Review: SageTV HD Theater 300

It has been nearly a month since the SageTV HD300 started shipping. Prior to the HD300 shipping I put together a brief writeup on the direction I hoped SageTV was heading towards, so I was anxious to give the HD300 a test run to see if it met my expectations. For this review I am going to spend most of the time focusing on the HD300 in standalone mode as in extender mode more of the focus would be on the SageTV 7 Media Center software and not the HD300. Enough talking, let’s get down and dirty.

Specifications:

Price: USD 149.95

Processor: Sigma SMP8654 SOC

File formats supported: AVI, ASF, MKV, MOV, MP4, Quicktime, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 PS, MPEG-2 TS, M2TS, BDMV Folder (BluRay), BluRay ISO, DVD ISO, DVD VIDEO_TS, VOB, M4A, MP3, FLAC, OGG, FLV, WAV, WMA

Video formats supported: MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, XVID, H.264 up to 1080p, WMV9/VC-1 up to 1080p, MJPEG, FlashVideo

Audio formats supported: MP2, MP3, AAC, AAC-HE, ALAC, WMA, WMAPro, PCM, Vorbis (stereo only), FLAC, DolbyDigital/DolbyDigital+/DolbyTrueHD* (stereo down-mix or pass-through), DTS/DTS-HD/DTS-MA (stereo down-mix or pass-through)

*DolbyTrueHD down-mix requires the DolbyDigital core track to be present

CC/Subtitle formats supported: EIA-608(NTSC/ATSC/QAM Closed Captioning), DVB, SRT, SSA/ASS, VobSub (sub/idx, mkv), Nero MP4 VOB Subtitles, MP4 Text, SAMI, .sub (Subviewer/MicroDVD), DVD, BDMV, M2TS, PGS, multiple languages supported in all formats

Playlist formats supported: M3U, WPL, ASX, WAX, WVX

Media sources supported: Online Video, external USB Mass Storage Devices (FAT, NTFS, EXT2/3, HFS format), NAS or Mac/PC over SMB/CIFS, UPnP, SageTV Media Center

Keyboard support: Wired or Wireless USB keyboards (US keyboard layout)

Wireless Network support: 802.11 b/g/n networks; USB wireless network adapters

Video Outputs: 1 HDMI, 1 Component, 1 Composite (Component & Composite via breakout cable)

Audio Outputs: Optical S/PDIF, HDMI, Left/Right analog audio output (analog audio output via breakout cable)

Multi-Channel Audio Output: Multi-channel PCM audio output is supported over HDMI with up to 7.1 channels for PCM and FLAC audio formats; and up to 5.1 channels for WMAPro and AAC audio formats. Pass-through (bitstream) is supported for DolbyDigital, DolbyDigital+, DolbyTrueHD, DTS and DTS-HD/MA formats.

Remote Control: Includes infrared remote control with universal remote functionality (3 buttons can be programmed using infrared, compatible with most remote controls).

External IR Receiver: Optional external IR receiver can be purchased for mounting the HD Theater 300 behind a TV or in another room.

Maximum Number of SageTV HD Theaters when used as a media extender: Limited only by your home network bandwidth, each HD video stream may use 20 Mbps or more of home network bandwidth.

WOL (Wake-on-LAN) support: The device is capable of sending WOL packets to wakeup a SageTV server in standby mode if that server supports WOL functionality.

Dimensions: 5 1/16″ W x 1 1/2″ H x 4″ D

TV Set Requirements:

• HDMI, Component or Composite input (NTSC or PAL)
• Left and right audio input jacks, optical or HDMI audio input

Network Requirements:

• One 10/100 RJ-45 port on a Router, Hub or Switch network (supports DHCP and static IP addresses)

or

• Direct connect from SageTV HD Media Extender to PC running DHCP server via cross over LAN cable (not supplied)

Hardware:

The HD300 comes packaged in a neat and compact white box. Nothing flashy, just some basic advertising.

Included with the HD300 –

• SageTV HD Theater digital media receiver
• Remote control with batteries
• Breakout cable for composite video, component video and analog audio
• HDMI cable
• 1.5 meter Ethernet cable
• Power adapter
• User manual

The front of the HD300 is fairly basic. To the left are the typical decals. The right is the power LED, IR LED, and IR input for use with an IR extender.

The back of the HD300 includes 2 USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet 10/100 port, HDMI, Optical, and a combined Video Port (using the provided breakout cable will give you Composite or Component connections).

There is no power brick which is nice. However, I have to admit that I did not like the power plug. Based on the direction of the plugs the power adapter runs horizontally covering up nearby power outlets on my power conditioner (I ended up having to move plugs around to get this to fit).  I would have preferred to have the plug designed so that the adapter was vertical when plugged in.

One thing you may have noticed is that the HD300 looks pretty small. It is small enough for me to easily palm with my hands. To really get a sense of how truly small it is, I decided to compare the HD300 with a Raisin muffin lying around.

I also called on my body double (I only use him for stunts and standing in line at the pharmacy) to model the HD300. The HD300 could be the first HD media player that could be worn around in public!

One of the benefits of the size is that there are a lot of possibilities on where to store the HD300. I decided to purchase some Velcro tape at the local Home Depot and mount the HD300 behind an LCD TV. Two strips of Velcro tape along the bottom of the HD300 was all that was needed. Big thanks to PluckyHD for the Velcro tape suggestions and the interesting Home Depot commentary 😉

The HD300 mounted without issue to the back of the LCD TV, keeping everything hidden.

