Articles

INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Imagine finally getting your hands on a new large inch LCD TV only to find out that its built-in media player is either not powerful enough to playback your entire 4k media library or that it just doesn't offer the best possible picture/video quality. This actually used to be the case 9 out of 10 times up until 4-5 years ago (with Full HD content back then) but even though things have improved a lot in recent years TV manufacturers are still using mid-end built-in media players, even for most of their really expensive models. For the largest percentage of consumers these solutions are of course more than just sufficient (which is why it makes sense for manufacturers to not increase costs for no reason) but for both video and audio enthusiasts alike however this is usually not the case. Dune HD has been leading the market with their hardware media players for over a decade now and today with me i have yet another one of their models, the latest Pro Vision 4K Solo.

   Dune HD is recognized as a global leader in high-performance digital media players. We received more awards than any other company in the category for delivering the very best in networked digital media devices. Dune HD products support the widest number of digital formats in use today, from Internet-based digital streaming and downloadable content, to disc based formats such as Blu-ray, DVD and CD. Dune HD offers an array of high-quality digital media players for both consumer and commercial markets. The product line ranges from low-cost, compact set-top box (STB) designs to professional-grade universal media players with internal hard drive bays and full internet and content connectivity. Products in the Dune HD line feature the best-in-class chipsets for extreme speed and performance.

   The Pro Vision 4K Solo model is a step up compared to the Pro 4K II i had the chance to review last year (review here) and so it's based around the latest Realtek RTD1619DR SoC (six core Cortex ARM A55 CPU with Mali G51 GPU) which features full support for Dolby Vision content (HDR+ is also supported). Now this might be one of the strongest selling points of the new Pro Vision 4K Solo but that's far from all since it's fully packed and so inside its brushed aluminum enclosure we find 4GB of DDR4 RAM, 32GB of flash memory, Bluetooth v5.0 connectivity (previous models used v4.1), RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port, 802.11b/g/n/ac 2T2R dual-band WiFi, internal 3.5" rack (with active cooling), HDMI v2.0b output, HDMI audio output, HDMI v2.0 input, 2 USB 2.0 ports, USB 3.1 port, USB 3.1 Type-C port, Optical out (S/PDIF), RCA composite output and a total of 3 removable antennas (2 for WiFi and 1 for Bluetooth). In terms of software the new Pro Vision 4K Solo model features a hybrid Linux/Android v9 OS and fully supports 4kp60 decoding/output, HDR/HDR10+/Dolby Vision, 3D, VP9/VP9 Profile 2, H264/H265, 10-bit HEVC and True 24p output (23.976Hz) and can playback almost all video (MKV, MPEG-TS, MPEG-PS, M2TS, VOB, AVI, MOV, MP4, QT, ASF, WMV, BD ISO, BDMV, BD3D ISO, DVD-ISO, VIDEO_TS) and audio (MP3, MPA, M4A, AAC, WAV, WMA, FLAC, OGG/VORBIS, WAVPACK, APE, ALAC, SACD ISO, SACD DSF, SACD DFF, AC3, DTS, DTS-WAV) file formats. So let's see what the latest Pro Vision 4K Solo by Dune HD is all about.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dune HD has once again used a blue and white box at the front of which we find a large product picture, the company logo and the main product features.

 

 

Two more product pictures are located on the left and right along with the bundle contents and available connectors lists.

 

 

The features and specifications are listed at the rear of the box right over three product drawings used to showcase its connectors.

 

 

Dune HD has wrapped the player inside a synthetic cover and placed it in a formed piece of foam (the rest of the bundle is placed in another cardboard box).

 

 

Along with the Pro Vision 4K Solo media player, its power adapter and three power tips (EU/UK/USA) the box also contains three WiFi antennas, two remote controls (4 AAA batteries included), HDMI cable, bluetooth pairing instructions and the quick start guide.

 

 

THE PRO VISION 4K SOLO EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

Measuring 215mm in width, 174mm in length and 71mm in height (Antennas not included) the Pro Vision 4K Solo is a rather compact media player.

