The DP-508 from Denmark-based KiSS (Keep it Simple Solutions) is a DivX-certified networking DVD player with a built-in 80 GB hard drive. The device is capable of playing back--from optical media, from your computer, and from its own drive--DivX video, MP3 files, and JPEG digital-photo slideshows in a room of your choosing, whether den, living room, or bedroom. All you need for full networking ability is a Windows PC, a wired network connection with the player, and a television. You can connect the DP-508 directly to the Internet via a broadband connection or through a network (LAN) with a PC whose media contents can be read using the supplied KiSS PC-Link software. Powered by the Sigma Designs EM8500 decoder chip, the player reads DVD-Video (PAL and NTSC) as well as DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs.
The DP-508's support for DivX (including versions 3.11, 4, and 5), ISO MPEG-4, and XviD video-compression formats gives you the ability download full-screen, full-motion videos from the Internet that look and sound close in quality to what you get from your television or DVD player. Audio compatibility extends to the open-source Ogg Vorbis format for music compression (slightly higher quality than MP3 for a same-sized file).
The player's sizeable hard disk holds up to 116 Internet-sourced DivX films, somewhere on the order of 16,000 128 kbps MP3 music files, or about 200,000 JPEG image files. All these files are easily accessible through a user-friendly list displayed on the TV screen. (Just be sure to organize your files in folders--there's nothing user-friendly about a list numbering in the hundreds of thousands.) You can even use the Ethernet connection to ferry your media between your PC and the DP-508.
When you plug the player in for the first time, a graphic interface prompts you to select language, video connection type, screen size, audio connection, and IP address, an easy five-step setup. To enjoy the player's networking abilities, you'll need to install and run the KiSS PC-Link software (PC only, Windows 98 or higher). With PC-Link, all you have to do is select the files and you want to view and they'll be routed to your DP-508 and on to your television for viewing in any connected location.
The networking ability also delivers Internet radio. Select WebRadio from the player's menu for instant access to a few thousand streaming radio stations. Once you've registered, WebRadio will let you choose, customize, and add as many radio stations as you wish.
Whether or not your living room is currently home to an HDTV, the DP-508 stands ready to deliver the full potential of your uncompressed, commercial DVDs. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.
The player uses the French-developed SCART connection for its component-video (progressive) signal, and a supplied cable provides an interface for use with the standard RCA-tipped jacks on associated equipment. This output allows the player to channel video signals in a manner consonant with not only PAL (European) and NTSC (North American) video systems, but with RGB computer monitors as well (RGB adapter cable not included).
Other outputs include standard composite- and S-video connections, a coaxial digital-audio jack (for passing Dolby Digital and DTS surround signals to a compatible audio/video receiver), and a set of stereo analog RCA jacks.
KiSS will continue to update the player's firmware with improvements based on the latest research and development; the updates will be available from the support section of the kiss-technology.com Web site.
What's in the Box
DVD player, remote control, remote batteries, CD-ROM with KiSS PC-Link software, a user's manual, stereo analog audio interconnect/composite-video cable, SCART-to-RCA component-video adapter cable, and an AC power cord.
