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
The extent and nature of support for various audio codecs decide where the media streamers can be used. For example, in most setups, AVRs are available only in the main home theater location. The streamers used with bedroom TVs are usually directly connected over HDMI. In this context, we need to understand the three important aspects of audio codec support.
Bitstreaming: This refers to the ability of the player to send out the audio track in the media file directly through HDMI to the next device (usually AVR) in the output chain.
Decoding: This refers to the ability of the player to decode all the channels in the audio track and send out the LPCM version through HDMI or output all the audio tracks through the analog audio output ports (if available).
Downmixing: This refers to the ability of the player to decode all the channels in the audio track and combine them in such a way as to output stereo audio (2.0) over HDMI or the analog audio output ports.
Other audio aspects which get covered in this section include support for ISOs of SACDs, DVD-A and BD-Audio, playlist support, gapless audio support and sampling frequencies.
| Audio Compatibility Details | |||
| A.C.Ryan PlayOn!HD2 | |||
| Firmware Version v9.5.3.r5440 | |||
| Codec | Bitstream | Decode | Downmix |
| AC3 (Dolby Digital) | Yes | Yes (upto 2.0) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| DTS | Yes | Yes (upto 2.0) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| Dolby Digital Plus | No | Yes (upto 2.0) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| DTS-HD HR | Yes | Yes (Core) (upto 2.0) | Yes (Core) (down to 2.0) |
| Dolby TrueHD | Yes | Yes (upto 2.0) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| DTS-HD MA | Yes | Yes (Core) (upto 2.0) | Yes (Core) (down to 2.0) |
| WMA Pro | No | Yes (upto 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| AAC | Not Tested | Yes (upto 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| MP3 | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| FLAC | Not Tested | Yes (upto 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| Cook (Real Audio) | Not Applicable | Yes (upto 2.0) | Not Applicable |
| Vorbis | Not Applicable | No | No |
| APE | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| AIFF | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| DVD-A | Partially Supported (AC3 Version) | ||
| SACD | Not Supported | ||
| BD-Audio | Supported with bitstreaming | ||
| Playlists | M3U with Relative Pathnames Supported, PLS Support is Spotty | ||
| Gapless Audio | Not Supported | ||
| Sampling Frequencies | Faithful Decoding to LPCM upto 192 KHz for non-HD Audio Codecs, 48 KHz maximum for Decoded HD-Audio Codecs | ||
| Audio Compatibility Details | |||
| Netgear NTV550 | |||
| Firmware Version 1.03.10 | |||
| Codec | Bitstream | Decode | Downmix |
| AC3 (Dolby Digital) | Yes | Yes (upto 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| DTS | Yes | Yes (upto 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| Dolby Digital Plus | Yes | Yes (upto 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| DTS-HD HR | Yes | Yes (Core) (upto 5.1) | Yes (Core) (down to 2.0) |
| Dolby TrueHD | Yes | Yes (upto 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| DTS-HD MA | Yes | Yes (Core) (upto 5.1) | Yes (Core) (down to 2.0) |
| WMA Pro | No | Yes (upto 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| AAC | Not Tested | Yes (upto 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| MP3 | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| FLAC | Not Tested | Yes (upto 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| Cook (Real Audio) | Not Applicable | No | Not Applicable |
| Vorbis | Not Applicable | No | No |
| APE | Not Applicable | No | No |
| AIFF | Not Applicable | No | No |
| DVD-A | Partially Supported (AC3 Version) | ||
| SACD | Not Supported | ||
| BD-Audio | Supported with bitstreaming | ||
| Playlists | M3U and PLS files with relative pathnames show up in the library, but don't play back | ||
| Gapless Audio | Supported | ||
| Sampling Frequencies | Faithful Decoding to LPCM upto 192 KHz for non-HD Audio Codecs, 48 KHz maximum for Decoded HD-Audio Codecs | ||
| Audio Compatibility Details | |||
| D-Link Boxee Box | |||
| Firmware Version v1.2.2.20482 | |||
| Codec | Bitstream | Decode | Downmix |
| AC3 (Dolby Digital) | Yes | Yes (upto 5.1)1 | Yes (down to 2.0)1 |
| DTS | Yes | Yes (upto 5.1)1 | Yes (down to 2.0)1 |
| Dolby Digital Plus | Yes | Yes (upto 5.1)1 | Yes (down to 2.0)1 |
| DTS-HD HR | Yes | Yes (Core) (upto 5.1)1 | Yes (Core) (down to 2.0)1 |
| Dolby TrueHD | Yes | Yes (upto 5.1)1 | Yes (down to 2.0)1 |
| DTS-HD MA | Yes | Yes (Core) (upto 5.1)1 | Yes (Core) (down to 2.0)1 |
| WMA Pro | No | Yes (upto 5.1)1 | Yes (down to 2.0)1 |
| AAC | Not Tested | Yes (upto 5.1)1 | Yes (down to 2.0)1 |
| MP3 | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| FLAC | Not Tested | Yes (upto 5.1)1 | Yes (down to 2.0)1 |
