Playstation 3 as a media hub - how good is it? Part IV -- Media Server, capability of streaming media files from computers revealed

 

Finally moved in to the dorm tonight, been stucked in the traffic for 1 hour and a half which normally would only take about 30 min to my school. Plus bad bad weather also, not pouring, but a bit rain during the move-in process which was unpleasently enough... A bit rain is good for Calif though since I don't remember when was the last time there was raining this year

So let's move on to my Playstation 3 review which I've been promising supposedly to post on 09/19...

So this time is about streaming media to Playstation 3 from your DLNA enabled devices such as a computer. This is a new function added after firmware v1.80. This is a huge improvement on what the PS3 is capable of in terms of as a media hub IMO. Prior to v1.80, if you want to get your media files to play on PS3, you only have 2 (maybe 3) choices:

1. Burn a disc, then play in PS3

2. Copy files to hard drive (FAT32 only, 4GB file size limitation) or other flash media, then playback on PS3

3. Using the software, Red Kawa fileserver, to download files from your PC to PS3, but the speed is amazingly slow...

So after v1.80, you no longer have to do the above, just streaming from your computer using an DLNA enabled software, that's it. The speed of the streaming is amazingly fast on a wired connection, a recorded 1080i around 14Mbps mpeg2 file starts instantly at the time you hit your play button, and there's never a drop out. So it's really good, but people have reported slow connection on the wireless side since PS3 only has a 54Mbps card. By using this function, you also break the 4GB file size limitation on FAT32 drive, and there's NO folder/file name restrictions whatsoever. The bad side is that a PS3 is still a PS3, it only recognizes very limited files, videos have to be mpeg with mp2 (if other audio such as ac3 the mpeg has to be program stream) or mp4 AVC, no avi, mkv, ogg stuff. But you can use a DLNA enabled software called TVersity to transcode those non-compilant video formats on the fly. A very impressive software to further extends the ability of PS3. But since I don't like anything being compressed, or transcoded, the software is no big deal to me, but I'll introduce it briefly later. Another problem presently presents is the audios in HDTV gets converted to LPCM on PS3, seems like SONY likes LPCM a lot... This is not a big deal on casual viewing, but if you have some good surround mixing TV shows, you are just missing out those effects. And PS3 seems adds a lot of bass on the converted audios which results an over-exaggerated boom, very unnatural. Yet the biggest problem I found out is that PS3 can't handle certain mpeg2 stream, such as those records from CBS and the Tube (a 24 hr digital music station here). There's this guy who has the same problem, here is his blog entry about this issue, he puts out this file for diagnosing purpose. My summary ends here, I'm impressed how long I can write here... But this never happens when I write a research paper...

So let me introduce the media server function picture by picture. The following is a setup on the network. The last option media server connection is where you can enable/disable this cool function...

Here is my connection status list, private info is eliminated here

Media Server Connection Option

There are many DLNA enabled softwares you can use, I'm using windows media player and Tversity here. Windows media player is the easiest way to go since it's already in windows, but it doesn't support mp4 AVC. I would recommend TVsersity here for mp4 support, or even trancode on-the-fly for non-compilant avi, mkv, etc files.

Turning on Media Sharing function in windows media player, it'll recognize PS3 easily as Unknown Device, check allow then you are all set.

The interface of TVersity, ustilizing flash. TVersity is very powerful at updating the media, not only sharing to PS3, but can also share to other device such as PCs. Much more powerful than windows media player. The setup of TVersity is a bit hard at first, you can check this blog entry for detailed instruction, also check out TVersity PS3 forum. 

Basically, if you setup the softwares correctly, PS3 will recognizes those servers immediately, but just in case something doesn't get updated promptly, here's how you can manually search the servers...

Loosen your seat belt, cuz searching takes a long long time...

So first let's entering the TVersity server

Blackhawk Down Trailer I copied from PS3 to PC, just to test the ability of supporting media on TVersity.

Tom and Jerry tale I recorded from Saturday morning cartoon, the original capture is 1080i, here I have encoded to x.264 using Megui. The reason I chose to transcode this one is that the original source is a complicated one, most of time are fast motion chasing scenes, so I think I made a bad choice later on after I waited 24 hours for this 20 min footage to compete encoding process... The result is NOT very good, the picture gets residues from previous scenes, very weird... Side notes, I just wish that WB and UPN the two never got merged together, that way I got some more cartoon like transformers every afternoon on WB and more si-fi on UPN.

Here's some of the parameter I set in Megui... I set the bitrate @1Mbps, and audio as AAC-LC multi-channel... This is the native resoultion 1024*768 on the screen.

