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Updated Media Player Comparison Grid

post #1 of 309
7/6/09 at 1:04pm
Thread Starter 
This may exist somewhere online already (please provide a link if it does), but I think a lot of users in this forum would be interested in some type of clearly laid out media player comparison grid. Maybe a Sticky thread with an Excel spreadsheet link.

It seems these players are coming out regularly now so an updated go-to resource would be very helpful.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #2 of 309
7/7/09 at 12:15pm
Thread Starter 
Some of the newer/announced .MKV / H.264 / 1080P capable dedicated media-players available in North America:

Unit Hard Drive Bay Hard Drive Installed Prices From (U.S.) LAN WiFi BT Client Chipset
Myka Yes - 2.5" Yes - 250GB 199 100 Optional N Yes Sigma 8635
Xtreamer Yes - 2.5" No 131 100 Optional N No Realtek 1283
WDTV No N/A 99 None None No Sigma 8635
Mvix Ultio Yes - 3.5" No 169 100 None Yes Realtek 1073
Dune HD Base 2.0 Yes - 3.5" No 449 100 / OPT 1000 Optional N Yes Sigma 8634
A.C. Ryan PlayOn!HD Yes - 3.5" No 169 100 Optional N Yes Realtek 1073
ASUS O!Play HDP-R1 No N/A 100 None No Realtek 1073
Popcorn Hour C200 Yes - 2.5"/3.5" No 299 1000 Optional N Yes Sigma 8643
Tvix M-6500A Yes No 419 1000 Optional G No Sigma 8635
Tvix M-7000A Yes No 583 1000 Optional G No Sigma 8635
Netgear EVA 9150 Yes Yes - 500GB 399 100 802.11n No Sigma 8635
LaCie LaCinema Black PLAY Yes Yes - 500GB 459 100 802.11n Yes
LaCie LaCinema Rugged HD N/A Yes - 500GB 349 None None No
MediaGate M2TV No N/A 109 None None No Realtek
MediaGate MG800HD Yes No 284 100 802.11n Yes Sigma 8635
EGreat EG-M34A No No 159 100 Optional N Yes Sigma 8635
EGreat EG-M31C Yes No 199 100 Optional N Yes Sigma 8635
SageTV HD200 No N/A 199 100 None No Sigma 8635
HDX 1000 Yes - 2.5"/3.5" N/A 219 100 None Yes Sigma 8635
QNAP NMP-1000 Yes - 3.5" No 100 Optional N Yes Sigma 8635
Olevia ZP-500 No N/A 177 100 Optional N No Sigma
Brando HD Media Player Yes No 199 None None No

Product Links:

Myka
Xtreamer
WDTV
Mvix Ultio
Dune HD Base 2.0
A.C. Ryan Play!OnHD
ASUS O!Play HDP-R1
Popcorn Hour C200
Tvix M-6500A
Tvix M-7000A
Netgear EVA 9150
LaCie LaCinema Black PLAY
Lacie LaCinema Rugged HD
MediaGate M2TV
MediaGate MG800HD
EGreat EG-M34A
EGreat EG-M31C
SageTV HD200
HDX 1000
QNAP NMP-1000
Olevia ZP-500
Brando HD Media Player Docking Station

Chipset Links

Sigma
Realtek
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post #3 of 309
7/7/09 at 12:21pm
Great initiative
Could you add an additional column showing the SoC type the system is based on (Realtek RTD128x, Sigma6xxx ....)?

And also may be indicate last update date / sort on first column ?
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post #4 of 309
7/7/09 at 12:38pm
Add a column with all the containers then for each container have a sub column with video and audio codecs.. example: MKV (Container) (H.264) video Codec, (FLAC) audio codec.
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post #5 of 309
7/7/09 at 1:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanglx View Post

Add a column with all the containers then for each container have a sub column with video and audio codecs.. example: MKV (Container) (H.264) video Codec, (FLAC) audio codec.

I started to make a matrix like this and that's why I scraped it, the category, and sub-categories, as well as addendums, and notations would take forever, and with all the different types of media, and encodes the list would automatically be real world faulty as encode specs are not standardized.
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post #6 of 309
7/7/09 at 1:58pm
move the Media Players list to Columns and their Features to Rows. That way you can add more features to compare.
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post #7 of 309
7/7/09 at 2:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghislain View Post

Great initiative
Could you add an additional column showing the SoC type the system is based on (Realtek RTD128x, Sigma6xxx ....)?

+1

mike50
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post #8 of 309
7/7/09 at 6:06pm
I would add the Netgear EVA 9150, expensive but definitely competitive with the others cited in terms of hardware and software.

Alan
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post #9 of 309
7/8/09 at 6:45am
Then the true value is not going to be realized then. There are only a handful of containers.. and each container has a finite number of video and audio codecs... if your not showing what codecs/containers are supported then how will you differentiate between the players other then their processor which as I can see based on the new units coming out doesn't really provide any distinction as they are all doing their own thing and there is no standard container/codec support based on the processor used. The columns are very (Wifi, etc.) nice but honestly are much lower priorities for most - support of their movies is the key differentiator.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Heli Pilot View Post

I started to make a matrix like this and that's why I scraped it, the category, and sub-categories, as well as addendums, and notations would take forever, and with all the different types of media, and encodes the list would automatically be real world faulty as encode specs are not standardized.
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post #10 of 309
7/8/09 at 11:11am
Tvix 6500 and Tvix 7000 can do lan 10/100 and 1000. They say Cat 6 cable to do it, but I have had no issues with Cat 5.
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post #11 of 309
7/8/09 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanglx View Post

There are only a handful of containers.. and each container has a finite number of video and audio codecs...

