Netgear NeoTV 550 - Page 14

For me, it is exactly the other way round. As there are lots of movies out there which are not properly recognized a PC-based solution is a must-have for me to get the movie information corrected.

Same here. I have spent countless hours perfecting my tags and cover art. I would be very disappointed if the Neo completely ignored them and, effectively, started again from scratch.

The neo has the same functionnality than eva on this topic : you need to generate a Tag file, with info/covert art, or you can copy a "folder.jpg" in the directory where you store film or music. The the "folderjpg" is displayed when browsing your media.

When i first strated my neoTv, all the tag files that i made for eva were recognised. No issue with that.

Great and accurate summary.

Just to clarify, DEW was a suite of tools for the EVA. DEM was for the MAC OS. DEW/DEM gave everything from status of your EVA(s), copying files to the EVA, the Owner's Manual, etc...

One of those tools was the Tag Tool. This is what pulled meta data from IMDB and Amazon. You could also just type in your own information. It had the option to embed the meta data in the file but that only worked for some file types and sometimes corrupted them from playing on other PC media players. The best option of course, was to create the .TAG file.

The Neo uses these same TAG files as the 8000/9150 did. That won't change. The only change is going to be where the meta data is pulled from. As we've seen recently, IMDB changed their format and "broke" the Tag Tool. Netgear with Movie Manager is moving away from IMDB so this doesn't happen the next time IMDB makes a change.

BTW are you aware if it only gets english movie data or german as well?

I'm sorry if this has been discussed, my quick searching didn't find anything...

Just curious, once you have all your movies tagged, are you able to filter by Genre and so forth? Am I able to create custom filters also?

So basically what I want to be able to do is display all my family movies, when we have family movie night. Or display Action movies, etc....

I would also want to tag all my blu ray rips with a HD Genre or something so I could easily filter to my blu ray collection. (I have 300 dvds or so, but only about 25 blu-rays)...

Hopefully that makes sense.

Thanks for your help

Yes you can. There are a few paragraphs that cover that topic in the review: NeoTV 550 Review

Thanks, don't know how I missed that part the first time I read that review. Exactly what I was looking for.

Gees......I'm with OnlyMe and ThomasG on this one.....much rather have control with a PC for customization and not be reliable on Neo's final scrape

Anyone in the know able to tell me if this NAS would be sufficient to store & stream BD ISO to the 550 without issue?

Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ 4 Disk NAS Enclosure SATA Hot-Swap GBLAN X-RAID RAID 0/1/5 256MB Diskless

I don't get the disappointment either. It is not like it is a YAMJ kludge that is difficult to manage. Rip it. Tag it. Done.

That is more than fair. There's an argument to be made for that. I have 3 ATV's ( 2 new versions) that do just that. I have been looking for a possible replacement for my excellent C200. One thing I want is a built in GUI that can operate on its own. The Boxee Box seems to do that. The new Xtreamer is evolving towards that. The idea is to try and replace an HTPC as much as possible and not go the jukebox route. Both approaches are valid. But I wish the issue would be presented in a clear way.

philip

Should be good to go with that NAS

The disappointment is because that is not what I want. I want a player with a decent GUI that does not rely on a computer. I understand the approach taken by the 550. It's fine and suitable for many, if not most.

On my C200 I use Oversight which is a very interesting standalone, easy to mange interface. The Xtreamer is moving to a built in GUI as are other players. I am tired of the Dosshell approach that almost every player has taken and I just won't buy one that does not have a graphical interface.

philip

Thanks, total newbie on this subject.

What is it that you look for in a NAS to ensure problem free streaming of hi rez stuff like Blu Ray ISO's? What about the hard drives themselves, do you need anything specific there? I'm thinking of starting with a 2TB drive & then adding them 2TB at time from there. Seems I've read that you should look for 7200rpm & not use the "green" ones?

So to be clear, rip it, tag it, move it to your NAS then the 550 will be able to have all the cover art functions etc?
I wont need to run a computer right?

A second thought; is there a way to do that all in one step if you're ripping all the discs' contents?

Hey Philip,

I'm confused by your disappointment in this. Can you explain a bit more, so I can be sure you are not hitting on something that I don't understand, but potentially also might dislike?

You are stating that the GUI relies on another computer. I don't think the GUI needs another computer. You could just plug in a USB drive/ Esata drive and the NeoTV would operate correctly. It relies on another computer (server, etc.) to get network shares, but it isn't required. The tags are in the files, so if the files are local (USB/eSATA), then it operates as a "standalone".

Of course, we always need other computers to rip and convert media, and tagging is usually automatically done at that time. I guess I just don't understand the problem. You use a computer to rip (and maybe convert), right? Is it that you didn't get metadata at that time and now you'd have to retrieve the data (basically go through your entire collection again)?

Did you rip your movies and music without adding coverart, etc.? I think this must be the issue for you, right? If so, I can see how it might be a nice feature to let NTV550 fill in missing metadata via an internal system. But, I would always want the ability to turn that off and rely on my own data.

Thanks!
Brandon

I've got another question for our beta testers.

Does anyone know if you have the option of jumping straight to the movie on BD ISO files? I saw mention that the PCH C200 lets you choose a full menu mode, or the BD lite mode which doesn't require you to go through the full menu process. If I had to choose 1 I'd the the full menu licensed playback, but it does sound nice to be able to choose.

The "green" ones work just fine. I read on another forum that some guy streams 4 simultaneous blu-ray ISOs streams without issue from his. He only has 4 streamers so 4 is not the limit.

With respect to the NV+, Absolutely. I am using one for just that. It is not the fastest by any means any more, but it will still do HD streams without issue

Correct. You can stream your movies from a computer, NAS, USB thumbdrive, USB "spinning" drive, eSATA drive or memory card. The functionality you get and what you see on the GUI of the Neo in terms of tag info and cover art is identical in all cases.


I would like to know that too. I currently rip my movies and tag them in two steps (one app to rip one app to tag). I would like one app that does both. I have that for music, just not for movies.

I hear you. Right now I guess we have to choose between using a computer and maintaining flexibility or going with an integrated approach that limits configurability but eliminates the computer.

Most any decent NAS or WHS will support blu ray streaming and many have used the readynas with great success for a while now.

No need for 7200rpm, I'd go green to save energy/heat, etc.

That's correct. And I'll be watching for responses on your second thought, as well.

Any diff between SATA & SATA II ? Seems you can pay $100 for one 2TB drive and $200 for another.. what sets them appart that would matter for my app?

No need to worry, the speed of the harddisk for streaming HD videos, and especially blu-rays, is not an issue at all. I have a bunch of WD and Samsung "green" disks with a total of 40TB serving 6 players around the house and no problem at all.

Wow, that's a serious amount of storage

Thanks guys, sometimes there's just way too much info available and it's hard to muddle through to make a decision.
The 550 seems as much a no-brainer to me as there is in a media player for my HT, as long as the audio and video quality are up to par of course. Even if it isn't, it's cheap enough to move to my second system where that won't be as critical.

Same for me : i used my neoTv with readynas NV+ and a ready nas duo, with if i remember well, 2 HDD that are WD green 1To. No issue with isoBR.

the NV+ is a little bit faster than the duo, but i get really good speed : 90 mbps says muy Neo, with nfs shares.

i need to check if i can choose, but for most br, i directly go to the movie.