Nano-U12P – An 8K digital signage player powered by an Intel Alder Lake processor

8K digital signage player alder lake

Alder Lake processors were first formally announced at the end of 2021 with the most powerful H-Series, followed by a range of Alder Lake Edge IoT processors, and in February, Intel officially launched Alder Lake P-Series and U-Series mobile hybrid processors which I had expected to find in several mini PCs by now. But apart from ASRock iBOX 1200 Series announcement, and leaks of the NUC 12 Studio Pro, I had not really seen any. But today, I found what looks like a mini PC with the Polywell Nano-U12P, but it’s instead marketed as an 8K digital signage player with a choice of Alder Lake P-series and U-series processors. Nano-U12P specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1280P 6P+8E (20 threads) processor @ 3.60/4.80GHz with Intel Xe graphics; 20/28W TDP Intel Core i7-1270P 4P+8E (16 threads) processor @ 3.50/4.80GHz with Intel Xe graphics; 20/28W TDP Intel Core i7-1260P 4P+8E […]

Zidoo Z10 Pro & Z9X Realtek RTD1619DR 4K Android Media Players Launched for $229 and up

ZIDOO Z10Pro 4K Media Player Remote Control

We previously wrote about some upcoming Realtek RTD1619 media players targeting the videophone and audiophile crowd, and expected them to launch very soon with models from Zidoo and Dune HD. Zidoo has now launched two models with the awaited Zidoo Z9X and a new, higher-end Zidoo Z10 Pro which can be purchased on Aliexpress for respectively $229 and $349 with free shipping. Zidoo Z9X Specifications Key features and specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1619DR hexa-core Cortex-A55 processor with Arm Mali-G51 MP3 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR4 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, SATA 3.0 external port (on side) Video Output HDMI 2.0a up to 4Kp60 with HDR, 12Bit, YCbCr 4:4:4 color range, audio passthrough support 3.5mm AV jack with composite Video Input – HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60, 48khz PCM audio Video Decoding – HDR, HDR10 +, Dolby Vision, 10-bit HEVC/H.265 up to 4K @ 60fps, VP9 up to 4K @ […]

Upcoming RTD1619 Media Players – Dune HD Pro 4K II, Zidoo Z9X, and Zidoo X

Zidoo X

Realtek RTD1619 hexa-core Cortex-A55 media SoC was first spotted in 2018 in the Linux source code. Since no products had been launched based on RTD1619, I had mostly forgotten about the processor until I wrote about RTD1395 powered Dune HD RealBox 4K. I was then informed about the upcoming Dune HD Pro 4K II, and a quick search reveals Zidoo is also working on its own RTD1619 media players with Zidoo Z9X and Zidoo X models. Dune HD Pro4K II Specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1619 hexa-core Cortex-A55 processor with Mali-G51 Bifrost GPU System Memory – 4 GB RAM Storage – 32 GB flash, MicroSD slot, external SATA HDD (data + power) Video Output – HDMI 2.0b up to 4Kp60 HDR, 3.5mm A/V connector for composite Video Input – HDMI 2.0 input for PiP or recording Audio Output – optical S/PDIF, digital audio via HDMI, analog stereo audio via A/V connector […]

Zidoo Z1000 4K Android Media Player to Feature Realtek RTD1296DD Processor

Zidoo Z1000

Zidoo previously introduced several Reatek RTD1296 4K Android media players with their high-end Zidoo X20/X20 Pro models, followed by the lower cost Zidoo Z9S & Z10 units. The company is now about to launch yet another model based on the processor with Zidoo Z1000 4K UHD media player that should offer an option between the higher-end models and the company’s entry-level options. Zidoo Z1000 specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1296DD quad core Cortex A53 processor with Arm Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 2 GB RAM Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash, 1x SATA 3.0 bay for 2.5 or 3.5″ drive, 1x external SATA port Video 1x HDMI 2.0a output up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDR10 support 1x HDMI 2.0 input supporting PiP, stream recording, and UDP broadcasting 1x RCA composite output Decode – HDR10, 10-bit HEVC / H.265 up to 4K @ 60fps, VP9 up to 4K @ […]

