Interesting Kickstarter campaign

[bkavanaugh]

A little hard to describe without just reading what they wrote and watching their video, but it's kind of like Sage (no DVR, I think, so maybe more like Plex/XBMC) + extenders.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/.../?ref=kicktraq

[samgreco]

Interesting product idea. If the audio zones can be synchronized, it'll be like a Sonos on steroids (added video). This is one to watch, I think.

[samgreco]

Well, I'll hold out judgement until they actually exist

[stanger89]

I don't know, I don't really get it. I thought we sort of learned that having one box do it all wasn't the best way to do things, that it's better to distribute the playback to "clients".

Further, there's the whole multi-HDMI outs which, well how is that going to work, High Speed HDMI is only certified to 25ft (maybe 60 with Redmere), that really doesn't go very far when you talk about pulling cables through a house. I'd think finding 4 TVs within even 60ft (cable distance) is going to be tough.

And then there's the wireless, which is just not good for video.

Maybe the biggest thing is, what formats does it support, I didn't see that anywhere. Will it support Blu-ray structures? ISOs?

Personally I'd be much more interested in someone making a dedicated XBMC extender and the "driver" support behind it for a truly reference media player.

[bkavanaugh]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Maybe the biggest thing is, what formats does it support, I didn't see that anywhere. Will it support Blu-ray structures? ISOs?

I posted that specific question a few minutes ago, along with directing them to this thread. So, we'll see what we get for information on that.

I use wireless Rokus for Plex (SageTV is still the back end recording engine) and they generally work just fine. Would wired Rokus work better? Certainly. But these work fine for me almost all the time.

[PiX64]

I would like to know How/If it will interact with other media devices on the network such as HDHR, etc.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by bkavanaugh

I posted that specific question a few minutes ago, along with directing them to this thread. So, we'll see what we get for information on that.

I use wireless Rokus for Plex (SageTV is still the back end recording engine) and they generally work just fine. Would wired Rokus work better? Certainly. But these work fine for me almost all the time.

But with a Roku, I think "most" stuff is transcoded (IIRC from when I played with the combo), thus reducing the bandwidth and making wireless much more practical.

[stanger89]

VLC has never impressed me with it's picture quality.

[QueOnda]

Originally Posted by Wayneb

I have now heard back from Sookbox, they said Sookbox will play any file type VLC will play. I have my doubts about a wireless client being able to handle high bitrate video as smoothly as a wired client. Will see.

Unless they mean they are transcoding instead. Plex (i have little experience) and other can transcode on the fly.

[sookbox]

We appreciate the invite given on kickstarter to come here and address some of the questions and comments that have been raised. Will try to hit them all if possible - but if any are missed, please let us know.

The audio zones can be synced in what we call "party mode". Any permutation of the various zones can be included in a session. Further, any zone can play any content - as in, multiple zones playing different content simultaneously from the same source.

We like the expression "Sonos on steroids" - it has been used before.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by samgreco

Interesting product idea. If the audio zones can be synchronized, it'll be like a Sonos on steroids (added video). This is one to watch, I think.

[sookbox]

It is important to note that we are not sending an hdmi signal over wireless (which simply is not viable). The Stream Runner is a computer itself. It sits on the wireless network, and file content is directed to it. It then plays the content (video or audio). This works quite efficiently.

Originally Posted by Wayneb

The BDS server is a quad core PC with four video cards in it, the Stream runners are wireless so I can't see it being that good for video, I like the way SageTV does things better.

[sookbox]

We are actually using VLC to play files.

Not sure on the wired hardware players. In the Sookbox framework there is only one player. It is then a matter of connecting it to the various output devices. It is one centralized system.

We have not had a heat issue - having gone through a few iterations for the chassis.

Expansion is easy, because at the end of the day, the Sookbox is a computer that sits on a network. It can see other drives as its own - and the user simply sees all the content in one place.

Again - really appreciate the questions and comments. They are helpful.

Originally Posted by Wayneb

I don't know if they are actually using VLC to play video or transcode it for wireless clients, all I know is that they said it would play anything VLC would play.

They also said they were testing with HDMI over ethernet in their beta tests when I mentioned running HDMI is expensive compared to Cat5e or 6, If you have a balun on each end you might as well just run a hardware player over Cat5e or 6.

I don't know how much power their BDS is using with 4 video cards but it will take more cooling than normal and once you add up all the video cards added expense to the price of using HDMI over ethernet extenders, it seems to me they should of come to the conclusion that it would make more sense to make wired hardware players like SageTV uses.

I also think the server should have hot swapable drive bays for easy expansion.

Maybe if they get enough feedback they will come up with an option to suit everyone.

[benjamintm]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I don't know, I don't really get it. I thought we sort of learned that having one box do it all wasn't the best way to do things, that it's better to distribute the playback to "clients".

Further, there's the whole multi-HDMI outs which, well how is that going to work, High Speed HDMI is only certified to 25ft (maybe 60 with Redmere), that really doesn't go very far when you talk about pulling cables through a house. I'd think finding 4 TVs within even 60ft (cable distance) is going to be tough.

And then there's the wireless, which is just not good for video.

Maybe the biggest thing is, what formats does it support, I didn't see that anywhere. Will it support Blu-ray structures? ISOs?

Personally I'd be much more interested in someone making a dedicated XBMC extender and the "driver" support behind it for a truly reference media player.

It's more like the SageTV/Extender concept, except instead of the control and search interface being on your TV, it's on your hand-held, with the content (ISOs, HULU, MKVs, etc.) being streamed to your TV. If you wanted to watch "The Matrix" on your living room TV, you'd grab your iPad, search for "The Matrix", then tell Sookbox to stream it to your TV. They are kickstarting their server right now, but it also looks like they are adding small set-top boxes that communicate with the server, which would mean that the server would sit in one room and your set-top boxes would be connected to your various playback devices (TV, stereo, etc.).

It's an interesting concept that's been around for a while, but it's only been recently that the hardware have come down in price enough and the technology has been available for mass adoption.

And wireless can be fine for video, depending on the solution they use. You're not going to steam 4K yet, but 1080P will stream fine over a 802.11n or 802.11ac.

Ben

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by benjamintm

It's more like the SageTV/Extender concept, except instead of the control and search interface being on your TV, it's on your hand-held, with the content (ISOs, HULU, MKVs, etc.) being streamed to your TV. If you wanted to watch "The Matrix" on your living room TV, you'd grab your iPad, search for "The Matrix", then tell Sookbox to stream it to your TV. They are kickstarting their server right now, but it also looks like they are adding small set-top boxes that communicate with the server, which would mean that the server would sit in one room and your set-top boxes would be connected to your various playback devices (TV, stereo, etc.).

We'll see, on screen controls are still usable and I much prefer hard buttons for transport controls than having to grab something with a touchscreen, wake it, look down and find the button I want and push it.

That sort of thing works great for music where it's set it and forget it, and it runs in the background, but I at least don't tend to interact with video that way.

And wireless can be fine for video, depending on the solution they use. You're not going to steam 4K yet, but 1080P will stream fine over a 802.11n or 802.11ac.

Ben

"1080p" is a completely worthless categorization, "1080p" can be anything from a 5Mbps Netflix stream all the way up to a 40Mbps Blu-ray. Wireless is usually fine for low bitrate 1080p internet streaming, but even 802.11n isn't reliable enough for Blu-ray. I doubt 802.11ac is any more reliable but it's excessive bandwidth could make up for that finally (I haven't seen enough reports to judge).