Looking for 4"-5" portable device to play HD over wifi

[unseengundam101]

I am looking specifically for MP4 player/MID/tablet in the 4"-5" screen range that can playback unconverted HD video (1080P preferred). Main thing is this should be able playback over WIFI connecting to my windows (or samba) shares. Also it would be helpful if it could handle wmv files, especially protected ones. So here are the main specs I think are needed:

1.) Playback unconverted (various format) 1080P videos (I guess 720P if 1080P isn't there)
2.) 802.11 n (probably need N for HD over wifi)
3.) Ability to mount/read windows/samba share
4.) 4"-5" handheld
5.) Playback protected wmv files

So far I really can't think so any device the exactly fits this specs. The unreleased Archos 43 comes close, but it only 720P. I personally would like future proof by being able to play 1080P. There are some wireless g based 1080 players, like Smart V5, but I really do think wireless g on it isn't good enough to stream/playback 1080P over wifi. Any suggestion for what is out there?

 

[zerocool84]

Future proof? There is no such thing as future proof in electronics land. Everything changes so quickly and new things come out so fast that there is no future proof. 1080p on a screen that small is useless and a waste of space as there's no screen that small with that rez.

 

[unseengundam101]

Future proof? There is no such thing as future proof in electronics land. Everything changes so quickly and new things come out so fast that there is no future proof. 1080p on a screen that small is useless and a waste of space as there's no screen that small with that rez.

Well 1080P should last at least a decade, as I mentioned only few videos are at 1080P right. But more 1080P should be out in next few years.

Playing back 1080P isn't useless at all since it all about playing unconverted videos from my PC. And I can't see how it could be a "waste of space", in fact I would call saving space from not having down converted copies of all my HD videos! Not mention saving time/PC usage all that down converting work.

 

[vshah]

1080p streaming can be tough even on an N network.

 

[unseengundam101]

1080p streaming can be tough even on an N network.

I have tried playing some of the 1920x1080 video I have through N network on my laptop. I seem to work fine/Ok for the most part. All my video aren't really that high bitrate, so they work fine. I will admit there probably will problem with high bitrate / action scenes. Also, you need the N router close enough, which really isn't a problem.

Now that said, I guess 720P could do for this year's purchase. Is there anything out there right now? As mentioned the Archos 43 is only thing I can think of the play HD 720p off window share.

 

[Kanalua]

1080p on a 4"-5" screen? I would rather have a higher bitrate 780p than lower bitrate 1080p, especially at that screen size.

 

[Chapbass]

1080p on a 4"-5" screen? I would rather have a higher bitrate 780p than lower bitrate 1080p, especially at that screen size.

This. 1080p on a 4-5" screen is completely useless, imo. Unless you're going to have that go HDMI out to a HDTV.

Even so, most devices this size will be 800x480 or so.

 

[rudeguy]

here's my experience:

If you go with an Android device, gmote will do exactly what you want. I've encode my videos in h264 and I don't have any issues. I've used it on 3 and 4 inch screens but a 5" shouldn't be much different. Spend a couple bucks on a decent video converting program so you can decide what resolution/bitrate/anything works best for you.

 

[Slick5150]

Yes, the idea that you need a 1080p display on a 4-5" device is a little silly.

 

[unseengundam101]

I think people were missing my main points of not having to convert videos and not having to copy the media to locally to the device...

Anyhow, doesn't seem like anything out there worth buying for me at this moment.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

protected wmv files? who uses those? <--serious question

 

[AstroManLuca]

Why does it need a screen? I think there are devices out there that you just hook up to your TV and can stream 1080p content.

1080p on a handheld device is totally pointless, unless you are connecting it to a TV. But if you are always hooking it up to a TV, why bother with one that has a screen?

EDIT: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=30

 

[DivideBYZero]

Even SD content is going to look good on a 4" screen.

 

[Kelvrick]

Good luck OP. I'm hoping that the netbooks that can play 720p (1080p will be even better) will be made in 9" form (maybe I just haven't seen it) for carputer use. It will only go to a 7" touchscreen, but not needing to convert files from my media server will just make things easier. 7" will fit in my glove compartment while a the 10" will have to be bracketed under the passenger seat.

 

[cronos]

The OP has mentioned this several times but I don't think anyone really get it

He already has his collection of 1080p movies and would like to stream those (without converting them first) through wi-fi to a mobile device with 4-5" screen.

I don't think anything exists currently with that specification OP. The best mobile devices with 4-5" screens are Android phones/tablets and they don't have any apps right now that will do this perfectly. 'VLC Stream and Convert' is pretty close but it's buggy as hell and not exactly easy to setup correctly.

In the meantime, Air Video for iOS does this absolutely perfectly but you can only use it on an iPhone/iPod Touch (3.5") or an iPad (~10")

 

[AstroManLuca]

What about transcoding? I used to have my PC set up with a media server software called Transcode360 that was able to convert just about any video file into a format playable by my Xbox 360, on the fly, no need for active conversion. I haven't needed to do this in a while but something like that might work - if you can't get a device to play your videos, maybe you need to change your videos to play on your device.

There's also a software called Orb that should be able to do this.

 

[DivideBYZero]

The OP has mentioned this several times but I don't think anyone really get it

He already has his collection of 1080p movies and would like to stream those (without converting them first) through wi-fi to a mobile device with 4-5" screen.

