TViX HD M-5000U Media Player [Text View]

justlnluck

09-09-05, 12:31 PM

There seems to be a lot of activity happening on the Korean TViX website. Can anyone here read Korean? Sangbin, where are you? :) For Koreans, there appears to be some sort of promotion that occured on Sept 8th and will repeat on Sept 12th. The best I could do was translate the page with Altavista's babel fish. Google can't translate it at all. This is the "translated" (kind of funny) version of what DViCO posted:

How are you.
The D the rain nose (week) it is a transactions team leader length exchange at the electron.

Of the September 8th reservation purchase event operation to customer everybody it cuddles a disappointment first with immaturity and it gives and the head hanging apple it gives.

It cannot connect the link of the reservation purchase button from event page last amendment process, with order reckless driving of short duration the obstacle occurred even in server.
It believes the D rain nose at our real income which it does not intend and the mote pik su love to the customer field which it does as a favor it causes it gives and a many worry and large grade it is sorry.

Insufficiency is and with schedule lower part to add the reservation sale amount of material in small quantity it is but it will comfort the mind of the customer field and it will give and with many generosity and and under to sleep it comes it will understand it will give and and and when to participate it will thank.

1. The additional reservation event method was changed with draw of lots.
2. The event application schedule September 12th Monday from1:00p.m. September until1:00p.m.is 13th
3. Prize winning sleeping announcement: 6:00 p.m. September 13th
4. The prize winning sleeping common knowledge isthe plan which it will notify in the common knowledge notice board of the www.tvix.co.kr.

The event contents is identical, the water content is changed and with lower part it is same.

- Event 1: TViX HD M-5000U and DVI storehouse cable: 20
- Event 2: TViX HD M-5000U and hard disk 160G: 40
- Event 3: TViX HD M-5000U and AV box, whole aspect bag and selection repaying kindness width: 40

* The draw of lots executes each event pack height Ji star (3 branches) with.
* The event goods the 1st person 1 Taiwan purchase is possible.
* Order the customer field which it completes does not correspond to a draw of lots in the September 8th reservation event.
* After prize winning common knowledge to the poem where the nothing bankbook payment or credit card settlement will not be completed within 24 hours the order is cancelled.
* The duplication application of event 1, 2, 3 is wrong.

The line of inquiry with telephone circuit reckless driving about lower it does as a favor with the mail and reply drill possibility in order to be inside the hour. ec@dvico.com

Again the once operation immaturity and common knowledge give the position point apple lately.

Thank you.

drew138

09-10-05, 12:39 PM

Thanks for posting. That makes perfect sense. ;)

drew138

09-12-05, 10:40 AM

release date and pricing details. Seems a bit higher than we were expecting, but it on par with some of the other players out there in terms of price and it has the latest sigma chip. No word on IFO/ISO support.

\---------------------------------------
HD M-5000U model will be availabe around mid or end of october.

Even though it will be released at KOREA, it will be available next month.

HD 5000U has many fantastic functions inside, so it will take lots of work to implement it.

They will release oversea version after getting feedback from korean customer.

TVIXUSA will do our best for introducing new gadget to early adapters.

The price will be $349.99.

For preorder customer, we have plans to provide carrying bag for TVIX HD M-5000U and Breakout box for

free. If you'd like to be early adapter for great multimedia gadget, please put your username on

preorder thread in our forum.

Thanks

TVIXUSA
--------------------------------------

Drew

emedwhat

09-12-05, 01:47 PM

Does the price include a Hard Disk? Any idea?

justlnluck

09-12-05, 02:11 PM

Yes, that information was posted on Friday. I, too, am surprised by the price. The unit is selling for 247,000 Won in South Korea. 247,000 Won is equivalent to $240.50 US dollars. So, like many of you, I was expecting it to sell for around $250. Also, considering that the current TViX goes for $189 and has been at that price point ever since its debut over one and half years ago...I didn't think a new product would jump so high in price. As much as I've been looking forward to the TViX 5000, I don't think my budget will allow for the $350 price tag :(

And there has been no mention of an included hard drive, so I think it is barebones.

drew138

09-12-05, 07:46 PM

Paul_PDX

09-12-05, 08:08 PM

I wonder if the anticipation here in the US drove the price up? Or maybe they are trying to gouge early adopters. Not sure. We'll see I guess. IF it will play ISO/IFO's over a network, or even off the internal hard drive (assuming there is a way to load the drive from the network ;)) I will get one imediatly, otherwise I may wait to see what others think of the device.

I need something to playback the files I am creating from my Sony HD Camcorder. I was considering the Photobridge, but I like the Tivx better, or at least I'm hoping it will provide more support than the Roku product. I really keep hoping that Roku will update thier product.... since 2004

Drew

All the other Sigma based HD players are $249 and up -- (Iodata, Buffalo, Snazio, and Pinnacle). Why should this one be alot cheaper?

As for a new HD Roku I wouldn't wait for it as long as people have waited for them to provide features they originally advertised that are only available thru third parties).

justlnluck

09-12-05, 10:46 PM

All the other Sigma based HD players are $249 and up -- (Iodata, Buffalo, Snazio, and Pinnacle). Why should this one be alot cheaper?

I don't think Drew or anyone else was expecting it to be lower than $249. But $350 is a bit high for a player without a hard drive. I own two Fusion cards and already feel a loyalty to the DViCO brand. Even though their products can have problems, the DViCO techsupport is continuously hard at work on new revisions of the software and they tend to always reply to my questions within a days time. I support DViCO's efforts and I want to see them grow as a company. If $350 is the most profitable price point, then so be it. But I am afraid that the relatively high price will keep the TViX 5000 in a niche market. Whenever I talk to someone outside of the AVS forums about DViCO, they ask me, "DV what?" I would love to see DViCO become a household name in the United States (and everywhere else in the world) and I really think that this new product has the potential to become very popular with the average consumer...if the price is right.

For one quick example, I had my father, grandfather, AND girlfriend's dad convinced to purchase a TViX 5000 when it is released, IF it is around $250. This is with them never hearing about the company DViCO before. But I'm not too sure they will jump in for $350... They, as I imagine most people, are accustomed to buying individual consumer electronic products for $200 or less. Items over $300 are pushing the psychological edge.

emedwhat

09-12-05, 10:54 PM

justlnluck, Paul_PDX

why you don't post your opinion at the TVIXUSA forum. Maybe, your voice will decrease the price. ;)

http://www.tvixusa.com/default.asp?id=0&ACT=14

justlnluck

09-12-05, 11:48 PM

Yes, I posted there a couple days ago when they first announced the price. But for other people, yes, don't be shy. Please let them know your opinions too! :)

EDIT: Another way to contact DViCO, and let them know how you feel, is found on the TViX website located here:

http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/contacts.aspx?tabindex=5

drew138

09-26-05, 11:57 PM

Any news updates on this product?

emedwhat

09-27-05, 10:35 AM

I read that the player would be available in Jan 2006 instead of Oct 2005.

cocopugg

09-27-05, 07:51 PM

I read that the player would be available in Jan 2006 instead of Oct 2005.

That is disappointing. They said they are still testing the device for bugs before releasing it. I just hope it doesn't become one of those situations where the release date keeps being pushed further and further away, that by the time it's eventually released, something better has come along. I like the look of the 5000U and love all the networking abilities it promises.

buldag

09-29-05, 10:08 PM

I hear thats because they are unable to de-bug their chipset. From what I know... they started advertising this new HD model even before they made a prototype !!

jhue

09-30-05, 05:55 AM

The way these things work is that the media processor supplier, Sigma Designs, supplies a evaluation kit that includes a reference design for the customer to play around with. They get all the tools (compilers, linkers, etc.), proprietary software libraries, Gerber files for the PC board, parts lists, etc to recreate the reference design themselves. Very often the customer's product ends up being based on the reference design with very few changes. It used to be that many of the graphics board manufacturers that used NVIDIA graphics processors just based their boards on an unmodified NVIDIA reference design.

So I'm guessing that they could tell very early on if there were any bugs in the Sigma EM8621 since they had the eval board, and given that there are many products shipping on the EM8620 and working reasonably well, what you described is not what's going on. It's not even their processor in the first place. And the vendor was able to supply the platform to evaluate the processor when TViX first conceived of the product, so it's doubtful they are debugging the chip for Sigma.

I'm not even going to speculate what might be the cause for their delay, as I know little about the company, or how much of previous products' software they might be able to reuse, etc. But I really doubt it's what you described, because that just isn't how these kinds of products are developed. Ok, I will speculate that their delays are due to features they are implementing that are not part of the Sigma reference design.

justlnluck

09-30-05, 09:12 PM

Now the question is, when will the C-2000U be released? The website originally said 'September', then said 'Early October', and now says 'Late October'. But an online vendor told me more likely 'February 2006'.

If that is the case, I will be forced to consider similar products from other companies...

powerstar

10-02-05, 04:47 PM

cocopugg

10-04-05, 12:29 AM

Yes the HD M-5000U will support DVI. It is scheduled to be released in January, 2006.

cocopugg

10-04-05, 12:30 AM

Does somebody know if the new TVIX HD M-5000U will support HDCP (DVI Port) ???

I would like to know if it works with a HDMI-DVI Video Cable. My Projector does only have the new HDMI Port.

Any news about the release date ???

Thanks,
Powerstar

Here are a few links for the TVIX HD M-5000U :

http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/entry/1184/tvix_hd_m-5000u

http://www.tvix.co.kr/kor/products/HDM5000.aspx

http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/Products/TVixHDM5000U.aspx

powerstar

10-04-05, 03:04 AM

Yes I know that the TVIX HD M-5000U will have a DVI Port. But the question is if the DVI Port of the TVIX HD M-5000U is HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) compatible ??? If not, you cant connect to a HDMI Port ! (DVI to HDMI)

I hope that it will be released earlier...3 month still to wait.

drew138

10-07-05, 10:07 AM

MikeAlletto

10-07-05, 11:06 AM

Yeah, I'm actually extremely excited about this device. But its been pushed back so who knows when or if it will ever come out.

Even if it doesn't support HDCP it should still work with an adaptor though right? I thought the hdmi ports support HDCP but if its not there I would think it wouldn't complain either. Or maybe I just have it backwards.

drew138

10-07-05, 02:15 PM

The TVIX will work with any HDTV. It has component and DVI. HDCP is only active on the "box" and TVIX will not have any issues since it has no reason to hand In general, only certain devices, like HD Cable Boxes have HDCP requirements since they process protected content. I think you have it backwards. HDTVs with HDCP are future proofed and will work with all HD input devices.

Drew

jhue

10-07-05, 05:02 PM

I just noticed this for the first time on the korean site at

http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/Products/TVixHDM5000U.aspx
------------------
DVD Jukebox
TViX HD can playback DVD movies with the full functionality of DVD navigation. You can create your own virtual DVD library by storing your private collection of DVDs in .ISO or .IFO format and watch them exactly as if they were running from the original DVDs (all original features included: Menu, Chapter, Audio Stream, Subtitle, Fast Forward, Rewind, Slow, Pause, Step Forward, Repeat, Search, etc.).
-------------

This looks promising since this is the first device of its kind to offer a network connection!

