Nagase Industries, Inc. will begin selling the o­n-board ethernet, DivX/XviD support DVD player, the "DVX-500" o­n their website DVDirect on December 20th. The player is part of their TRANSTECHNOLOGY Project, aimed at providing a delicate balance between function and price.

The DVX-500 is a DVD player with an ethernet port, and is capable of playing the DivX and XviD compression formats. The media supported for playback are DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-ROM, CD-R/RW, etc.

In addition to being able to be used like a normal DVD player, this device comes with software for PC use called "TransGear Media Server" which, o­nce installed, allows users to play digital media files from their PC. Media Server supports Windows ME/2000/XP operating systems.

The DVD player uses two different playing modes: "Disc Mode," using the DVD drive of the player itself and "Network Mode," utilizing the ethernet capabilities to playback files stored o­n the user's PC.

In addition to supporting MPEG-1/2, the player also supports DivX 3.11/4.x/5.x and Xvid, etc. Supported audio formats are mp3, WMA8/9, OggVorbis, WAV. JPEG images are also supported. In Network Mode, files accessed o­n the Media Server are divided into 4 categories: Video, Audio, Images, and Internet Radio.


For DVD playing, progressive playback is supported. Apart from a 100Base-TX Ethernet port, the player also has Component out, S-Video out, Composite out, Optical Digital out, Composite Digital out, and analog audio output.

Also, a IEEE 802.11g supporting wireless LAN bridge adapter, the "WLAN-AP/B" is planned for release sometime in December, for 7,980 yen. When used with the DVX-500, it can operate in wireless LAN environments. By using the faster 802.11g (as opposed to 802.11b), this means that not o­nly lower bitrate formats like DivX can be streamed, but 10mbps high bitrate MPEG-2 files can also be played.

The DVX-500 has a mirror-type front panel design. The outside dimensions are 420 x 265 x 50 mm (W x L x H), and has a total weight of 2.7kg. A remote is included.

At the same presentation of the DVX-500, Nagase Inc. also announced the reduced price of the "DVX-200," which is currently available. The new price, 2,000 yen cheaper brings it down to 17,800 yen.

At the Transtechnology Project presentation, Deputy Manager Hiroshi Hiradzuka outlined the products. He asked the audience, "Don't you regret buying a DVD burner now?" citing evidence such as the increase in hard drive capacities, the apparently stale increase in the speed of DVD authoring, network support, and the support for widely-adapted formats such as DivX being "late." "Computers that have DVD writing drives won't be needing them," he said.

Different from DVD recorders, the Transgear 500TV TV capture card planned for simultaneous release is for recording TV programs o­nto user's computers, for playback o­n the DVX-500. He stressed that "the DVX-500 can control various media file formats such as music and images, allowing it to be not just a video server but also a photo/audio server."


The player is certified "DivX Compatible" from the DivX Network, ensuring the support of DivX 3.11. o­nce a planned firmware update is released will also be "DivX Certified," meaning the player will support all future DivX formats.

When looking for something to compare the DVX-500 to, we find o­nly IO Data's "AVeL LinkPlayer," with a price of 29,800 yen....more expensive than the DVX-500's 22,800 yen price tag. Regarding the low price, Hiradzuka explained, "Basically, it's just honest selling; we were able to achieve this price by eliminating the middle margin."



Original Article:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20031120/nagase1.htm

Transtechnology Homepage:
http://www.transtechnology.co.jp/

Product Information:
http://www.transtechnology.co.jp/products/hard/det/dvx-500.html