Video Playback

[Tim gregory]

I am looking for a tour-able video playback device.

 

I have given up on DVD and gone to playing back files from a computer, but would now like to go with a dedicated piece of hardware.

 

Roland do the P-10 http://www.roland.com/products/en/P-10/ which would be exactly what I am looking for - if it output HD.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? I do not want to spend more than £1000 on this

 

Thanks,

 

Tim

[mac.calder]

For that money you could get a dedicated Mac Mini and a copy of QLab Video - which I would probably trust as much (if not more) than a lot of the video playback devices you are going to be looking at in the sub-1000 pound market

[AHYoung]

if you can to bend your budget very slightly, you get a mac mini and the basic version of catalyst. It does all the same as the pro version, but with only 2 layers of video. The advantage being that you have an upgrade path to the full pro version if you find that you need more layers of video in the future. then again it really depends what you need to do, Qlab is competitively priced and has the advantage of being able to hire a licence daily which can be handy, and Mac minis offer a fair bit of power for not a lot of outlay, It also isnt a dedicated piece of hardware and you can use it for something else when your arnt touri ng. You can allways download Qlab and catalyst for nothing, see what works for you and then buy the licence...

[the kid]

We have a Roland V8 at work which is great for mixing. I saw it and used briefly combined with the p8 at plasa this year and it looks to be a great bit of kit.

 

The other option is a pc + SCS for videos.

 

I have just discovered Isadora, but no idea how good it is.

[Tim gregory]

I defiantly want hardware rather than software.

 

I have tried the software route but there is too much that can go wrong or too much temptation to install other software or use a non suitable codec / format.

 

The nice thing about the P-10 is that the video's are always there ready to trigger without looking through multiple options or menu's.

 

Thanks,

 

Tim

[AHYoung]

As far as im aware the roland unit works at vga ie a very clunky 640 - 480 pixels and outputs Cv or Svhs. thats fair enough if its a replacement for a Dvd you need, but the quality is going to be pretty poor on a larger screen. If you go for the Mac mini with either catalyst, Q lab etc, you will get something that will output Full HD video { or two at the same time with the right software} . Again its software based, but I dont think that the roland will allow you to do any more than triger one clip after another. The first thing on my list would be the ability to cross fade between clips and as such id have discounted the roland .

 

But assuming that your needs are simple and fadings not required, How many cues do you need to trigger? there are various card based media players such as the Digital View that will work with a simple 8 or 16 button interface, that will allow you to do the press a button , play a cue. As the buttons are programmable, you can have different functions

http://www.digitalview.com/products/viewst...al-media-player they are really built for retail signage or museums etc, but they are cheap and reliable if you dont need anything complex.

[dbuckley]

You could look at the Rosendahl Bonsai and nNovia products, which may or may not fit the budget.