Pre sales questions

[lostclusters]

I currently use a PC and software players to play my movie files on my 1080p plasma. I have a variety of file formats to include standard def and high def ripped DVDs, mkv, avi, ... Most are fairly standard I assume.

The trouble I am having is with the standard def stuff. I have a rather expensive A/V receiver with one the the best up converters there is. The PC up converts ok I suppose but my receiver would do better I am sure. When I attempt to adjust my PC to output a standard def resolution, the resulting picture is too big to fit on my plasma. I think it has something to do with the fact I am using a dual display system and the resolution on my main display is 1900x1200.

So I am looking for a multimedia appliance that will act like a standard stand alone player that will handle all of my video media, standard as well as high def. Will this one play standard as well as high def media? Will it pass high def audio from ripped media? Is the HDMI v1.3a? From what I have read it read media files from a network drive. Can anyone using this player confirm that standard and high def plays ok?

[bcjenkins]

HDMI is 1.2.

B

[metapath]

Yes, standard def and high def play fine.
I have two HD-200s; one attached to my big screen HD set via HDMI and one to SD TV via component input. I play HD and SD sources on both. They all work great and the SD TV has never had a better picture.

[lostclusters]

Thanks to those that have responded so far, I appreciate your input. I have done some reading on the HDMI 1.2 spec and I see there is the capability for "Multi-channel LPCM" and "the audio reproduction is equal in resolution to HDMI 1.3 bitstream output" providing the A/V receiver can decode it. What concerns me is the lack of "automatic audio syncing" which the 1.3a spec provides. I have read a couple of post here concerning lip sync issues. What is the response to this?

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

[lostclusters]

I was reading through this forum and I found a reference to Popcorn Hour, a similar device to the one discussed here. All my concerns are address there. Thanks again to all.