files and it doesn't always work. Unfortunately VideoReDo won't run on a Mac, and Mac users don't have anything equivalent to VideoReDo.

It's really too bad I-O Data hasn't found a way to make the LP2 play MPEG2_ts reliably. Perhaps if this is a Syabas middleware issue it's out of their hands but I haven't heard that to be the case.

Does anybody know if the Zensonic Z500 will handle stream discontinuities better than the LP2?

MacHound:

My LinkPlayer2 came with August firmware and aside from updating LinkServer to 1.9b, I have had no problems whatsoever streaming TS files or playing TS files that I have archived to DVD-R.

I've kinda been in and out of this forum, so could you please just summarize in point form what your problems are.

Thank you.

could you please just summarize in point form what your problems are. My problems with MPEG2_ts playback are three fold:

(1) "Black screen playback" -- no audio, no video, but the time counter continues to advance. The issue primarily affects MPEG2 at 480i for me, though it occasionally happens with high definition MPEG2 content as well. This "black screen playback" issue makes the LP2 unusable for a great many of my .mpg recordings. The "black screen playback" happens regardless of whether I play the .mpg file over my network or from a data DVD. These files choke the LP2 from the beginning so I never see or hear anything from my TV while the show is "playing." If I leave it long enough the show reaches its end and the LP2 goes back to its menu.

(2) Pressing "pause" during an hour long MPEG2 video at (say) 52%, then pressing pause button again a moment later results in playback resuming at 99% or some other far-advanced point in the stream. Alternatively, and not infrequently, the stream refuses to "unpause" at all despite repeated presses of the pause button. (Rewinding 2% then advancing 1% sometimes gets the frozen stream started playing again.) Jack Akita states this issue is fixed with the 12-28-2005 firmware. I certainly hope that's true, but I haven't seen any third party confirmation that this bug is fixed.

(3) The audio stream detaches from the video after MPEG2 edit points, sometimes returning a few minutes later, sometimes not. This is the problem T. Peterson was discussing above. When the audio does eventually return it's often desynchronized from the video. It's not a matter of "synch creep" but instead "synch jump." Again, these sames streams have no AV playback problems on my computer in VLC. Jack states this issue might be fixed with the 12-28-2005 firmware. Again, it awaits confirmation.

Jack states this issue might be fixed with the 12-28-2005 firmware. Again, it awaits confirmation. .

per my earlier posts it wasn't - I had the problem with the new and the old firmware

Can someone explain to me why IO-Data does not allow LinkPlayer2 owners to restore previous firmware or even firmware older than what was pre-installed in their units?

The reason I ask is that I wanted to try out a previous firmware that allowed output of "WMA9 Pro" audio via the LinkPlayer2's SPDIF so that you could decode it with a Pioneer A/V receiver.

Unfortunately, I do not know of any unit that has more features than the LinkPlayer2 right now for playing HD files :(

P.S. Is there a hack that allows one to do this?

Can someone explain to me why IO-Data does not allow LinkPlayer2 owners to restore previous firmware or even firmware older than what was pre-installed in their units? As I understand it, the minor updates don't replace the Syabas middleware whereas major updates do. My guess is that I-O Data can't easily downgrade the middleware for technical or contractural reasons. While it might be theoretically possible to write a middleware downgrader I'm not sure who outside of I-O Data would have the skill to do it.

Having said that, the new JVC unit reportedly has a rollback feature that allows downgrading to its original firmware. This difference implies that the JVC keeps a copy of its original firmware in ROM whereas the LP2 doesn't. IMO this feature may be the strongest reason to buy a JVC over the LP2.

Regarding Coral Reef WMV HD,
After installing DRM update for WMP 9, KB891122, LP2 played entire movie ok.

Regarding the Advanced Link Server, XP SP2 firewall was stopping ALS.
ALS installer did not set the firewall correctly. Link Server installer set the firewall ok. So I did not realize that I have to do it manually for ALS.

Regarding other titles,
LP2 stops playing in the middle. Other three titles have higher bit rate so the LP2 Sigma chip cannot play them smoothly.
I still need to unDRM those and transcode to less than 8Mbps.

The current problem to unDRM using VM is the final output wmv has unDRMed but when it is played, only block noises are displayed. Any advise ?

Cheers
pjo

Happy New Year !
Coral Reef played ok to the end once, but not always.
I assumed that WMC 2 is doing some interruption to stream the video to LP2.

So I tried to unDRM WMV HD and finally it was unDRMed.
Now WMC 2 can stream unDRMed Coral Reef non stop !
Adavanced Link Server cannot stream this unDRMed wmv. Why ?

Cheers
pjo

I am having no problem at all playing these files downloaded from Microsoft's WMV HD Showcase:

Alexander trailer (it's stupid, though)
Coral Reef (1080p and 720p both play just fine)
Experience Windows Media Player 10
Speed
Dolphins


I was not able to get the Titanic excerpt to play -- got a message about my license to play it having expired. The Ray trailer would only play with stuttering video and sound.

I have the December 28 firmware on my LP2.

I am playing these files over my (wired) LAN to the LP2, using Windows Media Connect 2.0. I am NOT using the Avel Linkplayer server, or advanced server for these files.

The DRM does not seem to be causing any problem on Alexander (though it's hard to tell, because the action in the trailer has a lot of MTV-style quick-cutting, and sometimes I can't tell if it's incoherent on purpose, or because of something the LP2 is doing), but Ray's not happening.

All except for Ray, these I've played the files from beginning to end, several times, without incident (except that the Alexander trailer is trying my patience.)

For those having trouble with Coral Reef or some of the others, you MIGHT want to try using Windows Media Connect. (Once you install it, it shows up on the list of servers on the LP2.)

UPDATE: I tried turning off everything on my PC that might place any load on on the CPU except what was absolutely necessary to run the videos...I then tried Ray again, and it played somewhat better, though not really very well. I brought up the task manager, and noticed that the CPU usage was pegged at 100% while playing Ray, but at virtually zero when playing the others (including Alexander, which also has DRM). So it seems that the difficulty with playing Ray is not the LP2, but my computer! My machine's a 2.8ghz Pentium 4 with a gig of RAM, though, which really ought to be able to handle this sort of thing...maybe if it was faster, I could play Ray? It seems crazy that the DRM on Ray is eating up so much CPU power, whereas the DRM on Alexander doesn't require any. Anyone have any idea why that would be? And can others confirm my results?

Happy New Year !
Coral Reef played ok to the end once, but not always.
I assumed that WMC 2 is doing some interruption to stream the video to LP2.

So I tried to unDRM WMV HD and finally it was unDRMed.
Now WMC 2 can stream unDRMed Coral Reef non stop !
Adavanced Link Server cannot stream this unDRMed wmv. Why ?

Cheers
pjo

BTW these WMV HD movies are not downloaded. These are purchased and delivered on DVD-ROM and the each file size is well over 2GB.

Coral Reef Adventure
Dolphins
Magic of Flight
Fighter Pilot

According to IO Data tech support, these cannot be played with LP2 because the bit rate exceeds the limit of Sigma Design decoder. I did not believe this so these are unDRMed and LP2 can play those over 40 minutes movie !

WMC 2 is causing the movie play interruption.

pjo

Is it possible to run the LinkPlayer server software on a NAS device?

Yes, it comes on the IODATA UHDL Series, and you can run many different servers on the hackable KUROBOX, the INFRANT X6 has one built into their GIGE raid box also. Twonkyvision will run on most of the NAS products that allow Telnet, FTP access.

There has also been success stories reported from the limetech unraid solution running wizd: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6374978

Having said that, the new JVC unit reportedly has a rollback feature that allows downgrading to its original firmware. This difference implies that the JVC keeps a copy of its original firmware in ROM whereas the LP2 doesn't. IMO this feature may be the strongest reason to buy a JVC over the LP2.

The reason the JVC unit can do this and the LP2 can't is the JVC has more flash rom and can hold both the new and the old firmwares.

JRad

great. I have found yet another problem with my player. And I have no idea what is causing this one. Ok. If I steam single file vobs from my pc to the player the file will become choppy and pixalated(sp) at around 5 min and 30 sec and will go away at around 6 min. This occurs with every movie I watch. This also occurs with AVI's. After this occurs. the movie will play fine for the rest of the movie. I only have this 30 sec problem.

great. I have found yet another problem with my player. And I have no idea what is causing this one. Ok. If I steam single file vobs from my pc to the player the file will become choppy and pixalated(sp) at around 5 min and 30 sec and will go away at around 6 min. This occurs with every movie I watch. This also occurs with AVI's. After this occurs. the movie will play fine for the rest of the movie. I only have this 30 sec problem. You confirmed JRad's 12-31-05 observation about VOB breakup at 5:23 minutes, reported in post# 3731 of the long LP2 thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6818787&&#post6818787) and confirmed by Potus in post# 3734. Three independent reports means the problem is a fact. Rollback to June, 2005, firmware might be a wise idea for anyone having these playback problems, or just in general. I'm still having reasonably good results with June firmware, aside from the "black screen playback" issue, occasional freezes and stutters, and the occasional bizarre behavior I've long ago come to accept as status quo for this player.

aside from the "black screen playback" issue

MacHound,

If it is any consolation, I have one file that does this as well, it was a clip that I downloaded and didn't really pay much attention to it because I wasn't really sure how it was encoded. My point is, it didn't work on the Oct. or Dec. firmwares.

JRad

SMD kindly agreed to try my "black screen playback" files on his Zensonic Z500. That should be an interesting follow-up when he gets my DVD in a couple weeks.

JDunn - What kind of files are you re-encoding? Why not just stream the originals?

Z

I am converting the original files off the DVD to Divx using Dr Divx. I am using an older version of Dr Divx as it has an option to boost audio (which is needed converting from 5.1).

I use the default settings for Home Theatre (good quality) and it usually compresses the video down to just over 1GB with no apparent quality loss.

I do wish I could get the 5.1 audio to work with this format but am happy just the same using the mp3 format (or I assume that is what it is)...

I playback through the Linkplayer onto HD 42" and 5.1 surround system (optical cable)

I tried the Nero Encoder and ran into problems with compatability and didn't think quality was as good as Divx....

What (in your opinion) is the best video encoder allowing 5.1 sound playback that is compatible with the Linkplayer??

JD

great. I have found yet another problem with my player. And I have no idea what is causing this one. Ok. If I steam single file vobs from my pc to the player the file will become choppy and pixalated(sp) at around 5 min and 30 sec and will go away at around 6 min. This occurs with every movie I watch. This also occurs with AVI's. After this occurs. the movie will play fine for the rest of the movie. I only have this 30 sec problem.