Since mounting the TV means I would lose line of site to operate the HD300 I simply plugged in the optional IR extender and mounted it to the upper corner of the TV.

Overall, I am extremely impressed with the size of the HD300, and even with the small size I felt I was dealing with a sturdy piece of equipment. I do admit that there is a geeky part of me that likes to have an “A/V looking” device, but in reality my devices are usually hidden anyhow. The HD300 is fanless which is a big plus (i.e. silent). Because of this the aluminum body does appear to get used as a heatsink, and although not scorching hot it did get very warm to the touch when in use.

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TV Series Support Coming To MyMovies

When it comes to using Windows Media Center there are two great plugins to consider, MyMovies and Media Browser. As always the question which I get asked often is which one to use. The first question I always ask which helps narrow things down quickly is whether the user wants TV episode support. Since MyMovies does not currently support TV episodes it is a quick elimination is this is something the user wants. Well, I just got a newsletter from Brian Binnerup at MyMovies and it appears that TV show support should be coming. Here is what Brian had to say:

TV Series Support

The support for TV Series in My Movies for Windows Media Center have been a request from many over the years, and this is now something we are working actively on. It was planned that we would be able to release this late this summer, but due to different reasons, it will come later instead.

It is important to us that once we add this, we do it the right way with the right functionality, and not just focused for one country or region.

To be sure not to have a deadline we cannot hold, we will not put a date on when you will see this support available, and we are also yet to decide if we will include it fully at once, or in steps.

We can ensure you though that once we are releasing it, it will be worth the wait.

Some other interesting tidbits from the newsletter:

My Movies for iPad

The one question we have had the most after releasing My Movies for iPhone Pro is if there will be a My Movies for iPad, both because of the options the iPad gives, but also because My Movies for iPhone does not operate on the iPad due to the iOS 4 usage.

There indeed will be a My Movies for iPad, which we plan releasing during October. We have created a sneak peak part of our website, which you can see here. On this site, many questions on the iPad release is answered. We will be using our Facebook site to keep you updated on the progress towards the release.

Mobile Device Remote Controls

There have been a lot of requests to add remote control support to both My Movies for iPhone and to the upcoming My Movies for iPad.

Despite remote control functionality is not within the original scope of these programs, we have had so many requests for it that we cannot just ignore it – this means that we after the initial release of My Movies for iPad will be working on adding remote control functionality to the software.

This will be done in two steps; we will start adding the option of starting playback of a title from the iPhone or iPad software, and perhaps later from the Android software as well – this will allow you to browse through your titles and request playback for the one you choose on the mobile device – if there are multiple playback options such as multiple discs on the requested title, you will be asked to choose between the options on the device.

The second step will be a remote control page in the software, giving you the functionalities that are included with a standard Windows Media Center remote control, which means navigation and transport controls.

It is for now not planned to add browsing of music or similar functionality.

New Official MPC HC Build Released

After what has seemed to be quite some time (over a year to be exact), the MPC HC team has finally released the next MPC HC Official Build (1.4.2499). You can download the official build here. A full changelog can be seen below.

