Zensonic Z500 User manual

High Definition

Network DVD Media Player

www.z500series.com

User Manual

Contents

Package Contents ............................................................................... 3

Safety Precautions .............................................................................. 4

Introduction ........................................................................................ 5

Important Notes ................................................................................. 6

Specifications ..................................................................................... 7

Front and Rear Panel Layout ............................................................. 9

Front Panel Display (VFD) ................................................................ 10

Remote Control – Layout ................................................................. 11

Remote Control – Option Selector ..................................................... 12

Remote Control – Zooming, Panning, Navigation ............................ 13

Remote Control – Text Entry, Display .............................................. 14

Connection Guide – Video – HDMI ................................................ 15

Connection Guide – Video – Component .......................................... 16

Connection Guide – Video – SCART ................................................ 17

Connection Guide – Video – S-Video and Composite ...................... 18

Connection Guide – Audio – Digital Audio ...................................... 19

Connection Guide – Audio – Analog Audio ...................................... 20

Connection Guide – Network ............................................................ 21

Setting Up ......................................................................................... 22

Language Setting ............................................................................... 23

Audio Settings .................................................................................... 24

Video Settings and Supported Modes ................................................ 25

Network Setup ................................................................................... 28

Active Network Selection .................................................................. 29

Wired (Ethernet) Network Setup ....................................................... 30

Wireless (802.11g) Network Setup .................................................... 31

Windows Network (SMB) Settings ................................................... 33

DVD Setup Options ........................................................................... 35

General Settings ................................................................................. 37

Firmware Updates .............................................................................. 38

Additional Setup Options ................................................................... 39

Using Your Z500 .............................................................................. 40

Options -

Music ............................................................................................ 41

Videos ........................................................................................... 43

Pictures ......................................................................................... 44

Extras ............................................................................................ 45

UPnP Media Servers .......................................................................... 46

UPnP Media Server Browsing ........................................................... 47

Browsing SMB Network Shares ........................................................ 48

SHOUTcast Radio ............................................................................. 49

USB Port ............................................................................................ 50

Seek and Search Functions ................................................................ 51

Trouble Shooting (Help) .................................................................... 52

Glossary ............................................................................................. 54

Technical Specifications .................................................................... 55

FCC Regulations ................................................................................ 56

Warranty, Limitation of Liability ...................................................... 57

Version 1.4.1

Package Contents

Inside the package that your Z500 came in, you will find the

following items.

1. Power Cord

2. Wireless Network Antenna

3. Cat.5-UTP Ethernet Network Cable (Straight Through)

4. Z500 Remote Control with Batteries

5. Standard Composite A/V 3-in-1 cable (RCA connectors)

6. This User Manual

7. CD containing Media Server Software and Manual in PDF

8. Z500 High Definition Network DVD Media Player

Safety Precautions

Please note the following safety precautions.

•To avoid risk of electric shock, do not use or expose this player to wet or moist

environments

•Do not place objects containing fluids above or on top of the player

•It is recommended to disconnect this device during electrical storms

•There are no user serviceable parts inside the player, all internal maintenance or

servicing should be carried out by qualified service personnel authorised by Zensonic

•Do not insert objects into the ventilation slots on the player

•This player has a laser device inside, looking at a laser can seriously damage your

eyes

•Place the unit in or on a safe and stable cabinet

•Avoid exposure to extreme heat, extreme cold or direct sunlight

•Do not drop the player, or subject it to strong shocks

•Unplug the unit and remove the remote control batteries if it is not to be used for a

long time

•Do not place the unit near sources of strong magnetism

•Disconnect the power when cleaning

•Clean only with a damp cloth

•Keep the unit away from dust and sand

•If the unit is moved from a very cold environment to a warm one, or placed in a humid

place, the laser lens may get moisture condensing on it, if so leave the unit powered

on for about an hour for the moisture to evaporate

•Ensure that you use this device with a properly grounded power cord

•Do not place the player on top of heat sources (including amplifiers that get hot)

•Please ensure adequate ventilation around the player

Introduction

Congratulations and thank you for purchasing the Z500 High Definition

Network DVD Media Player.

This player is a state-of-the-art media and DVD player utilising the Sigma

Designs EM8620L multimedia processor for unparalleled media playback and

picture quality capabilities, and is powered by software by Sliceware.

The Zensonic Z500 networked digital media player gives users four

connectivity options in one unit: wireless networking, Ethernet wired

networking, optical disc playback and a USB 2.0 connection.

The Z500 not only supports High Definition media content, but also has the

ability to up scale media content for playback on high definition TV’s and

screens, whilst also maintaining compatibility with standard definition TV’s.