Drew

Not sure what you're trying to say here. There are other devices that offer DVD menu navigation for .ISOs and .IFOs stored on a server, Mediagate MG-35 and Xbox Media Center are two you can buy today. Neither offers playback of HD streams, but then again, the TViX player isn't available yet, and the Mediagate 350 will playback HD streams when it's available. Also, some unreleased 3rd-party software for the Roku PhotoBridge promises DVD menu navigation when finally available.

drew138

10-07-05, 05:26 PM

Not sure what you're trying to say here. There are other devices that offer DVD menu navigation for .ISOs and .IFOs stored on a server, Mediagate MG-35 and Xbox Media Center are two you can buy today. Neither offers playback of HD streams, but then again, the TViX player isn't available yet, and the Mediagate 350 will playback HD streams when it's available. Also, some unreleased 3rd-party software for the Roku PhotoBridge promises DVD menu navigation when finally available.

Good points. I should have stated HD and upscalling as one of the points of differentiation. Although I haven't read anything to indicate that this decice will upscale video to 1080i, its an assumption on my part. I'll have to look into the Mediagate 350. The Roku device has some issues with streaming HD off the network on certain shares (at least that is what I have read) and it doesn't support ISO files (ie., no DVD menu support). But your points are well taken. This particular device and its features don't seem to be combined in a single product elsewhere. Of course, it's still vaporware until its released into the marketplace for review.

Drew

jhue

10-07-05, 05:37 PM

This particular device and its features don't seem to be combined in a single product elsewhere.

Agreed. It takes two boxes today to do what the HD M-5000 can do. A Mediagate MG-35 can playback DVDs on a server with full menu navigation, and a IOData LinkPlayer 2 can playback HD streams off a server. If the M-5000 works as well as I hope, I'll replace my LP2s with M-5000s, since the built-in DVD drive is not of much value, but I'll keep my MG-35 as the idea of being able to take a dozen DVDs with me on a business trip on a box I can hook up to a hotel TV is interesting (I'll know in a couple weeks how well this works in practice).

hjackson

10-08-05, 07:38 PM

So the MG-35 can play ISO files right off the network?

hjackson

onstar

10-08-05, 07:49 PM

Quote: "So the MG-35 can play ISO files right off the network?
hjackson"

Yes, the MG-35 not only plays iso files right off the network with full menu navigation but it also up-scales and outputs 1080i (excellent picture quality on my HDTV) through component output. I highly recommend it for HDTVs only have component inputs.

leovip

10-12-05, 05:14 AM

i think the tvix is a good product....how much will they sell in the states...here in australia they will be $550 bucks...............

powerstar

12-24-05, 01:22 PM

Some news about the release ? Ive heard that it will be jan.10th ...???

drew138

12-24-05, 06:47 PM

thanks for the update. where did you get the update?

Ewong

12-27-05, 01:06 PM

TVix HD M-5000 already available in HK.

I got mine yesterday. However, it's DVI Signal seems have problem with my 32" LCDTV (Prima) via HDMI-DVI Cable.

There is thousand of green dot appear all over the screen during playback and setup memu when connection with HDMI-DVI Cable to Prima 32" LCDTV.

I try to connect it with Samsung Plasma with DVI-DVI cable. The DVI 720p signal lost on every 4 to 5 second on Setup menu and video playback. However, when I switch to DVI 1080i, everything is fine. No green dot and no signal lost.

Any idea of whether it's cable problem or M-5000U problem ?

Please help !!

powerstar

12-27-05, 04:24 PM

@Ewong
What kind of cables do you use? (manufacturer). How long is the cable ? I would think its a problem of the box. Because you tried 2 different cables. For me also the most interesting part of the machine is the DVI/HDMI Connection / possibilty. !!!??

Ewong

12-28-05, 05:38 AM

The HDMI-DVI Cable is bundled cable from Samsung DVD-HD948 and DVI-DVI cable is bundled with one of my Hp LCD monitor.

I didn't buy any other expensive cable. I just worried that it doesn't help even using better quality HDMI cable.

Today, I try to connnect M-5000U with Prima LCDTV via component cable, all problem appear on HDMI connect was gone. The picture was great, no green dot, no signal lost.

powerstar

12-28-05, 05:57 AM

I would contact DVICO and explain the problem with HDMI/DVI. This is really bad. Most interesting thing on this machine is the digital signal. For me it sounds like a real problem with the DVI Port.

Staly_On

12-28-05, 06:36 AM

I am seriously thinking about this device for my new home. But I want to make sure it will meet my needs. I have all my music on a 100Gb Hard drive. I want to connect it to a NAS access the music and play through my receiver using the M-5000. Is this device capable of doing this with a NAS only or do I need to have my PC running?

If this device plays dvd's from .iso's will it upconvert them to 1080i? Is this what is meant by HD streaming? If so, I can then put the .iso's of my dvd's on my hard drive and access them through the network as well.

Does anyone have a device from this manufacture. I have a lot of music. I am curious as to the ease of use of the music player on this device.

Thanks for any input you guys have.

Ewong

12-28-05, 09:39 AM

Staly_On

12-28-05, 09:45 AM

Can the device access and read files on from a NAS on the network. I know it has an ethernet port but will it be able to navigate to the NAS and play my .iso and mp3's?

Ewong

12-28-05, 10:13 AM

Yes, I understand what you meant. Actually, I also plan to buy a LAN Drive and shared it to M-5000U. But, I don't know whether the LAN speed is fast enough to allow it to play smoothly from LAN connection.

I would buy a 250G Hard Drive tomorrow and a LAN Drive enclosure to test it.

I don't want to switch on a PC.

Here's my M-5000U :

http://photo.hkfef.com/Tvix/PICT0002.jpg
http://photo.hkfef.com/Tvix/PICT3163.jpg
http://photo.hkfef.com/Tvix/PICT3165.jpg
http://photo.hkfef.com/Tvix/PICT3169.jpg
http://photo.hkfef.com/Tvix/PICT3172.jpg

drew138

12-28-05, 11:47 AM

This device couldn't share it's local hard disk to other, but it can access shared folder on your PC via LAN connection.

It could read DVD .iso image file but I haven't install local hard disk yet. I just plug in a 128M USB Thumb Drive to test it. But the movie can't play smoothly, I just wonder it is because if limited speed on USB Thumb Drive.

It's menu interface is very simple and easy to use.

Ewong, Congrat's on the new player. I am so happy to see that someone on here actually owns the device and can report back on its capabilities.

The issue with the HDMI/DVI cable could be just an issue with the conversion. I've had lots of issues converting HDMI signals to work with the DVI connection on my HDTV. I don't have a solution other than to suggest using component, which you seem to be using now. I bought a high quality DVI-DVI cable and a high quality DVI/HDMI plug and it simply doesn't work at all. I either get no signal, distoted picture, or an off-set picture that cannot be fixed. DVI-DVI connections work with no issues. I think the M5000U would work for me since I have DVI on both devices. Please keep us posted on your progress.

It would be great if you could snap a picture of the 5000U next to a CD case or something to get a sense for the relatative size. It looks small in the picture. It also looks like it doesn't have an external power supply "brick" which is great.

Any details are much appreceiated!

Drew

drew138

12-28-05, 11:55 AM

Can the device access and read files on from a NAS on the network. I know it has an ethernet port but will it be able to navigate to the NAS and play my .iso and mp3's?

Staly, there is an english version of the user guide posted in an earlier post in this thread. In the guide, which I downloaded, there is a detailed section on how to set up a shared network folder with guest access on a WIN XP PC. There is also a page showing how to direct the TVIX to navigate to this shared folder. Although the manual does not specifically state that it can browse a network share on a NAS, it does appear that you can configure the TVIX to directly navigate to a NAS Network Share that has GUEST access. :)

Drew

Ewong

12-28-05, 01:05 PM

The size of M-5000U is pretty small.

May be it's designer using the size of DVD Case as prototype during design stage, so it's size is exactly the same size as a DVD Case.

http://photo.hkfef.com/Tvix/IMG00001.JPG
http://photo.hkfef.com/Tvix/IMG00002.JPG
http://photo.hkfef.com/Tvix/IMG00003.JPG
http://photo.hkfef.com/Tvix/IMG00004.JPG

MikeAlletto

12-28-05, 01:47 PM

Yes, I understand what you meant. Actually, I also plan to buy a LAN Drive and shared it to M-5000U. But, I don't know whether the LAN speed is fast enough to allow it to play smoothly from LAN connection.

There is no reason a NAS could not supply data fast enough to the TViX device. If the TViX device chokes it is its fault. A 100mb connection is more than enough for quite a few dvd streams.

drew138

12-28-05, 07:01 PM

EWONG, those pics are awesome. Thanks! How much did you pay for the unit and is it readily available in HK?

Mike, The issue with streaming accross the LAN has more to do with how TVIX handles the streams. The assumption is that as a High Def capable device that this shuold easily handle DVD's and HD transport streams. Can't wait to find out for myself.

Drew

Staly_On

12-28-05, 10:25 PM

Thanks Drew I will look for that manual. !

Staly_On

12-28-05, 10:27 PM

Drew, I couldn't find the manual. Can you post it?

drew138

12-28-05, 10:33 PM

Ewong

12-28-05, 11:29 PM

The MSRP is HK$2580. Most properly, the shop will offer $100 ~ $200 after negotiation.

skymatrix

12-29-05, 12:26 AM

(TViX HD M-5000U English User Manual (http://demod.dvico.com/Manual/TViX/TViX_M5000_English_1.1.2.pdf))

mpjohnst

12-29-05, 10:00 AM

http://www.pcbee.co.kr/contents/hs/ra/34217.html?pnum=3&kind=&code=

Looks like a good review. 8.5 out of 10. Too bad I cannot read Korean! :)

There is an interesting picture of a DVD drive next to the tvix? What's that about?

Staley, check your PM's.

Drew
I can't read Korean either but the device does have a USB 2.0 host feature allowing you to play audio off a portable MP3 player. I wonder if in the picture below they were able to connect a USB card reader to view pictures (not too far fetched) but also an external USB DVD drive to watch local movies... that would be a big surprise and a new use for a USB host feature I hadn't considered yet.
-Matt

http://image.pcbee.co.kr/img/2005/RA/t_m2_20051117-001.jpg

Ewong

12-29-05, 10:20 AM

Just bought a Hitachi 250GB Hard Disk and installed onto M-5000U.

Then I transferred the problem iso file from USB Thumb Drive to Hitachi and playback again. The playback is very smooth and don't have any single choke.

Afterward, I ripped a whole DVD of "Hero" into M-5000U and try again. It playback like playing DVD from a normal DVD player. You would see the Setup menu, Audio Selection, Title Selection and Extra Features.

My next step will be testing of LAN & Wireless LAN Testing with NAS Drive.

MikeAlletto

12-29-05, 10:32 AM

My next step will be testing of LAN & Wireless LAN Testing with NAS Drive.

Thats what I'm interested in. If the thing can't play back iso's smoothly over the network then its worthless for me.

drew138

12-29-05, 11:03 AM

Thats what I'm interested in. If the thing can't play back iso's smoothly over the network then its worthless for me.

Me too. NAS Playback of ISO's and I'm sold. I must say that I'm pretty jazzed about this device. I love the small form factor and the list of capabilities. There is another forum I visit where playback of higih bitrate (19.7) HD TS files with full control ff/rw/pause/ etc. is confirmed as supported.

Ewong, do you have the option to switch between English menu's and other languages?

Can't wait for the report back!

