HD200 connect to a playon server?

[ybrew]

I'm wondering if in stand-alone mode, if it would connect to a playon server, to play hulu, etc, similar to the way the 360 and directv DVRs connect to media servers.

I purchased a playon license recently so love to hear if this works.

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by ybrew

I'm wondering if in stand-alone mode, if it would connect to a playon server, to play hulu, etc, similar to the way the 360 and directv DVRs connect to media servers.

I purchased a playon license recently so love to hear if this works.

You got me curious...so I just tried it...and yes...it works. (the HD200 can access UPnP servers is why it works)

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by Narflex

You got me curious...so I just tried it...and yes...it works. (the HD200 can access UPnP servers is why it works)

That's great! I didn't know about Playon, but it sounds pretty cool. Maybe once people get their HD200s someone should start a thread about their experiences with Playon on the HD200s.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Narflex

You got me curious...so I just tried it...and yes...it works. (the HD200 can access UPnP servers is why it works)

Um. wow! this could be big. So any tricks to getting this to work before I try it?

[Brent]

Just tried it out.

Via standalone mode select "file systems" from the main menu
You should have three options - the third one should be PlayOn - select that and you'll have the main Playon menu with CBS, ESPN, Hulu, Netflix etc.

I don't get anything under ESPN or Netflix at the moment so not sure if I'm doing something wrong. Time to go mess with this some more

[cncb]

Originally Posted by Narflex

(the HD200 can access UPnP servers is why it works)

Any chance UPnP server support will be added to the main Sage software itself (which would potentially bring this to the HD100)? If not, it sounds like it would be necessary to buy the HD200 as well as exit the "extender" Sage interface to the "stand-alone mode" to have this capability?

[Deacon Crusher]

This is potentially huge.

You guys who are testing keep reporting back. Netflix is big big big.

I ordered my 200 yesterday morning and got a ship notice yesterday afternoon, but by the end of today it looked like it hadn't left the warehouse yet.

I got this mostly to test full bit rate blu-ray rip playback, but this playon thing seems like it could be awesome.

However, I'd throw a vote in for moving that upnp server play through ability into the main interface under the rss feeds or some such. Will be confusing for family that has gotten used to Sage to have to drop out of it to access this.

I was figuring I'd only need one of these to supplement my 3 100s, but this could be a game changer.

thanks

[evilpenguin]

So let me get this straight: you may have added Netflix and Hulu support... by accident.

[Morgan111]

There goes my night job!

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

So let me get this straight: you may have added Netflix and Hulu support... by accident.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

[bcjenkins]

Is there a way to exit the SageTV client interface and drop back to the standalone? That would be a handy add on.

B

[Brent]

I took a few screenshots and made a very short video of the HD200 using PlayOn on the blog if anyone is curious. This post which I put up at midnight central time last night was picked up by the makers of PlayOn (MediaMall) and they've already linked to it on their front page. Lots of people viewing the blog post from the PlayOn site already this a.m. which shows the kind of interest this sort of functionality can bring to SageTV.

Still unable to get Netflix or ESPN to work on it thus far although admittedly I didn't work at it too long last night.

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by Brent

Lots of people viewing the blog post from the PlayOn site already this a.m. which shows the kind of interest this sort of functionality can bring to SageTV.

This really is tremendous! I would love to see SageTV become a bit more of a household word.

Guess Sage will have step up reorders for these boxes so supply meets demand.

[TallMomof2]

My kids watch a huge amount of online content and this would be great for them. I've ordered one extender to test and if that works I'll probably be buying a couple more.

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Is there a way to exit the SageTV client interface and drop back to the standalone? That would be a handy add on.

B

It seems that all software based DVR systems have that issue, no way to easily get back to another system. And STV doesn't even like you to get back to the underlying OS without jumping through hoops..

[ybrew]

Awesome news - glad I asked!

I've got workarounds through my xbox & DTV DVR, but I'll likely be getting in on the next batch of these HD200s now.

Edit -

Even without a sageTV server, this hulu functionality (as well as possibly netflix) makes the HD200 a good buy just as a standalone set-top box.

[bialio]

What's the video quality of shows coming from Hulu? Is it at least comprable to standard DVD?

[ybrew]

Originally Posted by bialio

What's the video quality of shows coming from Hulu? Is it at least comprable to standard DVD?

The picture quality of the shows I watch is VERY VERY good. There's occasionally a tiny bit of jerkiness occassionaly streaming it from the PC to my 360, but not enough to be distracting. If you've got a fast PC, I'd say yes, very comparable to a good DVD.

You can view it directly on your PC (hulu.com) and test for yourself. You'll get about the same experience on your TV.

[bialio]

Next question is how smart is the Playon server - can it pass video natively (without transcoding) to the HD200 for formats that it supports? If not how much horsepower does it require?

btl.

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Is there a way to exit the SageTV client interface and drop back to the standalone? That would be a handy add on.

B

Easy on the HD200....Just use the 'Power' button twice. That'll quit the extender connection; and then start standalone mode. If you've got autoconnect enabled; you'll need to hit Enter to cancel that.