Cineform playback on HD Media Player boxes? at DVinfo.net

Alex Raskin · November 19th, 2008, 11:39 AM

Besides cumbersome blu-ray encoding/playback (I'm not too fond of optical media these days), what would be a good way of playing back a movie made using Cineform Prospect HD codec?

1920x1080p output, Component and HDMI out, and all.

Looking for the mobile box like Popcorn Hour A-110 - does it play Cineform?

David Taylor · November 19th, 2008, 01:43 PM

I have no idea. Looking at the specs it says it plays AVI files. The key is if it allows installation of DShow or Video for Windows components. The way to test would be to try to install Neo Player on the box, assuming it runs Windows. Or inquire of the company first about whether Neo Player can be installed.

Alex Raskin · November 19th, 2008, 01:56 PM

They say it's a Linux box.

David Taylor · November 19th, 2008, 07:57 PM

Alex, then unfortunately it will not work. We don't yet have a Linux version of our codec. We expect to at some point as the port is not too difficult. But Linux hasn't yet made it over the action line yet....

Alex Raskin · December 1st, 2008, 01:10 PM

I've noticed a couple of other, similar threads:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/cineform-...a-players.html

and

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/cineform-...avi-files.html

and probably there are others; more of these to be expected since more media player models will be produced, undoubtedly, soon.

Do you think it'd be better to consolidate all these threads into one to have one point of information on media players that do not (now) or do (in the future) support Cineform playback?

Marc Colemont · December 2nd, 2008, 03:32 PM

I play Cineform 720P25 files from a miniMAC on a Plasma.
It's just at the limit of the hardware, but it plays very nice.
I have not tried 1080P files yet

Richard Leadbetter · December 4th, 2008, 12:53 PM

Gentlemen, I give you the Dell Studio Hybrid: Dell Studio Hybrid Desktop Details

Santa Rosa chipset, support for Core 2 Duo up to 2.6GHz, Intel X3100 GPU, HDMI output. Stick in a big hard disk, and I think you're all set.

Alex Raskin · December 4th, 2008, 02:56 PM

Dell Hybrid It appears to be 5x the price of Dell Media Player.

In the meantime, I have received Popcorn Hour A-110 (what a cheesy name), and I... absolutely... love it!

Incredible image and sound quality, can stream almost anything from even the simplest external USB drives without a glitch.

Does not play Cineform files though.

So I'm just using Blu-ray m2t files that I encoded from my Cineform masters. These m2ts play beautifully and do not seem to *visibly* differ in quality to Cineform files. That's my workflow for now.

November 19th, 2008, 11:39 AM	#1
Alex Raskin Trustee Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,435	Cineform playback on HD Media Player boxes? Besides cumbersome blu-ray encoding/playback (I'm not too fond of optical media these days), what would be a good way of playing back a movie made using Cineform Prospect HD codec? 1920x1080p output, Component and HDMI out, and all. Looking for the mobile box like Popcorn Hour A-110 - does it play Cineform?

December 2nd, 2008, 03:32 PM	#6
Marc Colemont Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Belgium Posts: 695	I play Cineform 720P25 files from a miniMAC on a Plasma. It's just at the limit of the hardware, but it plays very nice. I have not tried 1080P files yet __________________ Marc Colemont - Belgium - http://www.mc-productions.be JVC GY-HM850's, HM890, HM600

December 4th, 2008, 12:53 PM	#7
Richard Leadbetter Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 323	Gentlemen, I give you the Dell Studio Hybrid: Dell Studio Hybrid Desktop Details Santa Rosa chipset, support for Core 2 Duo up to 2.6GHz, Intel X3100 GPU, HDMI output. Stick in a big hard disk, and I think you're all set. __________________ Company Website: Digital Foundry Ltd Video Games HD Blog: Digital Foundry@Eurogamer

November 19th, 2008, 01:43 PM	#2
David Taylor Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Solana Beach, CA Posts: 853	I have no idea. Looking at the specs it says it plays AVI files. The key is if it allows installation of DShow or Video for Windows components. The way to test would be to try to install Neo Player on the box, assuming it runs Windows. Or inquire of the company first about whether Neo Player can be installed.

November 19th, 2008, 01:56 PM	#3
Alex Raskin Trustee Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,435	They say it's a Linux box.

November 19th, 2008, 07:57 PM	#4
David Taylor Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Solana Beach, CA Posts: 853	Alex, then unfortunately it will not work. We don't yet have a Linux version of our codec. We expect to at some point as the port is not too difficult. But Linux hasn't yet made it over the action line yet....

December 1st, 2008, 01:10 PM	#5
Alex Raskin Trustee Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,435	I've noticed a couple of other, similar threads: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/cineform-...a-players.html and http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/cineform-...avi-files.html and probably there are others; more of these to be expected since more media player models will be produced, undoubtedly, soon. Do you think it'd be better to consolidate all these threads into one to have one point of information on media players that do not (now) or do (in the future) support Cineform playback?

December 4th, 2008, 02:56 PM	#8
Alex Raskin Trustee Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,435	Dell Hybrid It appears to be 5x the price of Dell Media Player. In the meantime, I have received Popcorn Hour A-110 (what a cheesy name), and I... absolutely... love it! Incredible image and sound quality, can stream almost anything from even the simplest external USB drives without a glitch. Does not play Cineform files though. So I'm just using Blu-ray m2t files that I encoded from my Cineform masters. These m2ts play beautifully and do not seem to visibly differ in quality to Cineform files. That's my workflow for now.