Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Measy RCA220 is a $35 Wireless AV Transmitter / Receiver Kit with a 200m Range

Measy RCA220 is a $35 Wireless AV Transmitter / Receiver Kit with a 200m Range

Measy-RC220

There are several ways to send video & audio data over a distance without using long cables, from professional DVB-T transmitters with up to 10km range, to cheaper DIY SDR solutions with a shorter range , and HDMI transmitters leveraging your existing electrical cables. Those all work for different target applications (drones, video signal extender), but cost at least a few hundred dollars. If you just intend to transmit composite video (PAL/NTSC) and audio within a house or building, Measy RCA220 will be a more cost effective solution with a range of up to 200 meters. Measy RCA220 AV transmitter / receiver specifications: Connectivity – 2.4GHz wireless transmission with up to 200m range; built-in antenna, 8x selectable channels Video / Audio Ports Transmitter – RCA composite input, 2x RCA L/R audio input Receiver – RCA composite output, 2x RCA L/R audio output Misc – IR jack, channel selection button, front panel display, on/off button Power Supply – 5V/1A via micro […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 101 Comments on List of Amlogic S905 TV Boxes and Sticks

List of Amlogic S905 TV Boxes and Sticks

Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes looked promising at the end of the summer, but ended up being disappointing, not because of their expected lower performance compared to RK3288, but simply because they could not deliver on their main selling point: 4K H.265 / H.264 video playback, and the sheer number of issues with the first devices selling for nearly the same price as equivalent Rockchip RK3288 devices. Rockchip RK3368 will soon have a worthy competitor with Amlogic S905, which won’t deliver amazing benchmark scores, but looks promising for its 4K 10-bit HEVC video playback, HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2, and historically Amlogic delivers better video playback than Rockchip. The first Amlogic S905 TV boxes should start shipping by the end of the month, and prices are starting very low, just over $40, thanks to competition between the many manufacturers launching devices based on the new Amlogic SoC. That’s why I’ve decided to make a list of Amlogic S905 Android 5.1 TV […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 59 Comments on List of Rockchip RK3368 Android mini PCs

List of Rockchip RK3368 Android mini PCs

Last year, Rockchip RK3288 was always going to be popular, since it offered a massive performance upgrade compared to its predecessor (Rockchip RK3188) with Cortex A17 cores replacing Cortex A9 cores, and a Mali-T764 GPU replacing an aging Mali-400MP4 GPU, plus the addition of 4K video output and decoding, as well as H.265 video codec support. So many manufacturers got involved that I decided to write a list of RK3288 TV boxes and sticks. Rockchip RK3368, the company’s new “flagship” processor for 2015, is a bit less exciting despite providing eight 64-bit ARM cores, since Cortex A53 cores are significantly less powerful than the Cortex A17 cores found in RK3288, and the performance of the PowerVR G6110 GPU used in the processor is a bit of an unknown for now. RK3368 might still rank pretty well in benchmark since it comes with eight cores instead of four cores, but I’m not convinced it will really show during normal use, although […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Giveaway Week Winners Announced

Giveaway Week Winners Announced

Regular readers will know that I organized a giveaways last week, with Linux and Android based TV boxes and TV dongles based on Amlogic, Rockchip, and Telechips processors, a total of 8 devices with a combined value closed to $1,000 if purchased new. I’ve now selected all the winners, and send the devices, so it may be nice to list them in one post, even I announced each individual winners in the comment section of each contest. Without further delays, let’s go through the winners and their country of residence, with links to the original individual winner announcements: Jynxbox M1V2 Pure Linux Richard, USA (Facebook contest) Pavlos, Greece (Comment contest) Mele X1000 – Vedas, USA Measy U2C – Umaar, Germany Matricom Gbox Midnight MX2 – Starsolaris, Ukraine Beelink A9 – Alcides, Brazil Jynxbox Live – Greg, Canada Tronsmart Prometheus – Roberto, Portugal All parcels have been sent today by Airmail (Thailand Post), and I hope the winners will receive them […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 76 Comments on Giveaway Week – Measy U2C Android TV Dongle

Giveaway Week – Measy U2C Android TV Dongle

Measy U2C, aka B12, will be the prize for day 3 of Giveaway week. It’s an HDMI & AV TV dongle powered by Rockchip RK3066 SoC with 1GB RAM, 8GB flash that happens to feature a 2MP camera for video conferencing as well. It’s running Android 4.1.x Jelly Bean. When I reviewed Measy U2C at the beginning of last year, I had some issues with USB mouse and keyboard support, the firmware could have been more stable, and the Antutu scores seem a bit on the low side, but Wi-Fi and video playback were both very good. It has received one or two firmware update since then, which may have fixed some of the bugs.  The last firmware update must have been in April or May 2013, so it has not been a device greatly supported. To enter the draw simply leave a comment below. Other rules are as follows: Only one entry per contest. I will filter out entries […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Measy U4K – AllWinner A31 Powered Mini PC for 4K2K Video Playback

Measy U4K – AllWinner A31 Powered Mini PC for 4K2K Video Playback

Apart from CS868, I had not seen other HDMI TV sticks based on AllWinner A31, the main reason being the performance to price ratio, with RK3188 devices cheaper than AllWinner A31 ones, and benchmarks such as Antutu showing better score for RK3188. 2D/3D performance is about the same as RK3188 (based on Antutu benchmark), despite A31’s PowerVR SGX544 MP2 GPU. So the only remaining advantage of A31 over RK3188 is 4K2K (UHD) video playback, which is probably why Measy called their A31 mini PC “Measy U4K”. Measy U4K Specifications: SoC –  Allwinner A31 quad-core cortex A7 @ 1.0GHz + PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB dual channel 64-bit DDR3 Storage – 8GB Nand dual channel 16-bit Flash + micro SD card slot (Up to 32 GB) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (Ralink8188) + Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1x micro USB OTG for power, and 1x USB 2.0 host Video Output – HDMI (1080p and 2160p) Video Containers and Codecs – […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 50 Comments on List of RK3188 mini PCs / HDMI TV Dongles

List of RK3188 mini PCs / HDMI TV Dongles

The first HDMI TV stick based on Rockchip RK3188 that I noticed was CloudnetGo CR9, and since then many more similar products have hit the market. I did not write about most of them as “it’s just more of the same” most of the time, but listed some in CloudnetGo CR9 post’s comment section. Today, I’ll provide a (non-exhaustive) list of devices, in no particular order, with a summary of the hardware specifications. I won’t mention Android versions since all of them already run Jelly Bean (Android 4.1 or 4.2). Retail price information, which I got from Aliexpress, Geekbuying, W2COMP, and some other sites, is provided for reference, and includes shipping unless otherwise stated. CloudnetGo CR9 – 2GB RAM, 8/16 GB Flash, HDMI male, 1x USB, 1x microUSB – Price Unknown  – See review Tronsmart T428 – 2GB RAM, 8GB Flash, HDMI male,  1x USB, 1x microUSB – $99 Rikomagic MK802 IV – 2GB RAM, 8GB Flash, HDMI male,  1x USB, […]

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