Drew

MikeAlletto

12-29-05, 03:46 PM

Ugh, I was reading through the english intruction manual in the section about setting up lan access. You need to turn guest access on the pc in order for it to work. This is a HORRIBLE solution and why in the world they put it like this I'll never understand. It would not be difficult to display a keyboard on the screen in the setup for the device to make the user enter in a user and password. I also wouldn't be using a windows box for this. Initially it would be a linux box running samba, then eventually a NAS. Will be interesting to see if this works the way i want it to work (and the way it should work), otherwise no sale.

Maybe they will eventually allow login and password (since it shows up in the screen shots but doesn't look like its editable).

drew138

12-29-05, 07:24 PM

Mike, on the screen shot's I saw, there was a field for Password that had all *****. I'm hoping they dumbed the manual down for the average/novice user.

MikeAlletto

12-29-05, 10:37 PM

Yeah thats what I'm hoping for also, but the screen shots didn't have border around the fields like the server IP address did meaning its editable. Hopefully they will unlock those fields.

Staly_On

12-30-05, 01:30 AM

MikeAlletto

12-30-05, 10:39 AM

If it doesn't do NAS then its useless to me too. From what I read in the manual features like bookmarking DVD's won't work unless the files are stored on the device and not on a network drive. If I can put a 300Gb Drive in there I may compromise and buy it cause all my media may fit but as I add DVD's I will need to use a NAS.
Ewong, please let us know when you test out the LAN features.

Just to clarify, I don't want the TViX to be accessible over a lan, but I want to be able to access a NAS through the TViX with a login and password. I wouldn't be putting any harddrives in the TViX, everything would be on the network being physically located in a different location of my house.

Looks like the reason for bookmarking not working over the network is that they have it setup to only work with guest access turned on and only read access, no write access back to the network drives. Sounds like they made a ton of assumptions/limitations with adding network drive access to this.

martig

12-30-05, 08:45 PM

Can it be used as a Digital Video Recorder (connected to a set top box). I thought I read somewhere that it could but I don't seen any reference to it in the user's manual. If this were possible I would be interested to know if it could send files back to Window's XP.

Most of the devices in this section only list streaming from the computer to the device but not the reverse. I was interested in the LG LRM-519 for this purpose but do not need another DVD recorder-player and it was too expensive. I ran across the advertisement in a link that doesn't work any longer.
http://www.tvix.co.kr/Eng/img/hd5000.jpg. It had said that "HDTV STB-works as a digital box with an optional TV tuner box (DVB-T/ATSC). Can any one else find any more information on this?

drew138

12-30-05, 10:37 PM

Martig, I've seen several refences to this device working with an external tuner. The references have been vague, but I'm also hoping that you could hook up a tuner and use it as a DVR. I think I'm asking a lot though.

Drew

RDeckard

12-31-05, 07:50 AM

Ewong :

1/ Could you try playing H264 files please ?

2/ If you have enough time, could you run the divxtest CD on the TViX ?
(I need to make 5 posts before I could insert URLs (???) but if you search for "dixtest", you will find their (french & english) web site.)

It's an ISO CD with various multimedia files. The player may or not be able to play them.
Finally, you post the results and so all the community can know the possibilities of the player.

Thank you.

Ewong

01-01-06, 01:09 PM

Hi all,

Just back from my vacation.

I try to connect M5000U with USB Card reader which can insert different memory card (e.g CF/SM/SD/MS/MD). M5000U just hang up and lock up the remote. So, I would say, M5000 couldn't support USB hub at all.

Regarding selecting different language subtitle, it worked like a charm. Just press 'subtitle' button then it will show you current subtitle, press one more will switch to next subtitle.

Selecting Audio track is similiar as switch subtitle by press 'Audio' button.

A very bad news for Chinese Subtitle Support, it can't support chinese subtitle on .srt file when play Divx/Xvid/.ts file. It could only show up Korean Character. Too bad for HK people.

Ewong

01-01-06, 01:38 PM

Bad news again.

As tested, H264 is not supported !! :mad:

RDeckard

01-01-06, 01:56 PM

As mentionned in the manual, "Some functions will require firmware updates first.".
Hope H264 files will be supported. I thought EM8621 was supposed to handle them.
Maybe I had a wrong information :mad:

Thx for the test ...

Ewong

01-01-06, 02:25 PM

According to Sigma Design specification, EM8621L is similiar with EM8620L. Both are not supported H264, only EM8622L is going to support H264.

Staly_On

01-02-06, 12:55 AM

Ewong, welcome back from vacation. A few of us are wondering if you TViX will play dvd(.iso, etc) from a NAS.
Did you get a chance to test it?

Ewong

01-02-06, 11:06 PM

Just get a very basic LAN Drive from a shop.

Hopefully, I will test it very soon.

drew138

01-03-06, 09:09 AM

Ewong, thanks for testing this for us. Can't wait to hear the results. Any information you can provide around the optins for setting up a network share are appreceiated!

Drew

Ewong

01-03-06, 09:35 AM

Already tried LAN Drive with M5000U. Here're my step.

1. Install HDD into LAN Drive
2. Connect both M5000U and LAN Drive with a Router with CAT5 cable
3. Launch LAN Drive configuration menu

From Lan Drive configuration menu
4. Format HDD with FAT32 (Can't support NTFS)
5. Change Hostname to 'tvixhd1' <=== just to make it simple, not neccessary to use tvixhd1 as hostname
6. Create a shared folder 'tvixhd1' <=== M5000 hardcoded with this as Server Name
7. Create 3 sub-folder (Video/Audio/Photo) under 'tvixhd1'
8. Copy sample .iso / avi / wmv into //tvixhd1/video folder

From M5000 Setup menu
9. Configure IP Address of LAN Drive on M5000 Network Disk Setup

After all these steps, M5000 is able to browse 'tvixhd1' folder

However, most video file can't playback smooth except for Divx, here's my result:

- .DVD iso file (Look like slow motion, only 1/2 the speed as normal)
- 480p Divx file (Both Motion and sound playback smoothly)
- 720p Divx file (Both Motion and sound playback smoothly)
- 720p WMV file (flickered Motion and sound stop occasionally)
- 1080p WMV file (flickered Motion and sound stop occasionally)

drew138

01-03-06, 09:46 AM

Interesting. What is the size of the ISO file? Could it be that FAT32 is having issues with the ISO file size? Have you tried streaming an ISO from a share on your PC. And lastly, what is the make/model # of the NAS you are using? It is possible that is the bottleneck? It sounds like the ISO plays fine off the internal drive so it has to be a throughput issue from the NAS to the M5000 (i think)

Thanks for testing and reporting back. Please keep us posted.

Drew

Ewong

01-03-06, 09:56 AM

Hi drew138,

I'm using a cheapo LAN Drive which could only support FAT32.

http://www.hotway.com.tw/products/images/hd91-500.jpg

I ripped Fleetwood Mac's Rumours into 320K MP3 onto LAN Drive and play it via coaxial cable connected M5000 with Onkyo SR700. Audio Playback is very smooth and sound is quite acceptable.

I would try using WAV file to see any different on sound quality.

Ewong

01-03-06, 10:13 AM

Hi Drew,

I would like to simulate playback on .iso file from my WinXP. Do you know which media player is able to play .iso directly ?

Ewong

01-03-06, 10:53 AM

According to my testing, playing WAV is as smooth as playing 320K MP3.

But I don't think there is any improvement using WAV files since I can't hear any different between MP3 and WAV file. May be it is just me !!

MikeAlletto

01-03-06, 11:12 AM

You could also try opening up sharing on your windows box and using the TViX to stream it across instead of the cheapo lan HD that you got. Is your windows boxes HD's formatted in NTFS?

If that doesn't provide smooth playback I guess I'll remove TViX from possible choice and see what comes out from CES this week.

skymatrix

01-03-06, 11:55 AM

Hi Drew,

I would like to simulate playback on .iso file from my WinXP. Do you know which media player is able to play .iso directly ?

VLC media player (http://www.videolan.org) will play iso files directly.

drew138

01-03-06, 12:50 PM

Hi Drew,

I would like to simulate playback on .iso file from my WinXP. Do you know which media player is able to play .iso directly ?

EWONG, there is no need to playback the ISO on your XP PC since it will definelty work. If you really want to try it you can download dameon tools which will allow you to mount a ISO file as if it was a DVD Drive.

You should try to do what Mike suggested a few posts above. Open up a shared folder on your PC and place the ISO file in that share. You should be able to navigate the M5000 to the shared folder on the XP PC. I bet you will see much better performance on streaming from the PC than from the LAN drive.

Keep up the good work. I'm very interested.

Drew

Staly_On

01-04-06, 01:06 AM

Thanks Ewong for testing that. I have read that in a lot of these NAS solutions that the bottleneck is the NAS and that it may not fully support the 100MB/s throughput.
If anyone else out there has a higher end NAS and can try it. Please let us know the results. Personally, I want to just throw a NAS in my network closset and let the TViX pull all the movies and musck from there.

On a side note, how does the music player on the TViX rate? Is it as robust? Can it read the id3 tags, search, etc?

Ewong

01-04-06, 01:25 AM

Since the LAN Drive provide dual connection (LAN / USB2.0), I will try to connect M-5000U with USB 2.0 for ISO Streaming. I plan to put both unit side by side so distance is no a problem in my case.

You may be right that such cheapo LAN Drive may be possibility one of the bottleneck.

What do you think about this NAS gear (Thecus YES Box N2100) ?

http://www.thecus.com/upload/large_img_1.png

http://www.thecus.com/products_over.php?cid=1&pid=1#

flizzy

01-04-06, 06:15 AM

Just a dumb question before I go and buy this thing today. Can you browse the TVIX HDD from your local PC over network? So you never need to move it to fill up with new files?

Ewong

01-04-06, 08:54 AM

No. You can't do this.

If I can browse Tvix HDD via LAN connection then I don't need an NAS anymore.

You could only able to browse Tivx Internal HDD via USB 2.0 Connection.

dynax5d

01-04-06, 09:13 AM

ewong,
Does it play .mov files? Thanks.

Ewong

01-04-06, 09:48 AM

Sorry again. No !!

It can't play mov !!

anymouse

01-04-06, 10:17 AM

Would a USB to Ethernet adapter work?

Ewong

01-04-06, 10:55 AM

Why do you need a USB to Ethernet Adapter ?

It already come with Ethernet Port / 2 x USB 2.0 Host / USB 2.0 Client.

Good news on using USB 2.0 Host Port to connect LAN Drive. All movie clip and iso file now playback smoothly.

Here's my configuration.

PC<---LAN---Wireless Router<---LAN--->LAN Drive<---USB--->M5000<--DVI->Plasma
NB<-WLAN--/

FLABOY

01-04-06, 11:42 AM

Can I connect the USB host to a USB hub then add multiple USB hd's?

Ewong

01-04-06, 11:53 AM

I don't have USB Hub for testing.

As I read the manual, it could only allow you to connect two USB Port to USB hard disk directly.

If you need more storage, I guess you could use a USB RAID-0 Hard Case which allow you to install Multiple HDD as one Raid-0 hard disk.

MikeAlletto

01-04-06, 12:35 PM

Good news on using USB 2.0 Host Port to connect LAN Drive. All movie clip and iso file now playback smoothly.

Here's my configuration.

