Hello everyone,

For quite some years now my Avel linkplayer2 has been serving me relatively well:

- dvd player
- plays my video files I host on a pc (via wizd) or on my NSLU2 unslugged box (again, wizd running there)

It's on the network, as are the PC and the NSLU2, and I use the creative labs DDTS-100 as the optical receiver to decode almost any audio format to my 5.1 speakers.

As other threads point out, formats are changing, and there's lots of mkv container files, x264, mp4, etc. all things the linkplayer doesn't play or has trouble playing.

I browsed around a bit, and saw mentions to some TiVX boxes, and other goodies but I want to make sure I find a box that lets me play my video files in-so-far as possible from a simple 'file share' approach. I'm not vetted to using wizd and would rather it were possible for these plays to read folders and files via smb so I can share stuff with ease to them. I got worried w/ the latest and greatest tivx when is saw the manual (tho the manual was for the 4100):
I can't believe they only let you share ONE folder with a magic name "tivxhd1" and thats all it will see?? I've spent years organizing video files in folders, across multiple hard drives, etc.

Is there any player that will do this today, or should I simply resort to a pc at this point, in the living room, with software to solve all my problems?

Thanks for any ideas.

Hello everyone,

For quite some years now my Avel linkplayer2 has been serving me relatively well:

- dvd player
- plays my video files I host on a pc (via wizd) or on my NSLU2 unslugged box (again, wizd running there)

It's on the network, as are the PC and the NSLU2, and I use the creative labs DDTS-100 as the optical receiver to decode almost any audio format to my 5.1 speakers.

As other threads point out, formats are changing, and there's lots of mkv container files, x264, mp4, etc. all things the linkplayer doesn't play or has trouble playing.

I browsed around a bit, and saw mentions to some TiVX boxes, and other goodies but I want to make sure I find a box that lets me play my video files in-so-far as possible from a simple 'file share' approach. I'm not vetted to using wizd and would rather it were possible for these plays to read folders and files via smb so I can share stuff with ease to them. I got worried w/ the latest and greatest tivx when is saw the manual (tho the manual was for the 4100):
I can't believe they only let you share ONE folder with a magic name "tivxhd1" and thats all it will see?? I've spent years organizing video files in folders, across multiple hard drives, etc.

Is there any player that will do this today, or should I simply resort to a pc at this point, in the living room, with software to solve all my problems?

Thanks for any ideas.
We are in a very similar boat; I too have been using a Linkplayer2+WIZD for a number of years and have been mostly happy. Like you I started looking around for a NMP that played higher bitrate mpeg2 ts and h264. I started hanging out on this forum and others starting about a year ago and to my dismay I have not found anything that is stable or mature enough or as flexible as the LP2+WIZD in terms of having easy access to as many folders, directories, drives as I wanted. I stayed away from the TVIX for exactly the same reason you did. The only other player that plays h264/mkv is the LimHD200i but it is a very immature system that is even more restrictive in terms of sharing files over a network than the 4100. Keep an eye on the Lim but for now I would definitely not purchase one because it has so many basic issues. There is active support but it is too early to tell whether they will succeed.

My approach at this point in time is to basically wait for the next generation Sigma Design chips to come out. I record OTA HD/Cable SD and can watch the vast majority of it using my LP2s leaving the files as mpeg2. There is so little legal h264/mkv stuff around, at least that is the case in my world, that it is of little interest or consequence. Again IMHO it is also too early to jump into HD DVD or BR or VMD.

I cut commericals (saves 33% file size) and when recording SD I use optimized VBR settings that provide excellent quality but at a smaller file size. No re-encoding, watch and delete with the occasional file being archived. I have 1.5TB of HDD space and so far (nearly two years now) all has worked well.

FWIW there seems to be a way around the TVIXs file sharing restrictions and I think you can find instructions in the TVIX threads on how to do that. For me the process described seems too complicated and still did not provide the flexibility I am used to with the LP2+WIZD. The other underlying issue is that TVIX, like the LimHD200i are running an older Sigma Design chip that is really NOT meant to do all that is being asked of it. IMO waiting is the best option...unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket!

I have also tried the HTPC route and IMO it is too complicated, noisy and maintenance intensive. Unless you have access to free computer stuff or are into purchasing used computers then it can be significantly more expensive than NMP, especially if you want to smoothly play high bitrate HD stuff. You will need a very good video card and a beefy CPU. However, HTPC if done right does provide more flexibility in terms of video/audio file formats that can be played. If the next generation of Sigma Design chips do not come out in the next 9-12 months in a solid NMP then I may be building myself an HTPC!

Well - maybe we should be glad we stumbled upon the Linkplayer/Wizd combination because it does work fairly well. I use the JVCDVD100U version.

You mentioned commercial cutting - did you find a way to automate this process and are you talking about cutting commercials from HD OTA captures?

