MP3, WINDOWS MEDIA AND JPEG PLAYBACK
The HS 500 will recognize data on CD-ROM discs and USB devices recorded in the MP3, Windows Media 9 (WMA) or JPEG formats, including images stored on Kodak® Picture CDs. You may also play discs with more than one of the three formats.
The specific file types that may be played on the HS 500 are:
•MP3 Files: MP3 is a popular audio compression format that was developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group as part of the MPEG- 1 video compression format. Depending on the specific MP3 encoder used, file size is greatly reduced so that you store many more songs on one compact disc than in the standard audio CD format. MP3 is also used to download audio files to computers for home use. In order to play an MP3 file on the HS 500, the disc may not contain any encryption or coding that prevents playback. Always be certain that you have, or have purchased, the proper rights or authorization before creating a CD-ROM with MP3 or any other codec format.
•WMA Files: WMA (Windows Media Audio) is an audio compression format developed by the Microsoft® Corporation for use with its Windows Media Player. WMA files may be created with greater compression than MP3 without sacrificing audio quality so that even more songs may be recorded on a disc. There have been a number of versions of Windows Media, and the HS 500 is compatible only with files that end in the “wma” extension and that were recorded using the Windows Media Series 9 encoding, but only up to 320kbps.
•JPEG Files: “JPEG” is the acronym used to identify image files recorded according to specifications established by Joint Photographic Experts Group for compressing still images. Identified by the file extension “jpg” when they are recorded on most computers, JPEG files may be created by a digital still camera and then edited and “burned” to a disc in your personal computer, recorded on a CD-ROM disc from film images by a photo processor, or scanned from printed photos into your personal computer and then burned onto a CD-ROM. You may also connect a digital camera directly to one of the HS 500’s USB ports, if the camera is equipped with a USB connection, and if it stores its images in the JPEG format.
Discs containing MP3, WMA or JPEG files are navigated and controlled a little differently from standard DVDs and CDs. When a disc containing one or more of these types of files is loaded in the HS 500, the Player Information menu screen will appear. See Figure 76.
Figure 76 – Player Information Screen
(JPEG/WMA Disc)
This screen will display a list of the main folders contained on the disc The elapsed time will appear in the upper right corner of the screen. It isn’t possible to change the time display, and the Time Search function is not available.
MP3 or WMA Disc Playback
MP3 and WMA discs may contain 200 tracks or even more. To get the best overview about all tracks on the disc and their names and to select them comfortably, use the on-screen display rather than the front-panel display. The front-panel display will only show the number and the elapsed time of the track being played.
The supported bit rate for WMA files is between 64kbps and 320kbps. The supported bit rate for MP3 files is between 32kbps and 320kbps.
•To select a folder (if any), press the Navigation Buttons until the desired folder name is highlighted, then press the Enter Button.
•To select a track, press the Navigation Buttons until the desired track name is highlighted.
To start play of the selected track, press the Enter or Play Button.
During MP3/WMA playback, some of the standard CD/DVD playback controls operate in their normal fashion (refer to Figure 59):
•You may skip forward to the next track on the disc by pressing the Skip/Next Button.
•You may skip back to the previous track on the disc by pressing the Skip/Prev Button twice.
•Press the Pause Button to momentarily stop playback. Press the Play Button to resume play. Press the Stop Button to enter stop mode.
•Press the Search Forward or Search Reverse buttons, for fast search of a track. Press the Play ›, Pause ± or Stop Button Í to end fast play.
•Slow-play is not available during MP3/WMA playback.
•You may play an MP3 or WMA disc in random mode by adjusting the Random setting in the Player Information submenu. You may also access the Random function while an MP3 or WMA disc is playing by pressing the Random Button. See Figure 75.
•The Repeat function may be accessed during playback of an MP3 or WMA disc by pressing the Repeat Button on the remote. See Figure 74. Repeatedly press the Repeat Button to scroll through the options of Repeat 1 (repeat one file), Repeat All (repeat all files) or Repeat Folder (repeat all files within the current folder). The next press will turn the repeat function off. Repeat A-B is not available during MP3/WMA playback.
NOTES ON MP3 AND WMA PLAYBACK
•During playback, the front-panel display and the time indicator on the screen above the list will show the elapsed time of the track being played. Other time display options are not available with MP3/WMA playback.
•The HS 500 is only compatible with standard MP3- and WMA-encoded discs. Other compressed audio formats used for Internet audio downloads will not play on the HS 500.