v1.4.2499.0 – 7 September 2010
==============================
NEW : Seamless playback support for multi files BRD
NEW : Support for Windows 7 taskbar and thumbnails features
NEW : Added Catalan, Dutch and Japanese translations
NEW : VSFilter x64 is available
NEW : Added internal VP8 Decoder
NEW : MPC-HC can be compiled with MSVC2010 and Intel C++ Compiler
NEW : Support for MCE remote control (values added in AppCommand column in
“Options/Player/Keys”)
NEW : Support of Broadcom Video decoder for VC1, H.264 and MPEG-2
(hardware acceleration)
NEW : Support for DVB subtitles
NEW : Open files to Recent Documents
NEW : AUTO HDMI MODE 1080p/24 support for fullscreen mode
NEW : Ticket #46, add number to AudioDevice list
NEW : Sync Renderer dialogs
NEW : Real Video decoder in MPCVideoDecoder
NEW : Support interlaced mode in fullscreen resolution list
NEW : Auto change fullscreen resolution for different video content
NEW : Fullscreen Options page
NEW : Video decoder, options for DXVA Compatibility check
NEW : Support for MPEG-2 bitstreaming in the DXVA decoder
NEW : Full screen resolution – support for native 23.976 and 29.97 mode
(Vista and above only)
NEW : Auto resolution change for DVD
NEW : Always Exit after playback option
NEW : Support for SRM7500 remote control
NEW : New panel for switching DVB channels, audio and tuner scan
accessible through View–>Navigation menu when in Capture mode
NEW : Automatically play next files in a folder
NEW : Implemented ‘Quick add favorite’ shortcut (default: Shift + Q)
will use current settings from ‘Add Favorite’ dialog
NEW : Select D3D device for render, including DXVA if two or more video
adapters are in the system (EVR Custom & VMR9-Renderless only)
NEW : Statistics – added render device
NEW : Ability to select OSD font & size
NEW : Option “Don’t use ‘search in folder’ on commands ‘Skip back/forward’
when only one item in playlist”
NEW : H.264 L5.1 DXVA support for ATI cards with drivers > v8.14.1.6105
(Catalyst 10.4)
NEW : MPCVideoDecoder, disable DXVA (H.264) for SD video (width < 1280)
NEW : Improved DXVA compatibility check
NEW : Implemented drag and drop folders with sub-folders
NEW : Support for MPEG-1/Layer1 audio stream in the Matroska splitter
NEW : Command to switch video frame mode (key ‘P’)
NEW : Video frame options like in TV: Zoom 1 and Zoom 2
NEW : Auto saving position every 30 seconds
NEW : Added internal filters context menu (disable/enable)
NEW : Command to reopen file (Ctrl+E)
NEW : Support for PGS in Matroska
NEW : Open root BD movie from command line & shell context menu
NEW : OSD messages added when switching audio stream or subtitles
NEW : OSD on Jump Forward/Backward (keyframe)
NEW : OSD when open DVD/BD
NEW : OSD for jump to chapter in file
NEW : Detect system UI language and set interface language at first run
NEW : Full ICC color management (Little CMS v2.1a library added)
NEW : Full floating point processing (FP16 temporary textures)
NEW : High-quality dithering (color management, full floating point
processing, 10-bit -> 8-bit)
NEW : Option to force 10-bit EVR mixer input (probably hackish,
but in many cases it seems to work)
NEW : Added MediaInfoLib (v0.7.35) (no need for MediaInfo.dll anymore)
NEW : Added support for MPEG-2_VLD DXVA for Intel G31/33
(and maybe other Intel) chipset
CHANGED: Updated UnrarDll. It is now possible to use the 64bit UnrarDll
with the 64bit MPC-HC
CHANGED: Updated Detours to v2.1 build 216
CHANGED: Updated Bento4 to v1.2.3.0
CHANGED: Updated libpng to v1.4.3
CHANGED: Updated SoundTouch to v1.5.0
CHANGED: Updated zlib to v1.2.5
CHANGED: Updated LibOgg to v1.2.0
CHANGED: Updated LibVorbis to v1.3.1
CHANGED: Updated PNGDIB to v3.1.0
CHANGED: Updated sizecbar to v2.45
CHANGED: Better support for madVR
CHANGED: Updated Hungarian, Russian, Polish, Slovak, Portuguese, Ukrainian,
Spanish, Swedish, Czech, Traditional Chinese, German, Italian, Turkish
and Hungarian translations
CHANGED: Updated FFmpeg
CHANGED: Updated installer script
CHANGED: “DirectShow Audio” label on playback->output now says “Audio Renderer”
CHANGED: Ticket #27: Allow screensaver to activate when audio only
(sleep is still stopped)
CHANGED: Add open file to Recent Document only if “Keep history of recently
opened files” is checked
CHANGED: Select and change resolution for selected fullscreen monitor
CHANGED: Improve options for fullscreen monitor and resolution
CHANGED: Open DVD root folder (include VIDEO_TS) from explorer context menu
CHANGED: Many internal code improvements for more stability
CHANGED: Improved playlist
CHANGED: Improved subtitle handling
CHANGED: Rewritten DVXA check for better readability
CHANGED: Disabled internal H.264 (AVC) decoder for interlaced files
(bad supported by FFmpeg)
CHANGED: Show filename in OSD at open, instead “Pause/Play”
CHANGED: Add ‘x64’ suffix in Title and in the About dialog for the x64 build
CHANGED: OSD file name at open show delay up to 3 sec.
CHANGED: Core rendering code in the DX9AllocatorPresenter class is moved
to a new class: DX9RenderingEngine
CHANGED: “10 bit RGB” option changed to “10-bit RGB Output”, does not affect
internal processing anymore
CHANGED: Removed unnecessary temporary texture allocations
CHANGED: Removed old player logos and added a new one
FIXED : Name of MPC-HC in title bar (Bug #2826963)
FIXED : Web interface status.html not showing status/media state when
Status bar is turned off (Bug #2025675)
FIXED : Ticket #12, crash/hang after standby, hibernate, UAC or CTRL+ALT+DEL
FIXED : Ticket #74, [MP4] AAC sound stops playing
FIXED : Ticket #116, issue with some MPEG (mono) audio playback
FIXED : Ticket #120, Inner PCM inside QT .mov is supported now
FIXED : Ticket #150, issue with playback AMR sound
FIXED : Ticket #161 and #414, “no audio capture device”
FIXED : Ticket #163, Crash with RealMedia
FIXED : Ticket #237, DVB channels are all saved as number 0 when tuning
FIXED : Ticket #242, No PCM sowt audio in MOV
FIXED : Ticket #258, speaker configuration in Audio Switcher isn’t stored
FIXED : Ticket #281, [CAPTURE] No video decoding when capturing from DVB-T
card with internal MPEG2 DVXA Decoder enabled
FIXED : Ticket #282, Auto-zoom function problem
FIXED : Ticket #295, SSA/ASS and other save subtitle formats problem
FIXED : Ticket #300, Regression when hiding Caption and Menubar
FIXED : Ticket #333, Missing tracks when playing a TS file
FIXED : Ticket #363, #563, Can’t open some mp3
FIXED : Ticket #385, no chapters with MP4Splitter
FIXED : Ticket #455, Bug with PGS subtitles
FIXED : Ticket #456, Problem with auto-loading subtitles fixed
FIXED : Ticket #465, MPEG/TS splitter can’t recognize some video track
FIXED : Ticket #477, Internal audio switcher
FIXED : Ticket #489, MPC-HC API improvements
FIXED : Ticket #502, Problem with D3D9Ex
FIXED : Ticket #513, .rmvb interlaced decoding
FIXED : Ticket #511, Subtitle renderer crash fixed
FIXED : Ticket #528, Unable to scan for dvb-t
FIXED : Ticket #536, [MKV] Default values of the specification should be
strictly followed
FIXED : Ticket #576, Next AR Preset Issue
FIXED : Ticket #578, VSFilter crash fix with certain malformed drawing lines
FIXED : Ticket #599, ignores /audiorender option
FIXED : Ticket #601, BD movie length detect wrong
FIXED : Ticket #660, Pressing left arrow under Options->Logo causes right
arrow to disappear
FIXED : Ticket #661, Ctrl+C / File->Close form size discrepancy
FIXED : Ticket #672, DVB-T – image problems after changing from tv channel
to radio & back
FIXED : Ticket #677, Wrong colors using Color Management
FIXED : Ticket #679, add color management status in EVR CP graph settings
FIXED : Ticket #680, “Don’t hide controls in full screen” does not work
unless you move the mouse
FIXED : Ticket #694, DLL preloading vulnerability
FIXED : Ticket #696, [GUI] use options dialog causes main window elements
to disappear
FIXED : Ticket #714, MPEG2 detected as H264
FIXED : Opening multiple files via Explorer context menu
FIXED : Memory leak in libavcodec
FIXED : Memory leak in DXVA decoder
FIXED : Playback of some broken avi files
FIXED : Fix VCD playback
FIXED : Better detection of “Used For Reference Flags” (fixes some broken
DXVA samples)
FIXED : Screensaver activating during video playback on XP
FIXED : Audio language detection for HDMV (broken by seamless playback feature)
FIXED : Bug with prevent sleep mode
FIXED : Bug in “Open File” dialog & “Add to Playlist” checked
FIXED : Default (center) window position after file close
FIXED : Issue with a switch to fullscreen mode
FIXED : FavoriteAdd dialog
FIXED : Possible buffer overflows
FIXED : Bug with launch in fullscreen
FIXED : Incorrect decoding with MPEG-2 bitstream decoder on video with
alternative scan
FIXED : Seeking problem with MPEG files
FIXED : Don’t show OSD message when auto play is disabled
FIXED : Checking for duplicates in display modes
FIXED : Correct state when done playback (rewind fix)
FIXED : Incorrect minimal window height calculation when caption is on
FIXED : Search in dir function
FIXED : Play video from network share
FIXED : Incorrect position (desktop) after fullscreen when playing multiple
files on multi-monitor systems
FIXED : Playback issue for some H.264 media files captured from digital cameras
FIXED : Various DVB-T fixes
FIXED : DXVA regression: black video with some files
FIXED : Crash in Matroska splitter with unknown streams
FIXED : OSD shown wrong (previous) audio stream on change
FIXED : Improved DVD resume
FIXED : Crash with some VOB subtitles
FIXED : Undetected H.264 video streams in MPEG splitter
FIXED : Incorrect identification of the video stream in MPEG splitter
(H.264 instead of MPEG-2)
FIXED : Logical/numeric sorting in Playlist, “Play next in the folder”
FIXED : OSD on open BD
FIXED : MPEGSplitter – could not read some MPEG files
FIXED : Crashes with MSVC2010 builds
FIXED : The EVR mixer output media subtype matches the surface format
(as a consequence, it’s always RGB)
FIXED : Incorrect lenght detection of MPEG, DVD (.ifo)

