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Most of us have a large digital media library comprising video, photos and audio.
Freeing up this content and streaming it around the home is a market that has garnered much publicity in recent times, yet we’re still to find a comprehensive solution.
The Tvix 6500a from Dvico is the latest device to enter the fray and the self-proclaimed ‘most advanced jukebox on the planet’ certainly seems to offer reasons to believe it could be onto something big. Its headline features include support for version 1.3 HDMI and media format compatibility that’s unparalleled in the current market.
You’ll find support for formats such as H.264 and WMV in HD, plus VOB ripping of DVDs, as well as built-in upscaling for video content to jazz it up for modern high-definition displays.
Media can be accessed either via a Sata hard disk (self- or pre-installed), USB storage directly or over a network from a PC. There’s no built-in wireless (a separate wireless adapter costs £30), and to use the PVR (personal video recorder) functionality, you’ll need the £69 TV tuner.
The interface is straightforward and offers a choice of video, audio and photo views. From an internal drive or attached storage, you’ll have no problems accessing this immediately, but we found connecting the device to a network frustrating.
The comprehensive PDF manual is also frustrating to browse, as it has clearly been translated poorly into English, which doesn’t make the unnecessarily awkward setup procedure any easier to follow. A number of restrictions are enforced, including the ability to share a maximum of four folders on your PC, the lack of wireless security for anything other than 64-bit Wep encryption and the overly sensitive way it requires you to label your shared content exactly as it appears on your PC.
The easiest way to get this running is to use Windows’ folder sharing tools to enable access to content and, once configured correctly, you’ll gain access to your media across a network.
Once you’ve battled your way through the tiresome setup procedure, the results are well worth the trouble. Just about every aspect of the Tvix 6500a from this point makes it a true joy to use - from the speed at which it allows you to access and browse content to the quality of playback.
Even over wireless, we saw excellent results from HD streaming up to 720p, and perhaps due to the built-in upscaling for video, quality was exceptional and even low-resolution files looked great on the large 50in plasma display we used for testing.
Playback was extremely responsive and there are controls for adjusting aspect ratio, subtitle support, bookmark management and lyric files for audio. You can also listen to internet radio and copy files over a network directly to the internal storage.
The interface can be customised, so you can change the wallpaper and font used for display, and when you take file support and performance into account, you’re left wondering why more conventional streamers couldn’t have done a better job by now.
If it weren’t for the high price, issues with network setup and the seemingly unnecessary restrictions it places over media sharing, the Tvix 6500a would be at the top of our ‘must-have’ list for media streamers.
As it stands, it’s head and shoulders above most of the market in terms of versatility and performance, and if you’re serious enough about your media collection to spend the extra money, you’ll be extremely pleased with this device.
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