I'm experiencing this too. Not too pleasing when you're showing a friend how cool your new LinkPlayer is!

I...
What (in your opinion) is the best video encoder allowing 5.1 sound playback that is compatible with the Linkplayer??


You might try Auto Gordian Knot and use XVID for your target, it can have embedded AC3.

right. that is what I was going to say. I have downoaded this app and encoded several movies already. and I get to keep my AC3. But with keeping the AC3, you have to have much bigger files. I don't have any reason for my logic but I figure if a mp3 divx movie can be nice around 700 meg. then I am just setting my files to 1/4 dvd or 1/3 depending on the length of the movie. doing this also allows me to back them up nicely to dvd if I wanted to. hopefully.

And why am I doing this? because I have way too many movies and if I have my ac and video looks the same,why not. I don't use my pc 20 out of 24 hours per day. It may as well be doing something. who cares how long it takes to convert a movie. I am sleeping or at work anyway.

What (in your opinion) is the best video encoder allowing 5.1 sound playback that is compatible with the Linkplayer??Xvid has looked better to me than Dvix every time I have compared them the last couple years. Along with AutoGK you should look at Fairuse Wizard which has a very nice GUI and far more features that AGK (at a shareware price though).

yeah, what happened to the good ole days where fairuse was free. But that was many years ago. but hey, as long as I have AC3 an and good video, I don't care if it is divx, xvid or whatever fairuse is now. I know vob's have lots of issues, another good reason to convert them to something else.

Is anyone using their linkplayer in a constant height setup? i'm thinking about doing it, but i haven't seen a vertical stretch option in the menus.

Xvid has looked better to me than Dvix every time I have compared them the last couple years. Along with AutoGK you should look at Fairuse Wizard which has a very nice GUI and far more features that AGK (at a shareware price though).

After trying almost every software there is available I think AVI NET is the best (there is a period between AVI and NET but this editor won't allow me to put it there)!
I click 'keep original AC3 sound' and use the Custom file size setting to acheive the '30' quality level they speak about in the docs (filesize usually Between 900 - 1.5GB)....very slick and quality archives.

Newly updated as of January 07,2006

And the best of all it is free (donations accepted, and well worth it)!

Check it out!

TPeterson--

ahhhh....But the LinkPlayer2 wasn't a TS player origanally. Only through firmware was it able to play TS.
-sal

Can you tell me what firmare release you use to play ts streams ( particularly those from myhd)

George--

I've updated to the December firmware and, AFAICT, the only problem with LAN-based TS play is that H2M-edited streams have lip-sync problems after cut points until you used FF/RW to resync them. The same was true of the October firmware.

After trying almost every software there is available I think AVI NET is the best

I tried avi.NET, but it does not seem to work with .ts files. I tried the standard trick of renaming to ".mpg", but it still didn't work...

I have tried Nero Recode2 trial software, and it produces very nice LP2-playable video from HD source, but the trial software does not seem to have AC3. It always downsamples to 2 channels. Anyone know if the version bundled in the Nero Digital Pro package ($30) comes with AC3 capability? I don't actually need to encode to AC3, just pass-through.

- Frank

George--

I've updated to the December firmware and, AFAICT, the only problem with LAN-based TS play is that H2M-edited streams have lip-sync problems after cut points until you used FF/RW to resync them. The same was true of the October firmware.

I have a second 'problem" with playing MyHD ts files. When you start watching a recording with the LP2 while it is being recorded by MyHD the 100% point is fixed at the time you start watching. I can ff up to the 99% point but after that I just have to watch the rest of the show at regular play speed or it will freeze and require restarting in LP2 and then trying to go to the "revised" % point of where I was watching before.

Still pretty nice to have the ability to watch while recording.

I have a second 'problem" with playing MyHD ts files. When you start watching a recording with the LP2 while it is being recorded by MyHD the 100% point is fixed at the time you start watching. I can ff up to the 99% point but after that I just have to watch the rest of the show at regular play speed or it will freeze and require restarting in LP2 and then trying to go to the "revised" % point of where I was watching before.

Still pretty nice to have the ability to watch while recording.

Yeah, I have that problem too. Sometimes, it seems to be confused about where the end of the file is. I will use FF at some point, and it will think it is done, even though there may be a lot of the file left to play. The only workaround I have is to sit through the commercials at that point.

And I am still having persistent crashing when playing any HD files. Either ones I recorded with MyHD, or others I have recorded with a KWorld atsc card. The crashing seems to be a little less frequent, but ALWAYS crashes at least once during any program of length >= 30 minutes...

- Frank

George--

I've updated to the December firmware and, AFAICT, the only problem with LAN-based TS play is that H2M-edited streams have lip-sync problems after cut points until you used FF/RW to resync them. The same was true of the October firmware.

thank you... i'm looking forward to using it

--g

George--

I've updated to the December firmware and, AFAICT, the only problem with LAN-based TS play is that H2M-edited streams have lip-sync problems after cut points until you used FF/RW to resync them. The same was true of the October firmware.

Just hooked up an AVL2P, upgraded the firmware (06-35-...) , using the supplied linkplayer (1.7e), and figured out how to use the watched folders option (\mpgs and \myhd)

My problem is that myhd files are labelled *.tp which is not recognized. If I rename them to *.mpg, they play, without problem (at least in my initial tries)

This is a bozo nooby problem. How do I get the AVLP2 server to recognize *.tp files without first renaming them to *.mpg?

TIA
--g

system details
processor MD Athlon(tm) XP 2600+
mother board GA-7VT600 1394, 15X
windows 2k Microsoft Windows 2000 Workstation Service Pack 4 (Build 2195)
directx 9.0c



--G

How do I get the AVLP2 server to recognize *.tp files without first renaming them to *.mpg?You rename them *.ts :D

Renaming to *.ts is more correct than to *.mpg, 'cause the .tp files are TS not PS sources, but the result would be the same. However, I suspect that you'd really like to play them without any renaming at all, right? Alas, you can't...with the standard AVeL server. You need to install the Advanced server, which you can find on the IO-DATA website--to which there are several links (including at the beginning of this thread, I think). That works very similarly to the standard server, but allows you to add *.tp as an alias for *.ts--see Ralph Arch's post about that, or read the advanced server FAQ on the IO-DATA site.

You rename them *.ts :D

Alas, you can't...with the standard AVeL server. You need to install the Advanced server, which you can find on the IO-DATA website--to which there are several links (including at the beginning of this thread, I think).

Thank you Terry ( do you ever sleep;)

The advanced server works fine once you add the line that the poster recommended (see below).

I'm begining to get the hang of this.. different flavors of the link server do different things

Next question , if anyone knows, is there anything like a 30 second skip in the advanced link server ( or any other avlp2 server)

TIA

--G





~~~~ref

I found the discussion link to the advanced server here
http://www.iodata.com/usa/forum/showthread.php?t=798

"I put the following line into the file server-config.xml media types video section (located in documents and settings iodata applications:

<mediaFile extension=".tp" fake=".ts" resumable="yes"/>

...[I]s there anything like a 30 second skip in the advanced link server ( or any other avlp2 server)I wish there were! :(

Its not as good as a 30 second skip - but 1% (right arrow) is exactly equal if you are watching a 50 minute show

Thanks, Ralph! I didn't know about that button.

I thought you knew that - but related to MyHD don't forget to stop before 100% if you are watching a MyHD file on LP2 while it is being recorded, otherwise you have to restart the file and hit that % key some random amount

Has anyone on this thread attempted to use CinemaNow (described on io-data's website) to watch DVD or HD content via Window's Media Connect? Io-data's website warns that it won't be able play content that has to be "validated" each time and inside Windows Media Connect it lists my player as "unable to play protected content". Does anyone know a way around this? I'm payin to download the file so i don't feel like i'm in violation of anything, just trying to get it to play.

I'm just trying to find a way to download new movies in DVD or HD and play them on the LinkPlayer without running to BlockBuster. If someone knows of another site other than cinema now where this can be accomplished please let me know!

Thanks!

Yes, I downloaded and played "Ghosts of the Abyss" from Cinemanow on my Linkplayer. I used Windows Media Connect, and it worked just fine. If I remember right, I played a few seconds of it on my PC first, which might have been necessary to download the license...I'm not sure.

Windows Media Connect lists my machine as being unable to play protected Windows Media files, as well.

I have a question about upconversion, and what it really means...I think.

My TV is an NEC plasma set, which is capable of 1080i. I have my Linkplayer using the D-Video output, which converts to component, and is (according to the manual) capable of output at 1080i.

I also have a Denon DVD player - a DVD-1710. Its best output resolution is listed in its manual as 480p.

So the question is, with standard commercial DVD's, should I expect to see a better picture from the Linkplayer than from the Denon? I'm not clear on how, if the DVD's own resolution is at 480p (isn't that what it is?) the Linkplayer could improve on that resolution, even if the Linkplayer is capable of higher quality output. Am I missing something basic about how "upconversion" works?

Thanks for helping the newbie.

Its not as good as a 30 second skip - but 1% (right arrow) is exactly equal if you are watching a 50 minute show

Thanks Ralph

Not at my unit, so I cannot test. Does this also mean left arrow goes back 1% ?

The point, of course is commercial skip and cueing in a recorded file

--G

I just installed the AVLP2 last night, went to the setup screen and punched update firmware, which proceeded without problem. I re-booted on command, and it started up just fine (luck of the innocent and un-informed)

Yet, at the bottom of the setup screen it tells me the frimware # is 06-35-.... which I take is the June release. Things are almost wortking as I want now, so I'm a little more hesitant to just try new frimrware, but do you have to upgrade the firmware N times if you are N versions behind the current release, or does the 06-35... just indicate the firmware shipped with the unit

TIA

--G

~~~ref
http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/AVLP2_SW.php#AVLP2

http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/AVLP2_SW.php#AVLP2


Says " To check the latest version, only your next updatable one will appear. That means it may not be latest. Repeat to check the version until no updated message. "

Is this really true, you have to upgrade N times to get things if you are N versions behind? This gives you N chances for a glitch, which I'd like to avoid

So.. which version of the release do y'all like.? Is there any reason, for a myhd owner, to install past the june update. I notice you can't go back

It's true -- it does not update you several versions at a time -- it updates incrementally. So, to get to the current version, you'd update repeatedly.