Another picture shows that the time searching function is working on the mp4 file, so except slow encoding and ghost pictures, Megui really gets the job done. I might look into it further when I got time since cartoons I don't really care too much about image quality, they are NOT HD anyways...

Now come to the windows media server, which has more files...

Lots of Channel 2 recordings, but ironically, PS3 can't handle any streams from this channel...

Cold case, a crime investigation type drama I recently got interested in...

CSI Miami, love the warm vivid pictures, and the surround sound mixing, but too much noises...

Heroes, don't like the show, can never understand why it has such a hugh success... I am experiencing recording time on how to record two different shows on a consecutive time but not losing any content on both, such as here the heroes is from 9:00 to 10:00, then CSI Miami starts from 10:00-11:00.

Another Saturday morning cartoon show, the batman... Got two sets of batman series lego this year...

Cat in the hat, just recorded, but never watched it...

Lindsay Lohan in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, mean girls is a much better piece though...

Masters of Si-fi, a mini series, only 6 episodes, but haven't got finished yet...

Target advertisement...

Here are the most troulesome mpeg2 files. All the shows from CBS and the Tube aren't playing correctly on the PS3. My favorite show Jericho happens to be the worst of these mpeg2...

This Spiderman3 theme song doesn't get any better...

Complete Mai-K TV works fine though... I guess the goal for completing this series is where I start my downloading career...

So no longer have to burn DVD-RWs to watch them...

Screen mode can be used to change the size of the window, like the original window, extend to the full screen with some horizontal stretch for 16:9 non-anamorphic material. Original 352*240 windows on 1080i screen, how small it is...

Windows media player doesn't have the ability to transcode non-compliant files, so shows a bunch Unsupported Data here, these are actually avi files I believe...

Mai performs her Japanese debut song "Love, day after tomorrow" on 56th NHK Kohaku show in 2005. Her 3rd apperance on this show. In 2006, she did her own countdown live...

This is a crippled 1024*576 version, too bad, still havn't got the 1080i version with AAC 5.1

 

 

Playstation 3 as a media hub - how good is it? Part III -- DVD/BD related settings and DVD upscaling capability on firmware v1.9x Part 2

 

This entry is a continuation to the PS3 settings post, it focuses on the upscaling feature on the PS3.

Since I'm using  a component cable, the only way I can take the advantage of PS3's upscaling feature is to burn a DVD-R. Frankly, I only have very few DVD-R backups. The DVD-R I will be using here is Blue Gender, the anime series I reviewed not long ago. The original DVDs are D5 around 4G in size, so backups are easy, therefore I made them, but generally speaking I don't make copies...

So here upon inserting the disc, PS3 recognizes as DVD-R, upsacling will be applied.

If you press the green triangle button (options) on SIXAXIS or BT remote, it will show the options, here there are four. You won't get the fourth item "Information" if you are using a copyrighted disc or DVD-ROM.

The infromation is very basic, only shows the number of titles... I wish it shows the size of the disc...

So this is a random disc I pull out, the second disc of the anime series. This is how upscaling looks. I think this is the best picture I took in this batch.

Earlier I mentioned how I check if upscaling is applied, this is the picture, my monitor truly shows 1080i.

Move on to the DVD playing GUI, which is very similar to blu-ray disc. The top shows the title number, audio codec and bitrate, video codec and bitrate; the bottom is the timeline. These icons are also very similar to blu-ray's, it's just blu-ray disc has those red, green, blue, yellow buttons which the DVD doesn't have here. The only picture quality related settings you can access here is the AV settings, it's the second row second icon from the right (the icon right underneath number 8 and 9 and between them with two sliding bars horizontly placed, forgot to take this picture... )

Activating the AV settings, you get frame noise reduction, black noise reduction, and the method of Upscale. The noise reductions are effective at removing the noises, but on my monitor, I saw some annoying horizontal shaking lines during some scenes. Other than that, upscaling is perfect. I think the default value for both reductions are 2, choosing 3 can elaminte that horizontal shaking lines a lit bit.

There are four methods of Upscale: Normal, Double scale, full, off. The default method is Normal, as seen here. It automatically corrects the aspect ratio. Traditional DVD players with upscaling don't provide auto aspect ratio function so every time you want to watch 4:3 footage on a 16:9 screen with non-distorted image, you have to manually correct it. So PS3 is the only machine I've reviewed so far provide this feature except those DVD software  on computers... I think it's a very very good feature, saves the time switching back and forth if you want to watch 16:9 feature movie and 4:3 bonus material.

