For the nth-too-often time of late, i must ask forgiveness if this has been covered, but with the forum searches being disabled, the google searches picking up every other search term on every single page of the site, and 158 listed archive pages i'm not in much of a mood to sift.

I have one of these players, and it's dandy for DVD (RGB out would be nice, as current 'large' TV isn't Svid compatible, but usually it does the trick, and it's composite output is very good anyway) and VCDs / mild xVCD. It even seems to play SVCD ok, but with a lack of a decent mpg2 encoder and the money to pay for one until i've worked a few months, can't properly test. Which leads into the question proper.

Can these players be coaxed, tricked, etc into playing:
* CVD (mpg2)
* MPG-1 CVD / SVCD (most especially..)
* kVCD of 528, 544, 704 or 720 horizontal resolutions in either MPG1 or 2

??

So far tests have led me mostly down an alley full of pulsating green and purple blocks and corruption, but the odd perfectly-formed frame remains (especially in freezeframe/step mode) just to tease me, and the general shape of the film can be perceived most of the time through the fug, and plays at the right speed without skipping or locking up (well... usually). Which is highly annoying, suggesting to me that it can indeed do all the above things, i'm just doing something fundamentally wrong in the encoding, muxing, burning.... playing.

Any reader got the same machine and done this, any general tips that would help it work (i'm sure I've skimmed over such things eg the 'header trick' hundreds of times and ignored them as they weren't relevant at the time!), links, even firmware upgrades (though, wary after reading someone's tale of flashing woe not 10 minutes past), if it'll make it work. The moderate rez boost of making a mpg1 CVD (or, if you like, 352 rez kVCD ) rather than a VCD could be a real boon for super-widescreen films, and cartoons.. but so far.. just flashing green and purple squares and stripes.

Oh yeah, and as i'm sure it will help, are the SM's a clone of, related to, or sharing chipsets with any other better known brand (or using a well known generic chipset? theres LOTS of space inside the standard rack-size case which makes me wonder if it wasn't originally based off a portable VCD player )