That's nice but getting 1080p to stream over WiFi reliably, even with 802.11n, is going to be like asking for the moon on a stick. Compound that with using a small device to consume said 1080p stream and I think that this is just not going to happen.

As you said, transcode.

 

[TheStu]

That's nice but getting 1080p to stream over WiFi reliably, even with 802.11n, is going to be like asking for the moon on a stick. Compound that with using a small device to consume said 1080p stream and I think that this is just not going to happen.

As you said, transcode.

A lot depends on what you mean by 1080p, I think that BluRay is something like 50Mb/s but re-encoded MKVs are a bit lower than that, I think in the 20Mb/s range. And that isn't an issue with n wireless.

 

[unseengundam101]

Why does it need a screen? I think there are devices out there that you just hook up to your TV and can stream 1080p content.

1080p on a handheld device is totally pointless, unless you are connecting it to a TV. But if you are always hooking it up to a TV, why bother with one that has a screen?

EDIT: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=30

I never said anything about hooking it up to any screen or TV. Again, the main idea is to play UNCONVERTED video (including HD) on my handheld over WIFI. I have 2 - 3 TB of video on my main computer I want to playback on demand on that handheld and I just don't feel having to covert and keep extra downscaled copy of everything.

The idea to eliminate 3 step process being able to play files into 1:

1.) Download Video (HD, WMV or whatever) to main computer
2.) Convert / downscale into watch format for handheld player
3.) Copy the content to the handheld player

Instead all I should to do is this one step:

1.) Download Video (HD, WMV or whatever) to main computer

 

[unseengundam101]

A lot depends on what you mean by 1080p, I think that BluRay is something like 50Mb/s but re-encoded MKVs are a bit lower than that, I think in the 20Mb/s range. And that isn't an issue with n wireless.

Mine definition of 1080P content is video at 1920x1080 resolution. My bit rate are LOT lower than that. There 2 examples of my 1080 videos:

1.) 3,800 MB wmv with 42 min runtime = about 1.52 Mb/s bitrate
2.) 745 MB wmv with 22 min runtime = 0.6 Mb/s bitrate

As mention, I have played back all of these content through wireless n on my Laptop fine. Problem is that my current Nokia N800 handheld can't handle any HD and is just wireless.

 

[unseengundam101]

What about transcoding? I used to have my PC set up with a media server software called Transcode360 that was able to convert just about any video file into a format playable by my Xbox 360, on the fly, no need for active conversion. I haven't needed to do this in a while but something like that might work - if you can't get a device to play your videos, maybe you need to change your videos to play on your device.

There's also a software called Orb that should be able to do this.

I actually through about this, but setting this up for handhelds seem complicated. Also, noticed that some transcoder aren't fast enough. Right now I am already down converting all my videos to MPEG4 .mp4 files to play it a back. Like I said I think the easiest way is to get handheld to natively handle HD/video files instead of me having to do batch convert every time I download a ton of videos.

 

[unseengundam101]

protected wmv files? who uses those? <--serious question

There are websites that sell protected wmv files. Main reason I never bought is that you can't easily convert them / down scale them at all. Removing protecting from the wmv is a pain.

 

[aceO07]

I have problems even playing 1080p on my laptop (not over wifi). It's attached to a 1920x1200 monitor so it can actually play it at native resolution. I think it'll be at least until next year that we'll see devices playing 1080p videos directly on a 4-5" device.

The HTC HD2 running WM6.5 will run wmv and also be able to stream it through wifi accessing samba server. I'll go and see if I can find a 720p video to try out. (Not even going to try 1080p.)

 

[gsaldivar]

It's possible - as long as you have a powerful host doing some transcoding and streaming only the necessary "screen" resolution across the wifi to your portable device. As I understand it, your concern is mainly avoiding having to convert all your video files to fit the portable device, not any desire to somehow squeeze true 1080 onto a 4-5" screen (impossible, I'm afraid).

That being said, it will be nearly impossible to pull this off in the real world, as you would need workstation-class horsepower to do realtime 1080 transcoding without hardware acceleration. However, some attempts have been made using game consoles as a client device. Software such as Orb and TVersity all try to do realtime transcoding of video files to provide Xbox and PS3 consoles the ability to play unconverted video across a network, directly to television. I haven't seen this work with 1080 quality video however.

http://gizmodo.com/5660605/how-to-stream-media-without-buying-any-more-gear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-11W8DOLK78#t=3m50s

You might also want to check out VLC's built-in streaming transcoder to see if you can get that to work with your portable device.

http://maketecheasier.com/easily-transcode-media-files-with-vlc-player/2008/12/14

Good luck!

 

[DivideBYZero]

Mine definition of 1080P content is video at 1920x1080 resolution. My bit rate are LOT lower than that. There 2 examples of my 1080 videos:

1.) 3,800 MB wmv with 42 min runtime = about 1.52 Mb/s bitrate
2.) 745 MB wmv with 22 min runtime = 0.6 Mb/s bitrate

As mention, I have played back all of these content through wireless n on my Laptop fine. Problem is that my current Nokia N800 handheld can't handle any HD and is just wireless.

What is the point of 1080P video at such a crappy bit rate? It will look worse than 480p does at the same bit rate.