Rumblings of the Week – Sep 7

A somewhat uneventful week

• Nothing better then having a portable Media Browser. I had to work Monday (Labor Day) but since it was quiet I loaded up my laptop with movies, connected it to my TV at work via the HDMI output, and before you knew it I had Media Browser running at work!
• Unless you were in a coma the AppleTV 2 was announced. Overall I found it to be quite a snoozer, and just another media player that half asses it instead of bringing a full all-in-one solution that many of us are looking for. Now I do recognize that no one does a better job at convincing people to buy things they don’t need then Apple, so I expect the ATV to sell well. The question though, is there enough there to convince people who have not bought into the whole Apple ecosystem to dive in and add another box to their household
• Speaking of Apple, the one piece of news that I thought could have a bigger impact was their announcement of AirPlay. If you start to see manufacturers incorporate AirPlay into their equipment then this could mean big trouble for Logitech and Sonos. I am all for competition, the only thing I can hope is that AirPlay does not become the de facto standard.
• HDI Dune has been very active of late. Aside from the Smart line and the “slightly” expensive Pro, they have also announced the Dune Lite. There is still some confusion over the features/specs, so hard to form an opinion yet
• My son’s 1st birthday was this weekend. We got him a Mickey Mouse cake which it turns out the frosting turned everyones poop Hulk Green!!!

HDI Dune Announced Dune Pro, Serious Buyers Only Wanted!

It has been several weeks since HDI Dune announced their new lineup of media players. Not being content to rest on their laurels HDI Dune has just announced the Dune Pro, with an expected cost somewhere in the $2,000. You can guess based on the price this player is being marketed to a very select group of High End Media enthusiasts. I seriously doubt I will get my hands on one of these to review, so all opinions will just have to be based on the specs.

Hi-End Features

• Hi-End power supply: high-performance
  

  large toroidal power transformer ensures a low level of interference in the power supply section and prevents possible distortions in the analog audio output, making the sound more clear and transparent, making music images articulated, precise and focused, and making the video more vivid and intense.

• Hi-End audio outputs: the highest quality balanced XLR stereo outputs as well as the analog 7.1 multichannel RCA outputs, served by a high performance stereo DAC WM8741 from Wolfson Microelectronics (supports from
  

  16 to 32 bits and sampling rates up to 192 kHz).

