Author Topic: PQ and NMTs (Read 4000 times)

dips15 · « **on:** Sep 01, 2009 at 11:08 PM »

Haven't seen a lot of threads (at least in recent history) comparing NMTs. I don't know if its because most are similar since they have practically the same hardware and syabas based software. Was going through the WDTV vs. E-great thread wherein there were some who were not so impressed with the PQ of the e-great after using the WDTV.

Considering the differing PQ of the mentioned models, would the PQ of the E-great be different or similar to other Syabas based NMTs such as the PCH or HDX? If there is already a thread covering this, please let me know and just close or transfer this post.

Thanks.

frootloops · « **Reply #1 on:** Sep 01, 2009 at 11:30 PM »

IMHO, I think the difference will be on the origin of the source and not the player's capability. No matter how good your NMT is but if your source is not, then you still get a bad result. Like,...we may have the same title, however both came form a different source. IOW, same chicken adobo but different cook,ingredients and kitchen used.

ara4 · « **Reply #2 on:** Sep 03, 2009 at 04:48 PM »

Quote from: frootloops on Sep 01, 2009 at 11:30 PM

IMHO, I think the difference will be on the origin of the source and not the player's capability. No matter how good your NMT is but if your source is not, then you still get a bad result. Like,...we may have the same title, however both came form a different source. IOW, same chicken adobo but different cook,ingredients and kitchen used.

AGREE!! Garbage in, garbage out.

franz_inwurdz · « **Reply #3 on:** Sep 08, 2009 at 09:06 PM »

yeah, but considering all things the same(cook, ingredients,

) except for the NMT, which PQ is better.

Verbl Kint · « **Reply #4 on:** Sep 09, 2009 at 10:55 PM »

Sorry for being slightly ot, but i checked pq levels between an htpc, a wdtv and a popcorn hour and the htpc was the winner, hands down. I guess the tech needs to mature a bit more for pq to improve on nmt's. Btw, the pch had marginally better quality than the wd on an hd-dvd rip of planet earth. This test was conducted last december 2008.

dips15 · « **Reply #5 on:** Sep 11, 2009 at 03:49 PM »

Quote from: franz_inwurdz on Sep 08, 2009 at 09:06 PM

yeah, but considering all things the same(cook, ingredients, ) except for the NMT, which PQ is better.

Yup this is what I am looking for. All things being equal, which NMT or media player would give the best PQ.

leftover · « **Reply #6 on:** Sep 11, 2009 at 06:20 PM »

i think curious would be buyer of nmt must ask sir ditoy_eagle as he has a number of nmts namely wdtv, egreat and hd pro. Hirap din kasing mag compare kung iisa lang ang nmt na pag aari katulad ko... i was a wdtv owner and i cant compare it with hd pro or say, an egreat or tvix as i dont have much money to buy or time to spend to audition each and every nmt available in the market.

Paging sir ditoy!!!

ditoy_eagle · « **Reply #7 on:** Sep 18, 2009 at 02:21 AM »

Hehe eto I am pasting my answer from the HD Pro group buy thread:
"PQ is almost the same, I only have a 32 LCD and I am not qualified to make a scientific pixel by pixel comparison. Sold kasi my DSLR years ago (nagsawa sa photography hehe) As I mentioned in the previous pages, I find WD TV having a bit higher contrast by default. But WD TV shows a cropped bigger image so image is not a fair comparison. And the minimal grain that I notice in my egreat m34a, hindi ko napapansin with the HD Pro. These are my observations.

I think with all HD players, PQ will more or less be like this- minor differences, for years to come. Overall image quality is dependent on the compression used when ripping the video files in the first place. If you want a better image quality, then blu-ray or HD-DVD is your logical choice. But even NMT vs the bluray, the shootout made by pinoydvd members before proved that the differences are not huge.