You mentioned commercial cutting - did you find a way to automate this process and are you talking about cutting commercials from HD OTA captures?

I edit commercials from HD OTA but it's not "automatic"--though pretty easy with VideoRedo. I highly recommend it. The resulting MPEGs are compatible with my Linkplayer.

TIM

eddiefg,

your question is looking for an answer most of us here are also looking.

Stable 1080P/H264/VC1/hi-bitrate MPEG2 player that can also stream from the network without hiccups + supports most container/audio formats including mkv and emerging audio standards.

Based on the current crop of players, it might take a long time, before we such a beast.

Some new players will be released this & next month, but whether they'll be anywhere near stable and feature complete remains to be seen.

Well - maybe we should be glad we stumbled upon the Linkplayer/Wizd combination because it does work fairly well. I use the JVCDVD100U version.

You mentioned commercial cutting - did you find a way to automate this process and are you talking about cutting commercials from HD OTA captures?
Commercial detection is semi-automatic and I do it for both HD OTA and SD. HD OTA is more tricky and less automated because of the multiple streams. I have not found a way to select the stream I want automatically.

I use Dirmon2 (freeware) and compskip to automatically generate a .vprj file for VideoReDo once the recording has completed. I open the .vprj file in VRD confirm the cuts and batch process the files minus the commercials to the desired folder/HDD. It takes 15-40secs to confirm the cuts.

Most of the OTA HD that I record does not have commercials in them but when they do I manually pick the stream and Quick Stream Fix it with VRD, commerical detect with comskip, confirm cuts and batch process.

I have tried all of the commercial detection software and none is perfect but comskip IMO comes the closest. If you can live with the occasional piece of commercial then completely automated commercial removal is possible but I am not sure of the details.

eddiefg,

your question is looking for an answer most of us here are also looking.

Stable 1080P/H264/VC1/hi-bitrate MPEG2 player that can also stream from the network without hiccups + supports most container/audio formats including mkv and emerging audio standards.

Based on the current crop of players, it might take a long time, before we such a beast.

Some new players will be released this & next month, but whether they'll be anywhere near stable and feature complete remains to be seen.
I agree and like you I doubt if the players being released in the next few months will do what you describe.

The TVIX4100 is the closest but IMO it is based on the older less capable sigma design chip as is the LimHD200i. The TVIX is quite a bit more mature than the Lim but both players have issues. The LimHD is really not ready for market and is a work in progress that IMO given the recent rate of improvement will not survive. It certainly is not worth the $400+ price tag, at least not yet.

Commercial detection is semi-automatic and I do it for both HD OTA and SD. HD OTA is more tricky and less automated because of the multiple streams. I have not found a way to select the stream I want automatically.

I
Most of the OTA HD that I record does not have commercials in them but when they do I manually pick the stream and Quick Stream Fix it with VRD, commerical detect with comskip, confirm cuts and batch process.

I have tried all of the commercial detection software and none is perfect but comskip IMO comes the closest. If you can live with the occasional piece of commercial then completely automated commercial removal is possible but I am not sure of the details.

Ok - I will ask you more about the preprocessing later but for now - why do you run Quickstream fix before the Commercial detector in VRD?

Ok - I will ask you more about the preprocessing later but for now - why do you run Quickstream fix before the Commercial detector in VRD?
There are two reasons why I run QSF on HD OTA ts files that have commercials in them that I want to remove....
1. OTA TS files tend to have garbage in them that can occasionally mess up commercial detection software and QSF fixes that.
2. QSF provides me the opportunity to select the video and audio stream that I want so that I am sure that the commercial detection will be done on the stream I want.

70% of what I record is still SD, 20% of the OTA that I record have no commercials and only 5% of the OTA HD I record have commercials....hence the reason why I have not put more effort into automating commercial detection of OTA HD files.

imho then, it sounds like using a PC is still the way to go; I love my zoomplayer and codecs on my bedroom PC, and I can't imagine anything I can't playback.

imho then, it sounds like using a PC is still the way to go; I love my zoomplayer and codecs on my bedroom PC, and I can't imagine anything I can't playback.
I agree provided your bedroom PC has what it takes to play high bitrate HD smoothly.

I have never been an HTPC fan because it can be more complicated than a NMP but given the current longing standing state of NMPs; I am starting to re-evaluate the HTPC option. I just have to be sure that I can achieve full WAF (Wife acceptance factor). That means it has to be invisible to my wife....point the remote and go....and no excuses as why it is not running.

imho then, it sounds like using a PC is still the way to go; I love my zoomplayer and codecs on my bedroom PC, and I can't imagine anything I can't playback.

Dont even dream of going the HTPC route until you tackle the resolution issues that will arise trying to connect a pc to a plasma or LCD. It can be very frustrating dealing with odd refresh rates and scaling issues.

It appears no one making displays understands we are trying to converge technologies.