Patriot Box Office Media Player Review

Testing Methodology

To see whether or not a given review item can in fact play and play well a variety of media we have gathered together numerous files ranging from .RMV, DIVX, WMV (various versions), H.264, MKV and various DVD and Blu-Ray ISO’s. Taking things further we have also subcategorized them by resolution and NTSC/PAL format.

Playing a 480p file on a 480p T.V. should be relatively easy for any modern media appliance, but playing 480p on a 1080p T.V will show whether or not a product can in fact up-convert and how good a of a job it can do at it.

Conversely, showing a 1080p file on 480p TV should in theory be easy as the system just needs to down convert the resolution; sadly, the reality is if it the appliance does not have a powerful enough processor stuttering, audio sync problems or a jagged appearance to straight lines will occur.

We have included PAL formatted files as this combined with up-converting and down converting is the ultimate test for any media player (especially at 1080p resolution). PAL is a 25fps standard, whereas NTSC is a 29.97fps standard which adds in an extra layer of complexity which will show how powerful a given player really is.

Once performance testing of physically connected files (whether they be internal or externally connected) is completed the next thing to test is whether or not a media appliance's networking abilities are up to snuff. This is accomplished by using both small file sized videos with a low bit rate of 480p and then large above 2GB file sized videos with a high bitrate. If a given review item can do wire-less as well as wired streaming, all tests will be run using both abilities.

For Television sets we have settled on three main ones. A 1080p 64 inch rear projection style TV with HDMI capabilities. A 26 inch 720p LCD TV. also with HDMI capabilities and a older 24 inch CRT which does not have HDMI capabilities. Three different sizes, with three different resolutions, all with three different way of displaying an image should show any weakness a given review item has.

To further help show exactly how well a given media appliance performed we have broken up our grading system into three categories: Pass, Fail and Pass w/ Caveats (Issues).

To earn a “Pass” rating, the unit must not only be able to play a given file at a given resolution and format but also do so at watchable levels of Image Quality and display no signs of stuttering, pauses, skipping, macro-blocking, incorrect colour or audio sync issues.

To earn a “Fail” rating, the unit must be unable to physically play a given format or do so poorly at it as to render a file unwatchable.

To earn a “Pass w/ Caveats” a given file should be playable and either watchable or mostly watchable. In the explanation of each chart we will detail what the Caveat was and whether or not it is a serious issue.