Yes, but a handful of containers times a handful of video codecs times a handful of audio codecs times a handful of subtitle formats equals a whole lot of combinations. Considering that all of the streamers listed above can handle most of the codec / container combinations, it would make more sense (and take up far less space) to list what they don't do.

For instance, the Mvix Ultio can't handle multichannel FLAC, doesn't do DTS downmix, only has limited SSA/ASS sub support and has trouble with 1080p h.264 video with more than ~6 reframes.

It's much more compact to type that than to list the hundred or so combinations that it does play.
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post #12 of 309
7/8/09 at 11:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tight_Wad View Post

Tvix 6500 and Tvix 7000 can do lan 10/100 and 1000. They say Cat 6 cable to do it, but I have had no issues with Cat 5.

...as discussed in the TViX 6500 and 7000 firmware release notes:

1000M(Giga) bit option in Network setting has been added.

You need CAT6 cable to connect M-6500A to Gigabit HUB.

We find high bit HD content plays fine with SMB connection when it stutters with 10/100 connection.

But it will play fine with NFS(Netshare or Linux PC) even with 10/100.

The result may vary depends on the LAN environment.

Even though we used Gigabit LAN chip, the performance is slightly better than 10/100.

So, we do not advertize M-6500A as Gigabit device.

You can check the LAN mode by the LED light on the LAN JACK.

10/100 : Green
Giga : Yellow
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post #13 of 309
7/8/09 at 11:53am
Here's some more Sigma chipset links:

SMP 864x series (used in Popcorn Hour C-200) : http://www.sigmadesigns.com/Products...40_series.html

Media Processor Selection Guide chart : http://www.sigmadesigns.com/Products...ion_guide.html

Detailed Media Processor Selection Guide (pdf) : http://www.sigmadesigns.com/Products...tion_guide.pdf






A nice addition to the comparison grid would be I/O ports, and codec/container support. Also, maybe a notes column for any addition info (known issues, etc).
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post #14 of 309
7/9/09 at 7:32am
Thread Starter 
Added the new LaCie LaCinema Rugged HD and previous LaCie LaCinema PLAY boxes to the grid.
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post #15 of 309
7/9/09 at 8:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Civuck View Post

Added the new LaCie LaCinema Rugged HD and previous LaCie LaCinema PLAY boxes to the grid.

Nice thread!

I would add DTS Downmix "Yes/No"...
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post #16 of 309
7/9/09 at 11:00am
Its not that bad actually...

Example
MKV - Video (H.264, VC1, MPEG2,) What else.. 2 - 5 more.. not too bad
MKV - Audio (DTS, AC3, FLAC, PCM) What else 2 - 5 more not too bad

You dont need to do the combination of video to audio as it doesnt matter. Its the container that dictates not the audio or video combination.

And with regards to containers.. keep it to the popular ones:
MPEG, M2TS, MKV, VOB, MP4, MOV, AVI - What else?? 2 - 5 more...

But I see your point.. try it out and lets see..

Quote:
Originally Posted by candre23 View Post

Yes, but a handful of containers times a handful of video codecs times a handful of audio codecs times a handful of subtitle formats equals a whole lot of combinations. Considering that all of the streamers listed above can handle most of the codec / container combinations, it would make more sense (and take up far less space) to list what they don't do.

For instance, the Mvix Ultio can't handle multichannel FLAC, doesn't do DTS downmix, only has limited SSA/ASS sub support and has trouble with 1080p h.264 video with more than ~6 reframes.

It's much more compact to type that than to list the hundred or so combinations that it does play.
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post #17 of 309
7/10/09 at 1:07am
You missed one:

Unit Hard Drive Bay Hard Drive Installed Prices From (U.S.) LAN WiFi BT Client Chipset
Egreat M34A No N/A 145 100 Optional N Optional (requires SATA HD) Sigma 8635

Link: Egreat M34A
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post #18 of 309
7/10/09 at 7:26am
Thread Starter 
...added EGreat and MediaGate boxes.
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post #19 of 309
7/10/09 at 9:13am
The Netgear EVA9150 has built in wireless N.

David
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post #20 of 309
7/10/09 at 9:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Civuck View Post

...added EGreat and MediaGate boxes.

Please note that the EGreat M34A does not have a hard drive bay.

mike50
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post #21 of 309
7/10/09 at 4:30pm
Great Job!, Thanks for taking the Time.
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post #22 of 309
7/10/09 at 5:18pm
Another one:
Unit Hard Drive Bay Hard Drive Installed Prices From (U.S.) LAN WiFi BT Client Chipset
SageTV HD Theater No N/A 199 100 Optional N (soon) No Sigma 8635

Link: SageTV HD Theater
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post #23 of 309
7/11/09 at 10:43pm
Another one to add to the list: HDX-1000
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post #24 of 309
7/12/09 at 9:36am
How about the one from Iomega, who makes it?
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post #25 of 309
7/13/09 at 7:30am
Thread Starter 
Added SageTV HD and HDX1000 to grid with links.
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post #26 of 309
7/13/09 at 10:40am
Please note that a 2.5'' or 3.5'' hard drive can be installed inside the HDX-1000.
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post #27 of 309
7/14/09 at 9:20am
Thread Starter 
Added QNAP NMP-1000 and link.
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post #28 of 309
7/15/09 at 1:56pm
This thread is most useful and deserves to be moved in the sticky section.

mike50
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post #29 of 309
7/19/09 at 9:28pm
I propose that this thread be moved to the Sticky section.

mike50
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post #30 of 309
7/20/09 at 6:28pm
Mike, I agree with you.

It would also be nice to add columns about how robust the products are and about how friendly the menus are. But those are perhaps way too subjective!
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AVS › AVS Forum › Gaming & Content Streaming › Networking, Media Servers & Content Streaming › Updated Media Player Comparison Grid