Shi Ning RM668 HDMI is a multi video file format HDMI player that supports full HD playback.
Currently Bizgram is selling it at a stock clearance price of $139 SGD with a free HDMI cable.
Features
° Video out resolution 720p, 1080p
° Supported photo formats: JPEG, M-JPEG, BMP,TIFF,PNG.
° Supported Audio formats: MP3,WMA, M4A(AAC)
° Supports TXT text file reader
° Supported Video formats: TS, TP, RM, RMVB, H.264, AVI (DivX, XviD), MPEG1(VCD), MPEG2(DVD), MP4, MKV, VOB, MOV and more.
° With HDMI, YPbPr, Stereo composite audio output and coaxial SPDIF output support
° Supports internal 2.5-inch (SATA) hard drive
° Supports flash memory cards SD,MMC,MS (Built-in reader)
° Supports USB external hard drive
° Support USB and card insert at the same time, and can switch to each other
° HD Movie Playing
Test Setup
Display: BenQ G2400W with HDMI in
Player: Shi Ning RM668 RMHDD HDMI player
Accessories: 01 x Monoprice HDMI 1.3 cable (the one that comes free have problem with my G2400W, at times the HDMI signal breaks for the BenQ G2400W, probably a real full HD TV is more suitable for the test)
Audio: 1 x earphones connected to audio out jack of BenQ G2400W.
![Shi Ning RM668 Settings Window Shi Ning RM668 Settings](https://www.sgwoot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/DSC_0328-300x293.jpg)
The Shi Ning RM668 from Bizgram comes with firmware 06.05 which cannot be found anywhere on the official Shi Ning.
Shi ning RM668 firmware was flash to 04.23 instead since that’s the latest available from the official site. Only changes noticeable will be the bottom left logo changing from
MPEG-2 H.264 720P/1080P to the official Shi Ning’s chinese logo as well as the firmware number changing from 06.05 to 04.23.
![Firmware 06.05 (Bizgram default) Firmware 06.05](https://www.sgwoot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/0605-150x150.jpg)
![Firmware 04.23 (Using Shi Ning's firmware update) Firmware 04.23](https://www.sgwoot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/0423-150x150.jpg)
![Playing back a movie trailer from apple.com (No re-encoding done) Playing back a movie trailer from apple.com (No re-encoding done)](https://www.sgwoot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/3976850759_f7cb89705f.jpg)
Conclusion – Pros
- Shi Ning RM668 plays almost any files it is marketed to play
- Video playback quality is excellent even for a 1920×1080 50FPS progressive video file
- Easy switching between video output of 720P and 1080P using the remote control provided
- Reads NTFS formatted external hard drive
- Picture tuning mode allow calibrating of colors on-screen to suit your requirement
- Subtitle merged into MKV can be turn on/off using the “SUB” button on the remote
- External subtitle file can also be turn on/off
- Plays MP3 with support of basic ID3 tags but audio interface looks horrible
- Build-in SD/MMC/MS reader is handy
![Subtitle support Subtitle support](https://www.sgwoot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/subs-300x190.jpg)
Conclusion – Cons
- Player lack networking and Bittorrent functionality
- Does not support older televisions as there are no composite video connector available
- RMVB support only up to 1280x720P
- Text reader is crappy. It doesn’t recognized carriage return in a plain text file.
- Even without an internal 2.5″ SATA attached, player heats up very quickly
- Lack video resume/bookmarking capablities
- No function to allow seeking to the time code you wanted
- Unable to change subtitle font size
- Audio equalizer between profiles (Standard, Music, Movie and Sports) lack major difference. Except for Music which sounded louder with slightly more bass.
- Subtitle feature does not support styling (Italic tags)
- Not all video formats in MKV container are supported, hence it’s best you bring the video files to try before you buy
- DTS audio decoding not supported
![Subtitle support - RM668 Italic tags not interpreted](https://www.sgwoot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/italic_sub-300x183.jpg)
Over rating: 6.5 / 10
Hi, where did you get a firmware update? Can you share the link to the file? Thanks.