(Up scaling of protected DVD content is only available via the HDMI™

interface to devices that are HDCP compliant)

The Z500 has unprecedented file format support including high definition

Windows Media® Video 9 and MPEG4 playback

The Z500's music playback capability handles all the formats enthusiasts

have longed for, including the high definition FLAC lossless compressed

format, OGG, AAC (commonly used in Apple iTunes), MP3, Windows Media

Audio 9 (including digitally rights managed WMA9*), CD Audio and others.

Video playback is also astonishingly comprehensive. The Z500 handles

playback in Windows Media Video 9, XviD, Nero Digital™, MPEG-4,

QuickTime MPEG-4, MPEG-2, MPEG-1, DVD, and other formats.

The Z500 is engineered from the ground up for high performance networking,

with 100Mbit Ethernet and 54Mbit/s 802.11G wireless networking integrated.

The Internet is just a button away on the Z500, with instant access to features

such as local weather and support for streaming Internet radio stations.

Included with the player are two options for media servers: TwonkyVision and

Windows Media Connect. These programs make sorting and streaming digital

media files from multiple PCs simple.

TwonkyVision supports Windows, Mac OSX and Linux.

SMB network shares can also be accessed via the Z500, for even greater

network connectivity.

We are sure that you will enjoy your new player and that it will be an integral

part of your home entertainment system.

* Firmware Upgrade required for Digital Rights Managed media

Important Notes

•Apple and iPod are trademarks of Apple Computer. Nero Digital™ is a trademark of

Nero Software. Microsoft, Windows, Windows XP and Windows Media are

Trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. HDMI, the HDMI logo and High-Definition

Multimedia Interface are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing

LLC. Manufactured under licence from Dolby Laboratories. Dolby® and the Double-D

and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their

respective companies.

•This product is covered by certain intellectual property rights of Microsoft and cannot

be used or further distributed without a license from Microsoft.

•This product incorporates copyright protection technology that is protected by U.S.

patents and other intellectual property rights. Use of this copyright protection

technology must be authorized by Macrovision, and is intended for home and other

limited viewing uses only unless otherwise authorized by Macrovision. Reverse

engineering or disassembly is prohibited.

•AAC support does not include Apple Fairplay digitally rights managed AAC files.

iPod must be formatted for Windows. Mac formatted iPods are not compatible with

the Zensonic Z500.

•54Mbit/s is the theoretical maximum of the 802.11G wireless networking standard.

Real life speeds vary depending on the environment and are typically around

20Mbit/s.

If wireless networking reception is poor, users may need to reposition their wireless

base station to achieve optimum media playback performance.

•Source files with Global Motion Compensation encoding applied cannot be played

back at 1080i.

•The Z500 player supports many types of file formats, but due to encoding differences,

not all files may play.

Please ensure that any files you wish to play on this player are properly encoded with

settings that are compatible with the player.

(e.g. do not use 3 warp point GMC, or other formats that the player does not support)

•A file extension on a file (such as .avi) does not mean that the data within that file is

compatible with the player. Many file formats use similar file extensions, and it is not

necessarily an indication of what the file encoding format contained in that file is.

•Product specifications and features are subject to change without notice.

Specifications

1. Audio Formats Supported

oMPEG 1 Layers I,II and III

oWAV

oCD Audio (With Freedb Support)

oOGG Vorbis

oFLAC

oWMA

oAAC

2. Video Formats Supported

oMPEG-1, MPEG-2 MP@HL, MPEG-4

oASP@L5 (720p), WMV9 MP@ML (720p)

oXviD

oNero Digital™

oQuickTime with MPEG4 encoding. .MP4 extension

oDVD ISO/IFO *

3. Picture Formats Supported

oJPG/JPEG2000

oBMP

oGIF

oPNG

4. Play lists Supported

oM3U

oPLS

oASX

5. Network Support

oEthernet 10/100 Mbps

oWireless 802.11b/g

oSMB support -- access Windows shares directly

6. USB 2 device Support

(if the device appears as a mass storage device)

oUSB Thumb Drives

oUSB HDD Drives

7. Internet Radio Support

oIntegrated Internet Radio Player with preinstalled library of

stations

oStations streaming MP3 or ASX are supported

8. Media Streaming Software

oTwonkyVision (Full Version)*** and

Windows Media Connect

oTwonkyVision supports Windows, MacOS X & Linux

oShare Pictures, Audio and Video Files

oUPnP enabled

9. DVD Player

oDVD-Video, SVCD, VCD 1.x and 2.0

oDVD-R/-RW/+R/+RW

oCD/-R/-RW

10.Extras

oSubtitle support - SRT, SMI, SSA formats

oOnline Weather Panel

oHDCP Support

oDigital Rights Management: Windows Media DRM 10 **

oEL backlit remote

oMulti-purpose joystick for quick and easy navigation

oID3 Tag and display on VFD panel on player

oIncremental Pan & Zoom (fine grained control of zoom)

oFirmware updates from OSD. Check for new updates.