Double scale is the same as Normal but shrinks the overall picture by about 10%, and it's only working under 1080i/1080P resolution, does NOT work on 720P.

Full is remove that aspect ratio correction feature, which I think is NO good. Here is the team leader battles with an early stage blue which has its core exposed in air, knock off the core, then the blue is dead. Later evolutions on the blues have shields on the core or gets buried within their body, the scientist on the second earth developed a new type of machine called double edger which can effective kill those kinds. The very last blue they battled with does not have a core...

Off is turning off the upscaling feature, which results a softer image and loses the auto aspect ratio correction feature.

Finishing up the intro for the upscaling, here is a Copyrighted disc, Dark Angel Season 2. Non scaling is applied as detected by my monitor, 480p only.

Jessica Alba (Max) gets distorted...

Have to manually forcing 4:3 aspect ratio.

Sum up, the upscaling feature on PS3 is very effective, it provides a much vivid image than original DVD and auto corrects the aspect ratio. Only quirk is that some weird horizontal shaky lines are introduced during some scenes on Blue Gender, I haven't checked out non-anime material yet. DVDs without upsacling are about the same picture quality as my Harman Kardon DVD.

Last, PS3 has no problem displaying my authored "advanced“ subpicture, this DVD took me about 4 weeks to finish, including adding transition menus to the original menus, adding a feature page, making about 1800 subpictures by copying and pasting from the net and timing them according to the songs, competely re-programming the structure and registers in the DVD, a huge huge project I have ever done.

 

Something worth to buy -- APC UPS general review

 

UPS - uninterruptible power supply, not the UPS for delivery... It's a device to pass thru constant power to your device when your external power is functional yet it has an internal battery which is charging 24/7 just in when your external power source is cut off, this internal battery will kick in and provide temporary power until it's drained, just think of an external powered cellphone when charging (not a very good analogy, but can't think of a better one)...

I did this topic in my speech communication class, introduced this essential electronic device to my fellow classmates. When I first submit the topic, the teacher read out to the classmates, everyone was like what the fu*k are you talking about and laughed at the topic. But after I brought the actual product to the class and made the speech in front of everyone (wearing my lucky shirt that day, first speech failed due to over time, second made it within 5 minutes...)The feedback turned out to be good, some guys just started to ask me the price and functionality about it. I actually demoed them by unpluging the power cable from the wall (not good practice, should bring another plug with switch and turn off the switch...), and the desktop computer I hooked up was still running strong, they were impressed.

-So what does this product do?

To provide a short yet enough time to turn off the computer or any other electronics powered by it when you have a power outage or other power problem.

-How much does it cost?

With the lowest entry price $40 on a 350VA, and gets higher and higher on larger model.

-Do I really need it?

I think it's essential, just adds protection to your electronic devices as you would buy life insurance, car insurance etc...

This particular UPS has four outlets, which is way more than enough. Just pay attention don't overload the UPS, the protection circuit will shut itself down if it's overloaded, which means your devices are not protected. The rule of thumb is to connect only one computer to one UPS, and don't connect electric hog device such as mircrowave or laser printer... I got bite once not long ago when my PS3 and computer are on the same cyberpower 485VA UPS, the UPS stops working when my dad turn on an electrical vacuum, I was in the middle of deleting a file on PS3 and encoding a clip on the computer... This particular UPS will give you about 6-10 minutes of protection before it drains its battery, so you should have enough time turning of your computer or any other devices. You can also install the powerchute software and connect the USB cable to the UPS to monitor it. Just in case you are not at home, the powerchute will turn it off for you, but only good on computers, you're out of luck if you connect to other devices and they happen to be running...

Above is a screenshot on the powerchute software, pretty interesting to fiddle around, watching the voltage on your wire.

The lifetime on the UPS depends on the lifetime of the internal battery, according to the manual APC claims their product has a life span of 3 years. So after 3 years you should replace your battery. But I have an APC 725VA running 4 years, and don't have any issue with it and still going strong...

The end, I have purchased 9 UPS after I moved to US and discover the device and what benefits it brings. Of the total 9 UPSes, only one Belkin 650VA has failed within 1 year, the other 8 have served well.

