Zensonic Z500 Now Available in US - Page 2

Hi peter, the poster in the Z500 forums does not sound like he has one...


I think up to about 5 seconds here over SMB. Nice if it was quicker though, but not as long as 10 seconds that I am aware of.

Could be a "she" you know! ;-)

"I've read here and tested on a different player that both from USB stick and network it takes around 10 seconds to load and display the picture."

Yes - you're right.. I should get my facts straight!

thanks

peter
ps. 5 secs makes for a sloooow slideshow. I wonder if I there is some program I can run on my PC to reduce the picture in real time as needed... Probably need to batch process the whole show first

hmm this thing looks good I might have to check it out as a replacement for my HD1000. Sure wish they had a version without the DVD player and the wireless for less $$$. Black would be a bonus. Is this MediaWest place the only retailer currently carrying the unit in the US?

- Mike

There are several units like that - no DVD, no WiFi - from mfrs like D-Link, Snazio etc.

Hi Greg,

Excellent! I finally got off my bottom and ordered my 2nd unit. Hopefully it'll arrive late next week!

My old Roku HD1000 can show coverart from an SMB source and let me choose. I want to get rid of it, but it sounds like the z500 would not necessarily be a step forward.

slow picture processing, not showing pics in full res, not using coverart, no quoted bitrate for mpeg-2 files over smb, no cover art for audio, no addressability to the scaler, no sdk...

I've looked at the D-link it doesn't do other stuff that the z500 does....stuff I want it to do.
and the Snazio has a dvd player and a wi/fi connection.

the dvd and wi/fi are rather pricey components to have in a media player, when you already have a dvd player and plan on having a cat.5 connected to it.

I don' think you have your facts quite straight.

The slow picture processing is a direct result of the chipset being used, not the player....most of the players use the same chipset. I'm not sure what you mean about not having an SDK....the SDK that the chipset provides is what enables companies like Zensonic, D-Link, etc to customize the players.

And is coverart really that big of a deal? I definitely care much more about how many different types of media it plays, and how stable it is more than being able to see pictures of items before you choose to play them.

Also, while there is no quoted bitrate, as it has been showing, bitrates of 24mbps have been shown to play without problems (and that's over SMB).

The Roku HD1000 uses an ATI chipset not the Sigma chipset you find in the current crop of media streamers. The ATI chip is faster than the Sigma.

Roku shares their SDK to everyone for third party app developments, not just for their in-house applications. This has worked well for Roku and its customers.

Use of cover art to select movies greatly inhances non-techies use of the device.

You're right that stability and media versatility is more important than cover art, but a device will have limited acceptance in the marketplace if its not easy for everyone to use.

The issues with the Roku have mainly been the ATI chipset's limitations (no dvd iso/ifo playback, etc) and a power supply problem. Stability took a awhile to get where its at, but it wasn't an easy path.

My 2 cents.

I am mainly interested in audio storage and playback of CDs in lossless form. I would like something that can load files to an external HDD, and of course play them back with digital (PCM) output to ane external DAC, with an easy menu and search function, both on-screen and on the display. Will this thing do that through its USB port without connecting to a PC? Also, does it have a fan, and if so how noisy is it?

Playing back "lossless" FLAC (or WAV) files stored on an external HDD is 100% possible.... In-fact I'm doing right now

And to confirm, there is no requirement to have a PC connected....

The Z500 does not have a fan, so the only noise you'll hear will be from your external HDD. Apart from your music that is!

Also, the Z500 is fitted electrical and optical S/PDIF digital output connections (as well as full 6Ch analogue output connections).


Cheers

Thanks, good to know. I presume you used a PC to rip the files to the HDD? Or will the Zenzonic do that also?

Former is correct. You will still need a PC to do the backup of the files to HDD but only for that process.

Cheers,
Kermee

Thanks. In that case I see no need for the DVD player - is there a similar device out there that will do the same thing as the Zensonic (directly access a HDD) without the DVD player, and presumably at a much lower price?

Also, does the Zensonic have digital output for using an external DAC?

I've been doing some research into the Z500 and really like what it has to offer so far. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find answers to a couple of questions.

1) Does the Z500 support Nero 5.1 sound?
2) Which profile does it support (It's not at Nero's site)?
3) Does the HDMI pass audio or is 6ch analog out the only choice for non-AC3, DTS, or 2ch PCM?

Thanks.

