Miscelleneous by stefan @ 2012-02-28
The Playon!HD Mini 2 Full HD Network Media Streamer from AC Ryan has a pretty small footprint and is able to stream multimedia content (videos, photos, music) right from our network; in case we have attached to it an USB Flash Drive or external HDD, we can play back the multimedia contents locally. The device can be also connected wirelessly to the network via an accessory sold separately.
At first I would like to thank AC Ryan for offering a sample of their Playon!HD Mini 2 Full HD Network Media Streamer for testing and reviewing.
"AC Ryan is a unique Global Brand that has managed to retain the drive and passion that are the essential ingredients in the development of innovative, award winning products, products that consumers can t do without!
From our start in 1992, AC Ryan has grown to become a leading International CE manufacturer with 4 offices spread across Europe and Asia. Our company HQ is based in The Netherlands, where the products are conceptualised and sold in over 30 countries.
Our company ethos is to develop products that are innovative, have superior functionality and respond directly to consumers needs.
Our current product focus is on Full HD network media players and recorders. Our media player series integrate and express user content in a digital experience like no other."
• Stay connected with friends with Facebook, Twitter, and eBuddy on TV
• Online videos on your TV via YouTubeXL
• Excellent format support, including MKV, Blu-ray ISO, DVD IFO/ISO
• Gigabit Full HD streaming, for high bitrate files
• Unique user interface with the Playon!GUI2.0
• NAS functionality, to transform your connected storage device
• Completely silent due to fanless cooling
Cooling
No Fan (Advanced Fanless Cooling for processor)
Power
Active: 5V/1.46A
Standby: 0.67W
Subtitles Format Supported
SRT, SMI, SSA, IDX/SUB, SUB
Image Formats Supported
JPEG, HD JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIF, PNG
Audio Output Supported
Stereo
Dolby Digital AC3 5.1 (passthrough & downmix to stereo)
Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 (passthrough)
Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (passthrough & downmix to stereo)
DTS Digital Surround 5.1 (passthrough & downmix to stereo)
AAC 7.1 (passthrough & downmix to stereo)
FLAC
Audio Formats Supported
MP3 / MP2 / WMA / AAC / FLAC / WAV / OGG Vorbis / PCM / LPCM / MS-ADPCM / LC-AAC / HE-AAC / COOK / RA-Lossless
Video Output Supported
PAL / NTSC / 480p / 576p / 720p / 1080i 50Hz / 1080i 60Hz / 1080p 50Hz / 1080p 60Hz / 1080p 24FPS
Video Codecs Supported
MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 / MPEG-4 SP/ASP/AVC (H.264 | x264) / XviD / DivX / WMV9 (VC-1) / RealVideo 8/9/10 (up to 720P)
Network - Wireless(Optional)
Wireless WLAN 802.11b/g/n 300Mbps via USB WLAN adaptor (optional, not incl.)
Supports WLAN security WEP, WPA
Supports WLAN Peer-to-Peer (connects wireless without router)
Video Formats Supported
AVI / MKV / TS / TP / TRP / M2TS / MPG / MP4 / MOV / M4V / VOB / ISO / DVD-ISO / IFO / DAT / WMV / ASF / RM / RMVB / FLV resolution up to 720p / 1080i / 1080p / BD-ISO
USB Supported
Add ports with USB hubs, USB card readers
2x USB 2.0 (USB-A)
Network - Wired
Wired Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000Mbps (for high performance Full HD streaming)
Wired Gigabit LAN 10/100Mbps(for data transfer)
A/V Out
HDMI 1.3 interface up to 1080p
Composite Audio / Video
Y/Pb/Pr Video
SPDIF Optical TOSLink (digital audio)
Storage Supported
USB HDD, USB sticks and other USB Mass Storage Devices
File Systems: FAT, FAT32, NTFS, EXT3, HFS+
Network drives: USB2.0 PORTS: 2 x USB 2.0 (USB-A)
The latest version of the Full HD Network Media Streamer from AC Ryan is named Playon!HD Mini 2 and comes packed inside a rather small cardboard box, with a photo of the product on the frontal side along with the logos of the supported technologies:
On one of the sides, the full list of specifications can be found on three columns, along with the logos of the supported Internet services:
Looking further, we can also discover the list of product specifications, written in multiple languages; on this same side we can see how the product interface looks like:
On the box we can also find a product description, along with a schematic of the connectors in the back of the device:
After opening the top side, we can find the device carefully wrapped in protective material:
The rest of the bundle is located inside a smaller white box:
Here is what we can find inside the previously mentioned box:
-Quick Installation Guide
-AC/DC adaptor
-Remote Control
-HDMI Cable
-Composite Cable
-Batteries for Remote
The Quick Installation Guide is written in multiple languages and describes with text and drawings how the hardware installation must be made:
The supplied power adapter is rated on the output 5V, 2.4A:
With the supplied remote, we can control all of the streamer functions:
On its back, there is a cover which must be removed in order to install the supplied batteries:
Given the texture type of the product, AC Ryan has decided to fully wrap the enclosure in transparent plastic film; the frontal side is also protected with an extra layer of thin film:
The product casing is made from a shiny black plastic material, and on the top we can find its name, debossed:
On the frontal side of the streamer there is a single power on/off button, but if we look more carefully, we can also spot the IR receiver and the AC Ryan logo:
Some of the supported technologies logos can be found on the right side of the product:
In the back side of the unit, we can find (from left to right) the:
-DC-IN Jack
-Y/Pb/Pr OUT jack
-A/V OUT jack
-HDMI jack
-RJ45 LAN socket
-2x USB 2.0 Host Ports
-S/PDIF Optical Jack
On the bottom we can locate 4 small plastic feet along with lots of ventilation holes:
As an optional accessory, we can get for the Playon!HD Mini 2 a Wireless N 300mbps USB adaptor:
A small product description and specifications can be found in the back side of the packaging; here we can learn that this item can be also used with our PC or laptop in case we decide to leave the streamer on a wired connection:
The WiFi adapter looks like an USB Flash Drive and preserves the design features of the main product:
On the back of the adapter we can find the product code name, along with the WPS button:
The unit can be opened relatively easy, by removing two screws from the back and lifting the clips on each side; the plastic clips are the main reason we must be very careful when opening the device, because these can break; in the older PCB revisions, near the central chip we could also find a mini PCI-E slot, which now seems to be removed:
Near the back ports, we can find the Realtek RTL8211E, which is an Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver:
The brain of this unit is the Realtek RTD1185DD System on a Chip, with the CPU at 500Mhz:
Around it, we can find two Nanya NT5TU64M16GG-AC DDR2 memory chips:
Also nearby, there is a Hynix NAND Flash with the HY27UF082G2B code name, where the firmware is stored:
In the front there is a header for the frontal LED and the on/off switch:
Near them we can also locate the IR receiver:
After starting up the Playon!HD Mini2 with the remote, a splash screen will appear on the TV, confirming that the firmware is loading; the screen will go blank again for a few seconds and after that the main menu will appear:
The menu options are located in the top left corner and on the same screen we can find the connectivity icons, along with the “Recently Added Music” and “Recently Added Movies” sections, which become populated after the connected media has been scanned:
From the Shortcuts menu, we can access directly network resources like NASes, which can provide multimedia content:
The Movies menu shows the video files the streamer has found after the search is completed; the files can be shown in multiple layouts, as we will see later, by pressing the Menu button, to access additional options:
The Options tab in this menu allows us to sort and show the video content by type, name, size and so on; here we can also modify the view type (thumbnails, list or preview mode):
After selecting Preview mode, we will have a small video window on the left side, along with the list of videos on the right:
The List mode allows us to see the names of the files on the entire interface space:
After we start each video, the screen will go blank and the video will play in a couple of seconds:
During the video playback, we can perform some modifications regarding subtitles like size, position, color, regional settings:
If no subtitle is selected, the rest of the options will be grayed out:
Besides the previously mentioned options, we can also adjust settings regarding video or audio:
The Music menu can be also set to be displayed in three different modes (List, Thumbnails, Preview); the List mode simply displays the names of the audio files:
By pressing Menu, we can access additional options, as seen on the Movies section:
If we access the Preview menu and the Music has album art inside the directory, it will be shown in the small window located on the left:
The thumbnails of the image files in the Photo section are generated pretty quickly; they can be viewed really easy on full screen and some extra options are available when pressing the Menu button:
Besides the Movies, Music, Photos menus, we also have Files Manager, Internet Media and the Jukebox function, which works together with YAMJ:
Through the Files Manager, we can locate and playback multimedia content on all interfaces like USB, Network, UPnP or NFS:
The Internet Media comes with some predefined services that we can access with a press of a button:
On of the services is Yahoo! News Weather, which displays the details on the left and the selected location on the right map:
SHOUTcast Radio service can be used to playback hundreds of stations, after the list has been loaded from the servers:
When a station has been selected, an additional menu appears, which allows us to select the preferred server (exactly like on Winamp):
By clicking on the Facebook service button, the login screen will appear:
The same thing goes with the Twitter service:
Messaging is also possible with the Playon!HD Mini2, on most of the networks like Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live, with the help of the eBuddy portal:
These websites can be operated by using the onscreen keyboard, but it is recommended to use a separate physical keyboard:
YoutubeXL can be also accessed from the same menu and has the same functionality as on the Sitecom player:
The Jukebox menu is useful, because it shows the movies we have with the box art and when clicking on one, we also get to see a small summary; to benefit from this function, we must first use the YAMJ application, which can be downloaded from the AC Ryan website:
The last menu option is named Setup and from here we can customize most of the options like Menu Language, System Font, Desktop Background, Text Encoding, DVD Auto-Play, Screen Saver or DLNA DMR:
Other functions can be found by navigating the drop-down menu:
In the Audio menu, we can specify the desired Night mode, and can cycle between the available HDMI and SP/DIF output types:
The Video Settings menu covers options regarding Aspect Ratio, TV System, DNR, we can enable or disable Plasma mode which reduces the screen brightness or for getting more vivid color effects, we can also enable Deep Color:
Inside the Network Settings menu, we can customize the Wired LAN interface and when we have the WiFi dongle connected, we can also access the Wireless Setup menu; here we can also access the PPPoE Setup menu, enable/disable the SAMBA service or specify the Host Name:
The Miscellaneous menu lets us see the currently installed firmware version information, Network information, can customize the HDD spin down function or upgrade the firmware from the USB interface; in the same menu we can also customize Folder Access Protection, enable/disable the use of subtitles, the subtitle sizes, positions or color:
For avoiding system lockups on shutdown or USB storage data loss, it is recommended to unmount the filesystem by pressing the Eject button on the remote:
The Playon!HD Mini 2 comes with an attractive and simple design chassis and has a small size so it’s perfect to install it near our TV; it is ideal to point the remote to the device when sending commands, otherwise it possible the current command won’t register properly. For signaling the on/off status of the streamer, AC Ryan has chosen to use its frontal illuminated logo, which is red when the device is off and white when in operation; if the command we are sending with the remote is received by the device, the frontal logo will simply flash once.
Device Off
Device On
The Mini 2 streamer also has two holes in the back of the chassis, which are covered with rubber and the early samples contained on the internal board an empty slot for placing a PCIe card; AC Ryan is more than likely thinking to include a WiFi card in the next iteration, with two external antennas, instead of using an USB dongle, which occupies a spare USB port.
The streamer can be easily accessed through the network and the NAS functionality is enabled when an external storage device is attached. We can observe quite a difference between the WiFi transfer speeds and the wired ones:
WiFi Transfer
Wired Transfer
The GUI 2.0 is nicely organized, but there is still a small delay between the time we send the command and when it’s executed (the same thing we have experienced with the Sitecom MD-272 HDD TV Media Player). Some of the most known Internet websites can be accessed through the device, but since this is a media device, it would be great to see in the next software revisions the IMDB service integrated too. Before accessing Instant Messaging (eBuddy) or Facebook, we are prompted to insert a third party typing tool like a keyboard, to make the experience smoother; unfortunately, the device is only equipped with two USB ports and in case we already have connected the USB WiFi dongle and the external storage device, there is no port left to insert the keyboard; there is, however, a workaround and this would mean attaching the devices which need only a small amount of power like the WiFi dongle and the multimedia keyboard to a separate USB hub.
There are also some small occasional issues with the Internet Services like Picasa and Shoutcast, when the applications report an error regarding the Internet connectivity (even if the device is fully connected). The APIs from these services are part of the Realtek SDK, many of these errors have been already reported inside the user forums, so we now have to wait for an update from them.
As previously mentioned, this device is a streamer, which means that it does not feature internal storage capability; however, we can always attach to it an external USB storage device, like a Flash Drive, or even better, a 2.5'' HDD.
Considering the size of the device and power consumption, it would have been great if AC Ryan would have kept the Bittorent client functionality, which could have been functional only when an external storage device would have been attached.
The Playon!HD Mini 2 can be found in stores for about 99 Euros, a good price for what it's offered. If necessary, the WiFi dongle can be bought for about 29.99 Euros.
I would like to thank again to AC Ryan for making this review possible!