[CasperDC]

For starters, Hi-Jack -- really enjoyed your 2 cents article. Almost answered my question, but I still am scratching my head a bit. So, I'm turning to the group with eager anticipation. Hopefully, this post won't kick off a religious war (ala Mac vs PC)...

I picked up a NetGear EVA8000 a while back and it's been okay, but doesn't quite do what I want/need (namely support m2ts natively). Here are my requirements:

Must have:

• *Ability to play IFO/VOB with menus working
  *Ability to play M2TS with menus working
  Basically, I don't want to have to remux/recompile into a new format; raw is fine with me and disk space is cheap
  *Ability to read media from ReadyNAS device (NFS/SMB/HTTP/uPnP)
  *Component & HDMI video out
  *Support of full 1080p (1920x1080)
  *Digital audio out (optical much, much preferred)
  *Remote must be able to be subsumed into universal (specifically, one of the Harmony line)

Nice to have:

• *Support for subtitles during playback
  *Parental controls. Even better if there is an ability to have multiple levels (parents, teenagers, toddlers, etc)
  *Quiet/fanless
  *Gig-E support
  *Ability to modify unit remotely from PC over TCP/IP
  Preferably via web pages, command line is acceptable; both is ideal

Don't want:

• *Full PC unit (looking for something massively more simple and/or idiot-proof)

Don't need/don't care:

• *Photos
  *Music
  *Cost (I've had a good year with clients so far; if it does what I want/need, anything under $1500 is fine)

Purpose for the unit:

• *Hardwired unit in closet/rack within home theater
  *Want something that can play the selections from the collection without endangering the source media

Basically, I'm looking for a media client I can plug into a Denon A/V receiver (4308CI, if it matters) that will stream both SD content (IFO/VOB) and HD content (M2TS/BluRay) from a NAS device, complete with subtitles and menus.

The other wrinkle here is that I'm in the US. I don't mind ordering from overseas, so long as the components play nicely. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Casper

[Hi-Jack]

The TViX would be your best match (M-6500/7000) but there is one item in yhour list that you will not find in any media player today... Native playback of m2ts/blu-ray with menus.

Players are also not idiot proof and still not as stable as the average dvd player out there but that is to be expected with the amount of options and possibilities.

You can also go for one of the NMT's that has optical.
All the rest of your list is done by both, quality wise the tvix is best, featurewise the nmt is best but do mind the small differences and fact that transfer of files differs between units... (read the reviews to get an idea)

Enjoy

[simonl]

"there is one item in your list that you will not find in any media player today... Native playback of m2ts/blu-ray with menus. "

Hi-Jack

I think m2ts are the files created by the Sony and Panasonic HD camcorders. That being the case, could you explain what the difference between native playback, and the manner in which the players currently manage m2ts?

Thanks

[CasperDC]

Hi-Jack says:

...there is one item in yhour list that you will not find in any media player today... Native playback of m2ts/blu-ray with menus.

So, is it that there are no players (currently on the market) that can read the raw blu-ray file structure (m2ts, I believe), or none that can do that with menus intact? Or is this an operation that requires conversion of the raw files into a more palatable container?

[JER1956]

Originally Posted by CasperDC Hi-Jack says: ...there is one item in yhour list that you will not find in any media player today... Native playback of m2ts/blu-ray with menus. So, is it that there are no players (currently on the market) that can read the raw blu-ray file structure (m2ts, I believe), or none that can do that with menus intact? Or is this an operation that requires conversion of the raw files into a more palatable container?

No player has the option to play a Blu-ray or HD DVD ISO. Without that you lose the menu's. If you convert a DVD to an MPEG-2 file you also lose the chapters and menu's. m2t is the hd equivelent of an .mpeg, not an Iso or Ifo.

[CasperDC]

Originally Posted by JER1956 No player has the option to play a Blu-ray or HD DVD ISO. Without that you lose the menu's. If you convert a DVD to an MPEG-2 file you also lose the chapters and menu's.

I'm a bit confused, then. I used AnyDVD to rip a Blu-ray disc to hard drive. Here's the structure:


In this structure, it would seem to me that the movie data itself is in the Stream directory, where the M2TS files are located. Is the menu data in either the Index.bdmv or the MovieObject.bdmv file in the root directory? Or is the menu data to be found in Playlist directory (the MPLS files)?

[JER1956]

I doubt the MKV movies rips people are playing contain all that. People are just extracting the movies becuase no one can find a player which will play the rest.

[CasperDC]

Originally Posted by CasperDC In this structure, it would seem to me that the movie data itself is in the Stream directory, where the M2TS files are located. Is the menu data in either the Index.bdmv or the MovieObject.bdmv file in the root directory? Or is the menu data to be found in Playlist directory (the MPLS files)?

I found at least part of the answer myself: VideoHelp, but I'm still a bit unclear as where the menu data would reside.

[JER1956]

Originally Posted by CasperDC I found at least part of the answer myself: VideoHelp, but I'm still a bit unclear as where the menu data would reside.

I presume it's similer to DVD in that the Menu system is basically a set of interlinked videos containing what you see on the screen when using the menu system. It won't be "data" used to drive a graphics chip.