Frequently Asked Questions
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION
1. What is network media tank?
- The Networked Media Tank (NMT) is a state-of-the-art integrated digital entertainment system that allows you to watch, store and share digital content on your home network. With a built-in Digital Media Player, the NMT allows for seamless integration between your digital media and your entertainment system. An optional hard disk drive also gives the end user the ability to download content from the Internet and store it in the NMT to watch at their leisure.
The Popcorn Hour is a mediaplayer based on an intergrated video processor.
It is used to play various media files, video and audio, through your home entertainment system.
It has a network port that connects it to your network and you can fit a hard drive to store your files and it runs a Bit torrent client for downloading media of the internet.
2. How does popcorn hour works?
- Popcorn hour works by playing your desired media file media from avi (DivX, Xvid), mkv, mpeg1, mpeg2, mpeg4,WMV9-HD, MOV content and a lot more. You won’t need a BluRay player to enjoy Hi-Def as the Popcorn Hour can play files up to 1080p quality.
3. What do I need to keep it running? Any software?
- Nothing, popcorn hour comes with all the necessary software to play your media.
4. Do I need to install an internal hard disk in order to use Popcorn Hour A-100?
- 1) No, you can stream movies/music/pictures from your PC or NAS (network attached storage).
- 2) You can attach an external USB storage device which contains the media (Flash drive, external hard disk)
5. Is it plug and play?
- Yes. Firmware has been updated (at the time of your purchase) to best run your system. All you have to do is plug in your TV (or home theater), copy your media into the hard drive (should you wish to install one) or plug in a thumb drive and play.
6. What applications does it have?
As of now these are the applications but it can still be added.
• Video: YouTube, Google Video, MetaCafe, VideoCast, DL.TV, Cranky Geeks, NBA TV, Apple Trailer, ESPN
• Audio: iPodcast, Radiobox, ABC News, Jamendo, CNN, BBC
• Photo: Flickr, Picasa
• RSS feed: Yahoo! Weather, Yahoo! Traffic alerts, Yahoo! Stock, Cinecast, Traffic Conditions.
• Peer-to-peer TV: SayaTV
• Internet Radio: Shoutcast
7. Can I surf the web?
-Yes you can, using the remote control or an USB keyboard
8. How does Bittorrent work?
- Bittorrent works by downloading your desired media file thru peer-to-peer sharing. You can download your desired torrent file thru you PC and transfer it into the popcorn hour’s built in bittorrent
9. What is the advantage of downloading torrent using the Popcorn Hour rather than my PC?
- The popcorn hour consumes as little as 20W. Compared to your power hungry 600W PC, the popcorn hour practically pays for itself if you like to download 24/7.
10. What’s the speed in downloading?
- The speed will depend on your internet connection.
11. How big is the storage space?
- The storage space will depend on the size of the hard disk you wish to install. You can install up to 1TB of hard disk space.
12. What if I want to burn the movies/series I downloaded, how does it work?
- You can install an external DVD burner thru the USB or you can plug the popcorn hour into your home network and burn your desired file thru your PC.
13. Do I need to have an HDTV to play it or any other TV will do?
- No, an ordinary TV will do just fine. To enjoy full 1080P HD media, you will need an HDTV.
14. I already have a PC why should I still buy this one?
Your motherboard / videocard has to have hardware accelerated video engine like PureVideo (nvidia) in order to play HD contents.
Even with the hardware right your PC also has to be configured to play HD with the right codecs, decoders and software.
Then there’s the issue of power consumption. A properly configured PC for HD playback, most popularly known as Home Theater PC or HTPC, most often then not comes with a thirsty 550W power supply
Save yourself the hassle of multiple codecs and hard to understand shareware decoders and software. Watch your HD movies with the 30W power Popcorn Hour.
15. I already have a DVD Player with USB Port (divx) why should I buy this one?
Your DVD player is only limited to play standard definition movies (SD) and not HD. Most often then not it can only play short *.avi DivX files.
PCH can play a number of file formats and infinite length movies.
16. What’s the difference between a 2.5”/3.5” external hard disk media player and the popcorn hour?
Like the DVD player with USB (divx) support in the previous question, the external hard disk media player is only limited to play standard definition movies (SD). PCH can play high definition movies (HD) as well as SD and a number of other file formats.
17. Why should I buy a Popcorn Hour and not a HTPC, XBOX Media Center, PS3, Mediagate or DviCo TViX?
The Popcorn Hour can play almost any file, it’s small, it doesn’t take much power it is cheap and it is quiet. You can even view your pictures or play your favorite music.
The Xbox makes lots of noise with it’s fan’s and doesn’t play HD files.
A HTPC will play almost everything, has a sleeker userinterface but most of the time are noisy, bulky (well at least not as small as the PCH), expensive (P25,000 at least) and use more power.
Mediagate and DviCo TviX that are sold here doesn’t support any HD files, doesn’t have a bittorrent downloader and other features like youtube, flickr, NBA TV and a lot more.18. Why choose Popcorn Hour over other HD media player? What advantage does Popcorn hour have?
Here are some of the advantange on choosing Popcorn Hour:1. Popcorn Hour is manufactured Syabas, the No.1 supplier of NMT chipset. Chances are the other locally available HD media players just purchase Syabas' chipset and manufacture their own casing. Its safe to say that Popcorn Hour knows the capabilities of their chipset best thats why they release firmware upgrades faster and more frequently.
This is a huge advantage for owners of Popcorn Hour as they dont have to worry about not being able to play the latest HD media file and format.
2. Popcorn Hour can play most available 1080p media because of their frequent firmware updates. Other HD Media player stutters or dont play some 1080p media altogether.
3. Popcorn Hour IS the only HD media player that decodes DTS audio and pass-thru digital DTS-HD MA. Unlike the other HD media players, the casual user can hook the Popcorn Hour direct to their HDTV and not worry about not being able to hear movies with DTS audio (other HD media player just give you video w/ no audio).
For the home theater enthusiast, you can be assured that you get the best available audio, DTS-HD MA, passed thru to your receiver.
4. Popcorn Hour has the largest community of user. You can be assured that you can easily reach out to a fellow user online at www.networkmediatank.com should you need help.
19. I don’t have any High definition movies where can I get this?
We can give you a number of legal movie and tv show downloader sites which are really fast.
20. Why should I download HD movies when I already have divx movies?
Watching the same movie in HD can give you a better exhilarating experience. We’re pretty confident that after watching a movie in HD, you may not want to go back to low quality divx movies or DVD movies.
21. What is the warranty? Where did you source the popcorn hour units?
We source the units directly from Syabas technology’s office in Malaysia. As an official Philippines exclusive distributor of Popcorn Hour, our units come with a 1 month replacement and 1 yr service warranty and of course customer support if you need any help.
Got more questions? email us at info@popcornhour.com.ph or visit
NMT Wiki http://networkedmediatank.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page