Playon!HD - FullHD Network MediaPlayer

[ACRyan]

After we've shown our new Playon! productline with the Playon!DVR TV, a networked DVR, we are proud to introduce our top of the line FullHD Networked MediaPlayer!!! Here comes the Playon!HD, our answer to the demand for a player that can play everything you want, especially High Definition formats like the popular MKV.

http://tqf2pq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pOTvH7XNApURN1pPTbj_BjGNmy3lJ88Z3xh8WnWe1E7f6YW1 UaYpX-KzKEAtPO-zzDCdp4R4A7qZyoqpyQMZk9w/ACR-PV73100_avatar_500x500.jpg[/img:fd26b6c89d]


What's this player about?
- First of all, video playback support right up to 1080p HD [MKV/H.264/
- Stream multimedia from anywhere in the network
- Room for an optional 3.5" SATA harddrive up to 1.5TB
- Optional Wireless N adapter
- BitTorrent client to download torrents right on the Playon!HD, saving energy by not having to keep your PC running
- Samba server to access it from any PC in the network
- File Copy feature, making it possible to copy and move files to and from the harddrive, usb storage and network

Here's a first video walkthrough of the setup menu:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh2sgZNyAWI

And here is Harware.info's first glance:
http://www.hardware.info/nl-NL/news/ymiclpqXwpyabJY/AC_Ryans_nieuwe_Full_HD_mediaspeler/

More info, pictures and walkthroughs can be found on our blog:
http://playonhd.spaces.live.com



SPECIFICATIONS:

A/V Out:
HDMI interface up to 1080p
Composite Video
Composite Audio
Y/Pb/Pr Video
SPDIF coaxial (digital audio)
SPDIF Optical TOSLink (digital audio)

Storage supported:
Internal Harddisk
External USB Harddisk
Media cards
USB disks / USB stick
Network drive

Built-in Storage supported:
3.5" SATA/SATA2 Harddisk up to 1.5TB

Media cards supported:
SD card, SDHC (SD High Capacity)
MMC, MS, MSPro

USB2.0 host controller:
USB 2.0 Interface
USB Mass Storage Devices (harddrives, flashdrives)
Add ports with USB hubs, USB cardreaders

Network - wired:
LAN Ethernet 10/100Mbps Auto-negotiation
Built-in DHCP for Auto IP or Manual Fixed IP

Network - wireless (optional, not incl.):
Wireless WLAN 802.11b/g/n 300Mbps via USB WLAN adaptor (optional, not incl.)
Supports WLAN security WEP / WPA
Supports WLAN Peer-to-Peer (connects wireless without router)

[img:350:223:fd26b6c89d]http://www.playonhd.com/img/format-logos_350.jpg[/img:fd26b6c89d]

Video Formats Supported:
AVI / MKV / TS / TP / TRP / M2TS / MPG / MP4 / MOV / M4V / VOB / ISO / IFO / DAT / WMV / ASF / RM / RMVB / FLV resolution up to 720p / 1080i / 1080p

Video Codecs Supported:
MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 / MPEG-4 SP/ASP/AVC (H.264) / XviD / DivX / WMV9 (VC-1) / RealVideo 8/9/10 (up to 720P)

Video Output Supported:
PAL / NTSC / 480p / 576 / 720p / 1080i 50Hz / 1080i 60Hz / 1080p 50Hz / 1080p 60Hz

Audio Formats Supported:
MP3 / MP2 / WMA / AAC / FLAC / WAV / OGG Vorbis / PCM / LPCM / MS-ADPCM / LC-AAC / HE-AAC / COOK / RA-Lossless

Audio Output Supported:
Stereo, AC3 Dolby Digital 5.1 (passthrough & downmix to stereo), DTS (passthrough), DTS-TrueHD (passthrough), DTS Master Audio (passthrough)
[i]* DTS downmixing is currently being added to the firmware, of which an update will be available from the end of July 09!