PC<---LAN---Wireless Router<---LAN--->LAN Drive<---USB--->M5000<--DVI->Plasma
NB<-WLAN--/

Interesting but doesn't really answer the question about lan playback. Have you thought about setting up your pc with the share and connecting the tvix device directly to your pc via a hub or switch. Forget about usb, not practical in my opinion since most people would be having the tvix device by their tv and the nas in some other room in the house. Connecting it directly to your pc using your pc's network card and the ethernet connection on the tvix device would solve the question about the nas you chose being too slow or not.

powerstar

01-04-06, 12:41 PM

Ewong, do you have any new informations about the DVI-HDMI Problem ???? I read the M-5000U manual and there is written that DVI-HDMI works.

drew138

01-04-06, 03:56 PM

Ewong is posting on another forum I watch and he posted this link to another media player....

http://www.pixelmagicsystems.com/pr...hd_mediabox.htm

Very interesting. Maybe a new thread comming.

Drew

Kabanero

01-04-06, 04:49 PM

dynax5d

01-05-06, 08:56 AM

ewong,
Is the DVI problem related to EDID? thx.

Ewong

01-05-06, 01:13 PM

No idea. But, M5000U now seems OK when connecting Samsung Plasma via DVI at 1080i.

I ripped a DVD from PC into LAN Drive via LAN Connection, the speed is only 1300KB/s vs 12000KB/S via USB 2.0 Connection.

The 10/100Mbps LAN speed should be able to provide at least 12800KB/s according to calculation, but it's now only provide 1300KB/s which is just about 10Mbps.

Just wonder whether my router or LAN Drive have I/O performance problem.

MikeAlletto

01-05-06, 01:42 PM

Just wonder whether my router or LAN Drive have I/O performance problem.

I would say something is wierd with your router. The LAN Drive device supposedly supports 100Mbps. Anyway to tell if its connected at 10 or 100?

yellowwingdove

01-05-06, 03:19 PM

Is it possible to hook up a dvr to your pc through an ethernet cord to move files to my pc? If so, can someone please help me figure this out? It's driving me CRAZY!

Myren

01-05-06, 04:36 PM

My experience with LAN and USB drives is that they often fall short on hte performance metric. It would be unsuprising to learn one couldnt sustain over 10 Mbps. I doubt the router is to blame, even the most cheapass of dlinks can usually sustain 10mbps.

I'm very very very sad to hear this unit cannot serve as a NAS itself. I was hoping for an all in one output box for my hard drive- output to tv, music, usb and ethernet. actually i wanted wireless too.

interesting to note though that with usb 2.0 i COULD link it to the Netgear WGT634u I bought and install samba on that. That would actually be pretty damned sweet, plus it would give me badass 802.11g. There's no chance this box has a UPnP control interface by chance? That would be divine..

Myren

Myren

01-05-06, 04:41 PM

Oh, natural question:

Can you play movies off it while at hte same time reading/writing it across the USB2.0? There's a very good chance it might allow only one at a time...

Ewong

01-05-06, 08:34 PM

Hi Myren,

You're right. When hookup M5000 to PC via USB 2.0, the unit is on USB mode and nothing you can do except treat it as an removable hard disk of your PC.

You can't play any movie, the remote stop working either. After unplug the USB cable, you still can use remote to reboot M5000. You can only restart it with Phyiscally on/off the power switch at it's rear panel.

Same case for LAN Drive, when you plug LAN Drive onto USB port of your PC, it will immediately stop NAS mode. However, it can be resume as NAS drive when you unplug the USB cable from PC.

Roveer

01-07-06, 11:08 AM

ewong:

I'm thinking about getting one of these and I would be interested in your feedback since you already own one.

I want to store my DVD's as ISO's on a XP PC (probably 2 to 4 terabytes worth of storge), eventually 400-800 movies. I'd like to use the 5000u at each of my HD TV's to allow access to this collection.

Do you think this unit will do this well? My major concern is that I will have hundreds of movies to stream. I've read it handles ISO's with dvd navigation just fine, has it worked for you?

Also, what do you think about the UI, especially how it would handle that many movies? How would I scroll through such a large list? In addition, is there a way to address each movie individually or can you only get to them by scrolling through a list? What I mean is, if I wanted to use a super remote like a pronto, or a pc to create a fancy index with title art is there a way to access the movies by number? This is something that I think most of these products have not done which means they are really first generation. It's not very user friendly if you can only play movies by looking at file names from a list.

Unfortunatly, XPMCE has a pretty good interface with icons, but I've never been able to get an XPMCE to look good on a TV.

Any input would be appreciated.

Roveer

Ewong

01-07-06, 02:19 PM

Roveer,

It's a very sad news for you and for me. I have the idea of storing DVD in a centralized storage. Theoretically, M5000 are capable to do this since it can access NAS via LAN connection. On the other hand, M5000 can access DVD ISO Image perfectly, it performs like a standalone DVD player and give you 100% equal operation as DVD Player. More but no less.

However, the I/O performance of M5000 LAN Wire connection is extremely poor. Initially, I thought it was due to the poor performance on my wireless router but it was confirmed that the poor performance should be come from the M5000 LAN Connection.

Tonight, I use a cross-over LAN cable to connect my LAN Drive with M5000 directly (bypass wireless router). The playback of both using DVD ISO File or Video_TS.IFO is still in slow motion and skipping sound.

If you really need to store 400-500 movie and using LAN to access them. The only way to resolve is to convert all of them to Divx/Xvid/WMV format. There is zero problem when playback of these format via LAN Connection.

Regarding the UI interface, it's so simple and very primitive. It just give you a folder/subfolder structure with 10 items (files) on each page. To reach you selection, you have to go page by page or go into each subfolder. No search and no filter option.

MikeAlletto

01-08-06, 12:41 AM

That clinches it for me, I won't look into this device anymore. I look forward to the pixel magic one. Maybe that will work as advertised.

drew138

01-08-06, 01:03 PM

I still have hope for the M5000. TVIX USA told me that there were several firmware issues that they were trying to work out. Hopefully others will make the jump when the device is released here. That said, the pixel magic does look to be superior in every capacity.

Drew

macattackman

01-08-06, 04:23 PM

I'm starting to get a little more interested in this new box by pixelmagic.
The Tvix forums have been incredibly silent from any Tvix "representatives".

MikeAlletto

01-08-06, 11:55 PM

The Tvix forums have been incredibly silent from any Tvix "representatives"

Thats another reason I'm getting more interested in the pixel magic product. The Tvix forums seem to have a huge lack of official presence.

drew138

01-09-06, 08:58 AM

I think those forums are only hosted by the TVIX distribution arm in the US and don't really have any other news other than what they get from the mother ship. Unless someone else gets a M5000 and posts improved results, the Pixel Magic is the box to beat at this point.

Drew

PS: Thank EWONG for taking the plunge and posting your reviews of the unit! Your reviews and the tip on the pixel magic device have been a valuable addition!!!!

Roveer

01-09-06, 10:14 AM

Thanks for the update. I decided to give xbmc (xBox media center) a try. I bought an xbox for $149.00 and plan on performing the softmod method and installing xbmc. Their new version supports iso playback. It also gives me a science project to work on and for 150 bucks if it all blows up, I'm not really out that much. I was waiting for xbox 360 to give me HD playback, and will look at that more when I can finally get an xbox 360. It's incredible that none of the local chains even have them 3 months after launch. xbmc seens to have a nice UI and at 150 bucks for hardware I wouldn't mind droping a box at each TV location. Actually, since I have distributed video around my house, I only have to put one box at the head-end and it will route to all TV's with distributed IR. If you guys are interested, I'll report back on my experience once I've sucessfully modd'd my xbox and installed xbmc. The "kids" who wrote the guides assume we all speak and understand uber/cyber xbox language so it's a bit of tough sledding, but I've successfully modd'd my Tivo several times, re-chipped satellite recievers, unsoldered legs on TSOP's for reprogramming so I think I can handle this one. I just love a good science project. Since I only have one HDTV and very limited amount of HD content, I can wait for products to mature, but getting a video jukebox on-line for SD and my collection would be nice for now.

When will these box makers get it through their head that if they don't develop a nice UI nobody will use their product? The idea of navigating file structures is so not doable it's not even funny. Nice technology, but worthless without a good UI.
All that has to happen is for VideoRequest or Escient to give ISO playback capability and I'd go right to that. Afterall, we are all looking for Kaliedascape like capabilities, but not at 20K!!!

Regards,

Roveer

Roveer

01-09-06, 10:23 AM

ewong:

You might try connecting directly to a PC and try steaming a movie from there. You mentioned that you LanDrive was cheapo, it's possible that it may be the bottleneck. If you have a decent PC and since you already have the crossover cable, trying it direct to PC is worth a shot.

Roveer

Ewong

01-09-06, 10:56 AM

Roveer,

You're probably right. I connect the LAN Drive with my PC and find that the I/O speed is very slow on LAN connection (even with Crossover LAN direct connection to bypass router bottleneck).

The speed of USB2.0 can achieve 18400KBytes/sec but only 1250KBytes/sec on LAN Connection. I will try to share PC Folder to M5000 for testing and post my result afterward.

Ewong

01-09-06, 02:14 PM

OK, Just finish the testing by using PC Shared Folder instead of LAN Drive.

I follow the instruction given by M5000U to create the a shared folder. Then, rip "Fifth Element" to the Shared folder.

On M5000U, changing the IP address of LAN Drive to PC then reboot. After that, press "Jump" button to switch from Internal HDD to Network Access.

Everything seems fine, I saw the folder and DVD ISO Image that I have created on my PC.

Try to play DVD ISO Image, nothing come out from the screen and no response at all.

It may be something with my ISO Image, I shouldn't give up.

So, I reconnect M5000U to copy other DVD ISO Image that I have successfully watched without any problem, some WAV file that I have heard before, then some photo that I have seen before.

I also copy the problem ISO Image to M5000 Internal Hard Disk.

OK. Let's try again. Since I just connected both PC and M5000U via a Gigabyte Wireless router. If it's still not work, then I would use crossover cable to eliminate wireless route for my next step.

First, I try to play some Audio File (WAV format), it played fine as normal. Then, try to display some photo, it played as usual.

Finally, the most exciting testing on DVD ISO Image, I choose the one that I have successfuly watched before from M5000U. It show up the copyright screen then DVD selection menu. After finish setting up the audio track and subtitle, I press the play button. OMG...........the picture is come out as previously. No freeze, no stutter.

After watch for 10 minutes, M5000U freeze and stop playing ISO Image file. I tested the same ISO from M5000U Internal HDD, this problem didn't happen for the whole movie.

I have no idea on why it suddenly stop. It could be due to LAN connection is not stable or as effficient as Internal HDD.

Anyway, the testing confirmed that LAN connection shouldn't have problem on I/O performance when play DVD ISO Image. I guess the LAN connection and network performance could be even better if I use crossover cable to connect them together.

I try to play the problem ISO Image from Internal HDD, the same result as Network Access. So, the problem should be due to problem ISO Image file rather than Network Connection.

I'm sorry that giving wrong information about LAN connection problem on M5000U. Seems like I have to dump the cheapo LAN Drive for a better one.

anymouse

01-09-06, 05:17 PM

Ewong, would you be willing to do the same test only rip the movie to IFO/VOB. Thanks.

Ewong

01-09-06, 08:45 PM

Sure !

Ewong

01-10-06, 01:23 AM

Just talked to the customer service of the distributor regarding LAN Drive performance.

The engineer replied me that this product is a very low-end HDD full metal enclosure with USB and LAN connection. The LAN connection is only an optional feature allow user to share the folder and allow FTP File Transfer access from internet.

