New Dune HD Max and HD Smart anticipation thread Q3 2010 - Page 248

Originally Posted by diablozoe

I can't confirm and I think you are bit more knowledgable then me on this subject! I am just relaying what Mike told me that Dune was not loosing it's DTS license, I know you speak with him too. Maybe your able to find out more on the subject!

Originally Posted by diablozoe

. . . when I open up alien I get 4 movies 2 at 24gb and 2 at 25gb do the math this does not fit on one blank BD. Yet all 4 movies play.

Originally Posted by MarkHotchkiss

Hi Diablozoe,

Yeah, ain't it great? 98gB on a 50gB disk. It's the beauty of playlists.

It's not really magic. The scenes that are common to all four versions are only on the disc once. The play-list seamlessly switches between video files to implement the different versions of the movie.

But I have come to the conclusion that the more "branching" a play-list does, the more likely the ripping software could screw-up. I use DVDfab 8 normally, and when that doesn't work, I try DVDfab 7, and when that doesn't work, I try DVDshrink, and when that doesn't work, I give up and just play the .VOB or the .M2TS files directly. Some discs put up a fight.

Originally Posted by MarkHotchkiss

Hi Diablozoe,

Yeah, ain't it great? 98gB on a 50gB disk. It's the beauty of playlists.

It's not really magic. The scenes that are common to all four versions are only on the disc once. The play-list seamlessly switches between video files to implement the different versions of the movie.

But I have come to the conclusion that the more "branching" a play-list does, the more likely the ripping software could have problems. I use DVDfab 8 normally, and when that doesn't work, I try DVDfab 7, and when that doesn't work, I try DVDshrink, and when that doesn't work, I give up and just play the .VOB or the .M2TS files directly. Some discs put up a fight.

Originally Posted by dbone1026

LOL, it is confusing and definitely don't look at me as the definitive source. This is similar to other media players that can bitstream HD audio but either cannot downmix at all or can only downmix to stereo (which would indicate that either there are separate licenses or different levels of licenses).

Originally Posted by halfelite

In the audio world you pay by how many channels you are outputting. 2 channel is the cheapest the more channels you add the higher the fee is.

Originally Posted by dbone1026

You forget it is technology, everything doesn't always work as expected, especially when you factor in family members

For example, with my Harmony 900 the only device that isn't set up for RF is my TV, so at times my wife/family members forget they still have to point at the TV, or they point but them move the remote away so the input change doesn't get grabbed. Also, I have found that the RF on the Harmony 900 can get a little unreliable over time (either remote itself, blaster, etc..)

Originally Posted by streamerlover

SO, this begs the question...WHY is your tv not set up for RFon your 900? :-)

And yes, agreed on the sometimes flakiness on the RF blaster but mine works 99% of the time as expected..

Originally Posted by dbone1026

The TV is hung on the wall and the gear is in a cabinet (as part of a wall unit). It is not possible to run the IR blaster to the TV without having wires hanging out all over the place (which would look horrible).

I actually just ended up replacing my 900 (which was pretty much flaking out on me) with a new one

Originally Posted by streamerlover

Gotcha! I figured it had to do something with a wall mounted tv. Can you not aim the blaster that's in the cabinet to hit the TV? That would help with the wife and children factor.
Next time you reboot your 900 look at the "hardware revision number" on it. The later ones have really improved the use of the RF blaster and range issue. (I have three 900's in my house)

Originally Posted by Nathan Webel

So, what Dune firmware set supports HD audio decoding for the SMART series? My A/V receiver does not decode, so up until now, I have been relying on my B1 to decode.

I'd rather just not upgrade the Dune firmware (and lose HD audio decoding in the process) than have to buy a new receiver.

Originally Posted by RaggedEdge

This version, 110606_1315, still has lossless decode to lpcm. Note one other thing, the latest batches of Smarts have different firmwares. I believe they have taken the ability to decode to lpcm out of the hardware so you can't load the older firmwares on those boxes.

Originally Posted by streamerlover

HAS THIS BEEN CONFIRMED? Or is it merely conjecture at this point?

Originally Posted by halfelite

According to the MPCclub post


- OK : 110225_1222
- OK : 110225_1222_update1
- OK : 110225_1222_update2
- OK : 110511_2007_beta
- OK : 110606_1315
- NOT OK : 110606_1315_update1
- NOT OK : 111122_0159_beta

Originally Posted by streamerlover

I'm trying to figure out why I even care since I am bitstreaming for years...
Maybe the older models will be worth more to some people...

Originally Posted by streamerlover

I'm trying to figure out why I even care since I am bitstreaming for years...
Maybe the older models will be worth more to some people...