Image Formats Supported:
HD JPEG / BMP / GIF / TIF / PNG

Subtitle Formats Supported:
SRT, SMI, SSA, IDX/SUB, SUB


Available NOW in limited stock Pre-order. Shipping from mid July to resellers.


More information can be found at:
www.playonhd.com

Or you can drop a line at Rotterdam AT acryan DOT com (Email + MSN Messenger)

[ACRyan]

Some more pictures to share with you guys. (click to enlarge!)

GUI mainscreen:
[img:1280:720:c99a9a3719]http://playonhd.com/preview/PV73100_Browser.jpg[/img:c99a9a3719]

Remote:
[img:435:657:c99a9a3719]http://playonhd.com/preview/PV73100-RemoteControl.jpg[/img:c99a9a3719]

Backside:
[img:1024:768:c99a9a3719]http://playonhd.com/preview/PV73100-backlabels_1024x768.jpg[/img:c99a9a3719]

[a5ian300zx]

the only thing i don't like about this players design is the side mounted USB that will probably not make me buy it. as i normally connect my external at the back and also usb host to transfer data and it won't look right on the side.

do you have a video of the player showing video content and selecting different files etc.. i.e. music, photos, internet content please.

[ACRyan]

That's a personal choice of course, we found quite a few comments about USB ports located at the back of a player. We chose to make it mode accessible for both media cards and USB storage devices by placing it on the side, often well reachable when the unit is placed within a cabinet.

We'll see if we can get a video out soon showing the general use and playback of files. Might try to do something tomorrow!

[Hi-Jack]

Here's some intel from our side... The price balance of the unit in exchange for what you get is quite positive, never the less, you know how we at MPC neglect the price levels when it comes down to doing well the things that are being done...

That said, we strongly recommend a few cosmetic changes, especially in the file browsing were we have good and bad things to say... Titles are listed with slashes in front and rear (eg. "/Die Hard/") and is annoying. Further the network is tested as soon as a file is started and a message is showing on screen with the result which is great to have, but I rather have a test button to prevent this kind of messages every time (also during loading screens a message shows, navigation etc...) So few minor annoyances here... What I like most, every kind of file can be previewed :-)

Hardware wise, indeed A.C.Ryan could have done few things differently. USB only on the side is not providing all users with their preference. Both on the side and the rear would have been better. The card reader is a plus and the file copy is quite good too (from all sources we can caopy using an interface).

Good to know for most users is that DTS downmix will be supported soon... so no receiver necessary for DTS playback. During our leave (starting today) we'll have Advocate86 cover the unit's review and early July everyone can expect the release... With a few firmware tunes on this player, we can see yet another competition for the WDTV and xStreamer with this PlayOn!HD based on RealTek chip.

Good concept, now needs to mature a bit just like everyone else to really make an impact.

[spida_singh]

A question regarding the specs stated on the website, the AVCHD logo is displayed as part of the spec page. Will this read BD and AVCHD folder structures? With full menu support etc?

regards

[silvom]

What about 1080p/24 (23.976) ?

[telemike]

Here's an English pdf manual:



http://www.acryan.com/downloads/manu...100_Manual.pdf

[ACRyan]

We've opened a FAQ to list questions and answers: www.playonhd.com/faq

It will read folder structure and play BD files (mts, m2ts). Navigation menu with Blu-ray file and Blu-ray ISO is currently not supported. This feature has been planned in a firmware upgrade.

[telemike]

Should have my PlayOn!HD up and running this weekend.

[AxelFoley]

Just ordered mine...I'm waiting for news about the delivery. ;)

I wanted to know some details about NAS support:

- I have a QNAP TS-509, does the player support NFS? In the specifications it doesn't say anything.

I still didn't understand which is the player with the most powerful chipset, xtreamer or playon!HD?

What are the differences between the two chips?

[AxelFoley]

BTW, this is the correct link to the english manual:

http://www.acryan.com/downloads/manuals/ACR-PV73100/English_PV73100_Manual.pdf

[leppam]

Just ordered mine...I'm waiting for news about the delivery. ;)

I wanted to know some details about NAS support:

- I have a QNAP TS-509, does the player support NFS? In the specifications it doesn't say anything.