However, I'm very sure that the people on this forum would unanimously vote to advise you to stick with the June firmware and not upgrade further, as the firmware has, in general, gotten buggier since then. Someday, maybe, they'll get the problems fixed, and there'll be a version of the firmware that's worth upgrading to. Right now, though, that's not the case.

.. I'm very sure that the people on this forum would unanimously vote to advise you to stick with the June firmware and not upgrade further..

and.. I will. Thank you for the advice.

--G

I have a question about upconversion...

My TV is an NEC plasma set, which is capable of 1080i. I have my Linkplayer using the D-Video output, which converts to component, and is (according to the manual) capable of output at 1080i.

I also have a Denon DVD player - a DVD-1710. Its best output resolution is listed in its manual as 480p.

So the question is, with standard commercial DVD's, should I expect to see a better picture from the Linkplayer than from the Denon?

I believe there is a gothca... if you are a vendor and want to add DVD you have to limit the output to 480p, so that's all she will do. I believe this limit is implemented in the output filters. There is discussion in this thread on how to remove said filters , if you are handy with a soldering iron and surface mount components.

The sigma desing folks also chimed in an noted that they had a reference desing that let you take the filters out, which IO-data chose not to implement.

If you dig a little you can find instructions somewhere in this thread

--G

So short of doing the filter mod (which I don't want to do), does this mean that if I'm watching DVD's from my Linkplayer, I should just set the Linkplayer's output, and the TV's screen, to 480p? Or does it make no difference, because they'll adjust themselves to that anyway? Or, instead, should the Linkplayer and the TV both be set to 1080i, so that when I'm playing HD content over my network they'll show it in its best light, but they'll both automatically step down to 480P when I'm playing DVD's?

It means if you set the resolution higher than 480 p, it does not matter, because 480p is all you are going to get

I'd recommend playing around with the settings, sometimes there are second order considerations. If your tv is an LCD with 720p (720 vertical pixels), it is going to have to interpolate up to fill the pixels if you send it a 480p pic, and it may be better to just do the interpolation in the avlp2..

I don't have your TV , so I can't say if it is better to do it in the avlp2 or in the tv

--G

Thanks Ralph

Not at my unit, so I cannot test. Does this also mean left arrow goes back 1% ?



--G

yes

I believe there is a gothca... if you are a vendor and want to add DVD you have to limit the output to 480p, so that's all she will do. I believe this limit is implemented in the output filters. There is discussion in this thread on how to remove said filters , if you are handy with a soldering iron and surface mount components.
The sigma desing folks also chimed in an noted that they had a reference desing that let you take the filters out, which IO-data chose not to implement.
--G

Actually, the filter mod has nothing to do with resolution, it just sharpens the image some...

**The AVLP2 outputs DVD video to 720p or 1080i over component** this has been clearly stated in this thread at least 100 times. No, it is not supposed to, but yes, it does. If you set your AVLP2 to 480anything you are losing most of it's functionality.

Also, why worry about skipping commercials when you can edit them out in a few minutes? Isn't that one of the main reasons for recording on a PC? (lots of info in this thread)

-Z

Also, why worry about skipping commercials when you can edit them out in a few minutes? Isn't that one of the main reasons for recording on a PC? (lots of info in this thread)

-Z

Sure, you CAN edit them out, but it is easier not to. And unless it is completely automatic, there will inevitably be times when it just doesn't get done.

The player NEEDS better navigational control.

- Frank

Actually, the filter mod has nothing to do with resolution, it just sharpens the image some...

A video filter has everything to do with resolution. in this case a temporal low pass filter manifests itself as a spatial low pass filter ( via scanning) , thys limiting resolution

Ask yourself how does removing the filter improve the 'clarity"

HTH
--g

A video filter has everything to do with resolution. in this case a temporal low pass filter manifests itself as a spatial low pass filter ( via scanning) , thys limiting resolution
Ask yourself how does removing the filter improve the 'clarity"
--g

G- I won't argue with you about how these filters work, etc... But this player upscales DVDs to HD resolutions! Despite what IO-DATA says, and with or without the mod...

Have you even tried it?
Z

Sure, you CAN edit them out, but it is easier not to. And unless it is completely automatic, there will inevitably be times when it just doesn't get done.

The player NEEDS better navigational control.

- Frank

I completely agree, but we are talking about a company that regularly breaks things via firmware updates... I am just hoping they will make a new firmware that actually works so I can upgrade... Asking for new features seems kinda hopeless.

Z

G- I won't argue with you about how these filters work, etc... But this player upscales DVDs to HD resolutions! Despite what IO-DATA says, and with or without the mod...

Have you even tried it?
ZGeorge is right about the effect of the filters. I suspect that they are the legal loophole through which IO-DATA squeezed this player onto the U.S. market. It puts 1080i/720p through a low-pass filter that (they must have argued) performs the analog equivalent of down-rezzing the picture approximately to 480p. Now, I finally understand both why they haven't lost their DVD license and why they're so coy about their HD YPrPb output.

But this player upscales DVDs to HD resolutions! Despite what IO-DATA says, and with or without the mod...

Have you even tried it?
Z

Yes I tried it, compared to the myhd output, the avlp2 output is soft. The technique I use is to select the same HD file recorded by myhd, and play it back through myhd and through the avlp2. The myhd looks much better, no matter what resolution you use for the avlp2 ( I tried 480p and 720p) . The monitor is a syntax Olevia LCD (native 720p). the myhd is connected to vga input, the avlp2 to component input

Have you ever seen the output from a myhd card? It's a lot clearer than the avlp2.

What I have not tried is removing the filters from the avlp2.

Terry's explanation as to how the avlp2 slipped into the US with a nominal 720p dvd (which, IIUC, is not allowed by the dvd license) is how I make sense of this apparent glitch. Why limit resolution if you went to all the trouble to get it in the first place? The reason is the dvd license made io-data do it

--G

The old DVD licence agreement under which IODATA built this player did not say you can't upscale on analog outputs -- just on digital.This is not the way it was explained to me. If this is so, why is it that I can find no YPrPb-output DVD players with up-rezzed output, save for a Chinese unit with questionable U.S. market presence, on the web?? :confused:

I know the current license restricts it: (in Section 6.2.1.1 (2), page A-11). It didn't specify no upscaling in some older licenses and Iodata has been making networked DVD players for awhile so it could depend on which license was in effect. Player categories that didn't prohibit upscaling the longest were PC players and Network Players (different subcategories of the DVD CCA licenses). PC players still don't need HDCP for upscaling on VGA or DVI (but that will change before blue-ray ships and as Vista comes out with new video requirements). If you want new features you need to re-up your license so eventually Iodata will remove it.Paul, the MyHD product ships without the ability to up-scale DVDs on VGA/component because their license request was denied about two years ago. (One has to install 3rd-party sw to gain upscaling of commercial DVDs using MyHD) I don't think that IO-DATA has been shipping players that long, has it? It seems to me that this doesn't square with your version of the situation. What am I missing?

Iodata has been a consumer electronics company since since 76 -- they first showed upscaling networked DVD players in Japan (the AVLP1/DVD LinkPlayer) in either late 2001 or early 2002 and were shipping them in 2003. The LP2 (third model has been selling since 2004. They also used to make some consumer DVD players (non networked) but I don't know how far back that went. They have stopped those currently for more pc based things (streaming TV tuner boxes and such). IODATA isn't a small company in Japan so I doubt they are going too far out of bounds.

BTW -- MyHD is actually covered under a different license category since it doesn't contain a hardware implementation of the decryption algorithm. It would be covered under the software license category just like WinDVD and PowerDVD (very hard to get!).

Having trouble with a couple of DVDs not filling the screen when playing them on the LinkPlayer2. "Deep IMpact" in widescreen format 1.85 aspect ratio when played at 1080i only fills about 2/3 of the screen - black areas on all four sides. Other DVDs fill the entire projection screen (Panny 900U) either horizontally or vertically depending on the aspect ratio of the source. For example, a 2.35 AR source DVD fills the horizontal dimension of the screen with black bars at the top & bottom as expected.

What's going on?

Paul, the MyHD product ships without the ability to up-scale DVDs on VGA/component because their license request was denied about two years ago. (One has to install 3rd-party sw to gain upscaling of commercial DVDs using MyHD)...I didn't think MyHD worked with any "3rd-party sw"--what are you talking about here?

I didn't think MyHD worked with any "3rd-party sw"--what are you talking about here?For DVDs, it doesn't work without them. I'm talking about encryption removers, such as AnyDVD, DVD43, etc.

[Now...back to our regularly scheduled AVLP2 discussion? ;)]

I'm talking about encryption removers...Of course, sorry, I gotcha--I have never tried DVDs w/my MDP-130 so had to ask!!!

Switching thread back OnT now... :cool:

I've been using my new LP2 every day since I got it this Christmas :) I love it despite its quirks! Now I need a HUUUUGE NAS!

I'm also using both the Momitsu and WizD server software and they have a few quirks as well. In particular WizD creates bookmark files just fine but they don't work; if I attempt to play a file which has a bookmark I get a black blank screen and no sound though the time display on the LP2 indicates the file is playing. Am I doing something wrong?

With the Momitsu software, I need to delete the server from the LP2 on-screen display once or twice at startup or else I get a white blank screen.

Anyone else seen these results?

BobB

The advanced server works fine once you add the line that the poster recommended ...I found the discussion link to the advanced server here
http://www.iodata.com/usa/forum/showthread.php?t=798
"I put the following line into the file server-config.xml media types video section (located in documents and settings iodata applications:
<mediaFile extension=".tp" fake=".ts" resumable="yes"/>

Anyone lknow if there is an equivalent hack for the regular server? The reason I ask is the *.tp files play just fine if I name them *.mpg ( or as Terry suggests *.ts). Now, there is no server-config.xml for the regular server, but there is a video.xml that seems to list file extensions

My understanding is the advance server transcodes (read decodes) the files before sending them, I'd like to let the avlp2 do the decoding

TIA

--G

My understanding is the advance server transcodes (read decodes) the files before sending them, I'd like to let the avlp2 do the decoding

TIA

--G

I'm pretty sure you are wrong. The advance server is just mimeing to an extension - the decoding is still in the lp2

I'm pretty sure you are wrong. The advance server is just mimeing to an extension - the decoding is still in the lp2

thank you, my misunderstanding

--G

I've been using my new LP2 every day since I got it this Christmas :) I love it despite its quirks! Now I need a HUUUUGE NAS!