 

 

Still due to the internal 3.5" rack its aluminum enclosure is not quite as compact as for example that used with the Pro 4K and Pro 4K II models.

 

 

At the front of the player, we find the on button, activity LED, VFW screen, IR sensor, USB 2.0 port and the company logo.

 

 

Moving to the right side we find the 3.5" internal rack door.

 

 

Turning the enclosure around we see the three Antenna ports, RCA composite connectors, optical output (S/PDIF), HDMI output (Audio), HDMI v2.0b output, HDMI v2.0 input, IR extension port, RJ45 GbE LAN port, USB 2.0 port, USB 3.1 port, USB 3.2 Type-C port, On/Off switch and the DC in.

 

 

The player sits on 4 round rubber and plastic feet each of which is secured on the enclosure by a single screw (you can remove them to reduce the height of the player).

 

 

With all 3 Antennas attached the Pro Vision 4K Solo is ready for business.

 

 

Worth pointing out is that Dune HD packs 2 remote controls with the Pro Vision 4K Solo.

 

 

The first is a compact Bluetooth remote that features both the very useful AirMouse function and a built-in microphone.

 

 

The second is a full sized premium IR remote which doesn't only feature backlight (something i always like to see with remote controls) but also a learning function which allows the end user to configure it for use with TVs and other equipment.

 

 

THE PRO VISION 4K SOLO INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roughly two thirds of the interior are used, the rest is taken by the 3.5" rack.

 

 

A 60mm blower fan is located just under the 3.5" rack.

 

 

The PCB has two SATA III ports on it (only one is used however).

 

 

Inside the chassis we also find the Fn-Link 6222B-SRC SDIO interface Wi-Fi Dual-band 2X2 11ac with Bluetooth v5.0 Module (based on the Realtek RTL8822CS chipset), GST5009 Ethernet 100/1000 BASE-T module, nichicon gold capacitors and of course the 4GB of DDR4 RAM, 32GB flash memory and the Realtek RTD1619DR SoC which is placed underneath a large black heatsink.

 

 

GUI PART 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

The GUI Dune HD is using goes back roughly a decade now and since it's very easy to use i don't see any reason for them to change it (not to mention that their consumers have gotten used to it by now).

 

 

As usual from the sources icon you can access the internal flash memory and any attached media and network locations.

 

 

The latest news from Dune HD can be accessed from the news icon.

 

 

Inside the movies icon you can see details about various movies, including those on the attached media.

 

 

There are quite a few apps installed in the Pro Vision 4K Solo by default but you can install more (both Android and Dune HD ones).

 

 

AptoideTV can be used to install and use Android apps.

 

 

GUI PART 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the setup page you can access the usual player settings including the interface language, time zone, video and audio output (plethora of available settings here although when it comes to video auto works well in most cases), network status, installed applications, appearance (skins), remote control adjustments, playback preferences (including which player to use/launch by default), encodings, VFW screen brightness level, power management (from here you can choose for the player to completely turn off instead of going to standby mode), location, firmware updates and available plugins.

 

 

GUI PART 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dune HD has made it very easy to send a debug log to their support people in case you have issues with the player.

 

 

From the system information icon, you can access some of the typical Android TV settings.

 

 

Under the video, audio and even others tabs there are several settings you could toy around with if you want the best possible results with your player (still don't change anything unless you are certain of what you're doing).

 

 

The information icon displays the product ID, installed firmware, serial numbers, license type, IP and MAC addresses and of course the date and time.

 

 

One last thing i need to address is that the moment you decide to use the Bluetooth remote the pairing page will launch and here you will have to press the enter and return buttons for 3 seconds (if i recall correctly).

