New Kid on the Block: Popcorn Hour Network Media Player

[insomia]

guys, check this out

 

http://www.popcornhour.com/

 

just launch today... retailing for US$179!!

 

competitor for the 4100SH??

 

Media files supported

 

Video containers:

MPEG1/2/4 Elementary (M1V, M2V, M4V)

MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG)

MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, M2TS, MTS)

VOB

AVI, ASF, WMV

Matroska (MKV)

MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4

Video codecs:

XVID SD/HD

MPEG-1

MPEG-2

MP@HL

MPEG-4.2

ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC

WMV9

MP@HL

H.264

BP@L3

MP@L4.0

HP@L4.0

HP@L4.1

VC-1

MP@HL

AP@L3

Audio containers:

AAC, M4A

MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA)

WAV

WMA

Audio codecs:

WMA, WMA Pro

AAC

MP1, MP2, MP3

LPCM

Audio pass through : DTS, AC3

Photo formats : JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF

Other formats:  ISO, IFO

Subtitle formats : SRT, SMI, SUB, SSA

DRM

 

Cardea DRM (WMDRM-ND)

Chipset

 

Sigma Designs SMP8635

Memory

 

256MB DDR SDRAM, 32MB Flash

Audio/Video outputs

 

HDMI v1.1 (up to 1080p)

Component Video (up to 1080p)

Composite Video

Stereo Analog Audio

S/PDIF Coax Digital Audio

[Doggie Howser]

FWIW, it's not just the price or even the chipset.

 

I was using the HD Mediabox. Same chipset as TVIX's 5000/4000 series, but it wasn't as stable (until latest firmware release) and wasn't as well featured (until latest firmware release again).

 

The level of support on TVIX has been phenomenal. They implement fixes and new features much more regularly than the guys at PixelMagicSystems (and PMS are the guys responsible for Crystallio!!)

 

And I am speaking as a non TVIX owner!

 

If I had to buy a new HD decoder box soon too, I'd still stick with TVIX.

 

 

[insomia]

this is a fairly new product, in fact its not even out of production. it is still too early to comment on their support level..

 

but at least its priced way lower than other manufacturer which helps to put a little pressure to the rest of the big guys to revise

their prices if any

 

guys at mppclub is rather excited over this as well... i may order it once it becomes available...

[Doggie Howser]

this is a fairly new product, in fact its not even out of production. it is still too early to comment on their support level..

 

but at least its priced way lower than other manufacturer which helps to put a little pressure to the rest of the big guys to revise

their prices if any

 

guys at mppclub is rather excited over this as well... i may order it once it becomes available...

 

All I am saying is better be sure you know what you are getting into.

 

At least TVIX folks have shown a constant upgrade path with their firmware.

 

And yeah, competition is always good.

 

 

[BobaFett]

All I am saying is better be sure you know what you are getting into.

 

At least TVIX folks have shown a constant upgrade path with their firmware.

 

And yeah, competition is always good.

 

 

 

Yup, this is so true. My TViX 4000 now can output 1080p via component cable.

[insomia]

great article from mppclub

 

Will it turn out to be a difference in pricing or serious differences in abilities? Who knows... A shock went thru the forums yesterday after one of our members launched the feedback from a distributor that the new DViCo TViX M-6500A might be priced at €800 upon release. With such serious price level, the PopCorn Hour, which is priced at only $179 in the US and expected in EU around €200 before the end of the year just like the TViX M-6500A, there clearly seems to be differences between both units though it is unclear to date why the high difference in pricing. Though DViCo could not confirm pricing information yet considering the product is still in development, it did confirm the newer models will be more expensive than the current M-4100SH but nowhere near double that price so we already threw €800 off the table. That would at least mean that pricing will be starting from €400 and up... So what will the difference be justifying such price?

 

for full article, visit http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=373&mode=&order=0&thold=0

[insomia]

somemore new information. extracted from http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=376

 

PopCorn Hour A-100 and A-100e

The first model launched from online Web Site holding a US connection board. Launch is expected by the end of October. Soon followed by A-100e (EU connection board with SCART) around middle November, this version will be available at request from resellers. (We already have a couple lined up who are interested.) Difference is thus only the AV board. The US version is compatible in firmware and most likely can be purchased directly as well from EU countries.

 

What not to expect!

With these models, unlike some messages before, there will be no USB slave version because of the EXT3 format of the hard drive. Syabas is looking at allowing high speed copy between USB host and internal hdd. This would remain inconvenient where first filling up an external hdd is necessary to migrate the content to the internal hdd. Although some might say "so what", first you need to have a USB hdd available (or purchase one and spend extra, which is exactly the benefit off a media player / hdd in one model) and to avoid the extra copying to external hdd you can use the external hdd as your video source which leads to extra cabling and power consumption, slower load times etc... So what! :-) (We had still preferred USB Slave combined with Windows mounting software solutions)

 

 

PopCorn A-100n

This model will carry a Wireless 802.11N dual frequency (2.5G and 5G). Expected availability is middle of December 2007. So far, no decision has been made to develop the A-100en (eu) version at request of the resellers but it is no unlikely that model will see the light eventually.

