With more than 10 years of multimedia experience, Archos is well known for the rock solid video playing feature on their devices. The Generation 8 Internet Tablet devices were already great when it came to playing any kind of multimedia file, but the tablets were limited by their hardware (OMAP 3 processor) to 720p content, in the best case.
The following article gives details on the multimedia capabilities of the Archos Generation 9 devices, focusing on the Archos G9 1 GHz test device.
Hardware
According to Texas Instruments (TI), the manufacturer of the OMAP 4 processor equipping the Archos G9, the following specifications are expected:| Processor | OMAP4430 | OMAP4460 |
| Equips Archos models | Archos G9 1 GHz | Archos G9 Turbo (1.5 GHz) |
| Process node | 45nm | 45nm |
| ARM® Cortex™-A9 Clock Speed (two) | 1 GHz | 1.5 GHz |
| GPU | PowerVR SGX540 @ 304 MHz | PowerVR SGX540 @ 384 MHz |
| Video performance (2D) | 1080p HD | 1080p HD |
| Video Performance (3D) | 720p stereoscopic 3D | 1080p Stereoscopic 3D |
Data from TI web site and Wikipedia
Supported formats
According to Archos specifications, the following formats are supported:
| Video playback (1) | • MPEG-4 HD (up to 1080p) • MPEG-4 (2) (ASP@L5 AVI, up to DVD resolution) • H.264 HD (HP@L4.2, up to 1080p@30 fps and 1080i/720p@60 fps) With optional cinema plug-in: • Cinema: MPEG2 (up to DVD resolution MP/D1) With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: AVI, MP4, MOV, 3GP, MPG, PS, TS, VOB, MKV, FLV, RM, RMVB, ASF |
| Audio Playback (1) | • MP3 • WAV (PCM/ADPCM) • AAC (3), AAC+ 5.13 • OGG Vorbis • FLAC With optional cinema plug-in: • AC3 5.1 |
| Subtitles | • .srt, .ssa, .smi, .sub formats supported |
(1) Certain bitrates, resolutions, and/or file variations may not be compatible.
(2) MPEG-4 ASP@L6 (MPEG-4: ISO standard by Moving Picture Experts Group) without GMC.
(3) Does not read AAC protected files.
Please check our other article for an extensive review of the audio compatibility on the Archos G9
According to fudzilla.com website , competing processors dual core Tegra 2 CPU (used on mainly high end tablets such as Acer Iconia Tab, ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, Advent Vega, Motorola Xoom) have serious limitations for 1080p decoding. In fact, support for 1080p in H.264 encoding, accepts only BaseLine or Main profiles up to 20 Mbit/s. High Profile is accepted only for 720p up to 6 MBit/s. It supports also H.263 (Profile 0, 8 MBit/s), Xvid (8 MBit/s), MPEG-2 (Main profile, 8 MBit/s) and MPEG-4 ASP (10 MBit/s).
Our Youtube video below illustrates most of the multimedia capabilities on our Archos 101 G9 1 GHz test device:
1. Video Player application
2. Tablet screen viewing angles
3. Music Player application
4. Music and Video widgets
5. HDMI output on an Optoma PK201 pico video projector
ARCHOS multimedia apps
Archos video player application is nicely done, it helps to sort your video archive by getting the movies information (title, director, actors and poster) from the Internet based on the file name. Our quick tests gave good results, even for episodes in TV Series.
This “Search info online” feature is demonstrated on the Youtube video above and on our previous article regarding the media scraper feature in the Gen8 devices.
1080p testing
Using firmware version 3.2.34, we have tested many video files and did not encounter any viewing problem. We choose the following 4 movies to illustrate the HD playing capability of various formats.
| Avatar trailer |  | |
| General | Format : Matroska Format version : Version 2 Overall bit rate : 11.2 Mbps | |
| Video | Format : AVC (Advanced Video Codec) Format profile : High@L4.1 Format settings, CABAC : Yes Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC Bit rate : 9 488 Kbps Width : 1 920 pixels Height : 1 080 pixels | |
| Audio | Format : DTS (Digital Theater Systems) Bit rate mode : Constant Bit rate : 1 510 Kbps Channel(s) : 6 channels Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz | |
| Limitless trailer |  | |
| General | Format : MPEG-4 Codec ID : mp42 Format profile : Base Media / Version 2 Overall bit rate : 8 696 Kbps | |
| Video | Format : AVC Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec Format profile : Main@L4.0 Format settings, CABAC : Yes Bit rate mode : Variable Bit rate : 8 550 Kbps Width : 1 920 pixels Height : 1 080 pixels | |
| Audio | Format : AAC (Advanced Audio Codec) Format profile : LC Codec ID : 40 Bit rate mode : Variable Bit rate : 144 Kbps Maximum bit rate : 175 Kbps Channel(s) : 2 channels | |
| Birds scene from Planete Earth Movie | ||
| General | Format : Matroska Version 1 Overall bit rate : 38.0 Mbps | |
| Video | Format : AVC (Advanced Video Codec) Format profile : High@L4.1 Format settings, CABAC : Yes Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC Bit rate : 37.2 Mbps Nominal bit rate : 40.0 Mbps Width : 1 920 pixels Height : 1 072 pixels Frame rate : 23.976 fps | |
| Audio | No audio stream | |
| Big Buck Bunny H264 1080p |  | |
| General | Format : MPEG-4 – Format profile : QuickTime Overall bit rate : 9 725 Kbps | |
| Video | Format : AVC (Advanced Video Codec) Format profile : Main@L4.1 Format settings, CABAC : No Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames Format settings, GOP : M=2, N=24 Bit rate : 9 283 Kbps Width : 1 920 pixels Height : 1 080 pixels | |
| Audio | Audio Format : AAC (Advanced Audio Codec) Format profile : LC Bit rate mode : Constant Bit rate : 448 Kbps Channel(s) : 6 channels Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz Compression mode : Lossy | |
Viewing angles
Previous Generation 8 Archos 101 devices suffered a lot critiscism because of their very limited viewing angles. Luckily, Archos did good on the Gen9 devices and the picture is now quite clear from any angle. This screen gives a good result, certainly for a cheaper price than those expensive IPS displays found on Apple IPAD or Asus EEE transformer.
