64 replies to this topic

[hazzad]

Have been alooking about and am looking for a 3D capable media player. That is muct be able to support 3D iso images. I ve seen a few about but cant get an idea of how reliable they might be. Units such as the Xtreamer, Measy X5 and Himedia all seem to do the job on paper but does anyone have one that can comment on reliablity, etc.

[ajm]

Personally I would avoid Xtreamer after being stung by their first media player.  Loads of features promises but not delivered.  They seem to prefer to "fix" problems by moving onto building a newer hardware version.

[hazzad]

Yeah have heard the same. The Himedia  seems ok. ALso see Mediator has a few units out.So many out there just hard to tell what is decent and whats crap.

[com5984]

The himedia one looks pretty good.

[zeusau]

I have the Xtreamer Prodigy and that works just fine with 3d iso so far anyway

[cwt]

Not a lot of love for the 3d capable sigma chip compared with say dune hazzard but I would consider the micca ep950 or 600 if the similar himedia doesnt suit
They have been active with new firmware compared to others and you can post @ avs directly to jack@micca [ pretty rare access these days ] . Always good to see a presence  from the ce to pass on messages to the engineers Your choice of inbuilt hdd or cheaper external afaik depending on model..

http://www.avsforum....932/micca-ep950

There is a sbs 3d pixel offset issue atm but thats shared by the himedia too ; its up to realtek the chipmaker to fix that Theres also this 23.976 frame judder problem for 2d but this has been solved apparently;

http://www.avsforum....0#post_22237949

[com5984]

Wow a 53 page user manual all in english and easily understood, seems like i have found a new contender to replace my atv2

[hazzad]

cwt, on 20 August 2012 - 09:05 PM, said:

Not a lot of love for the 3d capable sigma chip compared with say dune hazzard but I would consider the micca ep950 or 600 if the similar himedia doesnt suit
They have been active with new firmware compared to others and you can post @ avs directly to jack@micca [ pretty rare access these days ] . Always good to see a presence  from the ce to pass on messages to the engineers Your choice of inbuilt hdd or cheaper external afaik depending on model..

Yeah already have a Dune Prime 3.0 which has been great but its lack of 3D iso support has led me to look elsewhere, PLus looks as if Sigma are nowhere near releasing something that can support 3D BD iso. So a realtek solution it is. 3D SBS isnt really a need for me as pretty much all my 3D content is in iso format. attached or internal storage also isnt a issue. I stream everything from the lan so just needs to be a yet capable unit that supports 3D iso. Anything else is jsut a bonus. It may end up replacing the Dune as it may go elsewhere. So Full HD MKV with hd audio support is also a must though id suspect that is the norm these days. Also would be good to have full BD iso playback, not just BD lite.

Any ideas if there is alocal seller for the Micca? They seem pretty similar to the Himedia. Anyone know what Himedia are like with firmware updates?

Edited by hazzad, 21 August 2012 - 10:13 AM.

[com5984]

I've just been looking and it seems ebay is the go, but postage $50 for the first and $25 for each extra one.

[cwt]

com5984, on 21 August 2012 - 10:43 AM, said:

I've just been looking and it seems ebay is the go, but postage $50 for the first and $25 for each extra one.

Thats a good option Rob ;have also seen adorama mentioned as amazon dont sell outside the states it looks like..its a bit cheaper without the hd

http://www.adorama.c...50.html#reviews
http://www.adorama.com/MCEP600G2.html
I would double check the framerate issues for 3d iso's though 24p are fine 23.976  are converted by the 950 to 24p ;the latest firmware lists these issues ;hopefully solved soon .. some users love the 3d iso whatever rate ;maybe system dependant ..

Quote

Some known issues or feature requests that this firmware does not address:
- There still is no fix for 23.976fps playback for 3D content, which remains being played back at 24fps. We continue to work on this.
- 16:9 DVD menus are displayed in 4:3 mode, even though main movie plays correctly.
- No support for forced subtitles.
- Auto time setting function does not work.
- Player does not remember alternate TTF subtitle font selection.
We hope to get the Samba host name issue fixed and release this new firmware very soon

.

Should have said realtek previously ;sigma still havent got a 1186 equivalent of course

Edited by cwt, 21 August 2012 - 07:48 PM.

[pjc]

Realtec had 23.976 issues from long way back. That's why I had to swap from Xtreamer > Dune.  It drove me crazy.

[hazzad]

What BD's arent 24p anyway? I thought pretty much all of them were? Assuming thats the case, would that issues cause much of the problem?

[cwt]

hazzad, on 21 August 2012 - 08:43 PM, said:

What BD's arent 24p anyway? I thought pretty much all of them were? Assuming thats the case, would that issues cause much of the problem?

Practically none hazzard but its easier to say 24 than 23.976 unfortunately Found this http://www.homecinem...reclock_en.html may help depending on your tv's refresh rate. pjc has a better idea how it comes across it looks ..