 

 

Drawing board for 2008

PopCorn Hour will continue releasing models in 2008 of which one is already certain to hold SATA hdd (ide to SATA bridge). One issue not decided upon yet is rather to support HDMI 1.3 or not (we advised they do support HDMI 1.3 for the advanced sound options like DD+ and True-HD and PoPCorn said they are looking at adding it and see what extra cost this would bring to the unit (licensing)). Release date targeted for this model will be "early 2008".

 

 

So, that about sums it up and gives you an idea of the roadmap for the following months which you should keep in mind to make a healthy purchase decision. Hope it clear up the differences for some visitors at least as it did for me...

[insomia]

i also managed to confirm with popcornhour sales team that they will be able to ship to Singapore via online purchase..

 

the unit is retailing at US179.. (S$268) without hdd, cost of shipping is unknown at this time..

 

i definately will jump to get it when it launch next week, well this is me... i am sure many fellow bros have reservation about support/upgrade etc... but hey.. its almost 50% cheaper than some of the network streamer available...

 

if we have enough interest here, i may be able to organize a MO to bring the shipping cost down and hopefully some more discount.. :)

 

cheers

[nawoo]

any reviews out for this thing yet? or is it all just fluff

[insomia]

nawoo, the product is not out yet... so too early to call it fluff...

 

there is a plenty of discussion over here if you like to find out more

 

http://www.networkedmediatank.com/

[imbest]

btw, i dun think it support Chinese subtitles right?

 

how about 1080p/24 support? output still 1080p/24?

 

okay, just found out the latest firmwares include 1080p (24Hz and 30Hz) support, er...same as 24fps ?

http://www.networkedmediatank.com/viewtopic.php?t=125

[insomia]

preliminary review is out.

 

http://www.mpcclub.com/banner_log.php?id=5049 

 

cheers

[ekardo]

count me in for MO if you guys are getting.. :)

[imbest]

ew, do you manage to get the popcorn in the next order? can tap along 1 order boh?

 

I am still deciding if I shall wait for the popcorn or just grab a limHD200i, double price of what popcorn is offering but with older chip :(

[insomia]

no luck yet, the unit is in serious backorder.. and i am hoping to get one order by end of Nov.

 

if you are patient enough, i understand that there will be a local distributor sometime in end Dec.

 

if you cant wait, just get what is available today... :)

 

cheers

[insomia]

yeehaa... just got my invitation email to order the a-100

 

lets hope i can get it by dec... can't wait to play all my media files with it instead of streaming over to my xbox

[imbest]

brother, in case you got it b4 sitex, mind testing the LG 50PC5R and 50PV70H for me? we go together lah, since you're also looking for 50" plasma. hehe...guess I can't get hold of it....

[insomia]

no problem... its very small and light... i can pack it with many "sample" mkv files... running at 1080p... :)

 

when is the sitex? hopefully it will arrive b4 that

[imbest]

thanks in advance menz!

 

SITEX is just for the pricing lah. We can go any big stores that's convenient for you hehe.....I have a few 1080p H.264 files like the transformers too :D also need to test out 720p and mov.

 

The good thing I like about popcornhour is the P2P services like access to sayaTV and also the webservices like youtube, etc. Although it doesn't have a VSF.....

 

actually I still a bit confused about the H.264 format and mkv container. H.264 is just a video codec, so can MKV contain the lossless audio like DD-TrueHD and DTS-HD? and can this 8635 player able to output the lossless audio track?

[insomia]

ok, i try to explain mkv container as much as possible.

 

if you have downloaded the mkv toolkit which contains the mkvextract tool, you will notice that usually you can find 2 different files, 1 x video and 1 x audio.. sometimes the subtitles may be mux together, so you will see 3 files.

 

so basically, mkv is a container where video/audio files are muxed together so that you can play them on PC/media server

 

as for lostless format, currently the a-100 support hdmi 1.1 which means DTS-HD is not going to be supported however it can downmix to normal DD or DTS

 

currently most available mkv files contains a_ac or ac3 sound format which are normally 6 channels, the sound format for HD DVD contains .eac file which they usually downmix to .ac3. unless you are ripping your own HD or BD.. you won't benefit much from it..

[imbest]

thanks dude. Think I am giving up on lossless track for the movies. But seems like popcorn hour is not supporting FLAC lossless music compression yet hehe....

[insomia]

yeah.. a-100 is still a very "baby" product, however the firmware support from syabas is pretty convincing... FLAC will be supported in the next firmware release.. :)

 

check out this thread

 

http://www.networkedmediatank.com/viewtopic.php?t=362&highlight=flac&sid=1c8d772cf62f2c6c6c7c612b5a0d2c51

 

those are the improvement/fix that are in the pipeline

[imbest]

but well, how fast they come out with the firmware is another thing lah. this kind of frustration happens in almost any HD player product.....

 

just curious, how can they retail the thing at such a low price? maybe the margin for Tvix is just too high lol! USD175....only.....

 

the bad thing is, even after heating up so much, they got supply chain problem lol! that really spoil the previous marketing effort menz....

[insomia]

maybe a-100 is like a cherry qq and tvico is like a bmw.. both are cars.. but one is so much higher.. = branding/luxury .. haha

 

well, good things are worth the wait.. at least now i get to order it and paying 1/2 than what other players are selling now

 

[imbest]

got friends in Shanghai tested it and said it's damn buggy, not sure how true it is.....but if I can't tong too long I will just grab a limHD200i lah, then we go down big store shunbian compare the Plasma together lah hehe....