Originally Posted by dbone1026

. . . The wall unit is actually a wall length cabinet/furniture that is built into the wall. The cabinet portion where the A/V gear is is to the far left of the TV (which is mounted above the fireplace).

Originally Posted by MarkHotchkiss

Hi Damian,

So the cabinet is on the same wall as the TV? What's on the opposite wall?

I once solved my IR problem by putting a mirror on the opposite wall and aiming the IR-blaster at the TV through the mirror (I had no doors on the front of my rack). Worked great, except when my wife stood up in front of the mirror. Not able to grasp the concept of invisible light bouncing around the room, I had to tell her that the remotes only worked when everyone was sitting.

Originally Posted by DiabloZoe

Are they the ones that contain the OG and DC movies or just the original?

Originally Posted by Jon Spackman

Damian,

I got what you need right here.

Sewell InjectIR IR Over HDMI for Remote Controls - SW-29660 $45
http://sewelldirect.com/IR-Injector-Kit-For-HDMI.asp

It basically take the unused CEC wires in your HDMI and transfers IR thru those unused pins. It is meant to go the other way and feed Ir blasted at your tv and transmit it to your cabinet equipment, but it should work backwards and let you take RF to IR in your cabinet and feed that to the tv. You might even be able to replace the IR blaster on the reciever with an IR emitter that is cleanly stuck to the front of the tv. I would call these guys and ask them. There are a few more companies doing this. Just google search for IR OVER HDMI.

That way the TV will always turn off if the RF unit gets the codes.
Jon

Originally Posted by dbone1026

Unfortunately that will not work either lol. Basically when the cabinet was installed and all the wires run from the TV to the AV cabinet, no one was forward enough thinking to make sure that future wires could be run (I $hit you not)! The AV company ran the wires before the cabinet was installed. Since the TV is mounted above the fireplace they claim it was very difficult to get the wires run (because of the pipes, etc... for the fireplace behind the wall). Once the cabinet was installed that pretty much sealed off access to the wires.

This is actually a bit of a sore spot for me. I had this all done before I was really in to all the home AV gear stuff so I didn't really know any better and figured "Hey, I am using professionals, they know what they are doing". I was annoyed because all this stuff was done when I was at work. When I came home I saw the AV guys had only run one HDMI cable and one component cable from the TV, which meant that a) if I wanted to watch tv via my cable box and not turn on my AVR (which is how I would do it) I could only connect via component (i.e. my AVR does not have HDMI pass through when off) and b) if my HDMI wire goes bad I am screwed! I asked them why they didn't run extra HDMI wires (since my TV has 4 HDMI inputs) and they just shrugged their heads saying it was too late now to run anymore wires. When they ran the wires they claim the wires are basically tangled around the piping behind the wall, so it isn't even something where I could try and fish additional wires through. If/when the time comes where I have to run additional wires without a choice, that will be fun lol

OK, rant over

Originally Posted by Mathelo

That sucks but where there is one wire there is a built in snake to pull more wires through. Any reason that wouldn't work?

Louis

Originally Posted by DiabloZoe

Are they the ones that contain the OG and DC movies or just the original?

Originally Posted by dbone1026

Unfortunately not. The wall unit is actually a wall length cabinet/furniture that is built into the wall. The cabinet portion where the A/V gear is is to the far left of the TV (which is mounted above the fireplace).

I have definitely noticed a big difference with the new 900. The first one (which I pretty much bought when it was first released), more and more the blaster signal was not going through, and about a week ago the 900 stopped working altogether (I would have to take out the battery, leave out overnight, put it back in, it would work for about 8 hours then same problem).

One thing I was glad, when I got the new 900, all I had to do is plug into my PC and all my presets from the old 900 were copied over so I didn't have to reprogram any of the codes I set up for the Dune

Originally Posted by Killroy


The Base/Prime and the 53D Lite still have no problems even with the newer firmwares. I verified it with both my Base and 53D.

Originally Posted by sean_w_smith

So one of your issues is bad hardware which died and one of which is sub optimal install......

So whats better even at 2x the price.

your original post made it sound like a pile of remotes was a better choice which is a joke. The implication is a disservice to readers here IMO. That's my rub.

As a side note related to Dune. NOTE to those people ordering from Dune Player.com. my unit has been out for delivery for two days and still NOT DELIVERED because they shipped it requiring signature in person. So today I have to take the morning off snowboarding to wait for UPS. WTF for a $300 streamer. Still battling jukeboxes/media managers for dune. They all have warts compared the to the tools I have used in the past. Guess thats the price to pay for better playback (or at least I hope). My Movies is cool but lacks auto renaming and folderizing so thats gonna be a deal breaker. Still trying to find the system that works best with XBMC.

very exited to get the D1 and check it out finally today.