HDMI output on a Video Projector
The Archos 101 G9 can do miroring to an HDMI device, that means you will get the screen output both on the tablet and the external HDMI screen. We have done a test on an Optoma video projector, this miroring feature worked immediately. We haven’t tested yet if there are limitation in term of resolution on the HDMI output. For instance, some Tegra 2 tablets are currently limited at 1280 x 800 output resolution on HDMI…
Conclusion
We found the new Archos G9 tablet to be a amazing and versatile player for all your multimedia content, including HD movies. Thanks to the power of the OMAP4 CPU/GPU, Gen9 devices effectively play videos up to 1080p resolution in H264 high profile. In the tablet world, playing content in definition this high, is currently quite unique, as most of the competing devices are limited to 720 High Profile. The Archos Gen9 devices are currently one of the only tablets being able to read a Blu-ray file, these media being encoded in H.264 High Profile at 25 Mbit/s average.
It’s important to note that some formats (MPEG2/DVD, audio AC3 5.1) require to buy the Archos commercial Cinema plug-in available for the amount of 15 euros or $14.95 USD.
We hope you enjoyed this article, please come back soon for more reviews about Archos G9 products.
If you want to buy one of these tablets, please refer to our Archos G9 specifications and prices to know more about the device availability.
If you have a specific video file to be tested on the device, please let us know in the comments section below.
 |  | AMAZON USA | Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $ 228.95 |  | AMAZON UK | Check for price |  | AMAZON DE | Versandfertig in 1 – 2 Werktagen | 283.93 EUR |  | AMAZON FR | Check for price |
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I’m curious about the support of network file systems and DLNA, ie. is it possible to playback 1080p files from a network drive/DLNA or do you have to copy the file to local storage first.
Archos G9 comes with UPNP/DLNA/SMB support in the video player. There had been problems reported with some remote media servers and there are still small bugs on the player, like it does not play srt subtitles if they are on a remote server. But overall remote playing is quite OK and should be polished as Archos improve their firmwares.
I haven’t tested 1080p support, but it should be fine as long as the network access is fast enough.
Thanks.
I’ve got a 5 GHz 802.11n wifi which is fast enough for, say, VLC on OSX. Damn, it looks like there’s no way around it: I need to buy one of these.
Does Archos commercial multimedia plugin for 101 (that you have given a link to) work with 101 G9 ? Have you used it with the g9 ?
hello
Can you check how does it work with Full HD 60 frames/s ?
Hello
Can you try play Full HD 1980x1024p .. I mean 60 frame/s ??? I’m very curious is it manage to play it .
The arcticle says review part 2 (BTW well done!) ,,, Where´s part 1?
Please take a little more attention to 80 model.
80 is much more different from others honeycomb tablets available today.
Can’t wait to see part 3.
Can you charge it through USB in a PC? What is the power/current value on that charging device?
Also, any impressions about the GPS speed/quality?
Thanks a lot in advance.
Great tests – thanks.
My question, and perhaps the most important after the specifications: how good is the build quality (say compared to an iPad or Galaxy Tab)? The specifications on the Archos looks excellent, but many people have questioned how well put together it will be because of the low price. Any comments?
Hi, can you try this video? http://www.fileserve.com/file/kcDsDHt and this video http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3KLI48P0 ?
great review cant wait to see more
but how is the screen is it like asus transformer or galaxy tab 10 cuz i own both they have great screen i will sell my galaxy tab 10 to get archos if its screen good and its have 1g ram
and what about the sound quality ?
thank you
Hello,
I want to know if the viewing angles for Archos 80 G9 are the same with 101 G9 like I saw in this video.
Thank you.
Does it play dual audio files?
And subs inside *.mkv files?
And tough they doesn’t tell, is it possible to reproduce *.ass subs?
Subs inside MKV files are played, as you can see on Avatar’s sample in our Youtube video.
For your two other questions, please provide a file for us to test.
(direct http download link of a small file, please)
for the mkv it is ok for the sub titles and the multi languages
Hallo,
Can I connect to the usb port an external hard drive or a keyboard?
Thank you.
yes for the external DD and usb keyboard mouse