Philips 5990 quick review/impressions.

[jagabo]

I'm not at my 5990 right now but I can tell you it won't play the HD Divx (960x528) file. It probably won't play the GMC files, at least not well (jerky).

Later...

Here's what I found playing off a USB 2.0 thumb drive. I'm using an HDMI cable between the player and TV. The player is set to upscale to 1080p60 to a 46" LCD HDTV. I'm am using the stock firmware that came with the unit when I bought it 3 or 4 months ago.

\DivX_3.11\divx3-test1_lame392.avi
Played normally.

\DivX_3.11\divx3-test2_lame391.avi
Played normally.

\DivX_3.11\divx3-test3_lame389b.avi
\DivX_3.11\divx3-test3_lame389b.idx
\DivX_3.11\divx3-test3_lame389b.srt
\DivX_3.11\divx3-test3_lame389b.sub
Did not play at all with all 4 files in the same folder. It stuck at the blue screen just before playing a file. I could see the flash drive's LED flashing but after waiting a few minutes the video/audio didn't start playing. With just the AVI and SRT it played normally. It displayed subtitles (didn't recognize the language) when the subtitle button was pressed. With just the AVI, IDX, and SUB files it did not play.

\DivX_5.0\divx_high-res.avi
\DivX_5.0\divx_high-res.srt
Did not play video. Displayed a "resolution not supported" message. Audio played.

\XviD\xvid_custom-matrix.avi
Played normally.

\XviD\xvid_gmc_2warp+qpel.avi
\XviD\xvid_gmc_3warp.avi
\XviD\xvid_gmc_3warp_(widefix).avi
\XviD\xvid_nvop-pvop-bvop+gmc.avi
\XviD\xvid_nvop-pvop-bvop+gmc.srt
None of these played properly. The player displayed a "GMC not supported" message as it started playing. Each video showed a few frames here and there, usually very distorted. Audio played. There may have been a few audio skips.

\XviD\xvid_nvop-pvop-bvop.avi
\XviD\xvid_nvop-pvop-bvop.idx
\XviD\xvid_nvop-pvop-bvop.sub
Did not play with all 3 files in the folder. It played normally after removing the IDX and SUB files.

\60_fps.avi
Played! I was surprised by this. It wasn't silky smooth but the video itself isn't smooth (there are many duplicate frames scattered throughout -- verified by stepping through the video with VirtualDub). It was no more jerky than when played on my computer (Q6600 + 8600GT).

\wmv-file.wmv
Played but the video was grossly distorted. Lots of green crap all over the place. Audio was ok.

When played from a DVD results were the same except when AVI, IDX, and SUB files were in a folder (without SRT) the video played normally. I was only able to display English subtitles though. No Spanish.

[PhoneMatt]

Mister Mike, I ran into the same problem. I just got one of these and put my first DL disk in it. It took so long to load that I thought that the machine was defective. I tried it again and waited for nearly 2 minutes. Then the disk finally showed as "Loaded". My single layer disks and commercial disks load pretty quickly- maybe 30 seconds or so. I read in a posting in another forum, this afternoon, that a lot of other people have had this experience, also, especially with Verbatim +R DL. (Of course, the other side of it is that one person posted that his machine wouldn't recognize his Memorex DL's at all. I'd say that the machine has more sense than its owner.) If all it is, is longer load times on Verbatims, I'll put up with it.
Matt

[Techflaws]

I'm asking this, 'cause my Cyberhome 4620 is broken and i'm looking to replace it with this Philips,
and I don't know if it's really that good... Or at least as good as my Cyberhome was.

The 3260 plays all formats that my 4620 does.

[HBx2000]

@jagabo: Thx a lot for testing it so extensively.

To sum it up: It doesn't do .idx/.sub from USB.

I find it also strange the wmv-file didn't work, 'cause it's standard wmv9 + wma
audio and I was under the impression this Philips would play WMV.
The GMC files were no suprise, I was just keeping my fingers crossed.
The 60 fps clip was just extra (strange thing is, it does play smooth as silk on my pc (and I indeed know of the dup-frames)).

Last strange thing, my Cyberhome 4620 did play "divx3-test3_lame389b.avi", but not "divx3-test2_lame391.avi" years ago.
It always puzzled me, 'cause only the LAME version is different.

Anyways, thx again that you did this!!