I'm also using both the Momitsu and WizD server software and they have a few quirks as well. In particular WizD creates bookmark files just fine but they don't work; if I attempt to play a file which has a bookmark I get a black blank screen and no sound though the time display on the LP2 indicates the file is playing. Am I doing something wrong?

With the Momitsu software, I need to delete the server from the LP2 on-screen display once or twice at startup or else I get a white blank screen.

Anyone else seen these results?

BobB

It's too bad WizD does not see shortcuts to media files. The Momitsu software sure does. I have media files on several different partitions but I just put shortcuts to them all in one folder and the Momitsu software plays them. If WizD did that, it would be the only one I'd use.

Having trouble with a couple of DVDs not filling the screen when playing them on the LinkPlayer2. "Deep IMpact" in widescreen format 1.85 aspect ratio when played at 1080i only fills about 2/3 of the screen - black areas on all four sides. Other DVDs fill the entire projection screen (Panny 900U) either horizontally or vertically depending on the aspect ratio of the source. For example, a 2.35 AR source DVD fills the horizontal dimension of the screen with black bars at the top & bottom as expected.

What's going on?
With a little research - found the answer. The DVDs I was "having problems with" are non anamorphic widescreen. Seems like a contradiction in terms to me but I guess it saves somebody money. From now on I will always look for widescreen AND anamorphic or "enhanced for widerscreen" on the box. Caveat emptor

Yeah there are a number of decent movies that were done "letterboxed" vs. "anamorphic widescreen". I never noticed or cared myself really until getting a 16:9 HDTV. But my Sony HDTV does a great job of zooming these discs--it's just annoying to have to do it.

If you're really ambitious you can use a software tool like DVD2SVCD or DVD Rebuilder Pro to convert these discs to anamorphic widescreen. They will crop-and-expand the letterboxed image, and let you burn to a new DVD.

It's too bad WizD does not see shortcuts to media files. The Momitsu software sure does. I have media files on several different partitions but I just put shortcuts to them all in one folder and the Momitsu software plays them. If WizD did that, it would be the only one I'd use.

WizD doesn't do that but your file system probably does. Standard windows shortcuts are .lnk files which wizd won't recognize. There is an option if you use NTFS (or any flavor of *nix, but I don't know much here...). To do this google "hard links juncitons NTFS".

By using a hard link under NTFS wizd thinks the actual file is there (indistinguishable from the original), but it take almost no additional space. You can even rename the hard link (ie change vob to mpg if you wanted to, keeping the original vob intact. Or name VTS_03_01 to Movie_1.vob for easier nav).

There are a couple restrictions, the hard link and file must be on the same volume, iirc there are a couple others. I don't remember at the moment.

There is a windows application that if you install lets you create hard links via right click or drag n drop in explorer.

Yeah there are a number of decent movies that were done "letterboxed" vs. "anamorphic widescreen". I never noticed or cared myself really until getting a 16:9 HDTV. But my Sony HDTV does a great job of zooming these discs--it's just annoying to have to do it.

If you're really ambitious you can use a software tool like DVD2SVCD or DVD Rebuilder Pro to convert these discs to anamorphic widescreen. They will crop-and-expand the letterboxed image, and let you burn to a new DVD.

As I understand it, zooming just replicates pixels whereas anamorphic expansion uses additional data encoded on the DVD to increase the vertical resolution. Compare an anamorphic widescreen image to a zoomed image and I think you'll see the difference. I did this with the non anamorphic movie I had using the zoom feature on the linkplayer and there was no comparison - anamorphic was much clearer and sharper.

As I understand it, zooming just replicates pixels whereas anamorphic expansion uses additional data encoded on the DVD to increase the vertical resolution. Compare an anamorphic widescreen image to a zoomed image and I think you'll see the difference. I did this with the non anamorphic movie I had using the zoom feature on the linkplayer and there was no comparison - anamorphic was much clearer and sharper.Well, of course--an anamorphic disc will always have an advantage over zooming of any kind, whether converting via software or zooming with your TV. I was merely stating that in the absence of the availability of an anamorphic version of a movie, there is a software option that does a good job of upscaling.

Yes, the "additional data" of an anamorphic disc uses all the pixels on a DVD's 720x480 canvas, while a simple letterboxed movie wastes valuable pixels in black bands above & below the wide rectangular frame within.

just installed my "2006 edition" iolink dvd player today
fast shipment,impressed by relative ease of install
2 firmware updates...some features i had not known about,nice surprise
reminds me of zapstation of a few years back
off to tinker and read a bit on it
any firmware update from the current 586H for the dvd-rom epo-ldr dp306D?

Argghhh....

There's a new version of the firmware for the Linkplayer today. According to one person on IODATA's own forum, the new firmware forces DVD output down to 480p. So I guess IODATA's no longer skirting the edge on its compliance? I wonder if they felt compelled to do this (assuming the poster is correct) in response to the filter mod?

On the plus side, the firmware upgrade can be rolled back to the previous version; so anyone who wants to verify this new behavior can do so, and can then roll back to the old version (buggy as it is).

Yeh, I just confirmed it myself.... with today's firmware, DVD output is at 480p, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Do the region free codes still work:
<slow backwards> 4 6 4 6 <region>

Snazio has the following codes perhaps one of these works:
Slow 1 2 1 2 (1 disable 0 Enable) DVI Upscaling

Slow 1 2 3 4 1or2 Select GPU IRQ I/O (1=shared interrupt,2=separate)
no one knows what this one does

Buffalo has an upscale code -- does anyone know what it is to try?

Do the region free codes still work:
<slow backwards> 4 6 4 6 <region>


What's the secret code to get .ts playback to stop crashing my unit? The latest firmware still has this problem. (It seems the .VOB play problem is fixed, though. It no longer has that weird glitch around 5:34)

What's the secret code to get .ts playback to stop crashing my unit? The latest firmware still has this problem. (It seems the .VOB play problem is fixed, though. It no longer has that weird glitch around 5:34)George, what's the source of your crashing .ts? I've played a number of OTA TS (MyHD) files (using the December fw) and the worst behavior I've seen to date is that H2M-edited files get A/V synch issues after edit points until I use FF/REW.

I think George has a bad unit and should exchange it. He and I exchanged files by snail mail - the one I sent him played fine on my unit; as did the one I received from him. And he said they both crashed somewhere on his unit.

I think George has a bad unit and should exchange it. He and I exchanged files by snail mail - the one I sent him played fine on my unit; as did the one I received from him. And he said they both crashed somewhere on his unit.

Yes, I think so too. EVERY .ts file I try to play will crash my unit. No exceptions. The ones I've captured myself are from two differenct sources. A myHD card, and a KWorld atsc capture card.

But Jack from IOData refuses to think it is my unit. He keeps telling me how the next firmware will make me sooo happy because it will solve my IOData nightmare. But that was 3 firmware upgrades ago. I would gladly exchange it for a new one, but they won't let me.

- Frank (not actually dubya)

Do the region free codes still work:
<slow backwards> 4 6 4 6 <region>

Snazio has the following codes perhaps one of these works:
Slow 1 2 1 2 (1 disable 0 Enable) DVI Upscaling

Slow 1 2 3 4 1or2 Select GPU IRQ I/O (1=shared interrupt,2=separate)
no one knows what this one does

Buffalo has an upscale code -- does anyone know what it is to try?

Slow backwards 12120 doesn't seem to do anything.

As far as I can tell, no code can start with slow (as opposed to slow backwards), because as soon as you hit slow, the machine responds "invalid". So:

Slow 121210 seems to be an impossibility.


I'm assuming these codes are tried after hitting the setup button, just like the region free code...please let me know if you think I might be doing something wrong.

Thanks!

We purchased the JVC player because we were excited about the network playback. We are a DVD authoring company, and were looking forward to being able to test DVDs without burning them to disc, especially DVD9s. But we can't figure out how to play a DVD over the network, it just wants to play the individual VTS files (no .ifo files show up in list), which is worthless for our testing. What am I doing wrong? Early reviews specifically said that it supports .ifo files, but I can't seem to figure out how to get them to show up in the list. Please advise.

Slow backwards 12120 doesn't seem to do anything.

As far as I can tell, no code can start with slow (as opposed to slow backwards), because as soon as you hit slow, the machine responds "invalid". So:

Slow 121210 seems to be an impossibility.


I'm assuming these codes are tried after hitting the setup button, just like the region free code...please let me know if you think I might be doing something wrong.

Thanks!

[Corrected] Glad to hear that region free is still working since JVC users have reported that it stopped working.

Actually, on my Linkplayer 2, Region Free still works, even after the January upgrade.

Argghhh....

There's a new version of the firmware for the Linkplayer today. According to one person on IODATA's own forum, the new firmware forces DVD output down to 480p. So I guess IODATA's no longer skirting the edge on its compliance? I wonder if they felt compelled to do this (assuming the poster is correct) in response to the filter mod?

On the plus side, the firmware upgrade can be rolled back to the previous version; so anyone who wants to verify this new behavior can do so, and can then roll back to the old version (buggy as it is). Did anybody doubt this was going to happen someday?

I-O Data seems intent on impressing someone other than their customers lately. They just pulled the plug on a discussion of region-free LP2 options (http://www.iodata.com/usa/forum/showthread.php?p=6983#post6983) in their forums. That can only mean one of two things: they are seeking industry approval for something, or somebody has threatened them if they don't crack down. I smell the B.O. of MPAA thugs.

We can all probably do ourselves a favor by quietly VOLUNTEERING to cease discussing the region free modifications in the forum at IODATA's own website.

Nearly all DVD manufacturers provide themselves with an easy way to switch regions on their products. That way, they can manufacture a single version of the product for worldwide distribution, and have it configurable just before shipment by the manufacturer, greatly simplifying inventory issues. (It would be much harder for a manufacturer to anticipate how many units they're going to sell in each region of the world, and hard-code the region code into the units during the manufacturing process itself. They might end up with too many Australia-only units, or too many Japan units, or whatever. If they can adjust the region as they ship, they can use the same pool of product to serve their worldwide needs.)

So they nearly all give themselves an easy way, either by loading region-specific firmware from a CDROM, or by transmitting codes from the remote, or whatever, to do a POST-MANUFACTURE region change. This is permitted. But they're not supposed to tell consumers how to do this. Of course, there's nothing like the determination of the consumer who wants a region free player, and the region-changing methods are eventually discovered.

