With the EVA series, Netgear had not done a real favor in the area of network-capable multi-media players in the past – too complicated was the operation, the completely database-based concept seemed rather cumbersome than helpful.
Exterior and innards
Now, the manufacturer is presenting a completely new product line called "NeoTV", which can finally compete with its competitors - and with the model "NeoTV 550" currently even the competitors behind. While the NeoTV 550 has a NeoTV 550 (99 Euro online, 129 Euro in retail) with the RealTek 1073 chipset and can deliver "only" 5.1 sound, the new Sigma Designs 8642, the "NeoTV 550" Also output the HD audio formats via HDMI as bitstream with 7.1 sound. In addition, the chip is capable of decoding two full-HD streams at the same time.
In practice
This is technically necessary, because, unlike many competitors, the device is not only a (network) mediaplayer, which accepts all common video and audio formats (except for DivX with DRM), but also a full-fledged Blu-ray player You connect an external drive via USB or eSATA. In addition, the device can also Blu-rays from ISOs as well as from folders play - BDlive, thus the online connection of the Blu-ray disc, inclusive. However, the Blu-ray certification has not yet been finalized, which is why there is no logo on the packaging. For testing, however, Blu-ray support has already been released.
Connections are available on the device is sufficient: In addition to HDMI, a component output is available, owners of tube TVs even get a composite output with analog stereo sound offered. Who audio technically not yet
In the HDMI era can also use the optical S / PDIF output - with the HD sound formats, then only the core (non-HD portion) is output to the amplifier. Front and rear there is in each case a USB port, at the rear also the eSATA port, at the front an SD card slot. An internal disk does not have the device, so it is up to everyone to save the data - with the WD TV Live Hub, the 1 TB hard disk is permanently installed. Netgear recommends the "Universal WiFi Internet Adapter", a small box that is connected to the player using an Ethernet cable, and which can be connected up to 300, thanks to the 802.11n standard Mbit / s with other devices. The advantage, according to the Realtek, is that it is then not as narrow at the back of the device as if you use a clunky WLAN stick.
If you start the device, an assistant ensures easy integration into your own network. External connected devices are instantly recognized and media files are indexed so that integrated filter functions can be used to locate them (e.g., artist, album, genre on MP3). If graphics of the same file name are used in film files or music tracks, they are used as cover art, which makes browsing in a title list visually more pleasant. Unlike WD TV's Live Hub, however, you have to add the covers by hand to the PC, there is no direct download function. The same applies to movie information, which the player reads directly from the MKVs - if they have been created. You do not depend on a particular online provider.
If you take a look at the settings, you notice the attention to detail. For each sound format you can adjust whether it is stereo, S / PDIF, via HDMI or S / PDIF and HDMI output. In addition, the NeoTV 550 is one of the first players to play MP3s without gap between the tracks - necessary for concerts and radio plays, as well as many pop and dance CDs or chillout music -Area. The graphics attached to the media files are cached, in the settings you can specify whether the cache should be placed on an SD card or a USB drive
Furthermore, the player has settings for access control - keyword: child protection - and allows access via a browser to remote control the device and restart the scanning of media manually. However, the interface of this web front end is simple, you can not (yet) stream media data.
In a short test, we could already get a first impression of the device. In fact, the Blu-ray playback works with menus, but we managed at least two different discs to bring the device to a standstill - here helped only the disconnection from the power supply. When starting the playback of numerous video files, the sound fell for about 5-10 seconds for a very short moment, that a few video files suddenly appeared after this time suddenly
As spooled by ghost hand, should go in the same direction - we suspect a bug in the algorithm for the image sound synchronization. Example files with an American refresh rate of 59.94 frames / seconds jerky - here you have to change the TV format (PAL, NTSC) in the settings manually, despite the automatic adjustment of the picture rate.
In the end, the problems mentioned should be minor bugs in the firmware. The Blu-ray problems should be fixed at the latest with the Blu-ray certification, and the NTSC bug is so obvious that a new firmware will help to solve this problem as well.
But the bottom line is that the device can still be used as it supports all popular formats and finally provides a "feature" with the Gapless Playback function, which we have already expected from other players. Blu-ray playback is a great feature when it's mature: at a recommended retail price of 149 euros (online, retail: 159 euros), about 60 euros for a BD-ROM drive and about 25 euros for one External USB 2.0 housing, you get a full Blu-ray player with a media and network support, which is not yet available from a standalone player, for less than 250 Euro - only genuine 3D support is missing, the Sigma- But the "normal" side-by-side video encoding is not the only way to achieve this. In comparison to Western Digital's WD TV Live Hub, this device lacks connectivity to Facebook and commercial services - Webradio, Flickr and news channels. However, everyone has to answer the question whether he wants to spend $ 100 more on Facebook and an internal, non-interchangeable 1-TB hard drive, instead of the extensive Blu-ray features
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