EDIT: I've watched the clip again, and you're right. The reason I didn't noticed it, is because it was the same way I recorded it in-game. And I thought that you ment the whole clip wasn't running super.

[jagabo]

To sum it up: It doesn't do .idx/.sub from USB.

That appears to be the case. You might look into the modded firmware discussed in this post:
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic355675.html

The 60 fps clip was just extra (strange thing is, it does play smooth as silk on my pc (and I indeed know of the dup-frames)).

You're just not noticing the jerks. At 33 seconds into the clip, just as the gun appears, there are 9 identical frames in a row. The first frame where the gun appears there are 6 identical frames in a row. 25 seconds into the clip the camera rotates from the burning pile on the ground back up to the other players. That pan is noticeably jerky. If you watch very closely you'll notice other jerky bits.

Anyways, thx again that you did this!!

You're welcome.

[Techflaws]

I find it also strange the wmv-file didn't work, 'cause it's standard wmv9 + wma
audio and I was under the impression this Philips would play WMV.

It does, but since we're talking of a Micros~1 "standard" here it comes as no suprise to see incompatibilites.

To sum it up: It doesn't do .idx/.sub from USB.

It does. I've also just tried your idx/sub on my 3260 and they playback there too.

[jagabo]

To sum it up: It doesn't do .idx/.sub from USB.

It does. I've also just tried your idx/sub on my 3260 and they playback there too.

I tried again. This time I tried two different thumb drives, with the files in the root, in a folder, and the files renamed with short file names. None of them played. The screen was left at the blue blob background and the front panel display simply showed STOP. The DVP-5990 is hooked up to a Samsung LCD HDTV via HDMI at 1080p. Firmware is DVP5990_37.bin.

[jmcyang]

Has anyone tried if this plays .idx/.sub with the .sub rared (in a rar file)?

Thanks.

[Techflaws]

No, it doesn't.

[Halcon]

I have a 5990 and was wondering. Id like to buy a drive and have my entire movie collection on it and playable from my drive. I have over 648 movies, which I read the manual can only read drives with no more than 300 folders, 648 files. has anybody tried a drive with more files and have it play?


Just wondering because if not, Im just gonna get two 500g drives. Instead of the terabyte

[jman98]

I have a 5990 and was wondering. Id like to buy a drive and have my entire movie collection on it and playable from my drive. I have over 648 movies, which I read the manual can only read drives with no more than 300 folders, 648 files. has anybody tried a drive with more files and have it play?


Just wondering because if not, Im just gonna get two 500g drives. Instead of the terabyte

I noticed that you are new. Welcome to the forums. Generally we discourage posts in threads that are months old since the last post, but your post is actually relevant to the thread. Don't make a habit of posting to old threads though. Just create a new one unless what you have to say is really and truly critical to the thread or completely relevant. Digging up an old thread just to say "Me too" months or years later won't make you any friends here and some people do that. If in doubt, make a new thread.

Anyway, do note that the limitation is NOT files per folders as some may tell you. The limitation is 300 folders and 648 files in any combination, NOT 648 files per folder. We sometimes have people chime in and say "It's 648 files per folder". If you listen to them, you'll regret it. The limitation is a firmware limitation. I have no idea if a hacked firmware is available for this player that might have larger limits, but you can do a web search for that. If not, you'd probably be best served to have the 2 smaller drives.

[jagabo]

Anyway, do note that the limitation is NOT files per folders as some may tell you. The limitation is 300 folders and 648 files in any combination, NOT 648 files per folder.

I have personally put more than 648 files on a thumb drive -- spread across many nested folders (artist/album/songs) and have been able to access them all. OK, I didn't verify that I could play every single one of them but browsing through the drive seemed to show all the folders and files and I was able to play every file I tried. On the other hand I'm pretty sure you can't put 648 files in each of 300 folders, ie 194,400 files on a single drive. The real limit is somewhere in between and I don't think anyone really knows what the limits are.

[Halcon]

While Im new here, Im not new to forums. typically bumping of old threads is discouraged when its just to say "me too"

I however had a question thats relevant to a topic thats already been discussed. Making a new thread would have been uncessary, IMO. The last thing ya want is 500 threads about the 5990.

Anywho... I was definitely under the impression that it was 648 files total.

It'd be nice to know if there were more out there who have tried hooking up a drive with more files in it. I dont want to pass up this terabyte drive that I can get for 100 bucks if I can use it.