• Balanced AES/EBU digital output: AES/EBU supporting PCM-encoded audio at 48 kHz or CD-audio at 44.1 kHz can be used to deliver digital stereo sound of the highest quality.
• High-quality music playback: play very high-quality (up to 192 Khz / 24-bit) music files in various formats (FLAC, Monkey’s Audio APE, WAV/PCM, DTS, etc).
• Big weight: big weight of the chassis and solid
  

  body provides a low vibration level of the optical disc in the drive as well as the internal HDD, minimizing the level of the disc tremor, and allowing to read data with higher accuracy.

• IR input: get more flexibility for player installation (connect an external IR eye) or connect the player to external control platforms.
• RS-232 control port and 12V trigger input: even more flexibility for integration of the player with external control platforms
  

  .

• PURE AUDIO button on the front panel: listen to the music directly, with video output electronics disabled, that helps to get even better audio quality.
• DIMMER button on the front panel: control the brightness of the built-in display or turn it off completely.
• Detachable 19″ rack brackets: put the
  

  player into a standard rack mount.

Media Player Features

• The newest Sigma Designs 8642 media processor: enjoy excellent playback and performance of interactive features.
  

• Blu-ray and DVD player: play Blu-rays and DVDs (plus Audio CD and data discs with video/music/photo files).
• HDD player: connect an HDD to the player and play content directly from the HDD.
• Network player: connect the player to a local network and play content directly from PC or NAS (UPnP, SMB, NFS).
• MKV player: play HD and SD video in a pop
  

  ular MKV format and other modern video file formats, including top quality HD video with very high bitrate.

• RealD: watch 3D video in this ultra modern format used in cinema for the latest movies.
• HD audio: enjoy top-quality audio tracks (Dolby True HD, DTS HD Master Audio, LPCM, FLAC).
• 4 USB ports: conveniently connect HDDs, USB flash drives, USB card readers and other USB storage devices.
• HDD rack with hot swap function: easily
  

  and quickly insert and exchange internal 3.5″ SATA HDD.

• SD card slot: easily play media files on SD memory cards from your camera or other devices, or use an SD memory card as a local or system storage (required for BD Live function).
• HDMI 1.3: ensure the best possible quality of HD video and HD audio.
• A rich set of standard A/V connectors: use S/PDIF optical audio, stereo audio, component video, composite video outputs t
  

  o easily connect any A/V equipment.

• Extended support for Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio: output bitstream (up to 7.1 channels) or decode (up to 7.1 channels) for maximum flexibility when connecting audio equipment, and for extended support of advanced playback features (such as Picture-in-Picture).
• High-quality music playback: play ver
  

  y high-quality (up to 192 Khz / 24-bit) music files in various formats (FLAC, Monkey’s Audio APE, WAV/PCM, DTS, etc).

• Playlists: build playlists from your folders, use your own playlists, use repeat and shuffle functions.
• Video output flexibility: output video in any resolution and format (from SD to 1080p, 24p/PAL/NTSC).
• Upscaling: high quality upscaling of DVD and any other SD video content to Full HD (1080p) or other HD resolution.
• File browser: convenient file browser with
  

  powerful file management (copy, move, delete, rename, organize, sort).

Extra Functions

• NAS function: access files on storage device
  

  s (HDD, optical drive, etc) attached to the player from the local network (using SMB or FTP).

• BitTorrent: use built-in BitTorrent client to download files from P2P networks.
• Customizable user interface: work with media collections using cover art and icon browsing (with Full HD graphics).
• Flash applications: extend the player functionality with FlashLite applications.
• Internet radio: playback and record various
  

  Internet radio stations (HTTP/MP3).

• IPTV: playback and record IPTV streams (multicast UDP/RTP) from your Internet provider (check availability of multicast UDP/RTP streams with your Internet provider).
• Digital TV option: playback and record Digital TV channels using an optional Digital TV USB dongle (Digital TV USB dongle is not
  

  included; this option can be purchased separately).

• Internet browsing: view Internet Web sites on your TV using the built-in Web browser (built-in Web browser has limitations and may not allow to view some Internet Web sites).

Specification

• Processor: Sigma Designs 8642
• RAM: 512 MB
• Flash memory: 512 MB, expandable with a HDD partition, USB flash drive, or SD card (2GB recommended)
• Media sources: internal HDD (SATA 3.5″)
  

  , built-in Blu-ray drive, external HDD (USB), external optical drive (USB), USB devices (USB flash drive, USB card reader, etc), built-in SD card reader (SD/SDHC), PC and NAS in local network (SMB, NFS, UPnP, HTTP), other Internet and local network media sources (HTTP, multicast UDP/RTP)

• Video codecs: MPEG2, MPEG4, XVID, WMV9, VC1, H.264; support for very high bitrate video (up to 50 MBit/s and higher)
• Video file formats: MKV, MPEG-TS, MPE
  

  G-PS, M2TS, VOB, AVI, MOV, MP4, QT, ASF, WMV, Blu-ray-ISO, BDMV, DVD-ISO, VIDEO_TS

• Optical disc formats: data discs (CD/DVD/BD) (MP3, JPEG, etc), Audio CD (PCM/DTS), DVD-Video (retail and user-authored discs), Blu-ray (retail and user-authored discs)
• Blu-ray playback: Blu-ray menu, BD-J, BonusView, BD-Live – for both Blu-ray discs (retail and user-authored) and full Blu-ray str
  

  uctures (Blu-ray-ISO, BDMV) played from HDD and network

• Video output modes: wide range of supported output resolutions (up to 1080p) and framerates (including 23.976p, 24p, PAL, NTSC)
• Video output framerate: automatic (according to the played content) and manual
• Audio codecs: AC3 (Dolby Digital), DTS, MPEG, AAC, LPCM, WMA, WMAPro, EAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus), Dolby True HD, DTS HD High Resolution Audio, DTS HD Master Audio, FLAC, multichannel FLAC, Ogg/Vorbis
  