Eto din:

Quote from: shiranui on Sep 15, 2009 at 07:02 PM

I auditioned the hd pro at spike's office kanina and was impressed how fast it loads and better PQ. I'm the one who's very vocal that the PQ of the wdtv is better than the egreat m34a and I find this much better than both. As ditoy said yung GUI lang talaga ang pangit but who cares since you'll only do it for browsing titles which you can also have a preview window while browsing. Sayang, I was hoping I can bring home one na kanina but I guess I have to wait till maybe the end of the month or 1st week of Oct. as spiked said.

The colors were true unlike egreats purplish and green off-tones. The contrast is just right and not that dark. I hate adjusting the contrast and color tones in every movie like the way it used to be sa egreat.

This seems to be good substitute for the previous units that I had which I can truly say is an " UPGRADE. "

ditoy_eagle · « **Reply #8 on:** Sep 18, 2009 at 02:26 AM »

It is believable that the HTPC can still outperform the NMT, but take note that the video card alone can cost more than the NMT mismo hehe. I'm happy with the HD Pro that's why I am ordering another one. Though I still prefer my Toshiba A35 HD-DVD and bluray (planning to purchase one soon) because they can output DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. I am a Sound guy so SQ takes priority for me than PQ.

eksi · « **Reply #9 on:** Sep 19, 2009 at 12:42 AM »

Quote from: ditoy_eagle on Sep 18, 2009 at 02:26 AM

It is believable that the HTPC can still outperform the NMT, but take note that the video card alone can cost more than the NMT mismo hehe. I'm happy with the HD Pro that's why I am ordering another one. Though I still prefer my Toshiba A35 HD-DVD and bluray (planning to purchase one soon) because they can output DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. I am a Sound guy so SQ takes priority for me than PQ.

Bro, egreat can output DTS-HD (via optical and HDMI) and and Dolby TrueHD (via HDMI)

ditoy_eagle · « **Reply #10 on:** Sep 19, 2009 at 12:55 AM »

Ows? anybody has confirmed this to work already?

eksi · « **Reply #11 on:** Sep 19, 2009 at 11:15 AM »

Quote from: ditoy_eagle on Sep 19, 2009 at 12:55 AM

Ows? anybody has confirmed this to work already?

yes bro, promise

i have quantum of solace m2ts file ripped from imported blu-ray disc, size about 27GB.
it has DTS-HD MA 5.1 sound, VC1 1920X1080p resolution plays fantastic

i also have Remastered Fifth Element m2ts file which has DD TrueHD, VC1 1920x1080p resolution, the thing is, DD TrueHD doesn't work via optical. I was advised it will work via HDMI. I have to switch to AC3 analog setting to make TrueHD work via optical (my AVR doesnt have HDMI connection). The file plays fantastic also

raptor · « **Reply #12 on:** Sep 19, 2009 at 02:42 PM »

Quote from: ditoy_eagle on Sep 18, 2009 at 02:26 AM

It is believable that the HTPC can still outperform the NMT, but take note that the video card alone can cost more than the NMT mismo hehe. I'm happy with the HD Pro that's why I am ordering another one. Though I still prefer my Toshiba A35 HD-DVD and bluray (planning to purchase one soon) because they can output DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. I am a Sound guy so SQ takes priority for me than PQ.

TVIX M6500 and M7000 can output Dolby TrueHD with ripped Blu-ray disks

XmetaL · « **Reply #13 on:** Sep 19, 2009 at 02:47 PM »

ok i have and had, tried and tested the ff: and i'll grade them from highest to lowest based on the PQ ( also tested the same converted content with a bd player, dvd player )

PQ is my 1st priority...SQ and other features are secondary

1. htpc - core 2 duo with 9800gt video card
2. cq340au laptop w/ hdmi connection
3. popcorn hour a110
4. tvix m6500a - borrowed from a friend
5. hdx1000 - - borrowed from a friend
6. hdpro - auditioned at spike888ph's lab
7. wdtv
8. egreat m34a

these are based on my PQ standards ( contrast, pixelation, color tones, etc. ) which I believe is still subjective per individual

ara4 · « **Reply #14 on:** Sep 20, 2009 at 07:02 AM »