My redemption -- HP dv2000t notebook review

(The pictures above are verve special edition from bestbuy, but except those prints, the design is the same, you get the idea)

So this is the second HP notebook I have ordered just within 3 weeks from last one, the notebooks are for others since I already have enough computers running around in our little apartment (mom always complains why I'm not turning off the desktop...)... The first one is a DV6000t, a 15.4 in one, this one is a DV2000t, 14.1 in. Both of them have almost the same spec: differences are the 14.1 in comes with windows vista home premium and has a webcam, while the 15.4 in is home basic no webcam... Admittedly got good deal on both of them, but the first one seems much better deal, about $100 less, and personally I like big stuff, the second one isn't as great as the first one considering after one and a half week after I placed the order the new dv2500t comes out with a 8400gs graphics card and core 2 duo CPU for a $60 more than what I have here, a much hotter deal IMO. If it's for me, I would definitely call HP to cancel the order and get the dv2500t, but since it's for other people and the person really needs it before school starts which will be in 2 weeks. I gave up fighting this time, just saved myself some time and energy...

This review comes kind of late, if I had time to play with the dv6000t last time, I should've probably written a review on that one.

So It's about the little brother... Here's the spec:

- HP Pavilion dv2000t CTO NB
- FREE Upgrade from Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic to Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)!
- Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2450 (2.0 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
- 14.1" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- FREE Upgrade from 512MB DDR2 System Memory (1 Dimm) to 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 128MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7200
- HP Imprint Finish + Webcam + Microphone
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
- FREE Upgrade to 160GB 5400RPM from 80GB 5400RPM!!
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Microsoft(R) Works 8.0

The design is pretty attractive, and looks slim on picture. The real item isn't that slim though (as thick and heavy as my Dell latitude D610, maybe due to some visual perspective on the slanted design), but still awesome looking, especially when it's running tons of lights lit on.

The front:

Features three audio input/output, from left to right are microphone, headphone, second headphone can also be used as digital optical output (mini adapter is required). On the left of the microphone input is the remote control reception window (I think all the DV models come with a remote control which you can put in the card slot, the receptions on the remote on good and the remote is really good not like some junky accesories you'll never use) . On the very left are three indicators for power, battery, hard drive. To the right is a dedicated switch for wireless network.

The left side are S-video, VGA, HP expansion port, ethernet, USB, IEEE 1394, Card slot on top and card reader (SD/MS/MS Pro/MMC/xD) on bottom. So the remote control goes into the card slot, a very good design. Again, I have taken a picture against a US quarter coin, it's not as thin as it looks like...

The right side are DVD burner, two USBs, phone input, and power port.

Flip over the machine, there are four compartments on the machine, one battery, one hard drive, one memory and one mini PCI (PCI-e maybe...). The placement on the hard drive is bad IMHO, it's on the left wrist panel, which heats generate after one hour or two to the point gets too hot to put your wrist on the panel. A better design would be to put the hard drive underneath the keyboard which my Toshiba does; my Dell does put the hard drive at the same spot but the panel doesn't get hot at all.

The screen is a glossy one, which is too reflective IMO. Turning off your notebook, you'll get a fully functional mirror. On top the screen there is a 1.3MP webcam (I sought of take on redemption this time by choosing a webcam although the "Client" doesn't really need it, regret didn't do it on the 15.4in one) and a built-in microphone, the webcam is really good, the image quality is better than my microsoft vx-1000 webcam which costs as much as this one for retail price (of course I got a much cheaper price on the vx-1000). There is a dedicated switch for the mouse pointer, the pointer is OK but hard to move it if your fingertip is sticky, there's too much friction on the touchpad (After getting used to the tracking stick on my Dell, I just cannot go back). The keyboard is good but does feel somewhat different than Dell and Toshiba. On top of the keyboard, there are the power button and cool multimedia quick access buttons all with blue led, very cool when running but could get distracting in dark room for others...  Yet top to the power button and quick access keys, there comes the great Altec Lansing speakers. The sound goes to the screen then bounces back to user's ears. The placement of the speakers is a disaster if you want to close the lid and listening to music, other than that, it's perfect, sound quality is as good as those PC speakers for $20-$40, only wish is that they could've include a subwoofer on the notebook, that would make my day. There's no mechanical lock on the machine, it uses a magnesium locing mechanism which desn'it seem to lock very tight between the lid and the base.

I took about half a day uninstalling the unnecessary programs and made a backup discs, from what I can tell, the speed is good, the programs maybe slow for the first time running, but after second time re-launching it's almost instant to start up. The 7200Go video card should be able to handle most of the popular 2005 era games. I have only tested one 1080P 12Mbps x.264 encoded clip, it plays fine with sync-ed audio. Software side there's a weird problem I haven't figured out, the machine won't go to sleep when close the lid, I have to manually push the power button to let it sleep before close up the lid.

I haven't tested the battery life yet, but should go about two and a half hour and more under normal condition.

Last, a picture with my Dell.