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Price: £299
More info: PixelMagic
Size (WxHxD): 44x210x355mm + external PSU
Weight: 2.5kg
Inputs: 2x USB2, RJ45
PC compatibility: Female USB socket
Audio outputs: Optical TOSLINK & coaxial SPDIF, analogue 2x phono
Video outputs: composite, S-Video, RGBHV, YPbPr component, HDMI. 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i/p
Video compatibility: VGA, SVGA, XGA, SXGA
Plasma resolution: 1366 x 768, 1280 x 768
NTSC/PAL support: Manual
Network: RJ45 LAN support, SMB and NAS protocols
Remote control: Remote control direct, or via IR repeater to 3.5mm socket
Plus points:
Black magic box that will act as low cost, high performance audio video server
Minus points:
Audio not as convincing as video, won't stream HD across a network, sometimes hamstrung by DRM
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HD is finally being delivered into people's homes, but in an uneven way. Many have invested in plasma or LCD screens which can display 720p video natively, and which are capable of picture quality that at its best will knock your socks off.
But high def source material is still thin on the ground, and users may be twiddling their thumbs wondering where to go next, or perhaps holding off buying an HD display altogether. Sky is beginning to deliver the HD version of its Sky+ set-top box, but for most people the reality of HD will be a high resolution screen driven by a DVD player outputting very standard res 480p or 576p.
The HD MediaBox from PixelMagic of Hong Kong is an innovative and flexible solution to this knotty dilemma. It is a high definition hardware media player with its own scaler/deinterlacer which when combined with a hard disc drive can store and play video or DVD content, standard and high definition video files, digital images and digital music, including MP3 files if you really don't care what you're listening to (or Arctic Monkeys if you like music that sounds as though it was filtered through a low bit rate MP3 recorder). Note that copy protected AAC (iPod format) is not compatible.
The MediaBox can be used as an intermediary between your existing video/audio sources and your screen, transparently providing up or downscaling and deinterlacing as required - eg 1080i to match your 720p display, independently of the input signal, or 720p from your DVD collection enhanced by the magic of the internal PixelWorks scaler and deinterlacer.
In its basic form the MediaBox has no storage, but for this review it was fitted with an internal 80GB 5400rpm Seagate IDE hard disc drive. It will support disc capacities up to 500GB, and it can be used with two more external discs, for a combined maximum of 1.5 terabytes of data - enough for quite a party at an average of, say, five gigabytes of storage data per film.
The MediaBox will not be a lot of use without a hard disc, so why isn't one included as standard? Perhaps because a fully configured MediaBox could be regarded as an invitation to record copyright material which is strictly verboten even for personal use. But the MB100 can also handle video (and audio) files on your computer, which may or may not be HD, using a USB 2.0 data link.
It can also act as a network player, using the SAMBA network protocol, but with restrictions: the MB100 currently lacks the bandwidth to stream HD across a network. There is also an Audiophile (sic) version of the MediaBox HD, the MB200, with a more accurate low jitter masterclock in addition to the standard 24/192kHz Analog Devices DAC and Burr Brown opamps.
Connected via USB, the MediaBox appears as one of the computer's own drives, with a WYSIWYG interface, supporting drag and drop file handling. It will also play media files stored in a USB Flash drive plugged into one of the two available USB2 inputs, the MediaBox electronics transparently performing the necessary electronic legwork.
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One of the MB100's more endearing habits is its ability to second guess the user. On the whole it takes less expertise to make the MB100 tick than you had probably bargained for, mostly by making intelligent assumptions, or auto configuring itself. For instance, HD outputs are automatically deinterlaced, and scaling is delivered on the fly through the HDMI interface, which doesn't always happen in practice.
Aspect ratios are also handled automatically. It will configure itself to your home network, and in standby mode appears as a disc drive on your computer, though it won't stream HD material due to the bandwidth limitations of the interface.
Furthermore, everything appears to work. There may be some incompatibilities, but they didn't show up in the admittedly relative short review period, and if there are problems, as there surely will be, then a fix may be only a firmware upgrade away.
Currently the principal limitation appears to be its inability to function fully with the Windows WMA10 which you will have to grapple with when you get Windows Vista if not before, thanks to the unyielding nature of its DRM. Last but not least, the unit is convection cooled, so the only noise is from the HDD, and it comes with a well designed backlit remote control.
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But the MB100's main raison d'être is to act as a video source, whether from standard definition material upscaled and deinterlaced for the purpose, or natively HD. Any video source can be mapped to a 1080p or SXGA (1280x1024) screen using HDMI, which simultaneously handles data-reduced audio (Dolby Digital or DTS for example), though the player also has RGBHV and component HD video and the usual S-Video and composite legacy interfaces.
Compatible video formats include MPEG1/2/4, WMV9, DivX and XviD plus .iso and .vob DVD files, and firmware can be updated, adding to the unit's functionality or compatibility as the needs arise. But rest assured you won't be allowed to rip HD-DVD or Blu-ray material, which is robustly protected on disc.
Performance
If you were allowed to copy copyright material from DVD - and I have done just to satisfy myself of what is and is not possible - you could, for example, rip a lot of DVDs to disc for instant access. It can do this, retaining all the features of the original disc, including full chapter access and navigation, as though you were using the original discs in a DVD player.
Intriguingly, it does this rather well. Access to the recordings, which can be selected from a simple text menu, is rapid and trouble free, and the internal scaler works well, delivering rich, well saturated colour, and good black levels, while motion artefacts are handled as well as all but the best DVD players. And no fingermarks or scratches…
The killer though is its handing of HD which for this purpose was via an HDMI link to an InFocus IN76 720p projector, which showcases the MB100's capabilities superbly - well enough indeed to distinguish clearly the pluses and minuses of three different HDMI cable types.
The only true HD material I had available was travelogue type material of Alpine scenes and the like, but despite the lack of narrative interest, picture quality was simply magnetic. Yes there were some motion artefacts that the MB100 couldn't straighten out (unsurprisingly it was much jerkier using scaled down 1080i/p material) but the video was a revelation - and I've been well schooled in demonstrations of HD material here, in the Far East and the States.
It's not just that the pictures were sharper, though they were, unmistakably so. Less expected was that colour reproduction was more subtle and varied, as demonstrated by clips of outdoor scenery and tropical birds, and flybys of snow-capped mountains, which displayed a wealth of subtle graduations of the snow itself. The combination was also capable of superb shadow detail, and impressive black levels. And all this at 720p. I can only dream of what might be possible with a 1080p display.
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OK, so there are restrictions on streaming HD video across a network and you probably won't be able to mount a smash and grab on HD-DVD or Blu-ray source material, but the HD MediaBox is a simple, easy to use and flexible video and audio server. It has just about every interface under the sun, is largely self-configuring (see Practical Tip box) and it is also surprisingly affordable. Currently this puts it among the hottest units of its type. Buy one tomorrow - no, today!
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