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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Methusela - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
What is a media streamer roundup without the latest WDTV? Just because you had another Sigma-based design from a different company? WD is the market leader in sales for network media tanks/streamers.loox - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
Surprised here, as well. I honestly believe that there is no way the WDTV has been tested extensively by Anandtech (or else it'd be here).Like the folks at Anandtech, I too have spent YEARS finding a decent solution to playing multiple media formats on my HDTV, beginning with Lacie's Silverstream device.
Ultimately, I settled on the WDTV (gen 1), then the Plus, and sticking with the WDTV Live.
It just works. It works with my TV, my HDTV, hotel room TV's, My friends TV, My Parents TV (its very portable), HDMI, HDMI w/ Optical audio out, 7 ch. PCM, Bitstream Passthrough, Component HD, Composite SD, my Sony Amplifier/Receiver, DTS, DD, can stream DNLA content, as well as the iTunes server content on my WD My Book World Edition. Blu-ray ISO's, DVD ISO's, WMV, AVI, MP4, MKV, and the list goes on.
It also supports Windows 7's PlayTo functionality and streams Netflix and other online content in HD with considerable less buffering/lag than any other solution.
My conclusion is that at this moment, for watching (or listening to) media on a Television set (not so much internet browsing) the only superior solution to a WDTV Live is a good HTPC or quite laptop with recent hardware.
Souka - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
I have a networked Brite-View unit....great product except for the interface....kinda basic.but that being said, I've been able to play pretty much any video file I've tossed at it.
Friends with WD units have compatibility issues with various files, but I don't.
I'm not a huge video watcher....except when I'm bettween jobs..heh
my $.02
ganeshts - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
This review is primarily meant to finish up coverage of the review units we have had for a long time. The WDTV Live Hub has been extensively tested and reviewed here:http://www.anandtech.com/show/3990/western-digital...
In addition, the WD TV Live Streaming Media Player has been with us for the last 1 month or so. Still some pending issues to fix up in that player, and I am waiting for a stable firmware from WD before reviewing it.
jonyah - Monday, November 28, 2011 - link
Funny, I think the same thing, but replace WDTV with PopcornHour. There is no match for the latest PCH (now the A-300). WDTV just seems like a little plastic toy box in comparison. Yes it's twice as expensive, but with that you get something that supports everything, integrates with IMDB, has apps addons, etc.pseudo7 - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
Nice round up, though it would be nice to XBMC in the review round up (especially after next release).There are number a commercially available boxes:
http://www.pulse-eight.com/store/
Plus shed light on a nice opensource project
kolepard - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
Agree. XBMC is a fantastic piece of work, and I'd love to see it compared in the roundup. The Boxee software is based on XBMC, and one of the reasons I purchased a Boxee was that they support the XBMC project.Rainman200 - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
Well those are PC's not really off the shelf boxes, XBMC is getting there though to a point were a set top box running XBMC is viable.The Arm linux port of XBMC is making progress and Sigma Designs are porting XBMC too so in the future you might see XBMC powered players like a WDTV Live that use it for GUI rendering and jukebox creation.
Hopefully the Pulse Eight guys can cook up an low cost Arm set top box that runs XBMC.
pseudo7 - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
Hmm The pulse eight box seems "off the shelf" as there is no assemble required.Also you can get the xtreamer ultra with openelec preinstalled (and hense XBMC)
Boopop - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
I concur, I've been a fan of XBMC since the early days when it was only available on the original Xbox. It would be nice to see how the people here think it compares!