Manufacturers are free to say, to the DVD consortium, "Look, we're not telling people how to do this, and it's not our fault that some of them have figured it out on their own." Once the manufacturer's OWN WEBSITE is telling people how to do it, though, that's another story, even if the information is coming by way of customer's posting. If IODATA's own website is telling people how to change the region, then IODATA is arguably out of compliance, and needs to either STOP telling people how to change the region, or change the firmware so that you CAN'T change the region, or change the firmware so there's a different, yet-undiscovered way to change the region.

Given this, the NICEST thing that IODATA can do for its consumers is to tell them to quit posting the region free hack on their website. IODATA, and everyone else, knows that the hack is available at other places on the web (like here, for example), but that's not IODATA's fault or responsibility. If IODATA didn't purge the region free discussion from their own website, they'd have to take some other action to satisfy the DVD consortium, like actually disabling region changes in the machines.

So, we can do ourselves, and IODATA, a favor, by keeping the region-free discussion off IODATA's own website, so that IODATA's not forced to take "more serious" action. They're TRYING to do right by us on this, I think, and they need our help to do it.

No more 1080i DVD output? AhhhHh!

Hmmm, guess I'll have to not upgrade my firmware. After doing removing the low-res filter from the board, it would be maddening to return to bluryness.

No more 1080i DVD output? AhhhHh!

Hmmm, guess I'll have to not upgrade my firmware. After doing removing the low-res filter from the board, it would be maddening to return to bluryness.

I went with the new firmware. I mostly use the LP2 for TS stream playback. If I want to view a dvd directly I will use my HTPC and TT2 software or MyHD playback. Others could just rip the DVD to a hard drive and playback as a stream. Its also nice to know that if you really want to you can revert to earlier firmware; but why not get the (assumed) improvements of the newer firmware if there are ways to overcome its shortcomings?

Wondering if anyone has had a chance to check this product out:

http://www.araccessories.com/msib21/Templates/mediabridge.html

It's an A/V streamer, similar to the IODATA, but without the DVD-drive. It has an actual DVI jack on the back, and outputs video at up to 720p. Plays mpeg1, mpeg2, mpeg4, DV, MJPEG, non-drm WMV, etc.

What's really interesting is that its source code is in Linux, and is made available for free download by the mfr.

Whats the cost?

Dave

We have a "Digital Media Server" forum here...here's a thread in there that mentions the MediaBridge - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=506739

The Pixel Magic box sounds like it could be good...

Matt

Has anyone noticed the specs on the Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player? I was reading the specs and came across this.

Details:

» plays HD DVD high-definition discs (selectable 720p/1080i output available through HDMI output only — HDMI cable included)
» plays DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM
» plays CD, audio CD-R & CD-RW, and MP3 and WMA CD-R & CD-RW
» selectable 720p/1080i video upconversion for DVD (upconverted video available through HDMI output only)
» built-in audio decoding for Dolby® Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD lossless (2-ch.), DTS® and DTS-HD lossless
» HDMI digital output (combines video and multichannel audio with HDCP copy protection)
» 1 set of A/V outputs (composite video, S-video, and component video)
» stereo and 5.1-channel audio outputs
» coaxial and optical digital audio outputs
» Ethernet port for access to Internet-based content
» two front-panel USB ports
» remote control (multibrand for TV)
» 216MHz/11-bit video D/A converter
» multichannel 192kHz/24-bit audio D/A converters
» 17"W x 4"H x 14"D

Ethernet port for access to internet based content. I wonder if it will stream from a PC? It could be an interesting product, if it does!

JRad

Has anyone noticed the specs on the Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player? I was reading the specs and came across this.

Details:

» plays HD DVD high-definition discs (selectable 720p/1080i output available through HDMI output only — HDMI cable included)
» plays DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM
» plays CD, audio CD-R & CD-RW, and MP3 and WMA CD-R & CD-RW
» selectable 720p/1080i video upconversion for DVD (upconverted video available through HDMI output only)
» built-in audio decoding for Dolby® Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD lossless (2-ch.), DTS® and DTS-HD lossless
» HDMI digital output (combines video and multichannel audio with HDCP copy protection)
» 1 set of A/V outputs (composite video, S-video, and component video)
» stereo and 5.1-channel audio outputs
» coaxial and optical digital audio outputs
» Ethernet port for access to Internet-based content
» two front-panel USB ports
» remote control (multibrand for TV)
» 216MHz/11-bit video D/A converter
» multichannel 192kHz/24-bit audio D/A converters
» 17"W x 4"H x 14"D

Ethernet port for access to internet based content. I wonder if it will stream from a PC? It could be an interesting product, if it does!

JRad

So what is an HD DVD? Upscaled? Most of us with the LP2 are interested in HD and it doesn't look like this player is capable of playing HD files (like ts streams)

So what is an HD DVD? Upscaled? Most of us with the LP2 are interested in HD and it doesn't look like this player is capable of playing HD files (like ts streams)The next generation high-definition DVD standard.

Movies are 1920x1080, using VC-1, H.264 or MPEG-2. Lots of new audio codecs can be used for higher audio quality. Download new subtitles and trailers, etc. Director commentary using PIP, etc.

Actually, there are two competing standards -- HD-DVD and Blu-ray.

Players and movies will be here in a couple of months. For a start:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=114

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=7&f=151

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=7&f=149

Thanks Keith for the HD DVD definition and the links. After further research, it looks like ethernet connectivity is mandated as part of the HD DVD spec. Furthermore, it looks like it will be used for firmware upgrades, one time viewing of downloadable movies, and believe it or not, gaming. Does anyone know if it is capable of streaming HD files from a PC?

JRad

... After further research, it looks like ethernet connectivity is mandated as part of the HD DVD spec. Furthermore, it looks like it will be used for firmware upgrades, one time viewing of downloadable movies, and believe it or not, gaming.

And probably suspected DRM violation reporting ;)

And probably suspected DRM violation reporting ;)

Could be a possibility!

JRad

We can all probably do ourselves a favor by quietly VOLUNTEERING to cease discussing the region free modifications in the forum at IODATA's own website. This is excellent advice. I try to stick to subjects in the I-O Data Forums where there is a specific problem we're trying to address, such as "Why won't my MPEG2_ts file play?", or "Why does this unit freeze during DVD play?" These are the type of subjects we can freely discuss without sanction.

I sitll wonder what I-O Data is working on that they feel the need to remove upscaling from DVD playback at this time, versus not removing it in the past.

I sitll wonder what I-O Data is working on that they feel the need to remove upscaling from DVD playback at this time, versus not removing it in the past.Probably just now got the attention of DVD CCA, who pointed out that they can either (1) lose their DVD license, (2) fix it, or (3) be fined lots of money and still have (1) or (2) happen. DVD CCA has become much more aggressive in enforcing license agreements and started purchasing and testing DVD players to ensure they don't violate license agreements,

Thanks Keith for the HD DVD definition and the links. After further research, it looks like ethernet connectivity is mandated as part of the HD DVD spec. Furthermore, it looks like it will be used for firmware upgrades, one time viewing of downloadable movies, and believe it or not, gaming. Does anyone know if it is capable of streaming HD files from a PC?Using the network connection for firmware upgrades and streaming files from a PC are a player manufacturer's option, not a part of the HD-DVD and BD specs. Gaming is planned to be relatively simple, related to the movie. Best bet is to hang out on the other threads for awhile to understand these players since they are so complex.

Unlike HD-DVD, Blu-ray uses MPEG-2 TS streams (based on DVB), so is more likely to support the playing of TS stream requirements many here seek. In addition, many of the Blu-ray players use decoder chip from Sigma, so will likely support the playing of TS streams many here seek.

I saw on the Site that this player support Mpeg-2 TS in 720P. DOes this mean that it plays a TS stream encoded in 1080I at 720P or that it won't play it at all. I am interested in knowing this. I am currently torn between getting this player and waiting out for Blue Ray and HD-DVD to either beat one or the other or a second Gen Universal Player or putting down money on the next possible betamax machine.

Jorge

Can someone tell me if fast forward/rewind is supported in Avel Advanced Server? I have some Xvid files that are encoded with GMC or .mp4 format, which I can get to play on the AVLP2 using Advanced Server and avi transcoding, but don't seem to be able to fast forward through them.

Thanks

I saw on the Site that this player support Mpeg-2 TS in 720P. DOes this mean that it plays a TS stream encoded in 1080I at 720P or that it won't play it at all. I am interested in knowing this. I am currently torn between getting this player and waiting out for Blue Ray and HD-DVD to either beat one or the other or a second Gen Universal Player or putting down money on the next possible betamax machine.

JorgeYes.

Ummm, not sure how that answers my question if Avel Advanced Server allows ff/rw when transcoding files with a codec that the AVLP2 does not natively support.

My experience is that when you're using the Advanced server to play a file that is not natively supported by the Linkplayer, fast forward and rewind don't work. I think, but am not positive, that this is a limitation not of the Advanced server software itself, but of the Windows Media Player components that are being relied on by the advanced server. That is, I think the Advanced server, when you ask it to play a file that's not directly supported, calls some Windows Media Player component, which in turn invokes the appropriate codec; the advanced server then streams the output from media player to the Linkplayer. I *think* it's the use of the media player componentry that prevents fast forward and rewind. I'm sure if I have that wrong, someone will correct me, but that's what it looks like.

Well I've had the AVLP2 fow a few months now. I was not all that impressed with the very soft 1080i output to my Sony HS10. It was very soft compared to D-VHS and my Motorola HD-DVR. I did the filter mod this week. The difference is night and day. A big "thank you" to whoever figured that one out. The player now useable.
I also had problems with +R DL media. 13 of the 20 DL discs I have did not play at all. I had a spare LG 4040B DVD-ROM "burner" I was no longer using so I hooked it up to the AVLP2. The wires fit out the back and I just placed the burner on top of the AVLP2. It works perfectly. It now plays all of my +R DL media. It is not even a DL burner.

Just thought I would let everyone know the LG 4040B read/writer works with the AVLP2. I would say that most readers & writers will work better than the original. Not just the Liton 167T.


Thanks
Avery

I agree with everything you said. I was planning on doing the filter mod too, but now I think I'll just wait and get a new player with DVI or HDMI out.

Here is a link to a pretty good review done on the LinkPlayer. For those who have not seen it. It is pretty much done as a DVD benchmark, but might explain some of the dvd playback issues.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=125#I-O%20DataAvel%20Linkplayer%202%20High%20Definition%20(WMV-HD)%20DVD%20Player

JRad

Excellent link, JRad. That review summarizes many of the issues we've been discussing here but in a much more concise format.