| Cook (Real Audio) | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| Vorbis | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| APE | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| AIFF | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| DVD-A | Not Supported | ||
| SACD | Not Supported | ||
| BD-Audio | Supported with bitstreaming2 | ||
| Playlists | M3U and PLS With Relative Pathnames Fully Supported | ||
| Gapless Audio | Not Supported | ||
| Sampling Frequencies | Decoded Formats Downsampled to 48 KHz | ||
| 1 Decoded / Downmixed Formats Downsampled to 48 KHz | |||
| 2 HD Audio Streams Suffer from Dropouts | |||
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43 Comments
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slyck - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
D-LINK.... the only reason I need to never purchase a Boxee Box.Master_Sigma - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
Do any of these devices support playback of 10-bit h.264 encodes? I watch alot of anime fansubs and that community has already started moving over to that standard (most NEW fansubs being released nowadays uses 10-bit encoding). My PC can play them fine but I was wondering if there was an off-the-shelf playback device out now that supports them or if I would buy/build a little HTPC, like the ZOTAC Zbox Nano (hopefully with Llano), to do the job.ganeshts - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
Please look in the Video Codecs Compatibility section under H.264 ; Both Boxee Box and NTV550 play such videos with a blank screen. The POHD2 plays with blocking artifacts. You have to rely on PC for playback of such streams for another year or so (at the least)Master_Sigma - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
Herp, derp. That's what I get for not reading. Thanks!Nogib - Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - link
Well if those fansubbers weren't complete elitist dicks we wouldn't have this problem. I've loved being able to play 8-bit h.264 encodes on my WDTV Live Plus as well as my netbook (AMD Ontario acceleration is flawless!). But no, can't run this 10-bit garbage on those. Instead of waiting for proper hardware support, fansubbers assumed we all either have HTPCs or love to sit at a computer desk to watch shows. And once one group started doing it the others all followed suit to make sure their e-penis measured up.You can tell I'm only slightly bitter about them changing from 8-bit to 10-bit when there is zero benefit....
chrnochime - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - link
They do it for free. Don't like it? Go learn Japanese and not have to rely on fansubber to feed your anime needs. Why are you whining about something that you get for free anyway?geniekid - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
As others above me have said, it looks like an HTPC is still the most capable media center. That said, for the prices of these three alternatives, I would be hard pressed to recommend building an HTPC unless there's some functionality you just can't live without or you're a hobbyist like me :)cjs150 - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
And a great summary of the state of the marketWhich, for media streamers, sucks.
These are not consumer grade devices and the rate of progress is such that I doubt they ever will be.
On the other hand it is now possible to build or buy a PC that doubles as a proper part of an AV system, that works well and gets better and better. Problem is it takes a bit of work to get Windows 7, XBMC or whatever OS you prefer, to work they way you want.
Zotac nano AD10 is a fantastic bit of kit (please lose the fan though) and close to perfect given its very small size or if you want something larger, AMD Motherboards are a great start and there are some really nice cases out there (for example love look of Wesena, just not convinced by build quality/design)
Sadly you get what you pay for
thudo - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
http://www.pivosgroup.com/I own this and its quite fantastic for $99 and getting GREAT reviews. Devs are also the only in the biz to rapidly response to suggestions from the customer. Sure its NOT perfect but it works quite well.
Maybe it was too new (Oct 03, 2011) to be reviewed by Anandtech.. :|
Destiny - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
This is a roundup of updates to reviews and articles written for these players on AnandTech from almost a year ago. So basically it is an updated review after the Writer gave them ample time for firmware updates to bring them up to par because at launch they were all horrible and not market ready.The Pivos Aios uses the same RealTek 1185 chipset as the AC Ryan that is reviewed here. So features and codec support would be the same because the RealTek SDK does not offer any much difference in custom firmware... so basically it would be a same review as the AC Ryan as mentioned here...