Quote

On Blu-ray there is also a problem but it is different. Blu-ray are mostly in 23.976fps it is slightly slower than the original film. The ratio of slowing down is 24/1001. The problem is that if your TV does not provide 24hz you will have to put on 50hz or 60hz and then your TV will duplicate some of the images to be synchronized with the audio. It make movie stutter. If you say, it's ok my TV support 24hz no problem but no the problem is certainly less visible but still there. Actually 23.976fps is not exactly 24hz so once again the movie stutters but this time much less. If your TV support 23.976hz there is no problem, the film not stutters but is not in its original format.

[com5984]

cwt, on 21 August 2012 - 07:38 PM, said:

Thats a good option Rob ;have also seen adorama mentioned as amazon dont sell outside the states it looks like..its a bit cheaper without the hd
http://www.adorama.c...50.html#reviews
http://www.adorama.com/MCEP600G2.html

Thanks Col, I'm thinking the 950 even though I won't put a hdd in it still better if I want to sell it later and update.

[com5984]

I've got a mate going to the states on monday so I might get him to grab one and send it back.

[cwt]

Its worth a go at the price Rob ; considering the price increase of the dunes lately

edit ; heres something from left field ;sigma has come good with a 3d capable chip for the dune players finally

Quote

Dune HD invites you to visit our stand at IFA 2012,
taking place on the 31 August - 5 September 2012
at Messe Berlin, Germany.

Following successful launches of new media players and hybrid set-top boxes at ANGA Cable in Cologne, Dune HD will be showcasing an extensive range of new products with even more features in ever-smaller form-factors:

TV-103D: compact and elegant media player with IPTV/VOD support and 3D capability
TV-403D: hybrid media player with IPTV/VOD support, twin-tuners (DVB), hard drive bay and 3D capability
Max 3D: media player with Blu-ray 3D support as well as full IPTV/VoD functionality
Dune HD Connect: world’s smallest Full HD media player in the format of HDMI dongle with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and Z-Wave option.

With rich feature sets including 3D video support and OpenGL hardware acceleration, Dune HD players offer the richest user experience for today’s exacting consumer of quality content.

The Dune HD product demonstrations will be on Stand No 137, hall 3.2.
For more information or to book a demo in person, please contact us. We look forward to seeing you there.

Edited by cwt, 25 August 2012 - 04:19 AM.

[com5984]

The max 3d looks good, couldn't find much about it other than what you have posted. I wonder what the time frame will be.

[cwt]

com5984, on 25 August 2012 - 12:50 PM, said:

The max 3d looks good, couldn't find much about it other than what you have posted. I wonder what the time frame will be.

Found this mate ;not too long ..
http://www.avforums....72-post149.html

edit ; maybe wait awhile for the big kahuna

http://www.avsforum....0#post_22340977

Edited by cwt, 25 August 2012 - 06:06 PM.

[com5984]

cwt, on 25 August 2012 - 06:02 PM, said:

Found this mate ;not too long ..
http://www.avforums....72-post149.html

Thanks Col, I'll keep an eye on them.

[theslydog]

hazzad, on 20 August 2012 - 12:46 PM, said:

Yeah have heard the same. The Himedia  seems ok. ALso see Mediator has a few units out.So many out there just hard to tell what is decent and whats crap.

I have a Himedia 900 and it plays fine from internal HD or USB but still has problems with streaming content. http://www.himedia.com.au/ have the 910B for $200 including shippling. They have just done a local firmware update so you can use it for Au catchup TV.  http://bbs.himedia.c...php?topic=701.0

[hazzad]

theslydog, on 26 August 2012 - 01:14 PM, said:

I have a Himedia 900 and it plays fine from internal HD or USB but still has problems with streaming content. http://www.himedia.com.au/ have the 910B for $200 including shippling. They have just done a local firmware update so you can use it for Au catchup TV.  http://bbs.himedia.c...php?topic=701.0

By streaming do you mean via SMB either froma NAS or from your computer? What sort of issues do you mean?

[cwt]

hazzad, on 27 August 2012 - 04:48 PM, said:

By streaming do you mean via SMB either froma NAS or from your computer? What sort of issues do you mean?

One issue would be the 24p frame skip I suspect hazzard; its ok if its from an internal hdd or usb it looks

http://www.avsforum....0#post_21758168

http://www.avsforum....0#post_22263351

[K1LL3M]

Dont know if you made a decision on this yet, but this Popcorn A-400 might be of interest

[com5984]

They're all coming out of the woodwork now it seems. I'm  a little confused realtek or sigma, maybe the sigma if they are gonna support like they're talking about doing.

[hazzad]

I'll always go a Sigma over a realtek. The problem had been that Sigma just didnt have a 3d capable product to market yet. But seems thats about to change. Price wil be interesting though. Id like to replace the Prime 3.0 with the Max 3D but would need it to support full bd menu(which may be an issue now with Cinavia and BD licensing) plus need it to be region free like the prime 3.0.