I still didn't understand which is the player with the most powerful chipset, xtreamer or playon!HD?

What are the differences between the two chips?

i think so, every player today supports this network protocol so should work!

[ACRyan]

Hi guys, 1080p/24 is supported although it was not put in the setup. This was to not confuse a lot of people running "regular" settings. We will put it back in a firmware update so it will be an option to choose in the setup menu. Until then it's automatically detected and adjusted, so 1080p24 is supported nonetheless.

NFS is also supported, so you can perfectly stream from your NAS. So far we've tested with several brands and models and all of them worked fine!

[Squall]

Maybe a silly question but is it also possible to play a blueray ISO ?

[ACRyan]

Hi Squall, currently m2ts and mts are supported. We're working on getting BD ISO working as well.

[RiDi]

Question for all Pre-Orderers:

On June 28th I've ordered one Player by their internet shop. Payed by PayPal. On the site you can read, after ordering you will get an ordering number in one day. Unfortunately I did'nt. So I mailed two times for an confirmation without any answer. Now we have July the 8th.

My first question to ACRyan (delivery condition by DHL/before ordering) was answered in 2 days...

What are the experiences of other Pre-Orderers?

[hardwahwah]

Hi
does anybody know whether the Playon! box is OK with an internal hard disk formatted in ext2/3 file format ?
or does it support only NTFS ?
see nothing about it in the web
thanks a lot for your help :)

[Sureshot]

Question for all Pre-Orderers:

On June 28th I've ordered one Player by their internet shop. Payed by PayPal. On the site you can read, after ordering you will get an ordering number in one day. Unfortunately I did'nt. So I mailed two times for an confirmation without any answer. Now we have July the 8th.

My first question to ACRyan (delivery condition by DHL/before ordering) was answered in 2 days...

What are the experiences of other Pre-Orderers?

After reading your post we've checked our system and we sent 2 emails in total, immediately after your order and email. It seems to be that our mails are being blocked. Perhaps you can give us an alternative email address?

I've PM'd you the emails we sent!

[Sureshot]

Hi
does anybody know whether the Playon! box is OK with an internal hard disk formatted in ext2/3 file format ?
or does it support only NTFS ?
see nothing about it in the web
thanks a lot for your help :)

About EXT3 (and FAT/FAT32), we've put this in our FAQ:

Once you install a harddisk (new or old, with or without existing data) and power up your Playon!HD for the first time, you will be asked for confirm to have your harddisk formatted. At this point you can proceed or stop. The harddisk needs to be formatted because Playon!HD will create hidden partitions (total of about 300mb only) for the system to use (eg. buffering). You will not see this system-use hidden partition on the Playon!HD or on your computer. The main data area is formatted as NTFS.
Using tools, you can change the partitions to create EXT3 or FAT/FAT32.

[AxelFoley]

Hi guys, 1080p/24 is supported although it was not put in the setup. This was to not confuse a lot of people running "regular" settings. We will put it back in a firmware update so it will be an option to choose in the setup menu. Until then it's automatically detected and adjusted, so 1080p24 is supported nonetheless.

NFS is also supported, so you can perfectly stream from your NAS. So far we've tested with several brands and models and all of them worked fine!

My PlayOnHD was delivered last week, yesterday I installed it in place of my Tvix M-6500 (temporarily).

Regarding your statements in the previous post:

1. 1080p24 is not automatically detected on bluray dumps (playback from my QNAP TS-509 NAS), I configured it in HDMI Auto, but it always stays at 1080p60 during playback.

2. No NFS support, just SMB to access my NAS.

I'm using version v7.0 r647 of the firmware, are there any updates? Where do I access firmware updates? I couldn't find anything on your website.

Thanks.

[RiDi]

@sureshot

Thank you for the quick answering of my question. So everything is now clear and I'm waiting for the player.

