While there are countless applications available to manage and view media on our computers and even some good portable solutions, getting our media to and from the television is still a challenging task for most. Neuros Technology decided to tackle this challenge in a new and exciting way. Their newest product, the Neuros OSD, is not only a media center and video recorder but is also based on Linux and has completely open source software and hardware. It's a product designed to be as versatile, open, and hackable as possible while still being easy enough to use for any living room. Whether you wish to covert your DVD's to digital files, record your favorite TV shows for your iPod, stream videos from your home network, or take it apart and rebuild it, the Neuros OSD is a low cost and versatile device that is on the forefront of the open source revolution. How did it perform? Read on for a thorough review!
WHAT'S HOT
The most appealing feature about the Neuros OSD has to be its versatility. Based on an embedded version of linux, the Neuros OSD supports the following.
Video Interface:
Standard A/V RCA Interface Cables
Compatible with NTSC, Pal, and Secam (input only) standards
Video Recording:
ISO Standard MPEG-4 SP encoding (MP4, ASF)
QVGA (320×240) @30fps with AAC-LC/MP3/G.726 audio for smartphones, PSP™, iPod™, iPhone™ and PDA’s.
VGA setting (640×480) @30fps for PC, TV playback.
Video Player:
MPEG-4 SP with MP3 audio, 30fps up to D1 resolution (720×480)
Quicktime 6
MPEG-4 AAC-LC stereo
MP4 format at up to D1 resolution
H.263 with MP3 audio
FLV (for Playback of YouTube videos)
ASF
AVI (including DivX and Xvid)
MP4
WMV (up to QVGA)
MOV
MPG
MPEG
Photo Viewer:
JPEG decoder (baseline up to 32M pixel)
BMP
GIF (nonanimated)
Thumbnail view
Zoom in/out (2x, 4x)
Audio Player:
Stereo MP3/WMA @ 30-320kbps (CBR & VBR)
Ogg Vorbis
FLAC
WAV
Stereo MPEG-4 AAC-LC
G.726
Storage Card Compatibility:
Memory Stick: Duo and Pro Duo
Compact Flash: Type I and Type II
Microdrives with CF type II interface
Secure Digital (SD)
Multi Media Card (MMC)
USB thumbdrives
External USB Hard Drives
Aside from the variety of supported formats and interfaces, the Neuros OSD is no stranger to the internet and finds itself new firmware updates as they become available. This means that nothing is set in stone and the unit's software capabilities may continue to grow as developers continu
