OT: Media Players

[Toonces]

Hi Tom,

This is somewhat off topic (it doesn't have anything to do with mame at least) but since GameEx is also for HTPC, I was wondering if you or anyone else have tried any Media Players? I recently purchased an IO Data Linkplayer 2 and it makes a great, silent media player for everything from DVD to WMA files. It plays DiVX, XviD, mpg1, mpg2 and a host of other file formats. It also has a network connection and can stream video, music, pics and internet using a server on a pc or usb drive or even a NAS running the media server software. There are plenty of devices just like it (I don't think IO Data sell this player in Europe yet). Some examples are the Buffalo LinkTheater and the Momitsu M880N (I think that's the model). They all use the same basic media server software. In addition, IO Data have an Advanced Server that does real time transcoding to support file types that the player does not natively support (Tivo, QT, etc). The link for the player I have is here: http://www.iodata.com/products/products.ph...DLA&ts=2&tsc=15

I know the Pinnacle showcenter is also similar and the software from that will also work although not necesarily all functions.

Anyways, gettting more to my point, the players are great. The server software is very basic and lacks a lot of what I see in GameEx. There is an Open Source server as well called wizd that addresses one of the shortcomings of the standard servers (It allows you to play a series of VOB files sequentially rather than 1 at a time). The server software is basically a web server running on port 8000, I was wondering if you'd be interested in doing a media server. I would say add it to gameex but I don't know how many people would leave it on all the time so they could watch recorded/downloaded shows but it would be a cool feature either inside or seperate from GameEx.

Thanks!

Toonces

[Tom Speirs]

Hi Tom,

  This is somewhat off topic (it doesn't have anything to do with mame at least) but since GameEx is also for HTPC, I was wondering if you or anyone else have tried any Media Players? I recently purchased an IO Data Linkplayer 2 and it makes a great, silent media player for everything from DVD to WMA files. It plays DiVX, XviD, mpg1, mpg2 and a host of other file formats. It also has a network connection and can stream video, music, pics and internet using a server on a pc or usb drive or even a NAS running the media server software. There are plenty of devices just like it (I don't think IO Data sell this player in Europe yet).  Some examples are the Buffalo LinkTheater and the Momitsu M880N (I think that's the model). They all use the same basic media server software. In addition, IO Data have an Advanced Server that does real time transcoding to support file types that the player does not natively support (Tivo, QT, etc). The link for the player I have is here: http://www.iodata.com/products/products.ph...DLA&ts=2&tsc=15

I know the Pinnacle showcenter is also similar and the software from that will also work although not necesarily all functions.

Anyways, gettting more to my point, the players are great. The server software is very basic and lacks a lot of what I see in GameEx. There is an Open Source server as well called wizd that addresses one of the shortcomings of the standard servers (It allows you to play a series of VOB files sequentially rather than 1 at a time). The server software is basically a web server running on port 8000, I was wondering if you'd be interested in doing a media server. I would say add it to gameex but I don't know how many people would leave it on all the time so they could watch recorded/downloaded shows but it would be a cool feature either inside or seperate from GameEx.

Thanks!

Toonces

I started writing an app which I think is what your talking about (?). It's called MediaXT. Its in early stages. Let me know what direction you think would be suitable for it.

See here:

http://www.thegreenbutton.com/community/sh...119920#bm121552

[Toonces]

I started writing an app which I think is what your talking about (?). It's called MediaXT. Its in early stages. Let me know what direction you think would be suitable for it.

See here:

http://www.thegreenbutton.com/community/sh...119920#bm121552

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, that looks like a good start to what I am talking about. What I am really hoping for would be something that has the features of WizD and more along with the look of GameEx in an easy to use package.

You can find an english version of WizD here http://www.geocities.com/flipflop7146/wizd.html

The closest I think I have seen to a GameEx like interface is Swiss Center. http://www.swisscenter.co.uk/

Some of the things I would think would be cool are lookups and art download from imdb which would show in a thumbnail then go into an info page just like GameEx does with the mame list. Who knows, maybe even the previews

Why not start another forum on MediaXT?

Thanks!

Toonces

[Tom Speirs]

Yep, that looks like a good start to what I am talking about. What I am really hoping for would be something that has the features of WizD and more along with the look of GameEx in an easy to use package.

You can find an english version of WizD here http://www.geocities.com/flipflop7146/wizd.html

The closest I think I have seen to a GameEx like interface is Swiss Center. http://www.swisscenter.co.uk/

Some of the things I would think would be cool are lookups and art download from imdb which would show in a thumbnail then go into an info page just like GameEx does with the mame list. Who knows, maybe even the previews

Why not start another forum on MediaXT?

Thanks!

Toonces

I think the whole idea of GameEx is as an alternative to one of those media players. I am not sure MediaXT is quite the same thing. I dont really understand the relationship, or are the interfaces your talking about just web applications, and the device just acts as a web browser?

I do plan on adding some lookups and my movies style features to GameEx though.

I am keeping my focus on GameEx at the moment, as its such a hit. I may resume work on MediaXT at some stage though.

[Toonces]

I think the whole idea of GameEx is as an alternative to one of those media players. I am not sure MediaXT is quite the same thing. I dont really understand the relationship, or are the interfaces your talking about just web applications, and the device just acts as a web browser?

I do plan on adding some lookups and my movies style features to GameEx though.

I am keeping my focus on GameEx at the moment, as its such a hit. I may resume work on MediaXT at some stage though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I see where I am being confusing. Yes, GameEx is an alternative. One of the things that makes GameEx so widely apealing is the user interface. The way information is presented is both visually apealing and logical. Combined with the type of information displayed about your games, it makes for an excellent front end for not only games but all types of media. That is what I am looking for, the user experience gameex gives me in a much lighter package that is geared towards a set top box.

The basic server that comes with these boxes is pretty much nothing more than a web server as far as I can tell. They do much the same job as Windows Media Connect (although WMC was not around when they were written) and server the requested file or files to the player. My problem with them is not just functional, it's visual. They're boring. Take a look at the login and video screens on a default install:

This shows 1. DVD, 2. USB 2.0 Drive, 3. Premium Internet Services (vTuner), 4. Basic Server running on Windows computer Jack & 5. Network HD with media player software running (WizD or Linkplayer's own).

Here's the next page when choosing a device:

And finally, choosing the movies folder:

As you can see, it's functional but as a UI it sucks. I assume that the styles are in html. If you load another manufacturer's software like momitsu's, you get the same fucntionality with a different look. That's all.

Now take a look at MediaXT, it also has a very "web" interface to it. What I am hoping for would be to take the look & feel using the same concepts gameex already uses and turn that into a media server. Using the cascading menus to go into the devices and media folders then when you select a movie, instead of it just playing, have it display the movie info just as gameex does for mame games. Instead of having to compile that infor from 3 or 4 different text files (catver, history, etc) you can get all of that type of data from imdb.

On a more advanced level, one thing the basic media servers lack is on the fly transcoding. Other features would be cool too like being able to rip a DVD to a folder and just playing the VOBs (the player will play the VOBs but individually rather than 1 after another, wizd has a hack to get around that and will play them sequentially but you get a playing file x of x in between each one). There are probably a ton of other things that could be done on the server side of things so that not only does it look better but would also process your videos & music, download info (tags) and manage your collection. There are lots of little parts to the equasion floating around out there but nothing really tying them all together.

Does that make any more sense? I would really like to a see a MediaEx out there that works as well as GameEx does!

Erik