Review: Neuros OSD media streaming device

The Neuros OSD is an open-source media player that combines many of the most popular features of devices such as the Slingbox, with more conventional media-streaming functions.

It’s a fairly small black box that would sit unobtrusively alongside your home cinema setup to help manage and play digital media.

Rather than using more conventional methods to connect to a television, the Neuros OSD has two 3.5mm jacks: In and Out. Using the included cables, these provide composite video and analogue audio connections to and from your input source and TV or stereo.

An IR blaster is also included, which lets you change channels on a set-top box, for example, from afar. Pressing one of the keys on the remote overlays the OSD’s interface on the television’s picture, which is a good way to provide access to the features on offer.

The basic functionality of the product allows you to access digital music, video and photos from connected storage via your TV, though you’ll find you can also connect it to a wired network to stream directly from a computer. There’s no wireless option by default but you can pick up a wireless bridge separately to add this if required.

An expanding range of plug-ins is becoming available as they are developed by the open-source community, and it’s this area that is most likely to generate appeal over the rivals in the media-streaming market. Currently you’ll find access to Youtube content, provided you’re connected to the internet, and an MP4 video editor and theme changer, among other improvements, will arrive soon.

Perhaps the most powerful function of the OSD, though, is its recording capabilities. Any signal that is being passed through the device can be automatically recorded either to connected storage, which includes a range of memory cards, or across a network to your PC’s hard drive. Currently you can only record in MP4 format, but this has the advantage that content can be played back on most portable devices.

You’ll also find presets in the Record menu that automatically set the resolution and bit rate to the appropriate levels for the type of device you’re recording to. This makes the OSD an excellent platform through which to build a collection of video content to play back on portable devices, and of course you can still choose to save with the default television settings for playback on the big screen.

There’s no provision for HD content here, or any suitable connectivity to make the most of it, due to a lack of processing power. And though we’d be surprised if Neuros doesn’t eventually release an HD version in some form, it doesn’t sound as if it’ll be any time soon.

In terms of performance, we were impressed. We had a few problems connecting to shared folders on a PC but this is being resolved at the time of writing. Video content also streams smoothly, and the recording features are fast and responsive.

Our biggest problem with the device is usability. The remote control is very unresponsive and the interface is badly laid out, so this isn’t the most user-friendly streamer by any means. This, along with the lack of support for HD, might put some people off, but we’d be surprised if there isn’t a market for the Neuros, particularly considering its open-source nature and scope for expansion.

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