  ; support for very high quality audio (up to 192 kHz / 24-bit)

• Audio file formats: MP3, MPA, M4A, WMA, FLAC, APE (Monkey’s Audio), Ogg/Vorbis, WAV, DTS-WAV, DTS, AC3, AAC
• HD audio support: pass-through (up to 7.1 channels) and decoding (up to 7.1 channels) of Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MA audiotracks (Blu-ray, TS, MKV), pass-through (up to 7.1 channels) of multichannel LPCM audio
  

  tracks (Blu-ray, TS, MKV), decoding (up to 7.1 channels) of FLAC audiotracks (MKV, external)

• Subtitle formats: SRT (external), SUB (MicroDVD) (external), text (MKV), SSA/ASS (MKV, external), VobSub (MP4, MKV, external SUB/IDX), PGS (Blu-ray, TS, MKV)
• Picture file formats: JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF
• Playlist file formats: M3U, PLS
• Photo viewer functions: slideshow, transition effects, picture rotation, zoom, browse playlist, repeat, shuffle
  

• Audio playback functions: browse playlist, repeat, shuffle, ID3 tags, plasma TV burn-in prevention
• Filesystems: FAT16/FAT32 (read-write), EXT2/EXT3 (read-write), NTFS (read-write)
• Ethernet: 10/100 Mbit (with 1000 Mbit/s experimental support) ^*
• WiFi: optional 802.11n WiFi (via an external USB WiFi stick, not included, D-Link DWA-140 recommended)
  

• Dune Network Playback Accelerator: special optimizations ensuring best-in-class network playback performance for the Sigma Designs 864x platform and enabling smooth playback of any supported kind of media content via any network protocol (including NFS and SMB) even in 100 Mbit/s Ethernet
  

  networks.

HDI Dune Home

HDI Dune Home technology taps into the value of the home network to allow users to control and manage all connected devices over a unified interface. In the case of HDI Dune Pro, this interface is presented on the television and accessed using the supplied remote control and a simple setup wizard. The following service capabilities are standard:

Monitoring
The HDI Dune Home Monitoring service lets users monitor and manage IP cameras with the capability to stream live video, record it to local and remote storage, manage camera streaming options, share IP cameras and recordings, in addition to basic functionality such as playback, fast forward, tagging, and archiving to a hard drive. This service provides users with home security when they are on vacation, at work, or away.
Control
The HDI Dune Home Control service lets users control lights, appliances, HVAC systems & thermostats, motion detectors, door locks, and a variety of other home devices compatible with supported standards.
Mobile
The HDI Dune Home Mobile user interfaces let users enjoy the full spectrum of Connected Home Services from their smart phone. Alerts and notifications promptly alert users to events in their home and are available on any mobile phone with SMS capability.

XBMC – Dharma Beta 1 Released To The Public

The next release of XBMC, codename Dharma, has finally been released to the public. This is a beta/pre release, so keep in mind there may be bugs and/or instabilities. You can read more details here and download the pre release here.

GUI:

• Improved XBMC GUI Skinning Framework / Engine making it even more flexible and powerful
• Improved mouse support, added better exclusive control support for dragging of sliders/scroll bars
• Improved mouse click handling and added the possibility of long verses short clicks detection

Addons Manager

• Unified addon framework.
• Addon Browser GUI that will allow for an easy way to find, install, and manage third-party addons

Playback:

• Added Broadcom Crystal HD PCIe/Mini-PCIe hardware accelerated video decoders support
• Added support for unencrypted Blu-ray Disc playback (via libbluray and libbdnav) without menus
• Added Blu-ray Disc detection for external players (map external player in playercorefactory.xml)
• Added raw bitstream pass-through support for MP1, MP2, MP3, and AAC encoded audio tracks
• Added a real-time ATSC A/52 encoder for on-the-fly Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC-3) transcoded output
• Added support for 5.1 Multi-Channel Analog Output (discrete 6-channel PCM output)
• Added High-Quality Lanczos Upscalers (Video Resamplers) as OpenGL GLSL Shaders
• Added support for embedded Blu-ray/AVCHD PGS subtitles in MKV (Matroska) video containers
• Added support to use MKV (Matroska) embedded descriptions for audio and subtitle tracks
• Added support for unsorted subtitles (ass/ssa, srt, smi)
• Added support for multiple language sami subtitle
• Added “Wide Zoom” video mode option, a combination zoom, cropping, and non-linear stretching
• Added “Stretch 14×9” video mode option, a combination of zoom, cropping, and linear stretching
• Added “Stretch 16×9” video mode option, a combination of zoom, cropping, and linear stretching
• Upgraded FFmpeg (libavformat and libavcodec) audio/video codec and demux library
• Improved Dream Multimedia Dreambox Enigma2 bouquets support in the TuxBox Client
• Improved audio channel matrix mapping, audio channels downmixing, and upmixing support

Library:

• Added FanArt image cache height-value size option to advancedsettings.xml (defaults to 480)
• Added initial support for MySQL as abstracted database backend for video and music libraries
• Added improved portability of SQL statements used in the video and music libraries
• Improved performance for SQL database queries ( help is always wanted here!)

