brite-View CinemaTube - Page 7

None what so ever, completely quiet, except for the connected drives ;-)

Editing more video for posting to YouTube as we speak, should be up within the hour.

@brite-View - Any updates on Logitech Harmony support? I imagine most people who will buy (or have bought) this will be using it with a Harmony remote.

Ok if you enable SMB on your Mac you can connect to your Network connected Mac, video/audio streams very well. I will post a video of that as well.

I have a Harmony 890 Pro remote so I will have a look and see if there is a config for it and the CinemaTube. If not I will attempt to make one. I too will want/need this connectivity.

Part 2 of the CinemaTube review, this is hookup and preview of the interface.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vYKLK3DZ2o

I just realized I have my terminology all screwed up LOL I say NTSF and it should be NTFS and HFS should be HSF should be HFS, sorry.

I also received the CinemaTube today. I already have the original PopcornHour and a dedicated HTPC, and this one will be used in my bedroom. My bedroom does not have a receiver, audio is coming from the TV so DTS downmix is a nice feature (original PopcornHour does not have it).

I will be only using this player in network mode, so I can't tell how it performed with USB drive attached. Currently, my CinemaTube is connected to a 26" CRT (via composite), I am planning to get a new 54" plasma for my bedroom.

Here're my impression so far:

The Goods

• Very responsive remote, almost no delay when you press a button and the screen is updated. The PopcornHour has at least half a second of delay.
• Seems to be energy efficient. Idle at 5/6 watt, Playing 1080p mkv at 6 watt, Standby at 0 watt. The PopcornHour was already consuming 6 watt while in standby mode. HDMI mode might use more energy though.
• Plays all my rmvb files flawlessly, this is probably my main reason to get this player.
• File buffering is faster than popcornhour. e.g. it could take up to 10 seconds or more before an actual movie plays in popcornhour, while in CinemaTube, it's usually less than 5 seconds.
• No problems so far playing my Xvid 720p, mkv 720/1080p, and even some WMV9 movies.

The Bads

• Mediocre UI - hopefully this will be improved in future firmware upgrades. UI-wise, PopcornHour (which itself is not that much better) beats CinemaTube hands down.
• Useless preview mode, some may like it, I turned it off and the preview window is still there, wasting space.
• Can't play a media file immediately, e.g. if you move the cursor to a movie file, you have to wait until the player buffers the movie (could take up to 5 seconds) before you can hit 'OK' and actually plays the file. I think this is because of the preview mode, but since I turned it off, I should be able to start playing the file immediately, or at least show the 'buffering video file...' like popcornhour.
• Player crashed and rebooted itself when playing AVCHD files that I authored from my HD camcorder. CinemaTube's website doesn't claim they support AVCHD, but the player should at least not crash and reboot.
• If you have DVD ripped to VIDEO_TS folder, you have to go into this folder and then click VIDEO_TS.IFO to start playing the DVD. I prefer the player is smart enough to detect the VIDEO_TS folder start playing the DVD automatically.
• No skip forward functionality. Although I can fast forward up to 32x, but I still prefer 30, 60, or 120seconds forward/backward skipping.
• Fast forward is flaky in mkv, especially if you go as high as 32x, upon resuming, the movie sometimes stutters for a few minutes. This maybe because the movie is streamed over network.
• No bookmark/resume from last play position. Come on, even some cheap DVD players have this functionality.

In conclusion, if Bright-View (or Realtek?) could improve the UI (make it more like Windows Media Center? or the MediaBrowser plugin), then they will have one kickass networked media player. Overall, I still prefer it over my popcornhour.

I would love that too.

brite-View,

Agree with Eklee, why no support for bookmark/resume from last play position? Please include in next firmware update...thanks!

brite-View,
Is there any way to pick up from San Jose? I hate that I have to pay California's high sale tax and shipping. Product looks good though. Also is NZB or usenet capabilities coming?

No .VOB playback, and there seems to be no m2ts playback either

Also I agree with the resume playback although I did not experience any delay when FF or RW through mkv files.

I only have owned a WDTV so I can not compare between that and the PopCorn Hour, but lets face it, I don;t think it is bad all around for $99

I would like to see some some interface updates.

akakillroy

Thanks for all your hard work..
and I'm more excited since you are a MAC user as well
Let me know how it works out connecting to drives mounted on your MAC
I have a Drobo full of movies and I'm hoping this product works out.

Curious about the GUI too how does it look when scrolling for a movie and the info? Will we be able to use a Jukebox of any sort with this product?

akakillroy - Thanks for the video posts I just viewed both the unbox and the settings set up. Sorry, I cant locate a EVO file sample online. I doubt it can play the format. I look forward to see some more GUI!
I hope these NMTs can handle above 2 TB drives because my DVD/Blu-Ray collection is growing faster than I have space.

did u see this?

