2011 Media Streamer Roundup : Netgear NTV550, A.C.Ryan PlayOn!HD2 and the Boxee Box
by Ganesh T S on November 20, 2011 10:32 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Media Streamer
- NetGear
- Boxee Box
H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-1/2/4 are the most commonly supported codecs in today's media streamers. Realtek media streamers also have RMVB enabled. But, even within these supported codecs, there are certain encoding tweaks (with H.264, in particular) that are not supported in all media streamers. In this section, we will address these factors.
| Video Compatibility Details | |
| A.C.Ryan PlayOn!HD2 | |
| Firmware Version v9.5.3.r5440 | |
| Codec | Notes |
| H.264 | Improper Support for 1080p60 Level 4.2 Camcorder Streams / Level 5.1 User Encodes(Drops Frames) |
| Maximum Frame Size of 1920x1080 (Full SBS / Full TAB 3D Streams Not Supported) | |
| Maximum of 5 Reference Frames Supported | |
| Improper Support for 10 bit H.264 Encodes (Blocking Artifacts) | |
| Erroneous Bitstream Recovery OK | |
| Upto 60 Mbps H.264 Streams Play OK (from internal SATA drive) | |
| VC-1 | Supported |
| 720p60 / 1080i60 (Interlaced Streams - Advanced Profile) Also Supported | |
| MPEG-2 | Supported |
| MPEG-4 (DivX / XviD) | Supported (upto 1080p24) |
| Global Motion Compensation with More Than 2 Warp Points Not Supported | |
| Real Media Video | Supported upto 1080p24 |
| Miscellaneous Codecs | WMV8 Not Supported |
| VP6 Not Supported | |
| VP8 Not Supported | |
| Theora Not Supported | |
| MPEG-1 Supported | |
| Video Compatibility Details | |
| Netgear NTV550 | |
| Firmware Version 3.2.16NA | |
| Codec | Notes |
| H.264 | 1080p60 Level 4.2 Camcorder Streams / Level 5.1 User Encodes Partially Supported1 |
| Maximum of 16 Reference Frames Supported | |
| Maximum Frame Size of 1920x1080 (Full SBS / Full TAB 3D Streams Not Supported) | |
| 10 bit H.264 Decoding Not Supported (Blank Video Screen) | |
| Erroneous Bitstream Recovery OK | |
| Upto 70 Mbps H.264 Streams Play OK (over eSATA) | |
| VC-1 | Supported |
| 720p60 / 1080i60 (Interlaced Streams - Advanced Profile) Also Supported | |
| MPEG-2 | Supported |
| MPEG-4 (DivX / XviD) | Supported (upto 1080p24) |
| Global Motion Compensation with More Than 2 Warp Points Not Supported | |
| Real Media Video | Not Supported |
| Miscellaneous Codecs | WMV8 Not Supported |
| VP6 Not Supported | |
| VP8 Not Supported | |
| Theora Not Supported | |
| MPEG-1 Supported | |
| 1The 1080p60 camcorder clip in MP4 played back with artifacts and had stuttering issues | |
| Video Compatibility Details | |
| D-Link Boxee Box | |
| Firmware Version v1.2.2.20482 | |
| Codec | Notes |
| H.264 | Improper Support for 1080p60 Level 4.2 Camcorder Streams / Level 5.1 User Encode (Drops Frames) |
| Maximum Frame Size of 1920x1080 (Full SBS / Full TAB 3D Streams Not Supported) | |
| Maximum of 16 Reference Frames Supported | |
| 10 bit H.264 Decoding Not Supported (Blank Screen) | |
| Erroneous Bitstream Recovery OK | |
| Upto 70 Mbps H.264 Streams Play OK (over USB) | |
| VC-1 | Supported |
| 720p60 / 1080i60 (Interlaced Streams - Advanced Profile) Also Supported | |
| MPEG-2 | Supported |
| MPEG-4 (DivX / XviD) | Supported (upto 1080p24) |
| Global Motion Compensation Supported | |
| Multiple Warp Points Supported | |
| Real Media Video | Supported upto SD Resolution |
| Miscellaneous Codecs | WMV8 Supported |
| VP6 Supported | |
| VP8 Supported Upto SD Resolutions | |
| Theora Not Supported | |
| MPEG-1 Supported | |
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NewCityVegas - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
What interests me most right now are small boxes coming out of China that seem to combine a wifi media box with a TV tuner selling for about $120.I wish I could see a real review of one of these. Here's a promotion piece (called a review) from a vendor:
note: there seems to be auto spam filter that can't tell legitimate interest but here is the link in a clumsy format:
blog
wholesaleonepiece
kom /
google-android-tv-box-review
dbrons - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
After trying one of the realtec players I bought a Dune Smart B1. It plays iso, folders, most everything. I suppose the Dune layers cost more but it would be interesting to see them compared.cjs150 - Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - link
Zotac Nano AD10VIA Artico 1150
Both out, similar price. Alledgedly can act as perfect HTPC especially if like me you have a NAS box to act as storage.
Stick an SSD in them and tell us what you think.
Are these a great addition to a real AV rack. Can they deal with Blu ray playback, light gaming (but on big screen) play virtually every type of media we can throw at them.
What is the noise and temperatures like - no use if sound like a jet taking off.
What are they like with Windows 7, XBMC or Linux in them. How easy is setting up a remote controller for them.
Xmas is coming I want toys!