Scrapers:

• Added dtrailer.com movie trailers scraping to TheMovieDB.org and IMDb scrapers
• Added new 1ting (Chinese) music scraper
• Added new 7176 (Chinese) movie scraper
• Added new getlib (Chinese) movie scraper
• Added new m1905 (Chinese) movie scraper
• Added new daum (Korean) TV Shows scraper
• Added new daum (Korean) music scraper
• Added new filmbasen (Norwegian) movie scraper
• Added new moviemeter (Dutch) movie scraper
• Added new videobuster (German) movie scraper
• Added new kino (German) movie scraper
• Added new TLAraw.com (English) adult movies scraper
• Improved ofdb (German) movie scraper by adding themoviedb.org posters scraping
• Improved TheTVDB (Multi-Lingual) TV Shows and Episode scraper
• Removed Discogs (English) music scraper due to them blocking XBMC
• Removed imdb-cn (Chinese) movie scraper due to website closed

Skins:

• Confluence: Addon Browser specific window and icon to get to it in the settings GUI
• Confluence: Added button for Subtitle Downloads to Video OSD (add script path in settings)
• Confluence: Added browsing for subtitles in full screen video overlay

Other:

• Added JSON-RPC and JSON API over HTTP and Sockets for bidirectional communication
• Added microhttpd Web Server (and removed the old GoAhead and Spyce code) for HTTP API
  *
• Added HTTP authentication methods any, anysafe, digest, and ntlm (via cURL libcurl)
• Added SSH file transfer protocol (sftp) via libssh
• Added support for MD5 passwords in GUIEditControl
• Added doxygen resources for generating source code documentation
• Added the ability to turn off LCD/VFD backlight while screensaving to advancedsettings.xml
• Improved XBMC’s integrated DLNA / UPnP MediaServer and Client compatibility
• Improved last.fm and libre.fm passwords storage with MD5, requires user to input password again

Live Specific:

• Base XBMC Live on a stripped Ubuntu Desktop 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) Linux Distribution
• Added support for GRUB 2 based images
• Updated NVIDIA and ATI binary graphics device drivers

Linux Specific:

• Added out-of-the-box support for Antec’s VERIS family RM200 / Antec Fusion Remote Control
• Improved VDPAU (NVIDIA) Hardware Video Acceleration and its upscaling/deinterlacing capabilities
• Improved AMD/Intel x86-64 64-bit (AMD64 / IA-64t CPU architectures) support

Windows Specific:

• Added initial native DXVA2 (DirectX Video Acceleration) support for H.264, VC-1, and WMV9
• Added support for WASAPI (Windows Audio Session API) for raw bitstream output
• Added High-Quality Bicubic and Lanczos Upscalers (Video Resamplers) as Direct3D HLSL
• Added Direct3D port of the OpenGL Spectrum 3D Audio Visualization for DirectX
• Improved support for Microsoft’s DirectX, Direct3D, and DirectSound APIs for Windows

Mac OS X Specific:

• Added OSX H.264 Acceleration
• Improved the PowerPC (PPC CPU architecture) support
• Removed PortAudio now that we use Core Audio

Apple TV Specific:

Added support for Apple TV OS 3.0.2

Rumblings of the Week – Aug 30

– I own an HP Networked Printer (Officejet J6480). For some mysterious reason this weekend the printer no longer shows up on any of my PCs. This printer has been hit or miss for me, I will not be a happy camper if I find out is it broken in less then a year with minimal use…

– Just received the Xtreamer Pro to replace my troubled Xtreamer Sidewinder. It is much smaller then I expected. Look for my review in the coming weeks.

– I actually got up before work and went for a walk to get some morning cardio in. I then proceeded to eat a slice of chocolate cake for breakfast!

– Took the wife to see Avatar in IMAX this weekend. She had seen it already, but only on BluRay. Her exact words once the movie was over, “That was awesome.”

– I was able to catch two movies this week. Clash Of The Titans was entertaining. It is just one of those movies where you have to keep your expectations in check. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I have mixed feelings. When it first started I thought it had promise, but as the storyline progressed I found it just became cheesy and too “teenie”. I have never read the books but from reading reviews the movie was a far departure from the books. My wife’s family is visiting until next weekend so I am going to try and squeeze in as many movies as possible until them while I have more hands on board to watch the kids.

– At some point I want to get a new TV for my bedroom. There are a lot of deals for the 3D TV / 3D BluRay player / 3D glasses. I am not sure if it is worth it?

Using BluRip To Rip To MKVs

As usual I also enjoy testing out various software application, always looking for the latest and greatest. I just recently came across a tool called BluRip, which takes your Blu Rays (must be unencrypted) and throws into an mkv. What is different about this program versus MakeMKV, Ripbot264, or other is that with BluRip you can encode, rip as lossless, or do a combination. One feature in particular that I like is that you can keep the native PGS subtitles as well as create a secondary AC3 audio track. This is the only program I have come across that can do both of these with having to involve multiple programs (MakeMKV can do this to an extent if the HD Audio track is TrueHD). Another benefit, you can set to disable header compression (read more about it here) once and not have to worry about it again. BluRip is definitely a little intimidating at first, but I think it is designed for both the novice and power user. I spent some time documenting how to use BluRip, so if interested you can see my guide here:

BluRip Guide

On a side note, you may be asking how I determine what I post here versus MediaSmartServer. Basically I have found blogspot (which this Blog runs on) to be absolutely horrible when it comes to managing guides, especially inserting pictures and formatting. With MediaSmartServer we use WordPress which I find much more flexible and powerful, so I save all the “beefy” guides/writeups for that site.

