Just got my Neuros - initial thoughts and some issues I could use help with.

[overmonk]

Hi friends,

I got my Neuros the other day.  I bought it because I have a lot of video files stored on my PC, and I was getting tired of burning to DVD or video CD to watch them. 

Initial thoughts:  I was surprised at all of the wires included, it made my normally sleek HT setup look like spaghetti.  I will be hiding the unit and using IR repeaters - it looks good by itself, but all of the wires make it look sloppy with all of its connections.  The unit is barely heavy enough to stay in place with only the AC and the video out cable connected.  These, however, are niggling details - not important if it works as advertised, right?

Well, it does and it does not.  I chose the Neuros because I am reasonably savvy with Linux, the device fits my needs on paper, and being open source, is likely to be improved over time. 

I installed the Neuros to my Sony tube TV, copied over a DVD-ripped divx movie to a USB2 flash drive, plugged it into the Neuros and booted it.  Minutes later I was enjoying the movie.  That was really a good feeling - buying something on a little faith and then getting that reward at the end.  Well, that euphoria is fading now.  Since that initial success, it seems like every video I try to play has perfect audio and choppy video - It looks awful - unwatchable, actually.  The video is so frame by frame that it's much more like a filmstrip than a movie or TV show. 

Not being one to take defeat lying down, I went online and downloaded the latest -1.00 firmware and copied it to my USB drive and went through the update process - I was already using this firmware, as it turned out.   I thought initially that the video file might be exceeding the max resolution (I watch some content that originated in HD), but when I checked the files in question using the GSpot codec information app reports the videos to be (generally) encoded as follows:

Codec: xvid
Audio: mp3 vbr @ 123kb/s, 48000 Hz
Video: 624x352, 1011kb/s bitrate, 23.97fps

I loaded it onto my flash drive, jacked it in, and navigated in and started the movie.  Sound is fine.  Video is frame, pause, frame, pause, frame.  This has been the case with at least half of the videos I've tried.  When they work, it's very nice - no worse video that divx is on the PC.  Not close to DVD resolution to my eyes however.

I then loaded up a few mp3 tracks and slotted the drive in, and the Neuros told me that its audio player was, effectively, not working.  Beg pardon?  It plays mp3 audio from my movie files no problem.  Why not self-encoded, non DRM mp3 files?  Very irritating.

I then copied over another video file - an episode of Heroes - and slotted it in.  Choppy playback again.  I wondered if maybe it was just an issue with part of the file and used the shuttle buttons to fast forward, and the unit locked up entirely.  I had to power cycle it to get it running again.  Video still choppy.  FF again.  Locked up again.

I have yet to try other removable media - I have a 4GB SD card that may or may not work (it works in my camera) and I have a portable USB2 HDD that I plan on trying out as well.  That said, I really hope the video choppiness is tied to some kind of issue with my flash drive.  I bought the Neuros for the sole purpose of bringing my computer video to the TV either by removable media or network/streaming, but I still have to run the network drop for that. 

Overall, I'm incredibly disappointed.  I know this device is open source and under constant development, but in terms of video playback, it's just disheartening.  I'm not sure I want to wait for improvements, and I know my own technical skills aren't sufficient to improve that playback without some kind of guide.  Are there solutions to these issues?  Codec updates?  Does the Neuros auto-detect codec and frame rates?  Is the MP3 player anywhere close to a working release?

At present, I'm ambivalent.  The initial success is completely overshadowed by the recurring video issue.  I am considering  returning the unit and putting that money towards an HTPC, which I know will do what I want, but will cost significantly more and be noisier. 

I'll give it another week of tinkering before I decide.

I'd be very pleased to have some feedback on how to address the issues - should I re-encode my video in a different format?  Should I rely on other media or network streaming over my USB flash drive?  How can I make this work?

Thanks for reading my initial thoughts and opinions.  Any suggestions for resolving my issues as described would be very welcome.

Monk

[FJ]

It might be a codec issue. Can you send me a sample of a video you have a choppy playback with? jabadie at neuros dot us
Also more details on the parameters used to encode the video will be helpful.

I would also recommend you try to play the same video from a flash card (freshly formatted is always best to avoid excessive fragmentation of files) and over the network (if possible), and let us know how the video playback looks for both.

We are working on porting XMMS 2, we have a version that works with mp3 files I can send you.  We will release it in a few days publicly though. A update version with a lot more codecs will be released by the end of July after internal testing.

[overmonk]

I spent the better part of the weekend working on ways of resolving the issue, but I'm not sure how to fix the problem.  The files I am using are encoded using the Xvid codec - nothing special about them.  They are large files so they cannot be emailed, but I could transfer one via a file-sharing service.  I have tried perhaps 20 files using xvid, and the common thread is that all of the jerky video originates from high-definition programming.  I now think this is due to the differing framerates of high-definition v standard definition.  My encoded files show a speed of 23.97 fps.  I thought my TV was 30fps - this could result in rotoscope-like jerkiness, right?  The sound is fine - the video is actually not so unwatchable after you get used to it - just noticeably laggy at times, while some smaller scenes look perfect.

Also this weekend, I reformatted my external hard drive to include a Fat32 partition, which made it readable by the neuros.  After copying over a bunch of files, I plugged it up and was able to navigate and play essentially all of them.  I was also very pleased with the shuttle functions - pausing and flast forwarding both worked well.  Rewinding seemed a bit abrupt and overfast, but also worked. 

I have now tried playing from an external hard drive (which, when formatted with ntfs, would not work, but works very well with a fat32 partition), and a USB2 flash drive.  I have not tried an SD card or hooking it up through a network connection.  I plan to try the network connection very soon.

Overall, my initial dissatisfaction has been replaced with a feeling impressed with the unit.  It does some things very well,a dn with a very minimum of fuss and electricity and noise.  I am looking forward to firmware revisions that improve the mp3 capabilities (including playlists for music and video).

[FJ]

Glad to see you are pleased with the Neuros OSD.

Use streamclip from www.squared5.com (free, easy to use and open source) to edit a small sample of a file that has playback issues on the OSD. I believe we might already have a fix for it, but we need a file to check this. If you can not use streamclip email me at jabadie AT neuros DOT us I will send you more information to upload a file.

NTFS support is in the work, but we need to do more tests before releasing the first version publicly.