My experiences I will post here. I will compare to TViX 6500 which is my most versatile player until now. The ACRyan I decided to order because of the possibility of playing FLV files without transcoding.

[Sureshot]

Hi guys, 1080p/24 is supported although it was not put in the setup. This was to not confuse a lot of people running "regular" settings. We will put it back in a firmware update so it will be an option to choose in the setup menu. Until then it's automatically detected and adjusted, so 1080p24 is supported nonetheless.

NFS is also supported, so you can perfectly stream from your NAS. So far we've tested with several brands and models and all of them worked fine!

My PlayOnHD was delivered last week, yesterday I installed it in place of my Tvix M-6500 (temporarily).

Regarding your statements in the previous post:

1. 1080p24 is not automatically detected on bluray dumps (playback from my QNAP TS-509 NAS), I configured it in HDMI Auto, but it always stays at 1080p60 during playback.

2. No NFS support, just SMB to access my NAS.

I'm using version v7.0 r647 of the firmware, are there any updates? Where do I access firmware updates? I couldn't find anything on your website.

Thanks.

Did you press the Info button while watching the video? there it should state the refresh rate. See this picture taken when playing 1080p24 :

[img:524:112:9aee2559fd]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_q4Fu6tvHesQ/Skog7HxjmYI/AAAAAAAAD9s/J7_hD3_TUU8/s1600/playon-hd-menu-info.jpg[/img:9aee2559fd]

The Setup menu indeed lacks the 1080p24hz setting. We are putting that back in the coming firmware update, as we initially had it in there but took it out.

As the Playon!HD if very new, you can imagine the first firmware update has yet to be published. We are planning the first update to be out by the end of July. When done, you will be able to find it on www.playonhd.com for sure, or you can register to the mailinglist to be informed about it automatically.

[AxelFoley]

Will next update provide NFS access too?

Right now it only works via SMB, I had it disabled on my NAS so I just enabled it to make it work....:)

[Sureshot]

Will next update provide NFS access too?

Right now it only works via SMB, I had it disabled on my NAS so I just enabled it to make it work....:)

NFS is one of many things we are currently working on to get implemented in the firmware. We have gathered up a long list of points out of feedback gotten here and elsewhere. Until we publish the firmware update there is no saying what will be included and what not. The only thing we can confirm now is that it will include DTS downmix to stereo.

[Avatar]

Does the playonhd support the ability to select 1280x768 and other resolutions instead of 720p or 1080p over hdmi like the PCH and Istar devices?

[telemike]

So far, the PlayOn is working great as a movie jukebox for me. I am in the process of saving my dvd's to ISO files. I found some mkv files that would not play: "invalid file". One was a Star Trek II 720p encode.

The BT client doesn't seem to like private tracker torrents. Not sure what the deal is there. Other torrents work just fine.

[ReleasePT]

Can anyone tell me if the fan makes too much noise?

I'm waiting for a xtreamer, but I'm also considering this one. Are we going to have a review soon on Playon!HD?

That would be great.

Thank you.

[telemike]

fan is quiet. I can't hear it in my cabinet. It's not very fast either.

[ReleasePT]

fan is quiet. I can't hear it in my cabinet. It's not very fast either.

Thank you for your answer. That's an advantage for Playon!hd. People say that the xtreamer fan is very noisy.

[elobelix]

I see that 2 users that bought the player used to have the TViX 6500A.

Regarding the User Interface of the Playon!hd, does it support the icon mode?

Nowadays I use the TViX 6500A, and have all my movies showing their covers. Will this be possible with this new player?

[ReleasePT]

I'm thinking on buying Playon!HD. But I have some doubts, could you please tell me what's the range (in distance) of the Wireless-N 300Mbps USB Adaptor. If I set up a connection between my pc and the Playon!HD using 2 of this adapters (1 for each device) will I be able to stream on the playon!HD 1080p resolution videos?

Thank you.

[telemike]

The HDD is louder than the fan when I have the BT client running several downloads and I'm transferring files via Samba and watching a video!