The poor performance of LAN speed is expected on a sub-US$60 NAS. USB 2.0 connection is the only way to transfer huge files with high speed on this device.

In this circumstance, I have no choice to swap out this device from my list.

Is there any other suggestion on NAS which is suitable for Media Storage with high-speed LAN throughput for M5000U ISO streaming ?

drew138

01-10-06, 09:09 AM

EWONG, not sure about your budget. But the Linksys NSLU2 is a device that allows you to take any external USB drive and make it a LAN. The performance is actually pretty good but not perfect. Shuold be ok for ISO streaming. Buffalo makes a line of NAS drives that perform very well. Their Linkstation always performs well in reviews. If you are more tech savvy with LINUX they also make something called the Kuro Box. Maxtor also makes a decent NAS in their OneTouch line.

I would recomend the Linkstation for performance.

Good luck, perhaps there is promise after all for the M5000U. Keep us posted.

Drew

Roveer

01-11-06, 03:26 PM

I posted this on the pixel magic website (won't even bother posting on TVIX since they don't seem to respond to anything) and got a response that I found a little shocking. They actually believe their product will be successful without a working UI. They plan on shipping their product with a simple "file browse" method, including UNC path and directory structure. No sorting, searching, cover art etc.

I'm going to do my best to help these guys understand what we want. It will be up to them to cast their own fate. I see the Pixel Magic Mediabox and the TVIX HD M-5000U as the two front runners in this game with HD capabilities, so I'm concentrating my efforts on them.

----- Original post on pixel magic message board ------

I, like many others have been waiting with great excitement as this new generation of media players comes to market. I am here at the Pixel Magic site because I just decided that the Tivx HD M-5000U device which is due to ship soon has missed it's mark like so many other products in it's class (because of a poor UI)

I want to make a point here that the UI (User Interface), is probably just as important as what the device is capable of doing. We have a thing in the US (and probably everywhere else), called WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor), which means if the user interface is not good, then it will never make it into our entertainment rack. What this means is, if you are planning on giving menu's with long ugly file names, and file directory structures by which to browse our content, then your product will never gain traction. My wife like's Tivo, it's easy enough to understand, she (and I, and my kids), do not like file directory structures with files with names like VIDEO_TS.IFO etc... Look at Windows media center. Movies appear with Artwork in scrollable, searchable lists. What MCE lacks is the ability to play the kind of content that we really want (ISO's stored on a PC or NAS), lots of them!!! Hundreds or maybe even a thousand. Yes, that big! And with a collection that big, you need a way to display and search, and (wait for it), have a way to access a movie by number from a remote, or device that will catalog and send IR commands to a your box to start a specific movie.

Here's what I would really like to see:

Ability to access hundreds of stored ISO's on a very large array (2-4 terabyte in size). (it's cheaper that you think!!!)

Ability to display the titles with DVD artwork on screen (like MCE), and to be able to search or filter (like MCE)

Ability to access any movie by number so I we decide to build an index of the titles in a super-remote control, or PC application that will send IR, so it can be displayed on a touchscreen or web-tablet or smart display.

This over and away is more important that stuffing Hard drives into the unit, connecting USB drives, Hub mode client mode blah blah. None of it matters if the UI is not first class. Remember, if you can't easily access a large quantity of content easily, than the product will not be successful.

I have a pile of network connected MP3's players that will never be used because of the horrible user interface capabilities, especially once you go over a couple dozen songs. Just simply not usable.

I read in another post here a user saying basically the same thing about a good UI. I can only agree. I have abondoned more products (linkplayer, mediagate, dlink product, tvix, and a bunch more just because they plan on displaying content as a filename. It's just not gonna fly except for those who think that's "just good enough".

As far as I'm concerned, add $200.00 bucks to the cost and give me a first class UI. That I'll go for!

So now I've said my peace, hopefully I'm not alone in wanting this product to actually serve up content, AND do it in a way that people can actually use.

Comments are greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Roveer

PS. I decided to buy an xbox and plan to mod it and put xbmc on it because I've seen the UI and it looks pretty good. Limitations are NO HD, but I only have one HD TV and very little HD content. Do I want to buy game consoles and modify them to be media players? NO, but if that's the only way to go for now, than I'll take it. Oh, the xbox cost me 149 bucks and xbmc is free.

Roveer

01-11-06, 03:56 PM

Just to add to that. I too have a NSLU2 (called the slug for obvious reasons), and using TWONKYVISION software re-flashed it to become a UPNP media server. This allows it to serve any of it's content to UPNP devices (like my crappy Netgear music player). Now I don't have to rely on installing the PC software and running another server side application. Works perfectly. Oh, the twonkyvision software was 18 bucks! It's actually pretty cool software (firmware) which is capable of other things, but it breathed new life into my Netgear music player (another product with a miserable UI).

EWONG, not sure about your budget. But the Linksys NSLU2 is a device that allows you to take any external USB drive and make it a LAN. The performance is actually pretty good but not perfect. Shuold be ok for ISO streaming. Buffalo makes a line of NAS drives that perform very well. Their Linkstation always performs well in reviews. If you are more tech savvy with LINUX they also make something called the Kuro Box. Maxtor also makes a decent NAS in their OneTouch line.

I would recomend the Linkstation for performance.

Good luck, perhaps there is promise after all for the M5000U. Keep us posted.

Drew

drew138

01-12-06, 10:58 AM

Ewong

01-13-06, 01:07 AM

I have tested IFO/VOB. No problem during playback from shared folder of PC.

drew138

01-13-06, 08:42 AM

EWONG, this is very good news. There is still hope for this device then. A more robust NAS solution like ReadyNAS or Buffao should be capable of streaming these files as well.

THANK YOU for the test.

Drew

anymouse

01-13-06, 08:43 AM

Ewong, thanks for the test. After having done both it appears the IFO method would be better. Am I interpreting your results correctly?

Thanks. Richard

Choots

01-15-06, 10:08 AM

Thanks for the update. I decided to give xbmc (xBox media center) a try. I bought an xbox for $149.00 and plan on performing the softmod method and installing xbmc. Their new version supports iso playback. It also gives me a science project to work on and for 150 bucks if it all blows up, I'm not really out that much.

Cool! That's been my thought as well regarding waiting for media streamers to mature...thought I just can't seem to get started on it for lack of directions...there's a real dearth of intelligent, stepwise documentation out there. I've read a bunch of stuff, but no one brings it all together. Particularly on the softmod part... Plus, I wouldn't mind having an Xbox to play a few games, because I haven't owneda a game console since the mid eighties....

I was waiting for xbox 360 to give me HD playback, and will look at that more when I can finally get an xbox 360. It's incredible that none of the local chains even have them 3 months after launch.
Agreed...I'm surprised that after figuring out what consumers would want/need in a next gen console, microsoft drastically underestimated the pent-up demand for the device...

xbmc seens to have a nice UI and at 150 bucks for hardware I wouldn't mind droping a box at each TV location. Actually, since I have distributed video around my house, I only have to put one box at the head-end and it will route to all TV's with distributed IR. If you guys are interested, I'll report back on my experience once I've sucessfully modd'd my xbox and installed xbmc. .
I definitely want to hear more about your experience...maybe you could email me, start a new thread, or find a relevant one to write up your progress...

The "kids" who wrote the guides assume we all speak and understand uber/cyber xbox language so it's a bit of tough sledding, but I've successfully modd'd my Tivo several times, re-chipped satellite recievers, unsoldered legs on TSOP's for reprogramming so I think I can handle this one. I just love a good science project.
I'm with you brother...I love doing things like this, when I've got enough info to go on...I've read some of these guides and while I consider myself to be an expert DIYer in many areas (electronics, software, woodworking, electromechanical devices), these "guides" are written poorly at best.

Looking forward to hearing more about your experience...

Peter

Roveer

01-16-06, 02:06 PM

Well, I finally sat down on Sunday and began the process of softmodding a brand new xbox and installing xbmc software. It took me about 5 hours total, but a lot of that time was spent checking, double checking and searching for answers.

I've only just begun to play with the xbmc functionality, but my first impression was "how could they do this for free". It would seem that the quality of the product is superior to many of the products we've all wasted money on in the past.

My only concern is that I can tune the xbox to give acceptable video. Presently, the colors were a bit shifted and washed (a complaint of every computer I've ever tried to hook up to a TV set), but there are several area's in the product for video calibration etc. Within 10 minutes of getting the software running I was streaming an ISO of "The Terminal" from my NAS. Pretty amazing all things considered.

I'll be playing more over the next few days, I want to pick up a MCE remote for xbox and hook it up to my 42" with the component cable that I also bought.

I'm thinking about writing my own guide which takes all the necessary information from the 20 or so guides that I had to read in order to do the mod/install. It would be slanted toward getting xbmc installed on an xbox for the non-xbox generation. I found it hard to understand what was important or not important about the processes while reading the other guides, but wanting a solid backup in order to return to stock was important for me.

Next I'm going to replace the MS hard drive with a larger one so I have some sense of security because I'm sure I'll hose up the system at some point.

All in all, it went incredibly smooth. My total investment was 149 bucks, plus the HD cable, and MCE remote and probably a bigger HD.

Streaming DVD ISO's with menu navigation, music, pictures, internet radio, a zillion plugin's, game emulators, Oh, movie trailers organized professionally in menu's, and other stuff I haven't even gotten to yet. Don't let me forget to mention it has a weather plug-in that when supplied with my zip code gives a page that looks like the weather channel forcast. Amazing.

I was surprised to find out that the authors of XMBC don't supply compiled source (for legal reasons), so I had to take their advice and go hunting for it. Well, that took all of about 10 minutes!!! Gotta love that internet.

Roveer

Ripper

01-16-06, 03:22 PM

Roveer - I too enjoy my two modded boxes. I am using the Oct build for XBMC, and am setting up my FLAC and VOB files on the Terrastation. Still customizing the XML file. I will be adding the XIR IR capability, and will remote the box due to fan noise.
How are you running the distributed video? I currently use modulators, but I find the picture lacking.

Roveer

01-16-06, 03:33 PM

Aahh, they luke among us!!! Glad to see there are others who like to dabble. I've been doing channel plus video modulation for 8-9 years and yes, it lacks just a bit in video quality. Most of my TV's are still relitively small so we don't notice the PQ issues that much. Distributed video allows us a housewide Tivo & VCR and the channel plus also includes distributed IR, so a few extra remotes and It's Tivo and VCR on every TV in the house. I'll probably put the xbox on there as well. Easy way to stash the noisy machine and still have it on every TV I own.

MrGrim

01-25-06, 12:07 PM

Thats another reason I'm getting more interested in the pixel magic product. The Tvix forums seem to have a huge lack of official presence.

One of my friends told me about the product and mentioned an american and canadien website to me. since everyone seems to be looking at it, too bad the forum wont let me post the websites here. goto google and search 'tvixcanada'

rhi

01-25-06, 12:34 PM

Roveer:

Are you going to write the guite the guide to make the XBMC? I think that would be great. I have looked at all the guides, and like you, was overwhelmed by all the diffferent guides. It let me more confused then anything.

I have been looking for a media streamer to just stream dvd's from my NAS to the HDTV downstairs. After reading about all the different makes and models, recomendations from all, I'm nowhere closer to picking one. My head is going to burst pretty soon! :)

rhi

DemonicDM

01-25-06, 05:29 PM

hello to you all, I am planing to buy a tvix Jukebox M-5000U, but just wondering if you are happy with this device.. any bugs, codec problem, plz tell me.
or am i in wrong forum ;).
Thanks.

