Interesting post in the Roku General section (only just noticed it)

http://forums.rokulabs.com/viewtopic.php?t=15913

We are looking for an experienced Senior Software Engineer to join Roku’s Internet TV development team.

I wonder does this mean a new type of PhotoBridge model coming out?

soiaf wrote:

Interesting post in the Roku General section (only just noticed it)

http://forums.rokulabs.com/viewtopic.php?t=15913

We are looking for an experienced Senior Software Engineer to join Roku’s Internet TV development team.

I wonder does this mean a new type of PhotoBridge model coming out?

Yea, I saw that too, but forgot all about it...LOL.

I thoought it might have to do with the whole Anthony-Netflix thing, but he's done with that now, right? If so, that means he can focus on pure Roku stuff then, if so, that would be righteous
I'll keep ye ole fingers crossed!

I assume it would be either a STB or a Photobridge type box. lets hope for the best, shall we!

I would like a new Roku toy to tinker with!

Burkhardi wrote:

I would like a new Roku toy to tinker with!

So would I, but I wonder if they're too late to the party? How will they compete with the likes of AppleTV, Xbox360 Live Marketplace, and whatever Sony does with it's rumored launch of downloadable video this summer?
And face it, media streamers are in abundance these days.
http://www.engadgethd.com/tag/media%20streamer/
I'll of course look at whatever new product they bring to market, but the Photobridge experience (while a good product and well ahead of it's time) hasn't left a "warm fuzzy" in my mind.

dgburns wrote:

So would I, but I wonder if they're too late to the party? How will they compete with the likes of AppleTV, Xbox360 Live Marketplace, and whatever Sony does with it's rumored launch of downloadable video this summer?
And face it, media streamers are in abundance these days.

A very interesting question. Very difficult to compete with a lot of the boxes out there as they come with a lot of features out of the box (loads of audio and video codecs support just to start with). Would Roku be prepared to spend the time/money required to have a launch proposition that can compete on this level. Or are they perhaps thinking of competiting in the VOD market (another tough area to break into).
I suppose time will tell.

dgburns wrote:

I'll of course look at whatever new product they bring to market, but the Photobridge experience (while a good product and well ahead of it's time) hasn't left a "warm fuzzy" in my mind.

Indeed, the PhotoBridge still impresses me in some aspects - but I'll be honest and say that I'm very sceptical about any claims that Roku make. I'll happily check out any new product they bring out, but I'm going to completely disregard any features that they claim are 'coming soon'. But they have shown they can do some things right, if they can have a launch product with the right features then maybe they have a chance.

My order for a Popcorn Hour just got processed, so hopefully I'll be able to give an update on how it compares to the Roku soon.

I already got one... It's, umm, different. Does subtitles and stuff which is good. HDMI, AC3 and DTS pass through, etc all OK. Supports many more codecs and container types. Menus are a bit clunky. Video up-scaling from SD material is not as good as the PhotoBridge. Streaming from SMB shares is poor compared to PB - use the preferred Myihome server instead. It still needs a few firmware updates (and they are currently quite frequent).

Well, after having played with it for a while now, I can definitely concur with S80_UK.
The good news - It has HDMI output. It plays just about every format you can think of. So no worries about converting AVI files to mpg2. This includes PAL DVDs which gave me terrible interlacing problems on the HD1000. It also streams video from the internet, such as video websites like YouTube, Vuze, Veoh. I didn't notice any performance problems streaming from SMB - I could stream SD & HD without any problem. It can take a hard drive and use it to download torrents, giving you an 'instant' library of um... public domain shows to watch (just in case MPAA is listening).

The downside - I had all my DVDs ripped as video TS folders for MPlay, but the Popcorn Hour wants ISOs. No big deal but an irritation. Later versions of MPlay can cope with ISOs, so I may have to update MPlay on my HD1000s and slowly convert over. Buffering takes a while on the PH from the internet - I think I'll have to replace the default buffering logo with something prettier to look at while I wait. Menus are sluggish, but not that much worse than the HD1000. I don't see any upscaling on SD material - it looks very SD. HD looks great.

All in all, it works pretty well. No regrets about buying it. I don't think I'll be replacing my HD1000s anytime soon, but it makes a great alternative to go with the bedroom TV.

I have also been getting on reasonably well with the Popcorn. But I miss Mplay, and the superior scaling of the PhotoBridge and the photo viewer.

Has anyone ever found a way to get subtitles working on the PhotoBridge - even by reprocessing the streams and merging the subtitle images onto the video in some way?

S80_UK wrote:

I have also been getting on reasonably well with the Popcorn. But I miss Mplay, and the superior scaling of the PhotoBridge and the photo viewer.

Has anyone ever found a way to get subtitles working on the PhotoBridge - even by reprocessing the streams and merging the subtitle images onto the video in some way?

I have managed to do it with mencoder which is part of the mplayer package. It works with HD content as well by using mencoder to reprocess the video in mpeg4 (with subtitles) and then using ffmpeg to convert to mpeg2. For some reason mencoder does not do the trick directly to mpeg2.

It takes too long however therefore I have also ordered a Popcornhour.