Firmware Update: AC Ryan PlayOn! HD (Mini) 7.4.x.r3966

AC Ryan has released the firmware for the PlayOn HD and PlayOn HD Mini. The AC Ryan PlayOn! HD Mini has the same specifications as its big brother, but in a smaller housing. As a result, there is no room for an internal hard drive and he also has to do without a digital coax connection and card reader. On the other hand, it can do its job without active cooling. It is the first firmware based on the new SDK and it offers, among other things, a completely new user interface. The version number for the HD and HD Mini is not quite the same, but the changelog is:

Version v7.4.x.r3966

• AC Ryan Playon! GUI2.0 – Refreshing new Graphical User Interface
• Added new Smart Content Management system
  • Indexes your HDD/USB storage device and sorts out your media files for quick access from Movies/Music/Photo on the main menu
  • Also lists your Recently Added Music and Recently Added Movies on the main menu
    SCM system can be turned off by choosing “Auto scan off” under SETUP – SYSTEM – Scan Storage
• Added option for changeable system fonts (.TTF) and background image (.PNG)
  • Create a “Resource” folder on your HDD/USB storage device and place your files in this folder
  • Select your desired fonts or desktop image from SETUP – SYSTEM for changes to take effect
• Added option to load your own Photo Album or images from Flickr to run as screensaver
• Added DLNA DMR support
  • Install as a Digital Media Render in your own Windows network
  • Works with Windows 7 Play To feature
    For more info, visit
• Added LPCM Multi-Channel as an HDMI audio output option automatically when a supporting AVR is connected via HDMI connection
• Added “Format HDD Prompt” in SETUP – MISC to enable/disable prompting of HDD format on boot up
• Added new Internet Media services
  • BuddyLink
  • media fly
  • Video Podcasts
  • Yahoo Finance
  • YouTube
• Added generic USB Keyboard/Mouse support
• Added new iPhone web management remote by keying in Safari browser, the IP address of your player followed by “:1024”
  • Example 192.168.1.100:1024 where “192.168.1.100” is your player IP address
    Both the player and your iPhone must be in the same network to work
• Improved Web Remote Control environment
• Improved Jukebox interface for use with YAMJ Installer v1.0.3
  • Windows 32-bit
  • Windows 64 bit
• Improved audio playback on HDMI and S/PDIF
  • Fixed stereo pass-through on S/PDIF
  • Improved FLAC playback
  • Improved Dolby TrueHD playback (for 1073DD C+ board)
  • Improved Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 pass through
• Improved RM/RMVB playback
• Improved general stability
• Fixed ThumbGen image glitch when rolling over multiple cover wall
• Fixed ThumbGen random restart when playing the video after displaying the cover wall
• Removed file copy menu from the main menu. Added file copy/edit/remove functions in Files Manager. Press EDIT button on the remote control while in the Files Manager for all available options
• Removed “Guest” as default network username

Textual / structural changes:

• In SETUP – SYSTEM:
  • “System update” is renamed to “USB Upgrade” and moved to Misc
  • Added “Keyboard input method” to set default input method
  • “System Info” is split into “Version Info” and “Network Info” and moved into Misc
• In SETUP – VIDEO:
  • “Video System” has been renamed to “TV System”
  • Removed “Hue, Saturation, Brightness and Contrast” from Setup. Added these options under Video Settings’ when pressing MENU on the remote control during video/photo playback
• In SETUP – NETWORK:
  • “NAS mode” has been renamed to “SAMBA”
  • Removed “Remote Control”, now by default on
• In SETUP – MISC:
  • “Resume Play” moved to System
  • Removed “Seamless Playback”, now on by default
  • Removed “Subtitle on/off”, now on by default
  • “Browse Mode” has been removed. Feature is moved to options menu. Press MENU on the remote control when in Video/Music/Photo/File Manager to change browse mode
  • Changed Internet Radio Location; Shoutcast Radio is now part of the Internet Media features
  • All slideshow options have been removed and moved to the options menu during photo playback. During photo playback, press MENU to get all slideshow options

The following downloads are available:
AC Ryan PlayOn! HD 7.4.4.r3966
AC Ryan PlayOn! HD Mini 7.4.6.r3966

AC Ryan PlayOn! HD – new interface, click on the image for a larger version.