Roveer

01-26-06, 12:31 AM

xBox Media Center Week 2 review...

Well, It's been 2 weeks since I bought an xBox (not 360) to try and do what all these Korean made players should do but won't. Here are my initial observations.

In the past 2 weeks I've had about 10 hours total with my new toy. The first 5 hours were "modding" the xbox which for me was a real treat. I love to hack/modify stuff. I did the softmod version of the xBox mod which didn't require any chips or anything other than some software from the internet and reading a bunch of guides. Once that was done I put the xBox Media Center software on the xbox and the fun really began. This stuff is top notch. So many features It's not funny. I still have net to explore the whole thing. I've putt a bunch of DVD movies in ISO format on my NAS and have them appearing in the excellent xbmc gui. THUMBNAILS!!! Large, small, list, however you want them to appear. ISO with DVD Navigation for my series disks (multiple episodes per file), or main movie only with led in logos and FBI warnings removed (a la kaliedascape).

Weather.com 4 day weather reports, yup,

MP3 collection with cover art, and searchability, Yup,

Internet Radio feeds, Yup, JPG slide shows, Yup.

And a few dozen things I haven't even begun to play with. Most impressive. Oh, yeah, the xBox plays games too... Especially the ones I converted and put on the upgraded hard drive. No more game disks. Like I said, many things I haven't even begun to play with. I guess while we wait for this segment of the industry to mature, xbmc is the way to go. If they manage to hack the xbox 360 and enable it to play HD, then there will be no need to look anywhere else.

Oh, my total investment, 150 bucks plus 29 for the DVD remote which is fully functional in xbmc for that true living room experience. What more can I say, I'm very happy with the result. Next I'm going to build a 2tb array to hold my growing collection. I'm also going to put the xbox on my whole house distrubution (video and IR) grab a few more remotes and call it a day.

I am considering putting together a guide which pulls together information from the 2 dozen or so guides that I had to read in order to make this all happen, so if there is interest, I'll try and find the time. There are a few tricks to making it happen, I did the Hard Drive hotswap method to gain access to the xbox hard drive in order to install the modification, but it worked on the very first try. Not that hard at all.

I attached a snapshot (oh yea, that's a built-in option I just learned about) of "My Video"

I'd be more than happy to answer questions if anyone has any.

Regards,

Roveer

Ewong

01-26-06, 02:23 AM

I'm not quite happy with Tvix HD M5000U unless they can solve the DVI/HDMI Connection problem and Trad. Chinese Support.

I plan to switch to PixelMagic HD Mediabox when it's available.

carlohp

01-26-06, 09:41 AM

Roveer,

I am a bit confused. I did not think you can play ISO files, and it required Windows Media file or MPEG2 files to play on XBox360. Is this not correct?

I personally would be interested in seeing your guides, so you have my vote to put one together.

The other question I have is, why did you choose to do a software mod vs hardware mod. Do you think there is any advantage of the hardware mod that the software version won't do?

Carlo

DemonicDM

01-26-06, 10:25 AM

well.. seems like not many ppl have this device. Yesterday I read about a sound bug problem. I had Lacie Silverscreen 80 before, but it had so much problem so i return it back (hardware issue).
I want to buy this one, but I am not sure yet, is it anything else better then this one !?

DemonicDM

01-26-06, 10:42 AM

I'm not quite happy with Tvix HD M5000U unless they can solve the DVI/HDMI Connection problem and Trad. Chinese Support.

I plan to switch to PixelMagic HD Mediabox when it's available.

Any other problem Ewong ? plz tell. and yes PixelMagic HD Mediabox looks good, strange i had also problem with hdmi/dvi with my lacie silverscreen.

HenwayDTV

01-26-06, 10:46 AM

Roveer,
One thing I'm confused by with the XBMC--leaving it connected to the outside world is OK? Do you have to firewall disenable some ports? I know you will never be able to connect to XBOX LIVE, but are there any other considerations? Bill Gates and his people following you when you leave your house?

Thanks

Roveer

01-26-06, 11:02 AM

I'll answer both users questions in a single post.

As far as why did I do the softmod vs a hardware solution for the xbox. Basically, money. The hardware mods are 30-50 bucks and I was looking for immediate gratification so I went with the softmod route. While I don't know a whole lot about the modding process, from what I have seen hardware mods may allow you to switch bios's and then allow you to use xbox live for on-line gameplay, something that I have no intention of doing. Other than that I can't really see any difference.

As far as having my xbox connected to my network. Yes, I do have a firewall with no inbound ports open, and while there is always a possibility of software on the xbox doing bad things, I have not read anything about that so far. Putting an xbox on the network is pretty much like putting another computer on, same threats etc...

Regards,

Roveer...

DCypher

01-26-06, 02:54 PM

XBMC looks very cool.
What resolution is your xbox running at?
Can it stream mpegs recorded from sagetv? Any more screen shots?

From what i've heard, XMBC is pretty cool. Everyone who i've talked to who has it running says it's great - haven't heard too many neg. comments on it!

Thanks,
jeff

DemonicDM

01-26-06, 08:14 PM

I still need to know if u guys found any bugs "TViX HD M-5000U Media Player" or is it any other "better" Media Player, thanks for answering me. :)

rhi

01-26-06, 10:43 PM

Hi Roveer,

You have another vote for your XBMC put it all together guide.

drew138

01-27-06, 01:10 PM

Roveer, can i suggest that we start a new thread on the XBMC. Perhaps we can use the thread to piece togehter an AVSFORUM faq on setting this up?

Did you manage to set up XMAME?

PS: I'll set up the new forum in a few days if noone else does it. :) There seems to be a lot of interest.

Drew

DemonicDM

01-27-06, 01:19 PM

Seems like i am in wrong forum, ;). nobody talks anything more about tvix hd m-5000U, maybe its better to look other forums.

Ewong

01-27-06, 09:42 PM

Hi DemonicDM,

Please start reading from page 1. All your question already answered here.

DemonicDM

01-27-06, 11:35 PM

I did, all of them. but still ... need more info about tvix, but not about what it can do, only about what it cant do. Maybe its not worth it to buy it. Dont wanna do same mistake with lacie silverscreen.

Ewong

01-28-06, 12:22 AM

There is many thing that it can do and many thing that it can't do.

I could try my best to answer your question but need to be more specific.

DemonicDM

01-28-06, 11:16 PM

There is many thing that it can do and many thing that it can't do.

I could try my best to answer your question but need to be more specific.

Well... just tell me what it cant do, I am going to buy one (monday) if I dont find anyting better.
Tvix m5000 U or Rapsody RSH 100 or this one Mediagate MG-35 (3,5")

Roveer

01-30-06, 08:23 PM

I see that digital connection is now selling this unit pre-order with an estimated ship date of 1/31/06.

I'll have to see what this can do when it finally hits our shores, but if they are ever successful in hacking the xbox 360 and they write XBMC for that I'd be just thrilled. As far as I'm concerned, for right now, XBMC is for me. Gives me the UI that I'm looking for. I'm still educating myself on xBox mod's and XBMC so for those who are looking for a guide, I'm still considering it, but I would like to have sufficient knowledge before I begin. I'm currently debugging switching the xbox to 720p and 1080i mode for when I hook it to my HD LCD.

the M5000U has NO UI as far as I'm concerned as I don't want to look at tree structures to play movies, I need icons and XBMC does that well. Oh yeah, click on the newly uploaded movies, and do a IDDB search on the title and it brings in the cover art and movie description. How cool is that? I have to say that after a little picture tweaking, I'm pleased with the image on XBMC as well. Appears to be almost as good as a directly connected DVD Player and now I have a good reason to build my Terabyte Array that I've always wanted. In the future this will change, but for now, the guys in Korea (as well intentioned as they are) just don't get it. That goes for the 4-5 companies that are making boxes similar to the TVIX. They all skipped the UI.

Regards,

Roveer

rhi

01-30-06, 09:33 PM

Roveer:

Did you decide if you are going to write the guide for the XBMC? I sure would love that, as I have just gotten more confused looking at all the info out there on how to mod it. Can i p.m. or email you?

Thanks
Rhi

fatb0y

01-31-06, 03:27 PM

Hi
I just bought my Tvix M-5000U

looks nice but...
I have big problems to get the *.iso streaming to work :(

any ide´s what to do?

/F

DemonicDM

01-31-06, 07:02 PM

lol.. plz dont tell me about any problems now, because now is to late.. hehe.. I just bought it...
but going to test it and post any problem here.
so wish me good luck :)

Ewong

01-31-06, 09:35 PM

Hi fatb0y,

How did rip your DVD into ISO Image ?

I often use DVDDecrypter or DVDshrink to rip DVD into ISO Image. Almost all ISO Image playback created from these two programs can be playback without any problem from M5000 Internal Hard Disk.

In most of the case, I use DVDDecrypter to rip ISO Image when I want to retain all menu selection, all audio tracks (AC3 & DTS) and extra feature. However, I also use DVDShrink when I just want to keep the main movie with 1 Audio Track.

These ISO Image created from DVDDecrypter playback flawlessly from external USB Hard Disk or Internal Hard Disk. I rarely encountered hang up problem except one of the DVD (The Fifth Element).

I only tried once using my PC to share a folder which contains ISO Image file from DVDDecrypter and playback flawlessly from M5000. However, the performance of SMB on my LAN Drive is very poor as confirmed with my local dealer, all ISO image playback always freeze and stutter from LAN connection.

fatb0y

02-01-06, 04:09 PM

I tried to :
DVDDecrypter and DVDshrink same result.

the ISO works fine if I transfer it to the HDD.
I tried to stream from
win2k3 server
linux server samba

switches I tried
cisco
extrem
HP (office typ a small one)
I tried
cat 5e and cat 6 cabel

it just want work to stream it on the network :(

I´m thinking of sending it back :( (I was so happy when i got it...)

BUT
xvid/divx works fine to stream over the network

regards
F

Sorry for my bad eng :)

DemonicDM

02-01-06, 06:05 PM

Tvix main page is down, anyone knows which one is latest tvix firmware? or can u email it to me !?
demonslask@hotmail.com.
thanks and yes, i got my tvix, works fine but it cant play wmv files. yet !..

Ewong

02-01-06, 09:08 PM

Most of the WMV is playback normally, especially those WMVHD download from www.wmvhd.com. However, I still have same problem on some WMV when it was encoded with WMV8 codec and some of the WMV in 1080p resolution.

Here's the latest beta firmware available for download from Tvix Korea

http://www.tvix.co.kr/kor/tvix_1.2.1.zip

I never try this version since I don't know whether this version is only for Korea version of M5000 or worldwide version.

Ewong

02-01-06, 09:10 PM

Hi fatb0y,

You may try to connect M5000 and Win2K directly via a crossover cable for testing. As I remember, I have performed such testing on ISO Image and playback successfully.

Edwin

DemonicDM

02-02-06, 04:12 AM

Well, i have same problem with wmv encoded with 8 and 9, also didn't found any tvix firmware in tvix eng site. ( tvix site is back online ).

Maybe better to wait until someone test that kor firmware before i am testing it ;).. Strange enough there is no other firmware to download. And so far I managed to crash tvix 2 times.

Anyone working with that tvix manager !?

