USB MP4 video player kit review

After a lot of search, finally I’ve found a USB/SD video player kit.

This kit is priced a bit high at 480Rs(as of 09/2011), which seemed to be loot when I was buying this, but later it is realized how useful is this.

The kit consists of a mainboard, one interface board, one display board and one remote.

Interface board: This board consists of  HT1628 IC which is a DVD LED Driver IC. The mainboard connects to this board with a ribbon cable and this board consists of IR sensor and display. Another ribbon cable connects this board with the interface board which has 6 keys and LEDs for the panel.

Main Board: The mainboard has two main ICs, one is Zoran ZR36988 DVD processor IC, and another is W9864G RAM. There is an LM1117-3.3 voltage regulator on board which provides 3.3V supply for all the internals. There are a few small ICs like video amplifier, FM receiver, etc.

The Zoran ZR36988 IC is a variant of the popular Zoran 36888 IC, which is a DivX certified media player IC. It supports playback of JPEG, MP3, WMA, and MPEG-1/2/4 files and the IC provides HDMI output, true 5.1channel output, etc extraordinary features.

Though in the board those features were not implemented and there is only stereo audio and video output enabled for TVs.

More information about the IC: http://zoran.com/spip.php?page=imprimer&id_article=54 ( Link now dead )

There is connector for both SD/MMC cards and USB port in the board. I’ve tested this board with my USB pendrive and MP4 and AVI video playback i good enough.

The IC is also used in modern DVDs so there would not be any problem in finding the IC if it damages. I guess that IC will cost around 250-300Rs.

Comments on this article before 07-12-2011, here jump to recent comments .

• Manoj on September 17, 2011 – 2:47 am

  

  Zoran based Ok ithing it will not be able to play MKV files can u check it. the board i am interested is called an usb media player advertising boars you can search in net at chinese sites. that board seems to be very good. check if i can order it over net and what will be the final landed cost.

  Manoj

  Arup Reply:
  September 17th, 2011 at 4:41 amHi, this board is not able to play mkv files, ogg audio, etc special formats. But it plays well 720×480 mp4 files which gives excellent quality in TV.
  I am unable to find such products online but complete set costs 1500+ online in eBay.

• Justin on September 17, 2011 – 8:30 am

  

  Hi Arup,
  First of all thankyou so much for always providing such good information.
  Keep up the good work dude.

  Regarding this kit, its really helpful for all the hobbyists and small entreprenuers.
  Hey can you tell me where is it available? Can you courier the same if I transfer the money?

  Thanks,
  Justin

  Arup Reply:
  September 17th, 2011 at 10:37 amPlease search in every local electronics spares shop for this. I can supply but courier charges will be extra over the right price.

• Manoj on September 18, 2011 – 1:52 pm

  

  Arup good to see peoples like you doing hard for these hobbies. What i think is you could have used a simple SPHE 8202 Based board and used its Ports without connecting the DVD lens. 1 year back i purchased it for 260rs (8202 board)mumbai.

  i would like to know if you can help me extracting the bin file of the dvd player and modifying it to suit a particular remote as i have a local player but i dont like the remote. i have the second remote and its player for extracting the bin file for the remote key information.

  kindly help and i would like to know how it can be done and with what software.

  Arup Reply:
  September 19th, 2011 at 3:42 amI don’t think an USB enabled DVD board will come in 260rs.And about remote, it will be nice if you edit the remote. Just decode existing signals of the actual remote and implement it in the good looking remote. For decoding the R/C signals by USB, you may use USB IR Toy.

  manoj Reply:
  September 19th, 2011 at 4:49 amThe Board is still available for 320 here. can u help regarding remote. ir toy if its avl there.

  Arup Reply:
  September 23rd, 2011 at 7:09 amhttp://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/USB_Infrared_Toy

• papai on October 8, 2011 – 5:57 pm

  

  @anup can you pls publish the connection diagram

• papai on October 8, 2011 – 6:05 pm

  

  @arup
  where did you get this kit,i live in Howrah, can i get this at Chandni Chowk Kolkata

• Arup on October 8, 2011 – 6:29 pm

  

  If you see the above image,it has clear markings for all connections.

  I have searched in chandni market and madan street it was not found. From my current source in Raiganj, I knew he imported this kit from Delhi.

  I have stock and you can come here at Gopalganj and buy from me also I can courier you.

   

• ziddik on October 11, 2011 – 3:55 am

  

  hi..
  Does it support 5.1 sound output? And Do u get high clarity pictures when watching a AVI or MP4 movie?

  Arup Reply:
  October 11th, 2011 at 6:19 amYes the Ic supports 5.1, but in the board it is only limited to 2channes as per PCB limitations.

• papai on October 11, 2011 – 4:00 pm

  

  hi
  I have found this kit in chandni kolkata costs Rs 450.

  Arup Reply:
  October 12th, 2011 at 2:40 pmNice find. Do share the shop no, address, etc here to help others.

• Keith Piccione on October 12, 2011 – 1:18 pm

  

  I am looking for something that will simply play a video on a SD chip to a small 7 inch LCD screen with sound. Will this work?

  Arup Reply:
  October 12th, 2011 at 2:41 pmYes it will play, but it outputs only TV AV. You need a 7? LCD TV for this.

  Keith Piccione Reply:
  October 13th, 2011 at 1:30 pmArup forgive me but i am not a technical person. This appears to be a very good solution and I will need to be able to build multiple units. Is it possible to send an image illustrating power, SD chip, and screen connection? it will just tie everything together. Thank you.

  Arup Reply:
  October 13th, 2011 at 2:25 pmIt’ll be fine, but I can do that after an week. Now I’ve higher priorities work.
  Anyway, the images I shared here, is of enough large size that each connection label can be seen clearly.

• ziddik on October 13, 2011 – 12:56 pm

  

  thanks for the replay mr.arup, some more question please, does it mean that i can solder some wires onto the pcb to get 5.1 output? Or is it useless as the ic is not wired to output 5.1?

  Arup Reply:
  October 13th, 2011 at 2:48 pmThere is no proper datasheet found for this. If a complete datasheet is found, I can suggest you how to modify this.
  Try if you can get a full datasheet for Vaddis 888

• ziddik on October 13, 2011 – 12:59 pm

  

  i am from kerala, so assuming i will get the PCB here because i have already bought a board that supports only mp3, it has a remote controller and USB port

• ziddik on October 14, 2011 – 4:23 am

  

  here is one google.co.in/m/url?channel=new&client=ms-opera-mini&ei=ALmXToCCKaWriQL0Jg&q=http://zoran.com/IMG/pdf/Vaddis8.pdf&ved=0CAYQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNEQjlMqgrY5ifAiKPbs_VFNcttF_w

  Arup Reply:
  October 14th, 2011 at 2:34 pmNopes. It’s the overview and not a datasheet. I need pin configurations, etc.

• papai on October 20, 2011 – 2:54 pm

  

  I want to increase the gain of cable TV signal please help me

  Arup Reply:
  October 22nd, 2011 at 3:43 pmUse a low gain Booster.

• anurag agrahari on November 6, 2011 – 6:02 am

  

  hey can u tell me that it sopport remot control ???

  Arup Reply:
  November 8th, 2011 at 3:44 pmYes.

• sachin jadhav on November 11, 2011 – 9:51 am

  

  Anup

  can i play video files from this kit direcly to my tv?

  Arup Reply:
  November 15th, 2011 at 5:43 amYes. This is the main feature of this kit.