NFL Sunday Ticket, Without Being a DirecTV Customer!

Dave Zatz at ZatzNotFunny just reported that DirecTV is now offering the Sunday NFL Ticket to everyone (including non DirecTV customers). This is great news as I am a Denver Broncos fan living in New York. Since I am not a DirecTV customer the only time I get a chance to watch Denver games is when they are nationally televised. The NFL Sunday Ticket may be the answer (You can get every game, every Sunday — LIVE on your computer, iPad or phone), but unfortunately it comes at a steep price of $350. You can read up on full details of the DirecTV offering here. Now I just need to have a talk with myself and decide if it is worth spending the money…

Xtreamer 2.4.0 Out Of Beta

I have been running the 2.4 RC3 beta firmware for the Xtreamer and unfortunately have not had much success with it (unable to bitstream HD Audio, PQ issues, etc…). Looks like the firmware has just moved from beta status to official, so I am hoping this will fix the issues I encountered. I should hopefully know for sure later tonight when I get home from work.

Ver 2.4 New Features

(1) Subtitle Browser – You will be able to find this new option on the subtitle popup screen. It will allow you to select an external subtitle file on any location on your HDD. It will absolve you from the need to rename the subtitle to the same name as the movie file name and will free you from the need to place the subtitles on the same folder of the movie

(2) HD Audio Passthrough – (For Xtreamer Pro and Sidewinder models only ) This version introduces the long anticipated 7.1 Audio Passthrough to DTS-Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus.

(3) Off Timer – The requested function which will allow you to set a time in which the device will be turned off was added. Search for it on the Settings -> System menu. You will have a choice now to set the time between 30-120 minutes

(4) NTP Client – The device was supplemented to adjust itself to a network time server. This will become handy once we will introduce you in the near future the “Recently added files” which will use the device time as reference point

(5) Recently Watched Movies – This Function was added to the media library. you will see this option once you will go into the media library initial screen. press [1] on the remote control will display a popup screen with the list of the last 10 movies played on the device. You will have an option to remove items from the list as well.

(6) Online Download & update mechanisms for Xtreamer live + Jukebox – This release introduced the ability to download the Xtreamer Live and the Community Jukebox directly from our server provided that you agree to the terms outlined on the opening screen.
This function will also allow users to perform online updates as they are made available by the community

(7) Restricted Adult Content Section – The XXX Adult Content section on the Xteramer live will be automatically protected by the system default password . (0000) . The password is based on the ‘Folder Lock’ password and can be updated on the Settings page

(8) Hebrew TV GUI – was retranslated entirely so as to introduce a more localized experience to the various sections

(9) Auto creation of swap file – A default (64MB) swap file will be created while entering the Movie Jukebox to improve performance

(10) File Manager Improvements – We added enhanced functionality to the File manager function (New folder, Rename, Copy/Move, Delete) for network shares

(11) Password Protected Shares – We introduced in this firmware the ability to use a Username/Password option to log into protected network shares

(12) Improved Audio Streaming – We dramatically improved / enhanced the .mms support so as to allow you greater compatibility and stability with mms audio streams. This opens the way for you to add the majority of mms audio streams of your favorite radio stations. We also added the ability to use both “mms://” and “mmsh://” protocols

(13) Video Format Support – We can now stream AVI & WMV3 video streams which allows the addition of many thousands of active streams and supports more services for developers and users to use to enhance the online streaming experience

(14) RTSP Streaming Format – We added “rtsp” protocol support for Internet section.

(15) We Modified the parser code for SMI file.

(16) RSS Local Movie Playback Improved – You can use all functions of “Media library” playback via the Internet section – allowing you to customise the way you display and play your movie collection

(17) SQLite version 3.5.4 and PHP-5.3.2 – Were added to the device system core

(18) Network Shares support via Xtreamer Web Server

o Listing all network shares
o Auto mount while click
o Play network media files using web media player
o Play network media files/folder directly on TV by clicking “Play” icon
o Download network shared files from Xtreamer web server
o Upload file to network shares
o File functions (New folder, Rename, Copy/Move, Delete) for network shares
o Zip/Archive option for network shares
o Direct file link for network share files

(19) Play files and folders remotely via WEB UI – Screen shot in web rc,rc2

(20) HDMI Compatibility Improved – New settings available

(21) Subtitle Lock – We added the ability to display lock folder password on subtitle browser.

(22) Firmware Download system from internet – We added the ability to allow you to check for available updates from the internet and perform download and updates once your device is connected to the internet.

(23) HD audio support in MKV container – We added the ability to play DTS-HD up to 7.1 CH on mkv container. This function is applicable to XT pro and XT sidewinder only.

(24) Disk Spindown – Your device will become more quite, cooler and HDD life expectancy will increase. You will be able to set the HDD to turn off if idle after 10 min.

(25) Youtube HD Support. The new VP6 On2Media coded allow users now to enjoy their youtube and Flash FLV content on HD .

(26) YouTube user account login in support – now you can login to your Youtune account and browse and play your “Uploaded”, “Favorites” and your Youtube “Plyalists”

(27) Music playback during slideshows – we added Music Control box that allows you to choose background music from any folder as well as an ability to play music while watching slideshows from the Internet.

Full information can be found here.