Dune HD, a company specializing in “high-performance digital media players”, has just unveiled Dune HD Solo 4K media player based on Sigma Designs SMP8758 dual core Cortex A9 processor, supporting 10-bit HEVC video decoding up to 2160p @ 30 fps, HD audio pass-though, and including a SATA tray.
Dune HD Solo 4K specifications:
- SoC – Sigma Designs SMP8758 dual core Cortex A9 processor @ 1.2 GHz with an ARM Mali-400 GPU and VXP image processing engine
- System Memory – 1GB
- Storage – 4GB flash for firmware, internal HDD rack with hot swap function for a 2.5″ SATA drive, SD card reader (TBC)
- Video Output – HDMI 1.4b up to 1080p60 and 4K @ 30 Hz (including 23.976, 25, 29.97, 50, 59.94Hz refresh rates), and composite video
- Audio Output – HDMI, analog stereo audio, coaxial S/PDIF (shared via AV port). 24-bit /192 KHz audio support
- Video codecs – MPEG2, MPEG4, XVID, WMV9, VC1, H.264, H.265, H.265 Hi10p; support for very high bitrate video (up to 100 Mbit/s and higher)
- Video file formats – MKV, MPEG-TS, MPEG-PS, M2TS, VOB, AVI, MOV, MP4, QT, ASF, WMV, BDMV, DVD-ISO, VIDEO_TS
- 3D video formats – MVC, Side-by-side, Top/Bottom
- Audio codecs – MPEG-1/2 layer I/II/III, AAC, LPCM, WMA, WMAPro, FLAC, multichannel FLAC, Vorbis, WavPack, APE (Monkey’s Audio), ALAC (Apple lossless), AC3 (Dolby Digital), DTS; support for very high quality audio (up to 192 kHz / 24-bit). Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA, and Dolby Atmos pass-through to AV receiver
- Tuner – DVB-T/T2 RF IN
- Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi with two external antennas, optional Z-Wave controller for home automation
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports (1x rear, 1x front)
- Misc – IR extender port, on/off switch
- Power Supply – 12V DC IN power connector
- Dimensions – N/A
The media device support dual boot Linux + Android with the Linux OS featuring Dune HD media player functionality, and the Android OS providing access to Android apps.
Supported file systems include FAT32, EXT-2/3/4, and NTFS, all with read and write support. The player also has some other media features that are often missing or poorly supported in cheaper devices with as Blu-ray playback and menus, true 24p output (23.976Hz), NAS function, MPEG-DASH and HLS streaming support, etc.. . Solo 4K can also be an home automation gateway thanks to Control4 software.
I’ve never used a product with Sigma Designs SMP8758 processor, but I reviewed Popcorn Hour VTEN with SMP8657, that’s basically the single core version of the processor, and video playback and HD audio pass-through all worked very well, yet with some bugs at the time of review.
Cloud Media also introduced Popcorn Hour A500-Pro media player with Sigma SMP8758 via a crowdfunding campaign where you could get it for $399 instead of $599 (MSRP) retail. Although both players as a different set of features, Dune HD Solo 4K should be a better deal once it becomes available in February of 2016 for 299 Euros (MSRP) [Update: price with VAT is 349 Euros]. You can find more details on the product page.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress
No Kodi / XBMC support like all Sigma Designs boxes which is really really bad for a media player company today.
Would not even consider one until Sigma Designs steps up and start supporting Kodi and the XBMC community.
For 300 eur can buy two nvidia shield
There was an effort in the past between the Kodi and Sigma teams. VU even announced a satellite box with a new OS that would have Kodi integrated. Unfortunately both projects seemed to fizzle out and disappear.
Dune have been building media players for many years, which have their own priorities, community and feature set which integrate with their own products and other systems. The Dune devices usually have a support life of years and their UI is built for their aims, not just as a Kodi clone. I expect Dune purchasers are less likely to be interested in the cheap Android/Kodi devices and it’s not their target market.
Kodi is not the only media player and it’s good to have choice and competition. While I currently use Kodi as a media player it’s PVR/TV interface and operation still leaves a lot to be desired. Even now, after many years, it seems the TV and Media player teams can’t design a sensible UI for a unified TV and Media player.
Everything’s been changed since Raspberry Pi was introduced. Leave all old hard disk media players behide with XBMC and then Kodi.
Standalone media player doesn’t need to be at high cost anymore.
I used RP2 for Kodi and it’s very good player, fast support and cheap.
I am confused by this specification.
“Video Output – HDMI 1.4b”
I thought that UHD 4k TVs needed HDMI 2.0 or above in order to display 4k mode at an appropriate refresh rate.
eg
QUOTE
HDMI 2.0 is an absolutely essential component of your TV if you want to enjoy content in true smooth motion as its intended to be viewed. This is because anything less than HDMI 2.0 will only offer you the ability to watch 4K movies and live events at refresh rates of just 24 to 30Hz, which simply isn’t good enough for decent viewing of fast paced movement on your screen.
UNQUOTE
So is this box really below specification as an acceptable 4k player?
@Alfred Braithewaite
It will only support 4K @ 30 fps, not 60 fps. But many movies (even 1080p ones) are shot at 24p.
So it all depends on the available content, and HDMI 2.0 would be preferable, but I don’t think Sigma Designs has an STB SoC that supports it yet. They do have HDMI 2.0 SoCs but for TVs only.
Not a good deal…end of story.
These products if they don’t start to compete in price/value for money they are doom to fail.
You can buy a no name china box that can do these and more(e.g. google market) for a fraction of the cost
And we should force them to get a 4k-ready vs 4K on all new boxes so they dont fool potential buyers
Updated price.. 299 Euros was without VAT, the actual price in Europe will be 349 Euros with VAT.
wow that’s very nice i love it