Thanks Jagabo

[cal_tony]

Somewhere on this site in one of the 5990 threads I posted that on one of my 1tb drives I have over 1000 files on just one of the drives 2 partitions. All of the files are in folders that have less than 25 files per folder.
At the time I put the drive into use I made 2 partitions on the drive because I was worried about the 648 limit. What I hadn't realized was that even though the 5990 can read multiple partitions, my PS3 cannot. And that is a problem. Again, thank you Sony for making using your devices so delightful.

Tony

[Halcon]

Thanks Tony. I looked up that thread and I found that another poster was asking the exact same question. I contacted him via pm and he verified that it does in fact hold 648 files per folder, not total. Thanks to you and to him. Im good now.

And before I let this thread finally die down again, Id just like to post for any others wondering about the 300 folder 648 file question. It does appear to be 648 per folder, not total.

I personally tried it.

What I did was I inserted a cd with dozens of folders, some of which contained thousands of files. (picture files mostly) ... when I clicked on a folder that had 1000+ picture files, the player told me "only first 648 shown." and they did. I went out and clicked on a different folder with 1000+ files and sure enough same message, and they did play also. Two different folders, 648 from each played. So to me its confirmation that its 648 per folder. I have yet to try large video files, but Im convinced it should work there too.

Thanks guys and videohelp.com

Over and out.

[ipse]

Guys...need some help here. I'm new to DivX, Xvid so be gentle :0)

Got this player from Dell.ca (50 bux +tax) and it seems to be OK so far (not great, but for the price I can't ask for too much).

Divx files play fine, but the first Xvid I threw at it never got past the "LOAD" phase....stuck there (but can still stop it).

The info I got from the file is attached...I don't see anything that would create the problem (been reading the forums for a bit for known issues).
Am I missing something...?

Thanks

General
Complete name                    : G:\para_altend.avi
Format                           : AVI
Format/Info                      : Audio Video Interleave
File size                        : 450 MiB
Duration                         : 1h 26mn
Overall bit rate                 : 728 Kbps
Writing application              : MEncoder 2:1.0~rc2-0ubuntu19+medibuntu1
Writing library                  : MPlayer

Video
ID                               : 0
Format                           : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile                   : AdvancedSimple@L5
Format settings, BVOP            : Yes
Format settings, QPel            : No
Format settings, GMC             : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix          : Default (H.263)
Codec ID                         : XVID
Codec ID/Hint                    : XviD
Duration                         : 1h 26mn
Bit rate                         : 659 Kbps
Width                            : 608 pixels
Height                           : 336 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
Frame rate                       : 23.976 fps
Resolution                       : 24 bits
Colorimetry                      : 4:2:0
Scan type                        : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.134
Stream size                      : 407 MiB (90%)
Writing library                  : XviD 1.2.1 (UTC 2008-12-04)

Audio
ID                               : 1
Format                           : MPEG Audio
Format version                   : Version 1
Format profile                   : Layer 3
Codec ID                         : 55
Codec ID/Hint                    : MP3
Duration                         : 1h 26mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 32.0 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 2 channels
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Resolution                       : 16 bits
Stream size                      : 19.8 MiB (4%)
Alignment                        : Aligned on interleaves
Writing library                  : LAME3.98

[jagabo]

Divx files play fine, but the first Xvid I threw at it never got past the "LOAD" phase....stuck there (but can still stop it).

Codec ID/Hint                    : MP3
Duration                         : 1h 26mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 32.0 Kbps

It won't play MP3 bitrates that low (32 kbps). You'll have to reencode the audio with a higher bitrate. I'm not sure what the lowest acceptable bitrate is but I know 96 kbps works.

[ipse]

Thanks for the quick reply. If the sound is the problem, would the symptom be that the player is stuck in "load" or no audio?

Cheers

[ipse]

WHOA!!!!!

What a POS....my problems started with the Xvid files (see above) and now this crappy player won't read the Divx files it played a week ago!!!!!!

I flashed it again to factory and vbcode6's 3.4 to no avail.

THIS IS USELESS...50$ that I will never get back. DO NOT BUY!!!

[victoriabears]

I have had one sitting on the carpet working fine for a year or more, may be your discs are smudged, or the player is not being allowed enough air , unplug it leave it for , say an , hour then re plug it in, see if that helps.