POPCORN HOUR A-500

Transform your living room into a cinema and enjoy incredible lifelike details and cutting-edge deinterlacing in smooth-running high-resolution video. The A-500 media player’s biggest strength is undoubtedly its phenomenal video processing. Built with the high-performance Sigma Designs SMP8758 Chipset, the Popcorn Hour A-500 supports VXP Video Processing and 4K Ultra HD output capability, ensuring an immersive cinematic experience. The A-500 is an excellent network media solution for those that like to stream their locally stored media collections, with support for 4K and 3D video, including menus and subtitles, HD audio passthrough, and gapless hi-res audio playback among the features.

Key features

• 4K Ultra HD output capability
• Feature-rich wireless connectivity
• Useful and enjoyable integrated applications
• Networked Media Jukebox user interface for your media collection
• Compact design, aluminium body
• Fanless Passive Cooling for quiet performance
• HDD docking tray
• Premier Analog Audio DAC ESS Sabre ES9023P

Your very own video library

Driven by the need to store content locally, the Popcorn Hour A-500 can be upgraded with an internal HDD, accompanied by the Network Media Jukebox Interface, which scans your media sources. All you need is an internet connection, and the NMJ automatically downloads useful information such as a film's cover art, movie synopsis, cast and director. This provides an easy-to-use navigation system where users can scroll through their media using cover art and categorise their content based on meta-data.
The new NMJ Navigator companion screen app allows you to browse your media collection on your tablet device. You can even use your table to replace the remote and use it as a completely functional soft remote. Enjoy an incredible audio experience in high fidelity provided by the best-in-class ESS SABRE ES9023P digital-to analogue converter. 

Great connectivity

Despite its compact size, the casing manages to house a SATA hard drive bay on the rear side, which can accommodate 2.5- and 3.5-inch drives, a full-sized SD Card slot, and a USB 2.0 port next to the HDMI 1.4 connection. Furthermore, there is a USB 3.0 slave port, which is both convenient for large amounts of data transfers and serves as a connector for external optical drives. The A-500 also offers feature-rich wireless connectivity, and the latest 802.11 technology takes Wi-Fi speeds to another level. The Popcorn Hour A-500 employs fanless passive cooling strategies for quiet and energy-efficient performance.

Specifications

Chipset: Sigma Designs SMP8758 Dual Core 1.2GHz

RAM: 1GB DDR3

Flash Memory: 512MB SLC NAND

Network:
LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps
Optional USB WiFi dongle WND AC-600 (not included)

Power supply: DC 12V/3A

Video Output:
HDMI 1.4
Component
Composite

Audio outputs:
Digital SPDIF and coaxial
192 kHz sampling rate

Analogue Audio DAC:
ESS Sabre Audio DAC, ES9023P

Other inputs/outputs:
2 x USB 2.0 Host
1 x USB 3.0 Slave
Infrared receiver
SD card slot
Port for connecting an external IR receiver
1 × position for a 2.5" or 3.5" SATA hard drive

NMT applications:
BT Downloader, Usenet downloader, NAS function

Video support:
M1V, M2V, M4V, M2P, MPG, VOB, TS, TP, TRP, M2T,
M2TS, MTS, AVI, ASF, WMV, MKV, 3DMKV, MKV MVC
3D BD ISO, DVD to ISO, MOV, MP4, RMP4, AVC, HEVC

Audio support:
M4A, MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA, WAV, AIFF, WMA, FLAC,
OGG, TTA, APE, AAC, DTS, DSD * (DSF & DFF)
ISO SACD, HD Audio passthrough

Gapless playback (uninterrupted playback of consecutive audio tracks where the original distances in the audio source are preserved over track boundaries):
DSD (DSF & DFF), SACD ISO, MP3, WAV, FLAC

Image support:
JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, TIF

3D subtitle support:
SRT MicroDVD SUB, SSA/ASS, SUB/IDX, PGS, SMI, OpenSubtitles

Package contents:
Popcorn Hour A-500
HDMI cable
USB 3.0 cable (PC connection)
Remote control (batteries included)
Power adapter 12V/3A