Strange that firmware updating was not mentioned. The pioneer listed above the AVLP2 had the mention of firmware "Hopefully, they will do some testing and provide a firmware update"
Also what firmware was used on the test sample? Was the firmware updated at all?

Avery

I am very interested if somebody already figured a hack to roll back LinkPlayer2 to it's original (or any of 05/2005- 08/2005) firmware.
Is it possible at all?

If you're at the current firmware level, the farthest back anyone's been able to figure out how to go is October, 2005. See a multitude of messages in this thread for details:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7093798

Regarding Coral Reef WMV HD,
After installing DRM update for WMP 9, KB891122, LP2 played entire movie ok.

Regarding the Advanced Link Server, XP SP2 firewall was stopping ALS.
ALS installer did not set the firewall correctly. Link Server installer set the firewall ok. So I did not realize that I have to do it manually for ALS.

Regarding other titles,
LP2 stops playing in the middle. Other three titles have higher bit rate so the LP2 Sigma chip cannot play them smoothly.
I still need to unDRM those and transcode to less than 8Mbps.

The current problem to unDRM using VM is the final output wmv has unDRMed but when it is played, only block noises are displayed. Any advise ?

Cheers
pjo

You probably ended up with the wrong SID or KID in your UNDRMing. Another discussion on here describes the process well, and also gives a list of KIDs and SIDs for many of the HD WMV discs to save you the wear and tear of your VM. I undrm'd my T2 disc just fine and it plays. Only issue is that it plays via the JVC Linkplayer 2 at 480i/p just fine, but at 1080i output (component) it plays, studders, flickers, plays, studders, flickers, plays .... Doesn't play smooth and it is below the 8,000kbps data rate.
Good luck in your undrming!

Just a question perhaps a specialist could answer:

Everybody know there is now much Models of Media player running on same hardware as Linkplayer2... like the H&B 8620 on which Firmware is downloadable and updatable using simple USB MEMORY CARD. This firmware consist in a HTML page and BIN file. I haven't tried myself , but if hardware is the Same , it would be posible to flash firmware based hardware.

Why would i flash this one? just because it has much option, like NTFS support and much more than original Linkplayer2 firmware... it's all.

I wouldn't recommend trying firmwares from other brands of players (especially when they have different features -- the H&B has both DVI and Wireless.) You might end up with a player that doesn't do anything and IODATA would have no respoinsibility to try and fix anything.

As to NTFS Snazio's most recent update said it had NTFS but users have reported it doesn't work right yet so this player is probably in the same shape right now -- (if I could read French I might know for sure three people have talked about NTFS recently in their forums but what they are saying is beyond me and Babelfish right now).

Anyone successfully using their Linkplayer with one of the new Intel Imacs? Linkserver and Neuston no longer work for me...LS won't even load and Neuston won't let me navigate past the "1.Video 2.Music 3.Photos" menu. Wizd seems like an option but I can't find any instructions on an OS X installation. Ideas?

Anyone successfully using their Linkplayer with one of the new Intel Imacs? Linkserver and Neuston no longer work for me...LS won't even load and Neuston won't let me navigate past the "1.Video 2.Music 3.Photos" menu. Wizd seems like an option but I can't find any instructions on an OS X installation. Ideas? You can find the information you need here. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5737861&&#post5737861) There's also a helpful wizd chapter (http://www.iodata.com/usa/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=110) at I-O Data Forums. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

You can find the information you need here. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5737861&&#post5737861) There's also a helpful wizd chapter (http://www.iodata.com/usa/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=110) at I-O Data Forums. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

I'm afraid my programming skills are nowhere near what they need to be...those links are places I've actually been many times but there still seems to be a lack of simple instructions for Terminal dummies like me. I seriously have no idea where to start, despite the numerous Mac posts...it's just intimidating as hell for me.

I like the idea you floated a while back:

Now if we could just find some poor sap with more free time than common sense -- oops, I meant a talented Mac programmer -- to build an automatic installer and Mac front end that lets users start/stop file-serving, change preferences, change folder locations, and which understands Mac aliases -- all without having to enter the command line... well, that would really take the cake!

Too bad it never came to pass. It seems like there's a steep learning curve I just can't seem to gain any traction on. Thanks for the thought, though!

Just to let you guys know.....

MPEG2Repair (v1.0.1.3) (http://users.adelphia.net/~mwilczyn/mpeg2repair/) was released yesterday :)


Cheers

I'm afraid my programming skills are nowhere near what they need to be...those links are places I've actually been many times but there still seems to be a lack of simple instructions for Terminal dummies like me. I seriously have no idea where to start, despite the numerous Mac posts...it's just intimidating as hell for me. I'd actually suggest taking your questions to the I-O Data Forums wizd thread I linked above. You'll find programmer types lurking there who can help step you through it. My own attempts at compiling wizd met with many error messages. Fortunately there is a compiled binary on Jhue's web page that works just fine on PPC hardware. Getting it to run under Rosetta might be another matter entirely.

Don't give up. None of us have Intel Macs yet to be as helpful as we would like. You may find some unix gurus at I-O Data Forums who can point you in the right direction. The first step, of course, will be getting XTools onto your Mac. It comes on the OS X installer disks. There was also an XTools installer in the Utilities folder on my Mac Mini but it wasn't the latest version at the time my Mini shipped in October. You may need to sign up with Apple's developer's page to get the latest version. It only takes a few minutes to sign up and it's free.

Thanks for your support, MacHound. My patience is frayed from days of reading everything I could find (literally), countless attempted installs, and always running into error messages. I give up on wizd for now...I'm in no way skilled enough to be troubleshoot, so there's a lot of wasted time peforming what often end up being redundant actions that don't get me any closer to a working installation. I don't have any more time.

FWIW, I snatched XTools right after taking receipt of the iMac per the suggestions in another thread and it works smoothly under the new Intel enviornment.

So what is the final word on this machine playing WMV HD / DRM stuff?

Will it play WMV HD DVD titles like Titanic special edition in 720p? in 1020i?

What about home made WMV HDs encoded via Adobe Premier?

Thank you.

Thanks for your support, MacHound. My patience is frayed from days of reading everything I could find (literally), countless attempted installs, and always running into error messages. I give up on wizd for now...I'm in no way skilled enough to be troubleshoot, so there's a lot of wasted time peforming what often end up being redundant actions that don't get me any closer to a working installation. I don't have any more time.

Have you tried EyeConnect from Elgato? They have a free trial... and if it isnt a universal app yet, I bet it will be soon. I would be very curious about your results...

Zach

Unfortunately, Eyeconnect isn't compatible with the Intel Processors yet and El Gato's position isn't totally reassuring:

"That new version will be available soon; a specific release date is not available at this time."

Eyeconnect's UI was by far the most cumbersome I tried but El Gato seems to be the most likely to be working on a Universal version of their software (as opposed to Neuston or IO Data's Linkserver). Of course, their's is the only one that charges!

[QUOTE=JRad]Here is a link to a pretty good review
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=125#I-O%20DataAvel%20Linkplayer%202%20High%20Definition%20(WMV-HD)%20DVD%20Player
/QUOTE]

Note the other players have a ~flat frequency response to 10 MHz, whereas the unmodified AVLP2 looks like a low pass filter with the response down~5 dB at 10 Mhz


--G

Here is a link to a pretty good review
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=125#I-O%20DataAvel%20Linkplayer%202%20High%20Definition%20(WMV-HD)%20DVD%20Player


Note the other players have a ~flat frequency response to 10 MHz, whereas the unmodified AVLP2 looks like a low pass filter with the response down~5 dB at 10 Mhz


--Gfunny how lo-pass filters on the outputs will do that. :D

Hi guys, I am wondering if I should get the LP2 now or wait for the DVI/HDMI version to come out?

I'm concerned about the disabled upconversion in the LP2 model, as well lower quality signal from the component-only output on the LP2.

Does anybody know when will we'll see the next model coming out?

There is a HDMI version out now. Its the JVC SRDVD100U made by iodata.

There is a HDMI version out now. Its the JVC SRDVD100U made by iodata.

Is it HDMI or DVI+HDCP? I thought the only HDMI one so far is by Zensonic (and it has its current set of bugs that probably needs shaking out before trying).

There is a HDMI version out now. Its the JVC SRDVD100U made by iodata.

Unfortunately the JVC SRDVD-100U is NOT available in Canada. I called the retailer for AvelLink Player 2 and they say JVC refuses to sell it in Canada.

So I'm back to waiting for the 3rd-gen with DVI/HDMI output? When will that gonna be? Does anybody know for sure the the 3rd gen LP3 will have DVI/HDMI?

Whatelse will the 3rd gen machine add? I heard wireless is planned but aside from that anything else worth waiting for?

Has anyone had issues with the filter mod and been able to recover the player picture. I removed the first filter and everything was fine, but when I removed the other two filters, I guess the short is not working or something. Any suggestions are welcomed.

Has anyone had issues with the filter mod and been able to recover the player picture. I removed the first filter and everything was fine, but when I removed the other two filters, I guess the short is not working or something. Any suggestions are welcomed.

It was a pretty painless mod for me but then again, I've been a hardware design engineer for many years... The simple things that come to mind would be a solder splash which is actually shorting one of the outputs to a ground trace. It might also be that whatever you are using for a jumper (I used zero ohm resistor SMT shorts for mine) might be bad or "open". If you have someone with access to an oscilloscope, you can check each of the three output lines to find which one has the problem.

Good luck

Steve

Does anybody know if the JVC SRDVD100 passes BTB and WTW???

Just throwing my vote in for another WOW experience in making the modification on Page 13 of this thread. Cost me $18 for the soldering iron, solder and wick. Never done surface mount before (boy those parts are small), but a lot of other soldering told me to go slow and take it easy. A small eyeglass screwdriver was also very helpful in getting the parts off as well.

OUTSTANDING!

What is this mod you speak of? I don't find anything on pg 13 (maybe our page display size is different).

Just throwing my vote in for another WOW experience in making the modification on Page 13 of this thread. Cost me $18 for the soldering iron, solder and wick. Never done surface mount before (boy those parts are small), but a lot of other soldering told me to go slow and take it easy. A small eyeglass screwdriver was also very helpful in getting the parts off as well.

OUTSTANDING!

The component output is a bit soft, especially at 720p, but it's also noticeable at 1080i. This is due to the output being over-filtered, and as I've now learned, the designers may be covering up for a design flaw in 720p mode.