oWEP encryption support on Wireless 802.11g (64 and 128 bit)

11.I/O oSCART output

oHDMI™ output

oS-Video output

oComposite Video output

oComponent output

12.Audio

oStereo output

oCoaxial output

oOptical output

oAnalog 5.1 output

13.Connectors

o10/100 Ethernet

oUSB 2.0

oWireless 802.11g

14.TV Types

oNTSC (480i / 480p)

oPAL (576i / 576p)

oHDTV (720p50 / 720p60 / 1080i50 / 1080i60)

* New experimental feature

** Features will be available in a firmware update

*** The bundled Twonkyvision software does not include free upgrades. A discount voucher is available.

Front Panel

1. Power LED

2. Power Button

3. USB 2.0 Connector

4. Disc Tray

5. Eject Button

6. Volume Up

7. Previous Chapter / Item

8. Rewind

9. Forward

10. Next Chapter / Item

11. Volume Down

12. Play / Pause

13. Stop

14. Display Window

The Power LED is green when the unit is active, and red when the unit is in stand-by.

Rear Panel

1. Wireless Antenna Connector

2. Ethernet Network Connection

3. HDMI™ Digital A/V Output

4. CVBS Standard Composite

Video Output

5. S-VIDEO Output

6. Component Video Output

7. Coaxial Digital Audio Output

8. Optical Digital Audio Output

9. Analog 5.1ch Audio Output

10. SCART A/V Output

11. IEC Power Input

Front Panel Display

The Z500 incorporates a Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) that can display

12 characters of both Alpha and Numeric data.

This aids in such things as menu navigation, as well as the ability to display

the currently playing file, current playing time etc.

1. 802.11 (Wireless) network signal strength

2. Disc indicator

3. 12 Digit Alpha-Numeric Display

4. DTS audio present

5. DVD disc present

6. SVCD or VCD disc present

7. Dolby Digital (AC3) audio

8. Video file playing

9. Image file playing

10.Audio file playing

11.Network connection to active network

12.Play indicator

13.Pause indicator

The front panel display will display the item that is currently selected on your

display device (such as menu item, file name etc.)

This provides you with the ability to make file selections and to make settings

changes without the user needing to have a display device (such as a TV)

switched on.

You can select and play music and Internet radio using an external amplifier

without having to turn on your screen.

You can also navigate the settings of the player (such as the video settings),

without a display screen. This is very useful if you have accidentally set the

player to a display mode that your display device does not support.

Remote Control

910

13 14

15 16

18 19

21 22

23 24

1. Eject Disc Tray

2. Standby On / Off

3. Alpha / Numeric Keyboard

4. Mute Sound

5. Joystick Option Selector

6. Volume Up

7. Volume Down

8. Up Arrow

9. Left Arrow

10. Right Arrow

11. Down Arrow

12. OK – Select Menu Option

13. Exit Current Screen

14. Go to Menu Screen

15. Rewind

16. Forward

17. Play / Pause

18. Previous Chapter / Item

19. Next Chapter / Item

20. Stop

21. Subtitle Selection

22. Slow Forward / Rewind

23. Display – toggle play time

/ filename display

24. Search – Time based

seek function

25. Illuminate Remote Buttons

Remote Control - The Option Selector

On your Z500’s remote control is a

small joystick type controller for

accessing many of the options that are

available while using your Z500.

The advantage of having this stick

controller is that it can perform

different operations, depending on

what the Z500 is doing at the time.

The option joystick controller has four directions of movement, as well as

being a button that can be pressed to put you into the various options modes.

Some of the selections that the option button is used for include:

adjust volume

adjust brightness

adjust contrast

adjust colour saturation

select DVD angles

(on DVDs with alternate angles)

select subtitles

select audio tracks

set zoom level

adjust the pan when the picture is zoomed

All of these things can be accessed just by clicking on the option selector.

Click the option button to get to the option you want, and then move the option

stick left / right or up / down to make the changes.

Zooming and Panning with the option stick

Press the option button until you see the Zoom option, then press left or right

to adjust the zoom level.

While zoomed in you can also pan the screen around to see the rest of the

picture. Press the option button until you see the Pan option, then the option

stick can be moved in all four directions to move the zoomed-in section

around.

Remote Control – Navigation

To navigate through the Z500’s menu and through file selection, you can use

either the option stick, or the arrow keys.

While in menu and file navigation mode, the option stick performs the same

function as the up, down, left and right arrow keys.

Pressing down on the option stick performs the same as pressing the ‘ok’

button on the remote control. (That is, the item is selected).

If you are playing a DVD, then the option stick performs other functions, such

as the zoom and colour controls as listed above.

For this reason, when navigating through DVD menus, you cannot use the

option stick for menu selection, only the arrow keys and the ‘ok’ button can be

used.

Using the letters on the remote for navigating a file list

The numbers on the remote keypad have letters assigned to them also.

