Netgear NeoTV 550 - Page 101

No it's the XTPhotos app I wrote. You have a PC application (XTPhotos) which takes your photos (folder) and publishes it to a NAS or your XTreamer.

It resizes the photos to 1080p and also creates all the thumbnails and RSS documents. On the XTreamer all you do then is just have a link to the RSS document in the publication folder (on the NAS or XTreamer) and voila! Super fast photo viewing

TBH, I can't see why a similar thing couldn't be done for the Neo, and especially the Boxee!

That sounds a bit like packet loss or collision, but I'm no networking expert. Definitely check all your networking elements to ensure they are set properly and work well. Failing that, I'd probably next suspect your network set up in terms of how things are wired/connected. Ideally, you'd have your WHS on a gigabit hub that your media device is also connected to - or at least the wifi access point would be. I try to leave my gigabit router, which is slower than my gigabit hub, out of the picture as much as possible by hooking my hub to it. Many gigabit routers aren't that fast (visit www.smallnetbuilder.com for router and wifi speed charts), and I'd rather it deal with everything else. Failing THAT, I'd look into using QoS. It's unlikely to be your WHS unless the WHS box hardware is insufficient in terms of CPU, hard drive speed and/or memory.

My WHS (cored2duo 8300, 4GB DDR3) is wired as is my Oppo BDP I'm using for streaming (and/or my TivoHD). I had both the Oppo and Tivo wired into an Asus 100MB router I was using as a hub and it worked well, since neither device has a gigabit port, unless I tried to stream an uncompressed BD to the Oppo - I'd get stuttering. I swapped out that Asus with a Netgear gigabit hub and now it flies!

i have had zero handshaking problems on my onkyo 507, i do fully power down tho maby that makes a difference

I've never had a problem after powering down (Denon-789), only when resuming from "standby". Sometimes it works fine when turning on from "standby", other times it doesn't.

I haven't thoroughly evaluated it, but it may resume from standby better if you turn it off (set it to standby) when on the home screen (just a feeling I'm getting from testing, but not sure). Honestly though, since it always freezes when viewing photos I end up unplugging it all the time anyway!

just to be clear i was referring to fully power the the 550 down. tho usually i turn oof the amp too after use the onkyo tends to get a quite hot

Yes, that is how I understood it. I think all of the people having handshake problems only have them if the power down to "standby" and not "off".

seems not just handshake problems after standbymode also failure to recognize usb sticks or memory cards.

Update:

Tried 550 with .268 and .275. Same problems as before playing files that work on my Tvix and my Tvix 6500 (and now my PCH A-210). Subtitle shift not possible even or UTF8 subtitles within a mkv file.

Tried the recommended settings for the PCH A-210 and IT WORKS!!!! UTF8 subtitles can be moved and resized!

For potential 550 buyers: Also review PCH A-210 if you need subtitles and most video/audio files to work. If you do not need subtitles you can consider the 550 because the UI is good and setup fairly smooth for a mediaplayer.

Forsyth.....the A-210 doesn't handle full-menu playback of BD ISOs either, correct? Or did they change that when they revamped the UI of the popcorn hours?

The A-210 fw does only do simple BD menus, but that can actually be fixed by using the C-200 fw instead that handles full menus. It is the same hw so you can change to the C-200 fw.

I´m happy with the simple menus so for me this is not an issue.

/Mike

Correct -> no competitor to the NTV550

Read my response before yours.

The A-210 is way ahead on a number of thing against the 550 so for the 550 to become a competitor to the A-210, it actually needs to be able to handle more then full BD menus in my book!

I´m happy with a working solution for my HT so I´ll stay away from this thread and I wish you all good luck with your NG 550.

Hi all,

I just picked up one of these units from a local Frys...

1. .dts files
I have a shared hard drive attached to my win7 computer. Neo can see and play my .ac3 music files just fine (I'm using folder navigation for now, and I have the unit set to passthrough via HDMI to my Integra 9.9 preamp). However, it does not see any .dts files (I have Neo set to passthrough dts via HDMI in the audio setup). Since product specs list dts (passthrough) for audio this is a bug, right?

FWIW, I did get the DLNA "Play To" working, kind of (more about this later if I can get #2 below to work). From J. River Media Center I was able to play some 2 channel .FLAC and even 5.1 .ac3 files. But when I tried to "Play To" with .dts files it did not work.

2. 4 channel FLAC files
I have a large collection of quadraphonic music in the form of 4 channel FLAC files. I find that even though 5.1 FLAC files (96kHz/24bit ripped from DVD-Audio) play fine the 4.0 FLAC files (96/24 ripped from DVD-Audio of converted quad) do not!! All I get is some sort of super slow low volume distortion (files were played by navigating to the file in the Neo via folder navigation)

The product specs for FLAC are up to 5.1channels and 192kHz, so I'm well within product spec. J River Media Center, Foobar etc... play all these FLAC files just fine on my computer, and mediainfo does not show any issue with these files that I can see.

Anyone know if 4 channel FLAC maybe was not tested even though it is listed as being supported? Any ideas how to make 4 channel FLAC work?

If 4 channel FLAC can't be played this would be a HUGE disappointment (a deal-breaker in fact). Thanks for any help!!!

