If you could have anything you wanted in a High Definition media streamer what would it be?

Must have:
(1) low bit rate (= broadcasting) H.264 support
(2) MKV support
(3) VC-1 support
(4) Auto switching to correct refresh rate (24Hz, 50Hz, 60Hz)
(5) "pure direct" mode for native format output - to avoid any video processing like deinterlacing/scaling/colorspace conversion etc
(6) Ability to play everything from network without stuttering etc

Important, but could eventually live without:
(1) Full bit rate H.264 support
(2) DTS, E-AC3, TrueHD, DTS Master HD and PCM support
(3) decoders for all sound formats built in -> output over 7.1 analog and HDMI (7.1 PCM)
(4) Ability to place subtitles inside of the image (instead of in the black borders)

Would be nice as additional goodies:
(1) Support for ripped HD DVD and Blu-Ray movies
(2) Gennum or HQV video processing chip built in

Hacked xbox 360 running Xbox Media Center.... I can dream can't I?

1)Wireless
2)Flash Memory / Ram for caching via Wireless/ethernet (To help buffer for connection problems). 512MB of storage should be enough for full length DVD's .... Why no one does this now is beyond me.
3)Connect to remote storage such as a NAS
4)Able to View ISO's directly
5)Simple Interface.

same as madshi....and scotty. hey, i can dream too.

Must have:
-- snip --
(1) Support for ripped HD DVD and Blu-Ray movies
-- snip --

Closer then you might think
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/hd-dvd-and-bluray-now-completely-hacked-cracked-sacked-236213.php

peter

The build quality of the rapsody N35, the firmware updates of the tvix models and the user interface of xbmc, not asking much is it?

Small and quiet (unlike Xbox 360)...

Closer then you might think
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/hd-dvd-and-bluray-now-completely-hacked-cracked-sacked-236213.php
Peter, I'm well aware of these hacks. That's why I listed this feature wish to start with. But you need to understand that for a media player it's still not a trivial task to play such ripped movies. At least if you're including menus and all such. Implementing full HD DVD and Blu-Ray menu playback is an absolutely MAJOR task, even if they're fully decrypted.

I would also like to see an unprocessed 480i HDMI output signal so I can feed it into my video processor.
_____
Axel

A great user interface with cover art, ratings, descriptions, etc. The unit should get this info on it's own something like the Escient. It never ceases to amaze me that a company spends so much on r&d for the hardware then throws a file browser in for he GUI.