QNAP HS-453DX Fanless NAS Features Gemini Lake Processor, 10GbE, HDMI 2.0

QNAP HS-453DX

Intel Gemini Lake processors are usually found in consumer products such as motherboards, mini PCs, tablets, and laptops, but QNAP has just announced a fanless NAS – QNAP HS-453DX – targeting home users,  and equipped with an Intel Celeron J4105 Gemini Lake processor, the same chip as found in the recently launched ODROID-H2 SBC. The NAS comes with 4 to 8GB RAM, supports two 3.5″ hard drives, two M.2 SSD, and includes interfaces like HDMI 2.0 outputs and 10Gb Ethernet, making it not only suitable as a high-speed NAS,  but also as a 4K media player. Two versions of the NAS are available: QNAP HS-453DX-4G and HS-453DX-8GB only differing by the amount of RAM. Specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core processor @  1.5 GHz / 2.5 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 600 System Memory – 4 or 8GB via 2x SO-DIMM DDR4 sockets Storage 4GB eMMC flash for firmware […]

Meet EWEAT R11, the $1,200 High-End 4K Media Player

A few months ago, Zidoo released two high-end 4K media players based on Realtek RTD1296DD processor with Zidoo X20 going for around $500, and Zidoo X20 Pro for about $865. Those are quite expensive with dual hard drive support, large metal case, XLR connectors, and high-end audio chips. EWEAT has upped the ante with their R11 model, also based on Realtek RTD1295DD SoC instead, and going for about $1,200 on Aliexpress, and also listed on Amazon US but with no price at the time of writing.  [Update: GeekBuying has it for $699.99 shipped]. So let’s see what it has to offer. EWEAT R11 specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1295DD quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 2 GB DDR4 Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash, 1x SATA 3.0 bay for 3.5″ drives, external SATA port; FAT32, NTFS, EXT3, EXT4, and HFS supported on SATA drives […]

Advantech and SocioNext Collaborate for 8K 60Hz Real-Time HEVC Video Encoding, Streaming, and Decoding Solutions

The first live event to be broadcasted in 8K resolution should be the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, but but broadcasters will use large and expensive infrastructure equipment to achieve this feat. However, the cost of this solution will be prohibitive for most other situations, so Advantech and SocioNext have collaborated to provide more affordable solutions for live 8Kp60 HEVC video encoding and decoding. One of those solution is Advantech VEGA-3304 that is said to be the first 8Kp60 HEVC acquisition encoder, and comes with 16 x SDI-3G inputs Key features: 1-ch 8Kp60, 4-ch 4Kp60 or 16-ch 1080Kp60 HEVC real-time encoding in Main 8, Main 10 4:2:2 modes Video acquisition over built-in 16-ch 3G-SDI inputs HDR support Double width, ¾ length PCI Express x16, compatible with server GPU slots The PCIe card supports Linux and Windows, and simple-to-use API and example code for FFmpeg and GStreamer multimedia are provided. It can […]

Zidoo Unveils Poster Wall 2.0 App, High-end Zidoo X20 Pro RTD1296 Media Player Coming Soon

Zidoo has some news for their Realtek RTD1295/RTD1296 powered devices such as Zidoo X8, X9S, or X10. First, the company will soon release a firmware update that includes Poster Wall 2.0, an app that display movie posters and information in a concise and eye-pleasing way. The company is also working on a higher-end player called Zidoo X20 Pro powered by RTD1296 expected to launch in a few weeks, once beta testing is complete, and firmware looks stable enough. Zidoo X20 Pro RTD1296 Media Player Zidoo X20 Pro specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1296 quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 4GB DDR4 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, 2x SATA 3.0 bays for 2.5 or 3.5″ drives Video 2x HDMI 2.0a output ports with HDCP 2.2, 4K 60 Hz 1x HDMI 2.0 input with HDCP 2.2 supporting PiP, stream recording, and UDP broadcasting 1x RCA composite […]