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#258055 - 12/06/2005 14:54 Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Check it out: Momitsu 880N.

Built-in ethernet port so it can play MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, OpenDivX, Xvid, etc. digital media files over the network. It requires some server software, but it's available for Windows, MacOS, and "Linux/Unix". And it's "only" $379. Oh, and it plays DVDs and has a DVI connection and will upconvert DVDs to HD.

Sounds snazzy, but I don't have $379 lying around.
_________________________
Bitt Faulk

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#258056 - 12/06/2005 15:15 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: wfaulk]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
I've had one for several months now. I've been writing my own server software as the one that comes with it doesn't do all the stuff I want it to do.

There is a third party server package for it as well which you get the source code to. It's main feature is that you can stream DVDs over the network as one big stream instead of individually streaming a VOB. Unfortunately it can't do the proper DVD menus as it's part of the licensing agreement they've got with the DVD CA.

Picture quality is very good via DVI. Not tried the component outputs yet.

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#258057 - 12/06/2005 17:54 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: tman]
eliceo
enthusiast

Registered: 18/02/2002
Posts: 335
Quote:

Unfortunately it can't do the proper DVD menus as it's part of the licensing agreement they've got with the DVD CA.


That is too bad, if it had menu support I would be all over this.

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#258058 - 12/06/2005 18:42 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: eliceo]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
Quote:
Quote:

Unfortunately it can't do the proper DVD menus as it's part of the licensing agreement they've got with the DVD CA.


That is too bad, if it had menu support I would be all over this.

Alledgely if you want to get a CSS key from the DVD CCA for a hardware DVD player then you have to restrict the menu feature to the actual disc only and disable it for all other media. Software players on a PC are in a grey area it seems.

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#258059 - 12/06/2005 19:12 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: wfaulk]
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12318
Loc: Sterling, VA
I've been using the Avel Linkserver (basically the same type of product) since early January. The software is not great, but it does what I need it to. I'd probably go with the Momitsu now just because the build quality appears to be better than what I have, and it has component and DVI right on the back panel (mine has this dumb D4 connector the Japanese use, and comes with a cable that converts to component). But since my TV wouldn't display at that quality anyway, it doesn't bother me.

I'm more impressed with the sound. I've ripped a bunch of DVDs at 2Mbps and they look fantastic, but I love how well it reproduces an AC3 audio track on my AVIs.

So Bitt, did this interest come about as a result of this?

Personally, I don't have the time or patience for a multimedia PC. This kind of product is great for me.
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Matt

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#258060 - 12/06/2005 20:14 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: tman]
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
The Momitsu page says it works with iTunes. What, exactly, does that mean? Is the interface any good? Support for Apple's borken AAC files? Too bad about the damn DVD menus. I agree that, if it had them, then it would be a no-brainer.

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#258061 - 13/06/2005 12:59 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: Dignan]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Quote:
So Bitt, did this interest come about as a result of this?

You know it.
_________________________
Bitt Faulk

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#258062 - 13/06/2005 13:22 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: DWallach]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
Quote:
The Momitsu page says it works with iTunes. What, exactly, does that mean?

According to the specs it does support AAC but I assume it means ones which don't have any DRM. I don't have any iTunes tracks to test this with. I know it works with MP3 anyway.

Quote:
Is the interface any good?

The interface is actually handled by the server software which presents it as a HTML page. It's got some extensions to handle specific features but it's pretty much standard HTML. There is a button to browse to a normal website as well. It doesn't do CSS, Java or Javascript unfortunately.

Quote:
Too bad about the damn DVD menus. I agree that, if it had them, then it would be a no-brainer.

Yep. That's one of the main annoyances. The third party server software understands the DVD IFO files so it can display a link for the titles at least.

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#258063 - 13/06/2005 13:41 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: tman]
eliceo
enthusiast

Registered: 18/02/2002
Posts: 335
Quote:

Yep. That's one of the main annoyances. The third party server software understands the DVD IFO files so it can display a link for the titles at least.

This works decently for movies, but really sucks for tv-show type content.
How well do things like fast forwarding work? Any Sync issues?
Once you begin playing an IFO or a VOB can you then select audio tracks?

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#258064 - 13/06/2005 14:39 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: eliceo]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
Quote:
This works decently for movies, but really sucks for tv-show type content.

How so?

Quote:
How well do things like fast forwarding work? Any Sync issues?

Works fine. I've not noticed any sync issues at all.

Quote:
Once you begin playing an IFO or a VOB can you then select audio tracks?

Yes. You can do all the normal DVD ops e.g. subtitles, audio, alternate angles (I assume this one works. Not got anything that supports it). Just not the menu.

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#258065 - 13/06/2005 14:52 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: tman]
eliceo
enthusiast

Registered: 18/02/2002
Posts: 335
Quote:

How so?


I just find it a bit frustrating because TV show type content has menus so you can quickly find one episode. If you use the vob files you must fast forward to the correct place.

Does the unit still recognize DVD chapters?

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#258066 - 13/06/2005 14:58 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: eliceo]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
Quote:
I just find it a bit frustrating because TV show type content has menus so you can quickly find one episode. If you use the vob files you must fast forward to the correct place.

Oh. Thought you meant TV show content as in stuff you encoded yourself.

Quote:
Does the unit still recognize DVD chapters?

Yes. As I said, it understands IFO files.

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#258067 - 13/06/2005 17:58 Re: Networked AVI/MPEG/MOV/DVD player [Re: tman]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
In many cases (and this might not be accurate for this product) iTunes support means it picks up on an iTunes music share service across the network. In most cases, this means it cannot play iTMS DRM songs though. However, since it is trivial to remove DRM to get a normal AAC file...

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