[porkepik]

I see that 2 users that bought the player used to have the TViX 6500A.

Regarding the User Interface of the Playon!hd, does it support the icon mode?

Nowadays I use the TViX 6500A, and have all my movies showing their covers. Will this be possible with this new player?
I got told on another forum that it was "in development" (but i'll believe it when i'll see it), these were words from a pro-retailer that just tested the machine and asked the ac ryan guys :?
When you look on the market, there are actually not many devices that support native icon browsing without the need for a PC software to generate custom GUI... (tvix and wdtv, any others?)

[elobelix]

it is a must from my point of view. I have watching to tree directory browsing.

The PCH .htm UI sucks... to hard to update...

I don´t know the one from WDTV.... I love the TViX one...

I hope these guys develop something like TViX

[telemike]

I would love cover based browsing but I knew that at this price point it wasn't going to be a must have. I did not have the funds to buy a Myka or PCH type box.

The video preview is kind of cool but sometimes is annoying as well. The AC Ryan interface is nicely rendered in HD and does scroll file names.

The other nice thing is that during playback I can have multiple BT downloads going and transfering files via samba with no stuttering.

[RiDi]

If the user could switch off the preview window on the right when browsing through the data, there would be more space for longer lines.

Compared to TViX where you have the full screen width for file description but on PlayOnHD you get shortened paths.

I saw the option to switch browser on or off in the setup. Would that be the possibility getting more space on screen for file windows?

[telemike]

If they update the firmware to take the preview window off that would be cool. If you turn it off, it is still there just not active.

[Sureshot]

We know there are lots and lots of things that one would like to see in the Playon!HD GUI. The interface is perhaps the most important part of the player when all other things are taken care of :) That is why we prioritized the changes into several update packages. The initial firmware contains the base for a reliable and steady FullHD player. From here, the road is clear for us to further develop the system.

We don't like to make false promises but the GUI is going to undergo a lot of changes in our second update. While we are currently still finalizing the first firmware update package containing mostly small tech tweaks and adding DTS Downmix, we are also collecting input for the second package and measuring what can be done and what cannot. We cannot reveal any concrete changes yet though, but we will definately involve our forums in the development. Furthermore we will keep checking other places like this as well.

First lets see the Playon!HD review here on MPC, and we will take it from there :)

[ReleasePT]

(...)

First lets see the Playon!HD review here on MPC, and we will take it from there :)

I'm also waiting for that review... :(

[telemike]

The biggest bug for me is the standby mode. Samba and BT do not work after the unit comes back on from standby mode. It needs a reboot and then any interuppted BT jobs are broken.

It's capability as a player is great.

[Advocate86]

All,

I have been benchtesting the player for the past week now and will be writing up the review over the next couple of days.

I have tested it from various angles; File copy speed, media playback at various bit rates, compatability of media types, Internet capabilities, subtitling compatability, USB throughput to name but a few.

I appreciate the input that AC Ryan have supplied so far.

Will update once I have sent the review to the Ed.

Advocate86

[telemike]

INternet radio is kinda cool but I don't know if there is any way to save favorites. THere is almost too much to try and browse through. ROCK had like 132 pages of stations to choose from.

[ReleasePT]

All,

I have been benchtesting the player for the past week now and will be writing up the review over the next couple of days.

I have tested it from various angles; File copy speed, media playback at various bit rates, compatability of media types, Internet capabilities, subtitling compatability, USB throughput to name but a few.

I appreciate the input that AC Ryan have supplied so far.

Will update once I have sent the review to the Ed.

Advocate86

I can hardly wait for that... :p

[Advocate86]

Telemike,

You can save Internet radio favourites by highlighting the station of your choice in the left hand pane and then press the Menu button on the remote.

Works for me.

All the best,

Advocate86

[telemike]

Thanks, I'll give that a try next time. The buttons to do a taks are not always the most obvious (file copy).

[Mart1001]

According the website specs Audio Output Supported:
DTS-TrueHD (passthrough), DTS Master Audio (passthrough)


Do you mean Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master and DTS-HD HR (passthrough)?