 

 

AUDIO / VIDEO QUALITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Unlike the previous model i had here by Dune HD the Pro Vision 4K Solo supports the Dolby Vision standard so to that end i decided to showcase the sole movie title i have that also supports it (Zack Snyder’s Justice League). Of course, since this movie is way too dark (not to mention shot in 4:3 format and not exactly colorful) i also used several other 4k titles (Blu-Rays converted to H.265 HEVC MKV) to test the Pro Vision 4K Solo and as expected i wasn't disappointed. It is certainly almost impossible to notice any image quality differences with the Pro 4K II model which i reviewed a while back but the Pro Vision 4K Solo clearly produces smoother playback with some media that the 4K II had some tiny issues with. I did read of some audio sync issues that some people have when using bitstream output but I was unable to reproduce them since I don’t have the same setup as they do. So yes, at least from my personal experience you can expect smooth, crystal clear picture with live/vivid colours (without banding as far as I can tell after watching over a dozen 4K movies with it) and very good audio performance (for some strange reason however it seems that the HDMI output is not as loud/amplified as that of the Pro 4K II model.

   Also, since i did start doing this a while back once again i decided to push the limits of the player at hand by using several HDR H265 HEVC 10-bit demo files with bitrates all the way up to 400 Mbit/s and the sole issue i encountered was the player crashing to the main menu once while using the 350-400 Mbit/s file. This of course is slightly too much as a test since you will have a hard time finding media files that surpass even 100 Mbit/s in bitrate let along 300-400 but it does help show just how powerful a media player is, not only in terms of hardware specifications but also software.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Whenever Dune HD launches a new player it almost always takes a bit of time for it to get here and to be honest, I welcome that delay. The reason is simple, there are always bugs just waiting to be ironed out with new firmware updates and since it does make my job a whole lot easier, I don’t have an issue with waiting for a bug-free model (or at least as bug-free as it can be). This is exactly the case with the Pro Vision 4K Solo since I started testing in early May and so I already had the latest available firmware installed. Unfortunately, back in May I didn’t have a Dolby Vision compatible TV so I only used regular 4K media to test the player with and waited until late June when I could finally get a compatible 65inch QLED model (still haven’t updated my audio system to Dolby Atmos however). So aside video and audio quality what else does the Pro Vision 4K Solo offer? Well, it offers a plethora of available apps, very good connectivity, an internal 3.5” rack and perhaps the most stable Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity I’ve used with any media player (yes, even compared to that of the Pro 4K II model). Also let’s not forget that you’re getting not 1 but 2 remote controls which complete each other and allow you to do what you’d previously need a mouse to. What i still don’t understand is the lack of the IR extender addon in the bundle. Makes very little sense to have that port but not bundle the addon itself, especially when previous models did. Other than that however i really have nothing “bad” to say about the Pro Vision 4K Solo.

   At this point in time the Pro Vision 4K Solo Network Media Player by Dune HD retails for 449Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de), a price tag which is pretty much on par with what you’d expect a premium model to retail for (unfortunately I was unable to locate it on the other side of the Atlantic). Once again yes you can find lower-cost models by other brands that offer similar performance but if Dune HD is known about one thing that’s their support, something which you don’t get by other brands (at least nowhere near the same level). That being said overall I feel that the Pro Vision 4K Solo by Dune HD delivers on everything one could ever ask from a media player and for that it gets the Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Realtek RTD1619DR SoC (Hexa Core ARM A55 / Mali G51)
- 4GB DDR4 RAM
- 4Kp60/24 HDR+, Dolby Vision & VP9 Profile 2 Playback (Up To Well Over 100 Mbit/s)
- DTS: X & Dolby Atmos Support
- 802.11ac 2T2R Dual Band WiFi & Bluetooth v5.0
- 4 USB Ports (1xUSB 3.0 / 1xUSB 3.1 Type C / 2xUSB 2.0)
- Internal 3.5" Drive Rack (Actively Cooled)
- S/PDIF, HDMI & Analog Audio Outputs
- HDMI Input
- OS (Android TV v9.0)
- Product Support
- 2 Remote Controls Bundled (Premium / BT)

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Current Availability (USA)
- IR Extender (Not In The Bundle)