TViX Slim S1 : Bidding Adieu to the Realtek RTD1283
by Ganesh T S on March 8, 2011 8:23 PM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Media Streamer
- DVICO
- TVIX
The TViX Slim S1 is the first Realtek 1283 based media player that we are evaluating, and one of the first Realtek based products to grace our labs since we started HQV benchmarking. Being a premium multimedia player, the TViX Slim S1 has various options for contrast enhancement and hue control. Does this give a respectable score in the HQV benchmark?
| TViX Slim S1 : HQV 2.0 Benchmark | ||||
| Test Class | Chapter | Tests | Max. Score | TViX Slim S1 |
| Video Conversion | Video Resolution | Dial | 5 | 5 |
| Dial with Static Pattern | 5 | 5 | ||
| Gray Bars | 5 | 1 | ||
| Violin | 5 | 5 | ||
| Film Resolution | Stadium 2:2 | 5 | 0 | |
| Stadium 3:2 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Overlay On Film | Horizontal Text Scroll | 5 | 0 | |
| Vertical Text Scroll | 5 | 0 | ||
| Cadence Response Time | Transition to 3:2 Lock | 5 | 0 | |
| Transition to 2:2 Lock | 5 | 0 | ||
| Multi-Cadence | 2:2:2:4 24 FPS DVCam Video | 5 | 0 | |
| 2:3:3:2 24 FPS DVCam Video | 5 | 0 | ||
| 3:2:3:2:2 24 FPS Vari-Speed | 5 | 0 | ||
| 5:5 12 FPS Animation | 5 | 3 | ||
| 6:4 12 FPS Animation | 5 | 3 | ||
| 8:7 8 FPS Animation | 5 | 3 | ||
| Color Upsampling Errors | Interlace Chroma Problem (ICP) | 5 | 2 | |
| Chroma Upsampling Error (CUE) | 5 | 2 | ||
| Noise and Artifact Reduction | Random Noise | SailBoat | 5 | 0 |
| Flower | 5 | 0 | ||
| Sunrise | 5 | 0 | ||
| Harbour Night | 5 | 0 | ||
| Compression Artifacts | Scrolling Text | 5 | 0 | |
| Roller Coaster | 5 | 0 | ||
| Ferris Wheel | 5 | 0 | ||
| Bridge Traffic | 5 | 0 | ||
| Upscaled Compression Artifacts | Text Pattern | 5 | 0 | |
| Roller Coaster | 5 | 0 | ||
| Ferris Wheel | 5 | 0 | ||
| Bridge Traffic | 5 | 0 | ||
| Image Scaling and Enhancements | Scaling and Filtering | Luminance Frequency Bands | 5 | 5 |
| Chrominance Frequency Bands | 5 | 5 | ||
| Vanishing Text | 5 | 5 | ||
| Resolution Enhancement | Brook, Mountain, Flower, Hair, Wood | 15 | 15 | |
| Video Conversion | Contrast Enhancement | Theme Park | 5 | 2 |
| Driftwood | 5 | 2 | ||
| Beach at Dusk | 5 | 2 | ||
| White and Black Cats | 5 | 2 | ||
| Skin Tone Correction | Skin Tones | 10 | 7 | |
| Total Score | 210 | 74 | ||
We were quite surprised to see the Slim S1 score well in some of the cadence detection tests. However, content requiring those cadence detection schemes are very rare. The score of 74 on 210 is more than what the Sigma based players obtained in our benchmarks. Does this mean that the Realtek streamers are better than their Sigma counterparts? I would heavily stress the fact that this isn't so. The HQV benchmark doesn't reflect real world deinterlacing performance. Also, the knobs required to test and process various HQV benchmark streams are not present in the Sigma streamers we reviewed earlier.
The TViX Slim S1 lives up to its premium tag by offering the right knobs for picture adjustment, but nothing much should be read into this score.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
9 Comments
View All Comments
Cullinaire - Tuesday, March 8, 2011 - link
Doesn't adieu mean to say goodbye? Seems odd to use it in the headline as is.ganeshts - Tuesday, March 8, 2011 - link
That was the intent :) This is the final 1283 based product that we review.From now on, it will be 1185 only..
Cullinaire - Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - link
Now I understand :)MGSsancho - Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - link
over all Ganesh, excellent review. the box on the stuff it does not support was mostly what I went directly to. I agree with your wish list in your conclusion. I noticed you didn't mention cheap. to be honest some of ups demand top features, quality and user interface. we recognize premium features come at a premium price. $100 or $150 would be ideal but I will pay $300 or even $500 for a perfect media streamer box. how ever i beleive these should be optional extras (tuners, hdds, ssds, wifi, etc.)you know if any of these devices come with a 3.5mm IR port on the back or those of us with more 'fun' setups? :-)
probedb - Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - link
Thanks for the review again :)Why are streamers so bad at this stuff?
I see this one doesn't even pass the CUE test which has been known about and fixed in pretty much every DVD player for the last 5-10 years?
The deinterlacing stuff is particularly annoying and noticable on larger TVs.
Rainman200 - Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - link
In a way yes, the media streamer market has been dragging it's feet for years servicing a niche user base.* Not considering the wider market or improving usability so horrible GUI's are all too common (realtek a major sinner here)
* Avoiding putting GPU's in their chipsets until forced to do so by competition.
* Not bothering implementing automatic media scraping until competition does so.
* Sticking to the outdated one folder per movie for metadata system.
None of the traditional media streamer companies are proactive, they're all reactive waiting until something threatens their business model to respond.
The one bright thing Sigma Designs did is porting XBMC to their chipsets, that will put a serious dent in most of the competition if XBMC players start shipping on the market.
RamarC - Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - link
quite a few have DLNA support and many can play content from usb drives. So, to me, a $200 blu-ray is definitely an alternative to a streamer, but in what areas is it better than or worse than a steamer?reggiethealligator - Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - link
Another great media player review! And i like that you are reviewing more than just the boxee and wd offerings which are more well known, but not always better in every situation. This and the Nixeus Fusion HD review gave me some more options to think about.jnmfox - Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - link
Any plans on reviewing the HD Theater 300 from SageTV? Works as a standalone media streamer and can be connected to a Sage Server for a more feature rich experience. If you are looking to integrate DVR/PRV functions with your media player WMC and SageTV seem to be the two best ways to go.User created plug-ins (apps) has also improved the functionality as well as the look and feel of the interface.
http://www.sagetv.com/hd_theater.html