These letters can be used for entering text (see next page).

The letters can also be used for a faster navigation method while in a file list.

For example, you can press the number ‘8’ to move to the first file in a list that

starts with the letter ‘T’.

Remote Control - Entering Text

When using your Z500 remote control, there may be places in which you need

to enter text.

The Z500 has incorporated an alpha-

numeric style keypad so that you can

enter text when needed.

Text is entered via the remote control

in much the same way as you would

enter text using a mobile phone

keypad.

Keys need to be pressed multiple

times to enter the letter corresponding

to that key.

For example, to enter the letter “h”,

you would press the “4” button twice.

If you have a place to enter text while using your Z500, you would enter it the

following way.

To enter the text “test 5”, you would

•Press “8” once - “t” is displayed

•Press “3” twice - “e” is displayed

•Press “7” four times - “s” is displayed

•Press “8” once - “t” is displayed

•Press “1” once - a space is inserted

•Press “5” four times - “5” is displayed

•Press “OK” to accept the text

If you make a mistake at any point, you can use the “backspace” key to go

back and correct your input.

You can also use the “exit” button to exit from an input screen without

accepting the inputted text.

The DISPLAY button

You can bring up a pop up window while playing back video to see information

about the file and time elapsed by pressing the ‘display’ button on the remote

control.

Connection Guide - Video

HDMI™

If your display device has a HDMI input, then for the best quality picture use

the HDMI interface output on the Z500.

The HDMI connector transports the video and audio streams as digital data

from the Z500 to your display device.

The HDMI interface is the only display output that will upscale protected DVD

content for high resolution display. (Display device must be HDCP compliant

to upscale protected DVD content)

With just one connector both high resolution video and audio can be delivered

to your display device.

COMPONENT

The next best video display output after HDMI is Component Video.

Component Video is an analog video format and can be either Progressive

scan, or Interlaced.

Progressive Scan is the better of the output types, as every line on the display

device is drawn one after the other. With Interlaced, every alternate line on the

display is drawn on the first screen draw, and every other line is drawn on the

next screen draw.

Component Video splits the colour and brightness video signals into three

separate cables, giving a better picture quality.

If your display device supports Progressive Scan, then choose this as the

picture will appear clearer, particularly with moving objects.

Both Progressive Scan and Interlaced Component output use the three plugs

on the back of the player, marked as “COMP. VIDEO”.

Ensure that you match the colour coded cables with the colour coded

connectors on both the back of the player and the inputs to your display

device.

SCART

(Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs)

The SCART connector is a combined analog audio and video connector.

If you wish to use the SCART output on the Z500, plug your SCART plug into

the SCART connector on the back of the Z500.

The SCART output on the Z500 supports RGB and component video outputs.

For best results with SCART, it is recommended to use a SCART to SCART

cable.

S-VIDEO

S-Video is a video format that works by separating the colour and brightness

video signals into two parts, this results in less interference than you get with

the two combined (as is the case with Composite video).

If your display device has only Composite or S-Video inputs, then for the best

display results, it is recommended that you use the S-Video input.

COMPOSITE VIDEO

Composite Video is the standard video connector format.

It gets its name from the fact that all the colour and brightness video signals

are combined and passed through a single cable.

Connection Guide – Audio

DIGITAL AUDIO

The Z500 supports Digital Audio output via either Coaxial or Optical Digital

Audio outputs on the rear of the player.

Digital audio can also be delivered via the HDMI interface.

If you have a Digital Audio Amplifier, supporting either Dolby Digital (AC3) or

DTS decoding, then using either of the Digital Audio outputs will provide you

with the best quality of sound to your amplifier.

With the Digital Audio outputs, the audio data is sent directly from the Z500 to

your amplifier as a digital data stream, and this is then decoded by your

amplifier with no loss of sound quality between the Z500 and your amplifier.

Table of contents

Popular DVD Player manuals by other brands

Sanyo

Sanyo DVD-8000 instruction manual

Toshiba

Toshiba SD-V320SCA Service manual

Curtis

Curtis DVD1098C instruction manual

Philips

Philips DVP2850/79 user manual

Daewoo

Daewoo DCSB-87N owner's manual

JVC

JVC XV-N512N instruction manual

Premier

Premier SX-005DVDR user manual

Zenith

Zenith DVC2550 operating guide

Denon

Denon DVD-9000 operating instructions

Denver

Denver DVU-1110 instruction manual

Toshiba

Toshiba SD-K760 owner's manual

Denon

Denon DVD-1710 Service manual

LG V280S-P1 owner's manual

Integra

Integra DPS-5.2 Service manual

Sony

Sony DVP-M50 operating instructions

Samsung

Samsung DVD-C500 user manual

LG DVD5183 owner's manual

Laser

Laser BLU-BD2000 Operation manual