[telemike]

Just got an email about a new firmware release. Will be testing it out this weekend for AC Ryan.

[Advocate86]

I have tested the new beta firmware, there are a few bug fixes in this release:

Changelog:
1. Added 1080p24 video output setting
2. Added languages Chinese (Simplified) and Russian
3. Changed main menu positions to Browser first, then File Copy
3. Changed screensaver icon
4. Fixed remaining HDD space info display
5. Samba network name changed to PlayonHD

I can confirm that the listed bug fixes under the change log above do work, however this is not the official release which will contain a lot more fixes and enhancements.

I will keep you updated.

I am still working on the review but got side tracked a bit, should have it completed by this weekend...... Hopefully :)

All the best,

Advocate86

[needmorstuff]

where is the review form MPC?

[BengGaBoy]

Hi all,

Currently my ACRyan unit is connected to my home theater system via coaxial SPDIF while the video is connected to my TV via HDMI.

Whenever I turned on the ACRyan unit (e.g. browsing), if you go very near to the speaker, it will hear a "hissing" sound.

And when I turned off ACRyan unit (my home theater still turn on), the "hissing" sound is gone.

Do anybody with similar setup facing such issues ?

Thanks

[telemike]

I've tested the new firmware. The network services still work after putting the unit in standby and then turning back on. The BT client still does not function well if you turn the unit off or put it in standby with torrents in progress. When you wake it up or turn it back on, the BT Client goes to 0% even on completed torrents. You have to delete and restart downloads. Until it is fixed do not turn off the unit while downloading any torrents. The BT Client does not work on private tracker torrents either. I have asked them to look into it.

[Advocate86]

Hi Needmorstuff,

The review is finished, a day or two late, Sorry.

It is with the editor now, so he will decide when it gets published.

Thanks for your patience.

All the best,

Advocate86

[mpguy]

Hi Needmorstuff,

The review is finished, a day or two late, Sorry.

It is with the editor now, so he will decide when it gets published.

Thanks for your patience.

All the best,

Advocate86

Very interested to read the review... I hope it gets published soon !

Thanks

[needmorstuff]

excellent - going to read now.. anyone know where they are in stock in the UK? or do you want to sell me the review model?

[schark]

Hi Needmorstuff,

The review is finished, a day or two late, Sorry.

It is with the editor now, so he will decide when it gets published.

Thanks for your patience.

All the best,

Advocate86

I have just read the review but I could not find anything about testing subtitles? Does ACRyan support Blu-ray embedded subtitles and / or external subtitles etc?

BR
schark

[Advocate86]

All,

Sorry I realised that I have totally left the subs out of the review.

I will endevour to test external subs and blu-ray embedded subs before the end of the week.

I will either amend the review and add the subs or I will update here.

When you say Blu-Ray subs what do you mean, which format of file for the Blu-Ray?

All the best,

Advocate86

[schark]

That is fantastic news!

Hmm, what is the standard file extension for blu-ray subtitles? I do not know right now.

With blu-ray subtitles I mean just to take the m2ts file of a blu-ray and play it with its internal subs.

[Gilly]

Advocate,

I hope I haven't went blind and missed this in your review (probably have), could you tell me the startup time for the unit and the shutdown time.

thanks.

[Advocate86]

All,

I will answer the question in the following post:

http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=22174

Just trying to keep it tidy.

Please referer to there.

All the best,

Advocate86

[fronkenstoin]

Since this player sports the DivX logo I assume DivX support is more extensive than the NMT players. Is this assumption correct?

More specifically, what are the limitations/supported features of this player for DivX and XviD in terms of:

Qpel
B frames (B VOPs)
Number of supported GMC warp points

Also, does it support variable bitrate mp3 soundtracks?

Does it support Div3?

[Advocate86]

All,

No more questions will be answered from this topic/post.

Please refere to this post to ask questions and request tests for the player:

http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=22174

Thanks

Advocate86