which appears to prove me wrong).
Right now you have to rename the .VOB files to .MPG, but that will be fixed
according to the Forum. I went through a couple of the 200gigs worth of DVDs I
have ripped on my file server (with DVDDecrypter) and did the rename to check
them out. Finding Nemo looked amazing, and that should keep my daughter happy
(the actual DVD has started skipping due to overuse).
This means you can kind of save $25000 over
the Kaleidescape system, a hugely
overpriced system for playing DVDs over your network. Now that is a serious
saving!
I compared a ripped Terminator Special Edition DVD to the same movie
broadcast on HDNet Movies. On my hardware, the Roku-played DVD looked better (at
720p in both cases, the preferred resolution for my TV). Caveats: YMMV, this is
on a pretty small TV (30"), its the only movie I could find that I owned and was
available on satellite in HD, it could have been a bad transfer etc.
Looks like the Roku will keep me happy until the real HD DVD issues have been
resolved, and I can buy actual product.
As it is a beta there are some issues, the main one being the lack of FF/RW.
Right now those buttons go to the next/prev VOB file, so you cant navigate DVD
tracks, or skip ads (if you play TS files from your HTPC). Also the sound
sometimes quits when skipping tracks, but comes back when you skip again. The
good news is that all the video files that the 1.x software choked on play
perfectly with 2.0.
I dont think they will be adding DVD menu navigation etc support, at least
for 2.0, but I can live without that. Looks like there are few improvements for
audio playback, with 2.0 (wisely) concentrating on video improvements.
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