ccs221,

Need some information and opinion.

Questions as follows and would appreciate if you can answer one by one:-

1) I presume both Realtek 1185DD and 1186DD chip produce a similar video quality. The only difference is 1186 comes with 3D and a faster CPU of 750MHz. Kindly confirm.

2) Between the list of players below, please scratch out players which use Chinese language in the menu and on the remote control. Only English language is preferred.

Himedia 900B
Himedia 600B
Himedia 600C
Datage HDPro I6
Xtreamer Prodigy
Egreat R180
AC Ryan Mini HD2
AC Ryan HD2
Xtreamer Sidewinder 2

3) Between the list of players that operate in English, please list down which player is the best in terms of video quality, reliability and performance(the least complaints from customers in terms of jerkiness, couldn't play certain files etc.) and BitTorrent downloads(the easiest to use with BitTorrent with the least problems in downloads without hangs).

a) Best in video quality : _____________ (if all players are considered to be roughly the same in video quality, then kindly confirm)

b) Best in reliability and performance : _______________

c) Best in BitTorrent downloads : _______________

4) Lastly, please advise if the Dune HD1 which comes with Sigma chip improves on the video quality of the best player with Realtek chip, as in item 3 above.

Thanks.

Thanks for the link. Just read through it two times and certainly useful. Nevertheless, most description is on the additional features of the various chipsets especially with feature and performance upgrades throughout the years(faster CPU, 3D support, Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA support etc.) and there is little or no mention on the video quality of the various iterations of Realtek and Sigma chipsets. I presume video quality is more or less similar between all these chipsets, whether new or old, and it's only the additional features that are improved?

However, I did find a short excerpt suggesting a new generation of Sigma chipset that will improve upon the current chipsets in video quality.



Not too sure if we can assume that all the media players with Realtek chips ranging from RM150 to RM500 in the market give a similar video quality, and it's only the features that set these players apart.

My gut feeling tells me the video quality with Realtek 1185 and 1186 is similar, and the latter only comes with additional features (3D among others) and a faster CPU. The reason I've come up with this supposition(without hands-on experience) is I've gone through the comparison chart of Sigma chips as below(thanks to wongkmc for providing the link).



If you look at the video processing, from the 8630 chip from early 2008 to the most recent 8670 chip(yes, the 8655 chip in the WDTV Live is already obsolete), they all share the same specs in motion adaptive deinterlacing, programmable scaling, chromaticity correction... etc. Only the upcoming 8910 chip will drop the motion adaptive deinterlacing and incorporate the new integrated VXP processing that is claimed to improve video quality. This information also comes directly from Sigma themselves as shown in their own brochure.

To summarise, I believe all Sigma chipsets(8630, 8640, 8650 and 8670 series) all share similar video quality, and the upcoming 8910 chip that will break away from the pack with its new professional grade VXP processor.

pdf brochure here SMP8910 brochure
Link here Sigma Designs chipsets

As for differences in Realtek chipsets, very vague information provided by the company. Realtek only specify on the differences in features between their chips on the website (RTD1055, 1185 and the new 1186), hence my suspicion that video quality is similar across the range.

As for Sigma vs Realtek, in a technical perspective which was demonstrated by anfieldsdude with measurements carried out using advanced tools and gadget, in layman terms the Sigma chip produces more accurate colours, less artifacts and better differentiation at the black-white spectrum. The Realtek is said to produce a brighter and warmer colour, though not as accurate but can be pleasing to some, which is subjective.

If one does not need the additional features of 3D and faster processor of the 900B, then the 600B or 600C will do equally well in terms of video quality me thinks.

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Added on January 9, 2012, 1:26 pmJust read the 8910 brochure, and the new VXP video processing incorporated into this chip really sounds promising. The player that has this chip will certainly come with a price..

This post has been edited by ryder_78: Jan 9 2012, 01:33 PM

Guess the upscaling feature in the 900A must be of inferior quality since there isn't any in-depth information on this upscaling feature, not to mention the chip used for upscaling. In most cases players with good upscaling capabilities will list down the type of chip used, for instance Oppo or some higher-end players.

To achieve optimum video quality, I guess it is best to choose the option to output in native resolution in the setup.

Would appreciate some tips on how to insert cover image of movies in the movie library. Currently all my movies do not have any image cover.

Thanks for the information. Will try it sometime. If the movie file does not have the cover page, I wonder how the image will pop up with a change in filename. Anyway will investigate on this further.

Cheers.

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Added on January 23, 2012, 7:45 pmAn update. I've managed to add the cover page on the movie files.

This post has been edited by ryder_78: Jan 23 2012, 07:45 PM

Price difference is RM50-RM70 between wifi and non-wifi versions. Whether to go for wifi or non-wifi, that depends on your priorities and usage. If you're going to use the online features of the player, you would need internet connection. If you can connect your home internet line directly to the LAN port of the player, then you don't need wifi. Otherwise(your player is in another room and direct connection is not possible), then you would need wifi. If you don't use any online features of the player, then there is no point getting wifi.

As for features you should look for when getting a media player, that is subjective. I suppose chipset, features, price and looks are main priorities for most.

Dont' know about others but personally I cannot see the appeal of internet features of the Himedia player. Most of the internet features(Youtube etc.) can be accessed via a PC so there is little point in using a media player to go to these websites. One major setback is the navigation tool, that is the remote control. It is very difficult to use the remote control for navigation, unless one connects a keyboard to the unit. Haven't looked into the bitTorrent application as I feel the Himedia(as with any media player) is pretty hopeless when it comes to performing PC-related stuff which is best suited to computers.

Media players are only good in playing all your HD video files through the TV and that's about it.

Yes you can use a USB wifi adapter with the unit but will lose one USB port in return. Less port to connect your external hard disk drives(if you happen to have more than 2 HDDs then you can't connect all of them).