Quote from: shiranui on Sep 19, 2009 at 02:47 PM

ok i have and had, tried and tested the ff: and i'll grade them from highest to lowest based on the PQ ( also tested the same converted content with a bd player, dvd player )

PQ is my 1st priority...SQ and other features are secondary

1. htpc - core 2 duo with 9800gt video card
2. cq340au laptop w/ hdmi connection
3. popcorn hour a110
4. tvix m6500a - borrowed from a friend
5. hdx1000 - - borrowed from a friend
6. hdpro - auditioned at spike888ph's lab
7. wdtv
8. egreat m34a

these are based on my PQ standards ( contrast, pixelation, color tones, etc. ) which I believe is still subjective per individual

Were this tests conducted on the same equipment using screen of more 100" if pq is being evaluated?

Also, if possible the same external disc should be used through out the tests.

Verbl Kint · « **Reply #15 on:** Sep 20, 2009 at 07:38 AM »

Quote from: ditoy_eagle on Sep 18, 2009 at 02:26 AM

Though I still prefer my Toshiba A35 HD-DVD and bluray (planning to purchase one soon) because they can output DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. I am a Sound guy so SQ takes priority for me than PQ.

You might want to check out the specs of the PS3 slim because:

Quote

Apparently it actually can bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio directly to your receiver.

http://gizmodo.com/5342470/so-the-ps3-slim-can-bitstream-dolby-truehd-and-dts+hd-master-audio-after-all

ditoy_eagle · « **Reply #16 on:** Sep 20, 2009 at 09:50 AM »

Yes I know, in the PS3 slim as bluray player thread I wrote there that this will be my next purchase

gren · « **Reply #17 on:** Oct 02, 2009 at 06:38 PM »

Oi Ditoy (or even reninvincible :>). I noticed that the realtek-based Egreat seemed to have 'different' (i won't jump to conclusions yet) PQ compared to the sigma based one. Care to take it out for a spin (as soon as we get more, that is)? :>

iiinas · « **Reply #18 on:** Oct 02, 2009 at 06:44 PM »

Quote from: gren on Oct 02, 2009 at 06:38 PM

Oi Ditoy (or even reninvincible :>). I noticed that the realtek-based Egreat seemed to have 'different' (i won't jump to conclusions yet) PQ compared to the sigma based one. Care to take it out for a spin (as soon as we get more, that is)? :>

what model is the realtek egreats?

gren · « **Reply #19 on:** Oct 02, 2009 at 07:03 PM »

R1 http://ehome.multiply.com/journal/item/77/Egreat_EG-R1_In_Store_Pre-Orders_Accepted

http://www.egreatworld.com/en/ProductShow.asp?ID=173

Quote from: iiinas on Oct 02, 2009 at 06:44 PM

what model is the realtek egreats?

frootloops · « **Reply #20 on:** Oct 02, 2009 at 07:18 PM »

The most important Q sir gren. how much?

gren · « **Reply #21 on:** Oct 02, 2009 at 07:37 PM »

Heehee, now you know

Actually, I was expecting to be disappointed, but the Realtek delivers. If playback is all you're after, then this is it. The Sigma-based NMTs still enjoy a huge amount of support from communities (I <3 CSI), but that's because it had 2 years head start.

Quote from: frootloops on Oct 02, 2009 at 07:18 PM

The most important Q sir gren. how much?

sultan72 · « **Reply #22 on:** Oct 09, 2009 at 02:54 PM »

i love my popcorn pch110 as it plays most if not all the movie files we throw at it
and its nice and compact that you can bring it with anywhere....

although I must say PQ from PS3 when playing the same movie files (Blood the Last Vampire and Fighting both AVI ata) looked way better than pch110.
colors where more vibrant and images sharper...this after the latest firmware was installed for pch110..
my wife and nieces also agree...