Hmmm...

I think that's an bit of an unfair question to ask within this thread... That said, the DVD drive makes very little difference to the overall cost of the player.



As I mentioned earlier: -

"Also, the Z500 is fitted with electrical and optical S/PDIF digital output connections (as well as full 6Ch analogue output connections)".


Cheers

Yes via the players 6Ch analogue outputs


Officially Nero's Cinema Profile (offering a max resolution of 1280x720 pixels) is supported. Unofficially however, the player also supports Nero's High-Definition Profile (offering a max resolution of 1920x1080 pixels).


The HDMI output is able to pass 2ch and multi-channel "digital" bit-streams, such as AC3, DTS and PCM - all in accordance with the official HDMI connection protocal.


Cheers

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. True about the DVD player, but in my opinon the Zenzonic price is too high for what it does (and what it does not do, such as rip CDs) and especially since it has no HDD storage of its own (if I understand correctly).

Any comments on the quality of DVD playback (scaling, deinterlacing, etc.)? Is it the same regardless of the media format (DVD, .iso file, etc.)? Also, does it do 4:3 pillarbox?

Unlike other devices fitted with Sigma's EM8620L chip-set the Z500 runs it's own specially designed GUI software/interface (other devices use Syabas designed GUI's).

As a consequence, the GUI provides the user with far more user friendly set-up options, including DVD 4:3/16:9 output options.


Cheers

hi,
when watching an anamorphic DVD (or other content with black bars),

can the z500 vertically stretch the picture to remove the black bars (and thus let me use my anamorphic lens to horizontally strech the image)?

IOW, do I need a scalar to use the Z500 in a constant height setup?
thanks!

Where are the black bars. Above and below the image or left and right of the image?


The Z500 does have a zoom function which might help with set-ups such as yours...

I am however mystified why people elect to remove remove the black bars above and below the image. As this practice (more often than not), removes/hides parts of the image to the left and right of the frame... Unless you squish up the image, which in-turn makes everybody look anorexic.


Cheers

SMD,

Some folks have 2.35:1 screens and using anamorphic (Panamorph) lenses to "squish" the picture even more. Removing the black bars from the top and the bottom of 2.35:1 sourced materials on an anamorphic DVD and using the entire resolution of the display device of a 16:9 front projection system is preferred rather than not using the upper and lower parts of the PJ.

http://www.panamorph.com/Ultimate235.html

Cheers,
Kermee

Thanks Kermee,

I was not aware there were such things as 2.35:1 projection screens!

I wonder if we could get such a mode added to the Z500's video output settings?


Cheers

SMD,

We should check with chuna. People with 2.35:1 PJ screens are some pretty "hardcore" purists. Many of the new projectors support anamorphic lens natively with a scaling mode done within the projector. For folks without being able to do the scaling within the projector, adding this mode would be a killer application.

Cheers,
Kermee

I guess the market for this is still very small when you compare it with 16:9 screens and more mainstream technology. The company has to priortize the huge list of feature requests it probably gets and work on what can make the biggest difference (bang-for-the-buck) for them mass base of users.

peter

Hi All

I am VERY interested in parting with my money and getting one of these. My streaming needs are almost solely for video as I use a SqueezeBox for audio. A slick all-in-one solution cuts down on remotes cabling etc.

Candidly, I just want a device to play the DivX / XviD files like T*p G**r via ********** that are sadly unavailble in the USA as well as act as a DVD player.

I will be using this with a SONY BRAVIA (720p) LCD TV and my concerns are:
- How good is the DVD player and has the maker skimped on quality?
- What are the viewing ratio options like as I'm REALLY anal about this? I can't watch a 4:3 image stretched to fit a 16:9 screen. I have to have the side bars - hence LCD and not plasma.

Thanks again for the great thread!

If the divx/xvid is 4:3 and the display output is set to 16:9, it will pillar box the picture to maintain the correct aspect ratio.

I have a couple of quick questions if any of you could help me out. I have a Linkplayer2 at this time and have been like many of you down the firmware update road to hell. Does this player support IFO playback with full menus over the network? Does this player handle HD ms-dvr files from MCE? Finally is the built in DVD player actually usable with no problems? Sorry for questions but IODATA player has made me cautious of the fix in firmware features. Thanks for any guidance you can provide. I've seen many of you at the linkplayer and IODATA forums so I hope this player is on the right track.