Regarding your question above, "Play to" is a DLNA function, and the DLNA protocol does not call for support for .dts files. It does allow optional support for AC-3. See below for supported file formats that should work with DLNA "play to."

http://www.dlna.org/industry/why_dln.../media_format/

Wrong! I have it set to completely power off, but not even once does the HDMI handshake work properly with my Onkyo 707. All other devices I have - Dish DVR / Onkyo DVD Player / PS3 / Brite-View streamer / PopBox (returned) / Boxee - work perfectly fine as far as HDMI handshake is concerned. It is only the NeoTV that has issues. I even got a 2nd unit from Fry's to see if it was a faulty unit, and get the same behavior with that too.

The only way to fix in my case is to let the streamer start up completely before switching the AV on. Or leave the NTV always on..

I didn't know that, thanks! Well the .ac3 file did work so at least there's that.

Once I get things setup the way I want I'm not sure how much I would use DLNA anyways. On the other hand if it can't play a simple 4 channel FLAC file from a windows share...


Edit - Also just to be clear, when not using DLNA but just folder navigation, the Neo can't "see" any .dts files and therefore they can't be played. Since dts is listed in Netgear's product audio specs (passthrough), it should be able to play the dts file and passthrough the audio to my preamp for decoding (maybe this was just sloppy specification by Netgear and they meant there's only dts playback/passthrough capability when it is in another container and not from .dts file?). I could maybe live with this defect if I can get 4 channel flac to work.

I did, of course. Does not change my point of view though. BTW I had a C-200 (among almost all other competitors) which was way worse when it was released than the Neo is.

Do you agree that the A-210 can play full BD menus with a C-200 fw?

All my mediaplayers over the years have been more or less "not good" when released, but the difference for me buying the 550 as the first paying consumer in Europe was the fact that it had been under beta testing by "real" consumers in US for 8 months. I actually expected more from the unit then I did from the Tvix or the Qnap or the PCH A-100 or the Xtreamer.

Robkwil61 has several times commented that all of Bozzetas findings had already been brought to the dev teams and then you wonder why the heck it has not been fixed before being released to paying consumers?

Well, enough said, I´m happy with my new A-210 and you are happy with the 550 so lets leave it at that and go and watch some movies!

I haven't bought it yet (all medaplayers in the house are HDX BD-1 currently), but most probably will when some issues are fixed. My time as an early adaptor for mediaplayers is definitely over.

The A-210 would indeed be an alternative if it would have the firmware to play full BDs factorywise. Personally I do not like the option to cross-flash players.

I'm tired of seeing people saying that the 550 is pants and such and such media player is better. The fact is, THAT other media player doesn't support BD ISO. So in future, if anyone wants to start a ruckus about which is better, at least make sure the OTHER media player is capable of doing what the 550 can do. Otherwise, don't waste our time with your drivel, you can keep it to yourself.

Is that good or bad?

pants = rubbish or bad.

popbox,boxee box,wd tv live plus all play bd iso. only thing is pb and bb don't have full menu support for bd iso's.

My wdtv live with beta was playing bd iso but some prob with plus:; any idea?

But full menu support is a very big deal for some, including me. I would guess that many 550 users view this as a critical feature. Therefore, the only competition (from this viewpoint) is the dune series and the c-200. Bd lite doesn't cut it for a lot of us. Just personal preference.

I can't believe I am STILL having problems accessing media on my pc. I keep getting it to work (somehow), but then I lose all access. What are some of the more likely reasons for that? I'm getting ready to reset my router in desperation.

Well, I tried to find Netgear at CES this year and they have no Booth. They always have had a big booth at the show in the South Hall. This year they just have a meeting room in the far end of South Hall and it is the smallest meeting room possible at CES (CES Information people could not even find it on the map). I did not get to talk to them because the door was closed and it say that a meeting was taking place.

At least other people that used the meeting areas had reception areas. Not Netgear. The Recession must have hit them hard. Lame!!!

Too Bad they don't have a presence at CES which is only the world's largest showcase of latest and the greatest gadgets.

Perhaps NetGear do not have anything to showcase this year.

I'll give a BIG applaud to Netgear for producing a GREAT remote for the Neo 550 but the product itself - it does not stand apart from the competition.

The competition has netflix - a sought after app these days in a streamer. On Neo 550 - YouTube, it works briefly then locks up. Frankly, I am not getting my money's worth from Neo 550. Fry's - here I come to return the unit.

I'm seriously considering the HTPC solution again.

Netgear has quite a number of suites booked at the Marriot. I think Netgear's event was probably 'invitation-only', which is why Bob had placed the note earlier.

I was over there today and had a very fruitful interactive session with the program managers.

Here are some updates for you guys on the NTV 550 front:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4110/netgear-ces-2011/2

Agreed but from this point of view (as a Dune owner), the Dune series are also pants. You get full BD menus but the only way to access music is to scroll through a folder structure - no search capability - no artwork view until a files is selected and played and only then if it's been manualy added, and they have issues with not playing certain files (DVDs with multi camera angles for example). Oh and support is God awful.

It's been said before that the perfect media player has yet to be made. So I think we have to accept (for now) that they all have shortcomings of one sort or another. It's up to each individual to decide what is important and what is not, and buy the product which ticks the most boxes for themselves personally.