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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Rainman200 - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
I'm not too surprised to see Boxee come out on top, much of the media streamer industry is very behind the times.That said I would have liked to have seen a HDI Dune player included given their reputation for stability and image quality to see if they live up to the claims which Boxee comes away with the top spot in this article.
Memphist - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
I have used the Xtreamer Products and have found them to be the best for playing all formats. I have yet to find a format it can not play. It appear to be compatible with every format conceivable. I have a Sidewinder an Xtreamer Pro.I read these review for a laugh at how much they cost and how many CODECs they can't play.
My TV is a Panasonic and Blu ray player a Sony, neither can play half the the CODEC mix that the Xtreamer's can play.
If you're new to Media Streamers do your self a favor and look at the Xtreamer Products first and compare the rest.
pseudo7 - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
I've never liked xtreamer products, of which I have only owned the original xtreamer but it was enough to shove me to building my own HTPC and installing XBMC (neither of which I had done before.My biggest niggle is that they have a great website with great text, pics and videos put there products seems lacking.
The xtreamer ultra can ship with openelec which runs XBMC... I can see it heading to XBMC a lot more.
Destiny - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
If you're new to Media Streamers it is best to AVOID Xtreamer brand - there are many alternatives out there from other brands. My experience with them is not good and maybe others may have better experience.Comparing prices for Xtreamer Products to what is available here in the USA - the costs are the same after VAT, International Shipping, and Customs fees if ordered from Over Seas Shop... plus the Xtreamers that are available here in the USA is not really lower cost that what is exactly available that is using RealTek chipsets... plus the codec is the same for all RealTek chipsets because they share the same RealTek SDK - no need to review a twin...
Plus a quick google search for Xtreamer would show customer service is horrible combined with marketing gimmicks... You'll fair better with AC Ryan and even better with Med8er using the same RealTek chipsets...
SlyNine - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
How it organizes the library, and how easy someone who never touched it before can get to the movie (on my network) that they want to watch.juhatus - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
How about testing oppo-93, something more of a "top-end" streamer/blu-ray.. pretty please :)plonk420 - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
do these output 24/48 or 16/48?ganeshts - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
Please look at the Sampling Frequency entries in the Audio Codec section. The POHD2 and NTV550 are faithful, but Boxee Box is not.MadMan007 - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
The quest doesn't continue - the answer is an HTPC, and software has finally become decent enough that it's not a huge hassle like it was in the past. Although more expensive than these boxes the near-unlimited flexibility of something like a Zacate-based HTPC cannot be beat.Deanodxb - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
...of the problems users face with these players.I have purchased two Boxee Boxes, one for playback of material by USB and one for playback of material through a wider network of NAS boxes.
Boxee updates firmware automatically, without any user intervention. The last update lost all SMB shares, prevented me from adding the shares again and lost all scrapped media. Multiple users have complained to Boxee about this and their customer service has got worse and worse. They have done nothing to respond to customer tickets raised on this issue and are more concerned with pushing new products such as dongles and live TV.
Check out this link and read the comments to see what I am referring to: http://boxee.zendesk.com/entries/20342452-new-firm...
I ended up re-flashing to old working firmware and blocking the auto update address in my router. Boxee works great but all manufacturers should know that customers aren't their beta or alpha testers.