Let me preface this mod by saying it works very well to improve the sharpness of 1080i and 720p material, but you may see some faint diagonal interference lines when running at 720p, depending on your display. But if you are running 1080i, IMO this mod is pretty safe.

Note: you need to be proficient in soldering and desoldering surface mount components. Don't attempt this unless you feel you have the skills and the tools.
1. Take off the lid.
2. Desolder inductor L65 and capacitor C202. Don't lose them, in case you want to reverse this mod.
3. Replace the L65 socket with a short (either a solder blob or tiny piece of wire will do).
4. Test that you're happy with the sharper picture quality. Check for any interference lines. Also, check for any noticeable chroma delay, as the L-C filter you removed on the Y channel is still present on the Pr and Pb channels.
5. Replace the lid.

For those feeling more venturesome, you can optionally remove the other L-C filters on the Pr and Pb channels. Desolder L67, C200, L66, and C201, and replace the inductors with shorts. I chose not to do this on my box for two reasons:
1) The Pr and Pb channels have, at most, 50% of the resolution (bandwidth) as found in the Y channel, so the filters do not cut into the useful bandwidth of these channels as much.
2) I saw no chroma delay issues on my display, so removing the other filters seemed unnecessary.

Requires some basic soldering skills and a steady hand.

hi,all guys
could you tell me the address of the firmware(North American Version) if you know?
thanks a lot

Requires some basic soldering skills and a steady hand.

A very steady hand.

I just attempted to modify my second player and it appears that I've killed it. I had a friends helping me, and it seems that when we were attempting to put the solder down in the L65 hole that we burned off one of the silver connecting spots, and now I get no signal through the green cable.

Is there any possible way to salvage this? Or am I pretty much SOL...

My first mod attempt went great, but I guess we just had too much confidence this time...

A very steady hand.

I just attempted to modify my second player and it appears that I've killed it. I had a friends helping me, and it seems that when we were attempting to put the solder down in the L65 hole that we burned off one of the silver connecting spots, and now I get no signal through the green cable.

Is there any possible way to salvage this? Or am I pretty much SOL...

My first mod attempt went great, but I guess we just had too much confidence this time...

Find a quality electronics repair shop in your area and take it there. If you can show them where the damage is, and if you haven't burned away a big chunk of the circuit board or damaged neighboring components, they'll likely be able to repair it for you.

Thanks for the suggestion. The neighbouring components seem to be fine, and the other two cables have a signal, so it looks like it's just the 'green' (green cable has no signal) that's been affected. I'm not quite sure how to assess the damage we've done to the board, but it just looks a bit brown in the area where the silver contact should be, so I think my buddy must have pulled it off when he was removing a misplaced bead of solder.

I just don't know what went wrong, the first unit I did a few months ago was no problem, and we were poking at that one a lot more too...

Thanks for the suggestion. The neighbouring components seem to be fine, and the other two cables have a signal, so it looks like it's just the 'green' (green cable has no signal) that's been affected. I'm not quite sure how to assess the damage we've done to the board, but it just looks a bit brown in the area where the silver contact should be, so I think my buddy must have pulled it off when he was removing a misplaced bead of solder.

I just don't know what went wrong, the first unit I did a few months ago was no problem, and we were poking at that one a lot more too...Go to, for example, Radio Shack and get some "silver ink" in a self-applying tube. You can use this to paint a new conducting path over the burned spot.

BTW, this silver ink can also be used to simply short out the inductors by painting over them instead of using the original soldering-iron surgery method of removing them.

Any news of a new, updated, LP3 coming out.

Might just opt to use these to "sit out" the HD format wars for a few months instead of jumping in and drowning.

Thanks

I am working on putting my material on hard drives and just streaming them to the TV's since nothing shipping today works to the level I want to spend the money on.

Dave

Anyone able to stream HD content over a wireless network? I'm curious if it can be done.

Thanks,
Matt

Go to, for example, Radio Shack and get some "silver ink" in a self-applying tube. You can use this to paint a new conducting path over the burned spot.

BTW, this silver ink can also be used to simply short out the inductors by painting over them instead of using the original soldering-iron surgery method of removing them.

That's a great idea! I didn't know that this stuff existed, and it sounds much easier than trying to drop a blob of solder in those tight confines.

Only problem is that I can't seem to find anywhere to buy "Silver Ink". I've located a few manufacturers using Google, but I can't seem to find anything on the radio shack website, or any of the other retail sites I've checked. I do see something called "Solder Weld" that comes in a tube, but is this the same thing you're describing?

LINK (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062724&cp=&origkw=solder+weld&kw=solder+weld&parentPage=search)

Anyone know where I can find some of this stuff? Maybe my unit isn't a write-off quite yet :).

TIA!

That's a great idea! I didn't know that this stuff existed, and it sounds much easier than trying to drop a blob of solder in those tight confines.

Only problem is that I can't seem to find anywhere to buy "Silver Ink". I've located a few manufacturers using Google, but I can't seem to find anything on the radio shack website, or any of the other retail sites I've checked. I do see something called "Solder Weld" that comes in a tube, but is this the same thing you're describing?

LINK (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062724&cp=&origkw=solder+weld&kw=solder+weld&parentPage=search)

Anyone know where I can find some of this stuff? Maybe my unit isn't a write-off quite yet :).

TIA!Shesh! I don't know why "silver ink" doesn't find this puppy (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104395) on RS' site, since it's clearly described as such...but it doesn't. :(

Anyone able to stream HD content over a wireless network? I'm curious if it can be done.

Thanks,
Matt

I am running HD Mpeg2 from my ATI HDTV Wonder recordings from MythTV over wireless SuperG no problem, sort of. 1280x720 (720P) works fine, but 1920x1080 stutters depending on the wireless signal. I am running at 60-75% signal most of the time, but if its in the low 60% signal then things start to break.

:cool:

I just received my LP2, and i get diagonal lines on my display when playing media @ 720p or 1080i. I was told this could be fixed with new firmware, but after reading a bit, i found that the new firmware has all sorts of bugs and even breaks some things. What is the best version of firmware to use? What does everyone here use?

I just received my LP2, and i get diagonal lines on my display when playing media @ 720p or 1080i. I was told this could be fixed with new firmware, but after reading a bit, i found that the new firmware has all sorts of bugs and even breaks some things. What is the best version of firmware to use? What does everyone here use?

Who told you this could be fixed with new firmware? To me, it sounds like a hardware issue, perhaps unshielded cables, or a close-by source of interference.

I am running HD Mpeg2 from my ATI HDTV Wonder recordings from MythTV over wireless SuperG no problem, sort of. 1280x720 (720P) works fine, but 1920x1080 stutters depending on the wireless signal. I am running at 60-75% signal most of the time, but if its in the low 60% signal then things start to break.

:cool:
Cool, thanks for the input. What kind of hardware are you using?

I have two Linksys WRT54GS routers with custom firmware connected using WDS. Supposedly they have "Speedbooster", but I don't think it's active for WDS.

Who told you this could be fixed with new firmware? To me, it sounds like a hardware issue, perhaps unshielded cables, or a close-by source of interference.

The original LP2 firmware had a problem with HD playback (not upscaled real HD).

See this discussion and you can find similar things over on IODATAs forum.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6470095&highlight=horizontal#post6470095

I just received my LP2, and i get diagonal lines on my display when playing media @ 720p or 1080i. I was told this could be fixed with new firmware, but after reading a bit, i found that the new firmware has all sorts of bugs and even breaks some things. What is the best version of firmware to use? What does everyone here use?

My current favorite is October 2005 -- It is the last one that upscales DVDs and it does a decent job with HD TS/TP/MPEG2 files. (Iodata took away DVD upscaling in Dec 2005). Note some firmware won't let you go backwards so it is worth either asking about different versions before installing them or reading the forums here and at IODATA before trying newer ones if the one you are on does what you want it to do.


As I said I use mine mostly for DVD and TS/TP files. If your main interest is music, DivX, Xvid, WMV or still pictures there may be a better firmware choice for you (they work adequate for me but aren't my main concerns).

Who told you this could be fixed with new firmware? To me, it sounds like a hardware issue, perhaps unshielded cables, or a close-by source of interference.

When the unit outputs at 480i or 480p, i get no lines or interference at all. I thought it was the cable at first, so i swapped, and i still got the same problem

My current favorite is October 2005 -- It is the last one that upscales DVDs and it does a decent job with HD TS/TP/MPEG2 files.

Cool. The firmware update feature will go the next version and not the most recent right?

Be careful.

When you go to the firmware upgrade menu it should tell you which version of the firmware it will download and install. I had to manually install the August 2005 firmware because the IO Data update method wanted to jump to the December 2005 firmware.

Shesh! I don't know why "silver ink" doesn't find this puppy (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104395) on RS' site, since it's clearly described as such...but it doesn't. :(

Thanks again!

Unfortunately Radio Shack no longer exists up here in Canada, and the only other place I can source this stuff will cost me over $40 for one pen...

I did try doing the repair with another counductive liquid (rear window de-fogger repair kit for cars), and was able to get a signal, but I don't think the stuff was conductive enough, and the picture looked like it was just barely showing up. I heard that this conductive liquid might work since people have used it successfully for motherboard volt mods, but it must not be good enough to properly carry a component video signal...

So, before I spend more money, can anyone verify that the resistance in this 'silver ink' is low enough to properly transmit the component video signal? I've also found references to other conductive pastes that seem to have even less resistance than the pen, would these possibly work better?

Silver Ink Conductivity = 0.05-0.15 ohms/sq/mil


TIA!

Be careful.

When you go to the firmware upgrade menu it should tell you which version of the firmware it will download and install. I had to manually install the August 2005 firmware because the IO Data update method wanted to jump to the December 2005 firmware.

I think I would rather manually install it anyway .. do you have a link for all the firmware updates? I saw a few on this post but they didn't work.

Cyrilic, same problem here. I just noticed that I have very consistent scan lines in 720p. All the other picture modes are fine. I even tried the filter mod to no avail for resolving this problem. It can't be the cable because all the other modes display fine and it can't be the display because I have quite a few other sources that display fine in 720p. I am using the latest firmware from i/o data on my AVLP2 (with the D4 to component connector). Oh well...

QUOTE: My current favorite is October 2005 -- It is the last one that upscales DVDs

Could someone please confirm that this is so? My understanding was that the December firmware still up-rezzed, and that it was removed in the January firmware.

