The key to perfect cinema is Popcorn!
Although we will probably use the device much less frequently for viewing images and listening to music than for filming, these features are still part of the knowledge base. And when we need them, they come in very handy.
Picture viewing
Of course, Popcorn can display images from any media or location, be it an HDD, a flash drive, a DVD, or even a network. We put some photos on the flash drive. Selecting a specific image from the list is ENTER after a short wait, it loads to full screen.
On our second page, we’ve provided information about image viewing settings that you can take advantage of here. To view a slideshow, select the file ENTER-t, but a Play button! If you do this, the photos will change automatically after the specified time.
In full screen mode is INFO You can also get data about the images by pressing the button (several times):
Listening to music
The system of prediction of the word music is the same. Browse the directory containing the music files. If the stock ENTER button, the selected track will be played only, if the Play button, all will be played in the library one after the other.
Network playback
Once you have established the connection between Popcorn and your router using the network cable, the Settings, Network under menu item we entered the required variables, IP, gateway, DNS, etc. After that, the A-110 became virtually part of the network, the machines recognized it on the network map. For playback, we tried the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service (WMP-NSS). All it took was to make the necessary settings on the client machine, allow access, and then the machine appeared. Media source list and has become browsable.
For the test, we were satisfied with the sample videos made for Windows Media Player, which, after a short buffering after the search, appeared perfectly fine and started on the screen.
Use with HDMI
The XXI. century will clearly bring the triumph of the digital world to all of us, which is why we felt it was important to put HDMI to the test. For this reason, we took Popcorn to the company of a full HD Samsung plasma and a "full-extra" Onkyo home theater amplifier, where he could show his true qualities.
Of course, the player and the image display didn't find each other right away, but we pulled out the TVmode + 0 button combination from our trunk (again) and behold a miracle: after a few seconds, the main menu became our reward. After the necessary settings, you could start watching movies. For the first time, we offered power consumers with full HD resolution material, which we had no problems with in terms of detail and motion tracking. The black level was remarkably good, which definitely deserves a red point. By switching to 720p, we sacrificed a few "flocks of sheep" on the altar of quality. Popcorn seems to have solved the upscaling a hair less than an HTPC, but it still falls into the enjoyable category.
Subtitle management was perfect even with this connection mode - let’s say the various menu feedback and icons could be nicer / higher resolution - you could easily access the basic functions during playback. Of course, the audio was also sent via HDMI, which our AVR ate without a sock - thankfully, we can't report a quality problem.