I am going to talk with Brite-View about this tomorrow. Stay tuned

Hi all, thanks so much for all the response and reviews!

There are still things we need to confirm, including VOB, EVO and M2TS playback and support; usenet/nzb support.

Harmony Remote: it takes time and we're still investigating the procedure. However, we can provide the RCU code for now. Thanks for your understanding and patience.

No bookmark/resume: it comes with the chip design, but we can find out if we will make it available by fw update.

GUI change - this is a big question, so please also give us time to discuss.

@superflysocal: we're so sorry you got the CinemaCube instead. Please email service5@zinnetusa.com and give us all the details and we'll make an exchange ASAP.

@yazyazoo: please email service5@zinnetusa.com and see if this works.

If I'm missing anything please don't hesitate to point it out. You might also want to PM me, too. Thanks again.

Huh? It can't play VOB?

So that means in a DVD - VIDEO_TS folder there are VOB files. I cant play those files?


Quote:
No .VOB playback, and there seems to be no m2ts playback either

What, cannot play AVCHD? That's one of the reason I wanted this. Have you tried the raw .mts or .mts2 files from the camcorder?

Also, can you rewind in a MKV file? My popcorn couldn't do that.

Might be something to do with the VOB's I have as it plays a VIDEO_TS folder just fine, at least on the DVD9 folder I have. These are VOB's I got from demo-world.eu
http://www.demo-world.eu/trailers/hi...n-trailers.php

Brite-View please contact me if you like for more details on the other issues.

I hope everyone will take a step back and not become alarmed at these issues as they very well could be something simple or something I am doing wrong. And no I don't work for Brite-View.

Is there a location where I can find a few AVCHD I can download and test? I have tried a few m2ts but none have played so far. They play on my PS3 along with the VOB (single files), but so far it is "Unsupported Format" on the CinemaTube.

I am going to test some more tonight, along with a DMG file, I tried a ISO file last night and it works fine, across SMB and the MAC.

I was able to FF and I am almost sure RW a mkv I will test again tonight, making a list!

I need to re-test these, I need a source for the EVO files please. Not sure the usenet/nzb files are going to work without a firmware update.


Where can I get the RCU code please, I would like to take a stab ad a config file.


Resume seems to work fine, when I open a file from the same device/location that I have already played a portion of, it asks me if I want to resume or cancel to start from the beginning.


Not a deal breaker for me, but as long as there is room for the improvements why not, I think functionality should be a more important focus.


Stuff happens.


Thanks for the prompt responses!

+1 Agree for the most part, re-booted on me once while trying to preview a VOD. the preview mode is really not a good feature, its a novelty at best, and does get annoying when trying to start a movie.

BriteView, the first step in allowing a movie jukebox like shown is allow the unit to recognize html files. All of those jukeboxes are html based and just contain links to the moviefiles. You probably also need to have ability to setup network shares.

I reauthored the original .mts (from a Canon HG20) into an MPEG container with 1080p AVC format, I guess you could say it's raw .mts, because it's basically transcoding .mts into .mpg. Anyway, my HTPC can play it with no problems.

As for rewinding an MKV, well, it sort of works. Since I am streaming mkv over network, rewinding does not work too well. i.e., when rewind is at 1x, it takes 5 or more seconds to go back 1 second in frame. This might work better if you are playing a media file from a USB drive. Again, what we need is a skip back (15, 30, 45seconds) functionality, like Windows Media Center.

I have a harmony remote and would like this also. However, for now, I would prefer brite-view work on more important issues. The harmony remote issue can be solved very easliy by the end user by simply learning all the commands from the supplied remote. It should not take more than a few minutes to do. Just my 2 cents.

Jay

Tried that on my 880. It doesn't work well: scroll one step and cursor moves 2 steps !! Power on/off acts funny.

Quote:
Originally Posted by brite-View
No bookmark/resume: it comes with the chip design, but we can find out if we will make it available by fw update.

Resume seems to work fine, when I open a file from the same device/location that I have already played a portion of, it asks me if I want to resume or cancel to start from the beginning.
[/quote]
Just want to clear on this one. We are talking about resume play on last file played, without the need to open "a file from the same device/location that I have already played a portion of". This is a must feature for people with a large HD contain hundreds video files. Who can remember the last file played if you are watching a 80 episodes long TV series?

just got it and tried the software update..can't get it to work. says can't get image and I tried the newer link

is there anyway to make sure the one you sending out to me today have the udated firmware?

Really would love to see more of the GUI.
Do we get any kind of info if the file has metadata embedded?