EDit: OK I found the answer elsewhere. The AVL2 December firmware no longer upconverts, whereas the JVC December firmware still does.

Hi Everyone,

My buddy and I completed the filter mod this past weekend and I have a couple of questions (looks GREAT by the way - and thank you to everyone for the great info):

1. If inductor L65 is not connected by the wire or "blob" correctly, will the filter mod still work?

2. Other people have spoken about also desoldering L67, C200, L66 and C201 - are these required for a better filter mod? What is the purpose of desoldering these other ones?

At the present time, we just desoldered Inductor L65 and capacitor C202 - I would like to confirm that the picture is now as good as it can get or if the other ones need desoldering also. I have the "blob" as the bridge for L65 and would like to confirm that if the "blob" wasn't done correctly, that it would be evident that it had to be re-done. I hope this makes sense...

Thanks for your help everyone.
Rumtalker

Dear All,

Official FAQ has been renewed. If you have some problem to find the correct answer in this tread, please try to visit our web site (http://www.iodata.com/usa/support/faq.php?cat=HNP&level0=HNP&level1=AVLP2%2FDVDLA06&sc=AVEL&pId=AVLP2%2FDVDLA06&cId=HNP&ts=3&tsc=18&fId=sc999) Thank you.

P.S.
Sorry for my bad English...

Dear All,

Official FAQ has been renewed. If you have some problem to find the correct answer in this tread, please try to visit our web site (http://www.iodata.com/usa/support/faq.php?cat=HNP&level0=HNP&level1=AVLP2%2FDVDLA06&sc=AVEL&pId=AVLP2%2FDVDLA06&cId=HNP&ts=3&tsc=18&fId=sc999) Thank you.

P.S.
Sorry for my bad English...

Wow. Very nice! Thanks, IODATA! I apologize for not keeping this FAQ here updated...

So it looks like the Linkplayer2 being sold at CC is shipping with the newest firmware. For those that bought the player there and were able to revert back to older firmware, was it a pretty easy process to do?

1. go to firmware page
2. push URL button on remote
3. type "ducourier.blogspot.com"
4. Pick the downgrade link
5. Watch the downgrade process ;-)

Thank you sooo much. I've been too busy to track down how to do the down grade.

With an InFocus X1 projector in my home theater, it was almost not worth using the LinkPlayer2 for playing DVDs. The problem was, whenever switching between a DVD and the menuing system, there would be a 10 second pause as the projector re-synced to either 1080i or 480p. This is a major pain in the ass since I routinely have to switch aspect ratios for DVDs.

We would curse hollywood everytime this was neccessary. Make no mistake about it, I absolutely despise hollywood and their ******** requirements on DVD player manufacturers.

So it looks like the Linkplayer2 being sold at CC is shipping with the newest firmware.
You can get these at Circuit City? I don't see it on their website...

Matt

You can get these at Circuit City? I don't see it on their website...

Matt
My bad, I actually meant Compusa. They had it on special for a few weeks (when they got it in stock) and were selling it for $200. Should have picked up one then, it's back to $250 (http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=SEARCH&Ntt=linkplayer2&N=0&Dx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&D=linkplayer2&Ntk=All&product_code=340292&Pn=AVLP2_DVDLA_DVD_Player) now. Any of you guys have any idea's if it might go on sale again?

You all have been a great help in getting problems resolved with this player -- like many, I love the basic function, am randomly driven mad by odd glitches.

For my use, I'm pretty happy except for one remaining issue. Perhaps you guys can tell me if its a player issue or a server issue.

Playing a normal divx encode -- press the forward arrrow button on remote a few times, with the TV displaying, say, "42%". The player does its searching bit, and play resumes. But not at 42% -- at some randomly lower place such as 35%.

Is this a "known issue" thats so common no one discusses it anymore? Is there anyway to search by time? Is there any fix? I posted this in the Wizd thread as well, sorry if you have to read it twice.


Thanks!

That used to work better with older firmware. Somewhere along the way, it broke. The October firmware that I'm running exhibits this problem as well. You may want to look around the IOData forums to see if it's been discussed.

Funny, that broke on my Snazzio not long ago too.

I'm thinking of getting an AVPL2 - one of the main reasons is the ability to upscale commercial DVDs over component. It looks like I would need the October 05 firmware to do this. But I just noticed on the I-O Data site that the May 06 firmware (Version 13-14-060414-04-IOD-234) says:

* After Updating
- No more "Roll Back" accepted after this updating

I'm worried that if I buy a new unit now it will come with the May 06 firmware and I will be stuck with 480P for my DVDs.

I am I correct? Any possible workarounds if this is true?

Thanks.

Just got my LinkPlayer2 up and running. What are some of the first things I should do? The streaming video looks pretty good(at the very least I can get it to my big screen finally!) but the photo section is not so good. Some photos look pretty grainy depending on the size. It seems that the player fits it to the screen and this causes the graininess? My Xbox 360 does a much better with the photo's but maybe I just don't have my LinkPlayer set up properly yet. The Xbox does not adjust the size of the photo but kind of moves it around while it displays so you can see most of it.

Any hints or suggestions? I am just starting to work through the thread but obviously it is pretty massive.

Cheers!

I'm thinking of getting an AVPL2 - one of the main reasons is the ability to upscale commercial DVDs over component. It looks like I would need the October 05 firmware to do this. But I just noticed on the I-O Data site that the May 06 firmware (Version 13-14-060414-04-IOD-234) says:

* After Updating
- No more "Roll Back" accepted after this updating

I'm worried that if I buy a new unit now it will come with the May 06 firmware and I will be stuck with 480P for my DVDs.

I am I correct? Any possible workarounds if this is true?

Thanks.

Well, IOData will not let you "rollback", but there are plenty of posts here that describe ways that you can "downgrade" to almost any previous firmware....

You should be able to get a new player on October 5 if that is what you want.

I'm thinking of getting an AVPL2 - one of the main reasons is the ability to upscale commercial DVDs over component. It looks like I would need the October 05 firmware to do this. But I just noticed on the I-O Data site that the May 06 firmware (Version 13-14-060414-04-IOD-234) says:

* After Updating
- No more "Roll Back" accepted after this updating

I'm worried that if I buy a new unit now it will come with the May 06 firmware and I will be stuck with 480P for my DVDs.

I am I correct? Any possible workarounds if this is true?

Thanks.
You can manually load different firmwares - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7281092&&#post7281092

Matt

I have the May 06 firmware

13-+14-060414-04_IOD-234-000.

I will not be using this player for comercial DVD's as I already have a Panasonic S97 which upscales to 720P and has an HDMI port which matches my Toshiba DLP. I will be using it to view video and photo material via my network. Should I stick with what I have or try to roll back?

I've corrected the graniness problem in the set up menu by changing the output to D4 720 P which made a big difference on the photo quality.

Thanks for any help you more experienced users might provide.

Hello, I just installed MyHD on a PIII 700. I am having problems with the video when using the Iodata Linkplayer. The video stutters and we are unable to watch. If we watch it on the computer it's good. Thanks for any help.

Hi, Loren! :)

What other video are you playing across the LAN on the AVLP2 and does it also stutter? What sort of LAN is it? My first guess would be that you're trying to play HDTV over a WiFi link and that doesn't work well for most folks.

A good way to see if it's the LAN that's the problem would be to burn a test TS file (make sure to rename your .tp file with a ".ts" extension) to a DVD and play that in the AVLP2. If that plays OK, you'll know that the LAN is the bad actor for sure.

Hi, Loren! :)

What other video are you playing across the LAN on the AVLP2 and does it also stutter? What sort of LAN is it? My first guess would be that you're trying to play HDTV over a WiFi link and that doesn't work well for most folks.

A good way to see if it's the LAN that's the problem would be to burn a test TS file (make sure to rename your .tp file with a ".ts" extension) to a DVD and play that in the AVLP2. If that plays OK, you'll know that the LAN is the bad actor for sure.
I mostly play avi files. This is on a wired network. I had the MyHD card on another computer until it crashed, I didn't have any problems playing the .ts files with the other computer. Thats why I was thinking it was a codec problem. Thanks again for your help.

Are you using the same server software now that you did on the other computer? The problem could be that the server sw is set to transcode TS files for you, but the AVLP2 doesn't need transcoding of TS so that should be disabled.

Are you using the same server software now that you did on the other computer? The problem could be that the server sw is set to transcode TS files for you, but the AVLP2 doesn't need transcoding of TS so that should be disabled.
Yes I'm still using wizd with the same settings that I used before. The computer that the card is in now is on a new hard drive if that maters.

Have you checked the drive to make sure that it's using UDMA I/O?

No I haven't but I will. I just turned MyHD on and without recording anything there seems to be some sort of interference. I'll check the cable and maybe move some of the cards around tomorrow and see if that changes things.

I mostly play avi files. This is on a wired network. I had the MyHD card on another computer until it crashed, I didn't have any problems playing the .ts files with the other computer. Thats why I was thinking it was a codec problem. Thanks again for your help.


coming out of nowhere....I have been gone for a long time. Anyway. If you just installed it on a new pc make sure you don't have it recording sub channels too. I had the same problem when I first installed myHD card. I could watch it fine on my pc but it would choke when played across the network. And I guess so, it was trying to send main channel and I think 4 sub channels. So that is a lot of bandwidth. Sorry I am not at my home pc to tell you how to remove recording sub channels when you do a recording but you might want to check into that and find that it fixes your problem.

Good point, salreus. Loren, you can check "capture subchannel only" in the Capture Mode Detail Options of MyHD. If needed, you can strip unwanted subchannels from existing .tp files with the malappropriately named HDTVtoMPEG2 TS editor.

I already had checked "capture subchannel only" and I also use HDTVtoMPEG2. I fixed the interference by moving a USB Hard Drive. I'm thinking now that maybe my PCI video card drivers need to be updated, but Nvidia doesn't make them for my card in XP. My video card from my other computer is AGP so that won't work with this computer. Thanks again for the help.

another problem I had doing the same thing was when I used a stupid USB NIC on my desktop instead of the hardwire NIC. It appears the wireless NIC couldn't handle the bandwidth needed despite what the card was rated at.

I haven't used my AvelLink for some time...
I was thinking about moving it to the bedroom and using it to play both DVD and HD on, however I currenly have the JVC Pro firmware which doesn't allow DVD playback via DVI.
Is there a firmware available that will allow both DVD-playback (480p is fine) via DVI and also allows HD-playback? If this F/W handles PAL it's a plus. :)
Thanks...