Play NZ Freeview HD Files Over Network

[rwnz]

For those in New Zealand recording Freeview HD, I can successfully play my HD recordings over my network onto a TV using an Apacer AL460 media player. It also enables deletion of the files from the remote and has HDMI output.

Prior to this I had been unable to find a media player that would play the h.264 mpeg4 with AAC or AC3 audio in a .ts container that is the format they are saved in by my Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2200 capture card, and nor could I find a way to transcode them so they could be viewed on another media player.

However I note that a firmware update BY23.2.7.0105 dated Jan 12 2010 is required to play the AAC audio otherwise TV3's AC3 audio is the only one that can be listened to! Updating the firmware is easy if the instruction is followed. I purchased this product as the specification stated it would handle all of these file formats (though I've seen a competing product that also states the same formats but excludes the combination we have here). When I first purchased the device and found I could not hear the audio on the other channels I contacted Apacer but it was not until my third attempt over about 10 days that I finally received a response. Then they were very helpful, maintained communication and eventually invited me to send file samples (which I posted on a DVD). Following that they advised me of the firmware update.

Product details can be viewed at http://ap.apacer.com/ap/products/AL460_F...Player.htm. This has been available for under $200 at resellers including PB Technologies, Ascent and Paradigm.

[stustunz]

bugger i was about to go buy one and they are out of stock

[psycik]

What about the Popcorn C-200 and Popcorn A-200 they should play our freeview files...

But anyway about the apacer.

Does it take an internal harddrive? (looking for something for my brother in law) Do they play mkvs etc? and have web based streams available?

@stustunz ascent list them as in stock. http://ascent.co.nz/productspecification...mID=384475

[rwnz]

I had considered Popcorn but I think that one of the things was that they were not available from NZ resellers. Other factors may have been that I didn't want to pay for an internal hard drive, that I specifically wanted support for h.264 mpeg4 with AAC or AC3 audio in a .ts container, and price (I can't remember which of these applied to the Popcorn Hour, though they all may have).

The Apacer does not have an internal hard drive and no facility for one, but it does have 2 USB ports so you can attach an external HD. Nor does it do web based streams.

The AL460 suits my requirements for now quite well. I don't want to encourage family use of web streams due to our data cap (there's enough pressure on it from everyone's computers already) so not having that wasn't an issue. I store videos on a NAS so that the content can be accessed by other devices in the house so an HD would have been unused. I simply wanted to play the Freeview HD recordings on my TV's without transferring them to a flash drive, portable HD or a disc, at a rmoderate price.

As for mkv support, I haven't tried that. Apart from mpeg-2 and avi files (I think divx and xvid both play, but if you really want to know then I'd have to check) it does play the m2ts files I made from my home videos using Cyberlink PowerDirector (but it wouldn't play m2t files generated by a trial version of Adobe Premier Elements). The spec. does say it will do mkv.

[psycik]

I had considered Popcorn but I think that one of the things was that they were not available from NZ resellers. Other factors may have been that I didn't want to pay for an internal hard drive, that I specifically wanted support for h.264 mpeg4 with AAC or AC3 audio in a .ts container, and price (I can't remember which of these applied to the Popcorn Hour, though they all may have).

Interesting, the NZ resllers is a factor, especially for RMA's etc, I've been lucky that I've had no issues with my A100. On the internal harddrive front, they also take USB drives giving you that either/or option.

The Apacer does not have an internal hard drive and no facility for one, but it does have 2 USB ports so you can attach an external HD. Nor does it do web based streams.

The AL460 suits my requirements for now quite well. I don't want to encourage family use of web streams due to our data cap (there's enough pressure on it from everyone's computers already) so not having that wasn't an issue. I store videos on a NAS so that the content can be accessed by other devices in the house so an HD would have been unused. I simply wanted to play the Freeview HD recordings on my TV's without transferring them to a flash drive, portable HD or a disc, at a rmoderate price.

As for mkv support, I haven't tried that. Apart from mpeg-2 and avi files (I think divx and xvid both play, but if you really want to know then I'd have to check) it does play the m2ts files I made from my home videos using Cyberlink PowerDirector (but it wouldn't play m2t files generated by a trial version of Adobe Premier Elements). The spec. does say it will do mkv.

I do think the apacer is better priced than the WD TV Live, but they sound pretty similar. And the Freeview|HD files with no modification is a bonus IMO as well. Pity you can't make it drive GBPVR though like the older A100 popcorn hour (while it can drive gbpvr, it's can't play freeview|HD doh!! can't have everything).

Glad it's working out for you. If you could try out an MKV i'd be pretty keen to know the results especially at around $200 since the WD TV List is almost $300.

[rwnz]

If you could try out an MKV i'd be pretty keen to know the results especially at around $200 since the WD TV List is almost $300.

I'll see if I can generate or find an MKV. Why is that a format that you have? I was trying to decide what format I should save my home movies in (upconverted to a higher res in widescreen) when I was looking for a video editor/producer. In the end I got the Cyberlink Power Director that saves them as m2ts. So I'm putting them on the NAS for quick access & burning them to DVD's for archiving. However it never ends - when I replace my ageing DV camera with an HD one I'll need to get a Blue Ray burner and then a Blue Ray player, or perhaps I'll just give up on removable disc storage.

I did consider the WD TV Live but can't see now why I passed on it. Did the first ones have no network connection perhaps? Actually I've just checked the user manual that I'd downloaded at the time I was looking (mid December) and it has a good section at the end listing all the compatible containers, video formats and audio formats and it is missing H.264 video and AAC audio in the ts container (both of these are supported in other containers).

[psycik]

I'll see if I can generate or find an MKV. Why is that a format that you have? I was trying to decide what format I should save my home movies in (upconverted to a higher res in widescreen) when I was looking for a video editor/producer. In the end I got the Cyberlink Power Director that saves them as m2ts. So I'm putting them on the NAS for quick access & burning them to DVD's for archiving. However it never ends - when I replace my ageing DV camera with an HD one I'll need to get a Blue Ray burner and then a Blue Ray player, or perhaps I'll just give up on removable disc storage.

I did consider the WD TV Live but can't see now why I passed on it. Did the first ones have no network connection perhaps? Actually I've just checked the user manual that I'd downloaded at the time I was looking (mid December) and it has a good section at the end listing all the compatible containers, video formats and audio formats and it is missing H.264 video and AAC audio in the ts container (both of these are supported in other containers).

I've pretty much given up on removable storage. I have a home server (Windows home Server) with 3.5 TB in it. DVDs no more.

The live is a newer version that came out about 6 months ago with a network connection. The WD TV doesn't have network.

[sub]

I did consider the WD TV Live but can't see now why I passed on it. Did the first ones have no network connection perhaps? Actually I've just checked the user manual that I'd downloaded at the time I was looking (mid December) and it has a good section at the end listing all the compatible containers, video formats and audio formats and it is missing H.264 video and AAC audio in the ts container (both of these are supported in other containers).

I was in the US when the WD TV Live was released a few months ago. I tested it with New Zealand transport streams, but it didnt play our HE-AAC audio. I suspect if you saw AAC mentioned in the manual, it was referring to regular AAC, not HE-AAC.

[sub]

BTW, I've personally tested the Popcorn Hour A-200 with various NZ DVB-T recordings, and it plays HE-AAC nicely.

We should know if the next week or two if we'll have mvpmcx2/GB-PVR running on it. We think we have everything we need to get it going.

[rwnz]

If you could try out an MKV i'd be pretty keen to know the results

I've found three MKV files and all play on the AL460