Ewong

02-02-06, 04:57 AM

I have tried Tvix Manager but don't exactly understand what it is going to do.

It's seems that Tvix Manager will help you to validate whether those media file is playable on M5000U.

DemonicDM

02-02-06, 05:12 AM

did you install any firmware ? I cant even find one. except kor firmware.

and damn.. no tvix screensaver. must be careful with plasma tv.

valisi

02-03-06, 01:16 AM

Hi Ewong and others,
I have followed this thread and found it very useful. Two days ago I bought a TVIX 5000. All the video out ports work well including the DVI port (I connected it to an ACER 32in LCD). However I am unable to enter my IP address in the network configuration. The problem is that the IP address of the PC I want to connect to is 172.16.1.33 but the TVIX seems only to allow 3 digits per input e.g 192.168.001.127. How do you enter an IP address if in some cases you only have two digits per input like mine? Grateful for your advice.

Ewong

02-03-06, 02:54 AM

Hi valis,

You should enter 172.016.001.033 for this case.

valisi

02-03-06, 03:47 AM

Many thanks for your quick response. On the TVIX 3000 to play a movie with IFO files all you have to do is navigate with the remote to the folder on the int hard drive and press play. With the 5000 you have to open the folder and select an IFO file to play. Am I interpreting this correctly ? Or is there a way to pay the movie by just navigating to the folder. I have read the user manual and been to TVIX's website but can find no answer.
I connected an ext hard drive to the TVIX and it played movies stored on it. The ext hard drive failed after I disconnected it from the TVIX and connected to a PC. Probably a coincidence but strange.

Ewong

02-03-06, 05:02 AM

I have an external hard drive connected with M5000. The external hard disk was equipped with it's own AC Power Supply. I always switch it off before unplug from M5000.

I think it would be more reliable than using those 2.5 HDD USB Enclosure using USB port to provide DC power.

craigyjp

02-03-06, 11:45 AM

I have loaded the 1.2.1 Korean firmware and switched it to English. It works ok.

Still jittery over LAN for playback of HD content and stops playing after a few minutes.

Seems related to what it thinks the file Sizes are, I have HD .ts files between 10GB and 24GB and these show up as 800MB, 150MBfiles etc. Quite random, but they play for between 1 minute 7 minutes which is relative to the size the player thinks the file is.

I have not tried copying the HD files to the internal disk yet.

Craig

valisi

02-03-06, 01:02 PM

Ewong, Is your ext hard drive formatted in FAT32 or NTFS

DemonicDM

02-03-06, 08:48 PM

Some bug/problem i found, sadly
1- using fast forward x16 i think, it crash tvix m5000u most of the time, only thing to do is off button and reboot.
2- movie length shows wrong amount of time, mostly between 00.04.00 and 00.10.00 min.
3- cant play 99% of my .asf/.wmv movies.
4- I changed setup to 16:9 but it changes back to 4:3 alltime, and yes I saved settings.

well.. going to try 1.2.1 soon. :)

mauricef

02-03-06, 10:22 PM

Has anyone tried the 5000 with 5.1 WMV?

DemonicDM

02-03-06, 11:55 PM

well.. finally got msg from their support. wait for multilang firmware, coming soon.

Ewong

02-04-06, 05:20 AM

Valisi,

My external NAS Drive could only support FAT32 due to it's own restriction. It's operating system doesn't support NTFS.

simen02

02-05-06, 04:43 AM

I have just setup my this weekend. At the moment I don't have any internal HDD waiting for one. I have 2x250 Gb external disc connected to USB. both disc is full with DVD iso and HD films in ts format (720p and 1080i) everything works great. movies is starting very fast and no problem. The highest bitrate i have is 18 mbits/s on one 1080i movie in ts. it's playing with no problem. I'm wating for monster dvi/hdmi cabel so at the moment I'm only connected with component to my Panasonic HD plasma.

fatb0y

02-05-06, 12:17 PM

1:st Q
Hi
maby there is a FW upgrade that can solve my streaming problems ?
What is tha latest fw?

/F

1:st answer
we guess the lastest fw does not solve the streaming problems you better wait the other firmware

2:nd Q
So you planing to relese a FW update that maby resolves the streaming issuse ?

Do you have an ide when this will bee solved?

/F

2:nd answer
Yes we plan to add the function in the firmware but we not sure when this will be solved. Sorry for the inconvenience

so the are working on the ISO streaming problem

/F

Ewong

02-05-06, 10:43 PM

I got the suggestion from Tvix to reset my firmware back to 1.0.2 in order to see whether there is problem on my current firmware (1.1.5) which causing blinking problem with Samsung Plasma.

However, the problem is still exist after reset the firmware back to 1.0.2. Then, I try the latest beta firmware 1.2.1, unfortunely the blinking issue still exist.

During testing with firmware 1.2.1 for few hours, I realised that fast-foreward have been improved and much more stable than 1.1.5.

drew138

02-08-06, 04:39 PM

TVIXUSA which is the US distributor of the product recently had a post on their forum regrading the M5000U. It's very interesting

M-5000U is available for the US market for $349.99 at Digital Connection. (TVIX USA has no affiliation with the dealer). At this time, TVIX USA does not believe that the current version of M-5000U is mature and stable enough for our customers and our standard. We believe the current M- 5000U still has too many bugs and this will take more than just firmware upgrades to fix them. The manufacturer should start manufacturing more mature and stable final version of M- 5000U. As soon as that version is available, we will test it and try to have them available at a better price for our customers. This may take 2 months or more. Regards, TVIX USA

They basically imply that a hardware revision may be updated!

Ewong, it might be time to sell your M5000 and wait for the next HW version or just get the Pixel Magic device.

Drew

Ewong

02-08-06, 09:02 PM

Drew,

Thanks for your information !!

I would never buy any product from Tvix again. :mad:

justlnluck

02-09-06, 05:11 PM

Ewong, you should ask DVICO for a hardware replacement.

Ewong

02-09-06, 09:09 PM

There is no easy way to return purchased item back to the shop in HK after a certain period of time. You could only return it within 7 days when you identified that there is a hardware malfunction.

The problem of my unit can work perfectly with other brand of Plasma/LCDTV via DVI connection as tested.

fatb0y

02-10-06, 11:29 AM

I maby go with a xbox instead

simen02

02-11-06, 04:34 PM

There is a knew beta version on the korean site. I have install it and at the moment not found anything knew.

tvix.co.kr/kor/tvix_1.2.3.zip

Have any other tryed it?

Have any other tryed it?

espen_pedersen

02-12-06, 05:35 AM

Hi!

Nice to see a thread about M-5000U here :)

I've just aquired a M-5000U (running 1.1.5-english), I have problems connecting to both WinXP computer and a Linux samba share.

Now what I have done is:

1. Connected it to my home network (10.0.0.0/255.255.255.0)
2. I can see that I have received a DHCP IP adress 10.0.0.5 / 255.255.255.0 (Network info)
3. I follow the instructions for setting up a share in WinXP (calling the share twixhd1)
4. Enter the IP of my WinXP box into Network Disk like this "010.000.000.004"
5. I then try to connect after a few seconds I receive the error: "Unable to connect to disk)??
6. I try to reproduce the setup on my Samba server but have the same problem there.
7. I try connecting directly to my WinXP machine with a crosscable, but I'm not able to find a way to set the IP adress manually on TWiX?

Any ideas out there?

-Espen

Ewong

02-12-06, 11:31 AM

If you named it "twixhd1" then it should be wrong. It should be "tvixhd1".

Please check !

espen_pedersen

02-12-06, 02:05 PM

That was it ... thanks a lot for helping me wear of this foggy sight /reading
:D

Ewong

02-12-06, 08:56 PM

simen02,

I have tried Beta 1.2.1 but not 1.2.3 yet. I don't know whether there is any improvement in 1.2.1 since it's very difficult to translate Korean into English correctly.

simen02

02-13-06, 12:18 AM

Yes but if you put in 1.2.3 you can set everything into english, it has no special languish attach to it. I have tryed it around and it seem to make mine more stable. I can play ffw and everything without locking up.

justlnluck

02-13-06, 04:10 AM

DemonicDM

02-13-06, 09:55 AM

Well.. hope that fast forward bug is gone, and dont push remotecontrol offbutton when the device is restarting it cause crash.. ( dont ask me why i did it, it just happend ) and F*** up the both remote and tvix, Only thing to do it use the powerbutton on back on the device.

update:
new firmware works fine.. only thing i found was subtitles with swedish chr like å ä ö not working.

valisi

02-16-06, 02:11 AM

Hi Guys, I have been to the TVIX korean site and only found firmware version 1.1.2 for TVIX 5000. Ewong - Please let me know where did you found beta 1.2.1 and 1.2.3?

I am having problems connecting to a NAS. I get the no disk found error even though I have properly entered the IP address of the NAS, and created the tvixhd1 folder on the NAS hard disk. I followed Ewongs earlier post and still cannnot connect. The NAS is Netgear Storage Central which supports 2 internal hard drives. Any suggestions?

tord00

02-16-06, 04:19 AM

Hi,

you can find it here...

tvix.co.kr/kor/tvix_1.2.3.zip

Regards,

/Tord

Ewong

02-16-06, 05:05 AM

Hi valisi,

Netgear Storage Central is not a SMB NAS Device, it requires to install Storage Central Manager Utility, a ZNS SCSI Adapter driver that makes each of the drives you create with the utility look like directly-attached SCSI drives.

M5000 could only work with SMB compliant NAS Device.

Below please find URL of Tvix HD M5000U Beta Firmware :

Tvix HD M5000U Beta Firmware 1.2.3 (http://www.tvix.co.kr/kor/tvix_1.2.3.zip)

tord00

02-16-06, 03:25 PM

Added the 1.2.3 FW to my Tvix and it seems to work ok. I still have some problems with some movies freezing the entire unit. I can now set the clock which i could not with the 1.1.5 Fw i had before. Still no sign of Swedish menu support :-(
Checking the Korean web page it definately shows why there is no time for answers from tvix people. All efforts are put in the local page and not the english page. This is terrible.

Are there any other forums where you can find more tvix information in english? Perhaps where official people hang around. If things dont turn for the better soon i would have to go with something else.

Regards,

/Tord

valisi

02-17-06, 12:58 AM

Ewong, Tord00, Many thanks. Upgraded successfully. FF now works fine.

The zoom function of the 5000 seems to have a mind of its own. Everytime I play a movie I have to adjust the image (reduce its size most times) to fit my LCD screen which is 16.9 even though I had selected 16.9 in the TVIX's configuration and on the TV.

DemonicDM

02-17-06, 06:22 AM

maxpop

02-17-06, 06:34 PM

hej. Do u have swedish subtitles problem, well mine tvix m5000 have problem with å ä ö.
bästa sätt är = b ta s tt r. looks finny.
but Fw works now, and also it shows correct amount of time play of movie.

I think Tvix M5000U is great, does what its supposed to do.
Lack of support for "scandinavian" .srt, but their is a way around that..

Fw 1.2.3 has "subtitlemode" now. (FW 1.2.3 is english as well)
Better FF and REW.
and some "bugs" fixed i guess...

HD 1080i and (ISO) cant be streamed, to much data to move for a 100Mbit LAN system...IFO works great if its not a ISO, use regular VIDEO_TS folder.

regards Maxpop.

mail me if u guys want to..regarding anything using M5000U

Chaseskip

02-17-06, 09:31 PM

Got the 5000 & it just says "Loading" with the DVI & 576P lights on. Nothing shows on the TV. I assume that it's because it's set for DVI out. How do I change it to any other output without seeing the menu?

Chaseskip

02-17-06, 10:28 PM

For the record, I have looked at the FAQ's on the web page & tried the reboot as well as pressing the TV Out button slowly 7 times or more.
Still nothing.... :(

Kei Clark

02-18-06, 05:44 AM

For the record, I have looked at the FAQ's on the web page & tried the reboot as well as pressing the TV Out button slowly 7 times or more.
Still nothing.... :(

What does it say on the front LCD? Make sure you don't have a USB cable connected to the device.

Ewong

02-18-06, 11:26 AM

For first time initial power on, the unit video output should be default to composite video.

To reset back to factory default, you may try to perform "Safe Mode Firmware Upgrade" with new firmware. (e.g Beta verison 1.2.3).

Beta Version 1.2.3 (http://www.tvix.co.kr/kor/tvix_1.2.3.zip)

Safe Mode Firmware Upgrade (http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/FAQ/FAQM5000U.aspx?act=RD&id=56&pg=0&CATID=3&SCATID=2)

After "Safe Mode Firmware Upgrade" completed, you may connect M5000 with composite video cable for configuration. Please be reminded that when you change Video output to DVI unit, you will lose video signal from composite input. So, you have to switch your TV input to DVI within 5 second and enter "OK" to confirm any change. Otherwise, it will automatically undo any change if you don't press "OK" button within 5 second.

Chaseskip

02-18-06, 12:43 PM

The front LED just says "Loading" with the DVI & 576P lights on.
How do I do a "Safe Mode Firmware Upgrade" if I can't see anything?

Chaseskip

02-18-06, 08:01 PM

Did the Safe Mode Firmware Upgrade & now LED says LOADING & still no picture on TV....

Chaseskip

02-18-06, 09:01 PM

Finally got it working. The instructions said the unit would reboot after upgrade was done, which it did. Screen still didn't come up & was worried if I turned it off, I would screw it up. Rebooted manually anyways & worked fine.

Thanks all for the help... Now to get FULL length HD movies......

Chaseskip

02-19-06, 07:33 AM

I have T2 The Extreme Edition. Is there any way to get this to the 5000?

Ewong

02-19-06, 12:31 PM

Even you can get T2 Extreme Edition into M5000, you can't playback from M5000 due to DRM Protected Material.

Chaseskip

02-19-06, 01:10 PM

So what is the HD good for then if you can't aquire full legth HD movies? I know there other uses for it, but I was at least hoping to start watching HD like it was supposed to be seen.... not all in Trailers & less than HD quality....

Oh well..... have to wait some more for society to catch up....

:(

zamzickles

02-19-06, 04:27 PM

The freeze problem appears to be read errors from the hard disk. (I removed the drive and confirmed that the spots where it freezes also effects WINDVD when the file is read on a PC). The nice part is that when it freezes, the counter on the display shows the time on the DVD. Restarting the movie and using the GOTO button to advance to the next minute after the error works great. I think better error handling in the software might help resolve the problem. It appears that they have no solution for hardware I/O errors.

jcha7580

02-19-06, 07:05 PM

hey guys,

i think the M 5000U is great! it looks cool and makes my xvid files looks awesome on a plasma tv.

but has anyone got the backgrounds working? Like having your own picture as a background when using the UI?

also, what is the purpose of the Tvix manager? It always says 'Disconnected' and the firmware tab never shows anything.

thanks for any help!

harlock

02-21-06, 01:05 AM

HD 1080i and (ISO) cant be streamed, to much data to move for a 100Mbit LAN system...IFO works great if its not a ISO, use regular VIDEO_TS folder.

regards Maxpop.

100Mbit is plenty to stream HD 1080i. The problem isn't the 100Mbit LAN

jcha7580

02-21-06, 07:30 PM

Ewong

02-21-06, 09:19 PM

I had upgraded M5000 to latest firmware for sometime and it didn't require me to reconfigure any setting during turn on M5000.

Your case is so strange. Actually, I always bring my M5000 to different location, then reconnect Power Socket and display device. However, I never encountered such problem unless during 1st initial boot after firmware upgrade.

valisi

02-22-06, 12:07 AM

100Mbit is plenty to stream HD 1080i. The problem isn't the 100Mbit LAN

I stream HD1080i and ISO files over a 100mbit LAN regularly without problems. Perhaps the problem lies elsewhere.

jcha7580

02-22-06, 02:44 AM

tord00

02-22-06, 04:21 AM

Hey guys, for your information. I put a question to the tvix guys.

"Hi,

Will we ever be able to put files on the twix from a PC using the network?"

Reply to your question is as below.

"M5000U doesn't offer those kinds of function with released firmware. We are planning to add that function in maybe later but we are still not sure about it. Sorry for the inconvenience "

Well, there is hope!

Chaseskip

02-22-06, 07:43 AM

Is anyone having FF or Rew issues on 1.2.3? It freezes if you FF more than 4X & Audio/Video does not sync properly when Play after FF'ing. Rew also freezes unit.

simen02

02-22-06, 01:33 PM

I notice the same with FF but if you press play after FF x16 or 32 and then FF x2 again and then play again will iso files play fine. I have also notice that on HD (*.ts) 1080i and 720p there is no problem with FF or zoom function.

tolax

02-22-06, 01:47 PM

Interestingly the Tvix website is mentioning that they will be showing a 5100 at Cebit

http://www.tvix.co.kr/Eng/boards/PressRelease.aspx?act=RD&itemid=174

Do you think this is the new hardware version of the 5000 that tvixusa were alluding to?

Be interesting to see what they changed. I am looking for a unit to stream HD TS files & SD DVD files across the network. Currently I am leaning towards the PixelMagic box but this looks like it will be using SMB as the protocol and thus have the same issues with higher bitrate files. Maybe the Mediagate will turn out to be the one..... ;)

Tolax

Kei Clark

02-22-06, 05:22 PM

drew138

02-22-06, 05:40 PM

I believe that the new model will have an option to add an external DVICO HDTV tuner.

I remember reading that somewhere in the PR for the M5000. I'm sure its likely to be HDMI compatible as well. Just a guess.

Drew

Kei Clark

02-22-06, 07:08 PM

I remember reading that somewhere in the PR for the M5000. I'm sure its likely to be HDMI compatible as well. Just a guess.

Drew

I doubt the HDMI output as there is no necessity for this device to be HDCP compliant, nor do I believe that they could get one out on the market so quick. To license and submit the design for approval is normally a 3+ month process, and pretty expensive if you aren't already selling in large volumes.

Ewong

02-23-06, 01:40 AM

Ewong

02-23-06, 01:43 AM

HDMI connection is necessary if I want to use only one cable to send Video and Audio Digital Signal output to HDMI equiped AV AMP.

simen02

02-23-06, 02:53 AM

I got another problem with M5000U last night when connection with AE900 via DVI<->HDMI cable.

The image was shift to the right about 5% and leave a 8" vertical black bar on the left hand side of the screen.

Anyone try it with AE900 via HDMI ?

I have the same problem, but if you use the scroll function you can adjust the screen to the left ( works only when you play a movie). After adjusting stop the movie and turn off the tvix with the remote and the tvix save the settings. Next time you start the tvix its alright.

maxpop

02-23-06, 03:15 AM

100Mbit is plenty to stream HD 1080i. The problem isn't the 100Mbit LAN

My wrong ,thought of 10mbit LAN when counting the streaming..

drew138

02-23-06, 10:28 AM

I doubt the HDMI output as there is no necessity for this device to be HDCP compliant, nor do I believe that they could get one out on the market so quick. To license and submit the design for approval is normally a 3+ month process, and pretty expensive if you aren't already selling in large volumes.

It's not like TVIX is some fly by night company and I'm sure that the fees could be shared with their line of Divco tuner cards as well. And HDMI is becoming a standard connection on all new HD devices. DVI is being phased out. The M5000 seems to be a lame duck that is in need of an hardware update. I don't see why HDMI wouldn't be included in a new revision. I for one am hoping that it does.

FYI, the latest media streaming device from PixelMagic is coming out later this month with HDMI and it does not have HDCP enabled since this devices does not require the playback of HDCP materials.

PM MB200 Link (http://www.pixelmagicforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=885&highlight=HDCP)

I think the assumption that all HDMI devices must be HDCP compliant is not correct. This seems to be a common point of confusion. I would appreciate a link to some official clarification.

Drew

Kei Clark

02-24-06, 05:13 AM

Drew,

While vendors may not have to use HDCP on HDMI, they still have to pay for the license for both. DVICO can pay the fee, the only thing that would gain them would be the ability to send audio on the same cable, since DVI is compatible with HDMI. This would also delay their release until they can get the design approved by the HDMI testing lab. The more likely scenario is that they will come out with a completely different box with this feature.

As for your PixelMagic FYI, yes I am quite aware of their player as I am one of their dealers.

drew138

02-24-06, 09:06 AM

Thanks Kei. It's all speculation until the box comes out so hopefully we'll know more soon enough.

TPeterson

02-24-06, 10:06 AM

Drew, it may be speculation on your part, but Kei is pretty close to the horse's mouth so I'd pay good attention to her "guesses". ;)

drew138

02-24-06, 02:20 PM

Kei Clark

02-24-06, 04:28 PM

Either way, the current box is flawed based on the general user feedback and from TVIXUSA. I just hope the new box, or the PM box can do what it claims, i.e., stream high bitrate HD TS files and DVD IFO's over a SMB connection. Personally, I could care less about the a/v connection or any related gusses. I do know that ewong has had some serious issues so clearly its important to some folks.

You're taking everything at face value from the site, the original explanation regarding the delay of the product posted above being one. There is alot of speculation posted here. For all the boxes that has gone out, we have had very little complaints and very low returns for a newly introduced product. Notice too that may of the complaints are posted at various sites are regarding "language" issues, which is not applicable to English and Korean speaking users. DVICO has also been posting updated firmware pretty consistantly, which means they are actively working on all the bugs reported to them. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful introduction.

Chaseskip

02-24-06, 04:46 PM

Where are they posting the English updates? Specifically one that corrects the FF & Rew issues?

drew138

02-24-06, 05:05 PM

Although I have a hard time believing anything posted on the TVIXUSA website since it feels like its run on a PIII over a dial-up connection they did have some pretty strong language on thier site regarding the M5000U

TVIXUSA Url - Requires a Membership (http://www.tvixusa.com/default.asp?ACT=17&grp=9&msg=1295&vp=1)

M-5000U is available for the US market for $349.99 . (TVIX USA has no affiliation with the dealer). At this time, TVIX USA does not believe that the current version of M-5000U is mature and stable enough for our customers and our standard. We believe the current M- 5000U still needs much more improvement and this will take more firmware upgrades to fix them. We will have them available as soon as we become confident with the product quality. Regards, TVIX USA I believe they are refering to digitalconnections in that post.

Combined with several references to the inability to stream high bitrate TS files, or even low bitrate DVD IFO's over a SMB share is a problem.

Tvix Announcement (http://www.tvix.co.kr/Eng/boards/PressRelease.aspx?act=RD&itemid=174 )

Trust me, I very much want these devices to work as promissed but I'm not willing to purchase a device and be a beta tester being forced to change firmwares frequently to fix basic things like FF/RW issues.

Drew