ZEN (portable media player)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Manufacturer Creative Technology
Type Portable media player
Connectivity USB 2.0
Retail availability 2007–present
Operating system ZEN UI 1.21.01
Input 4-way directional pad, 9 buttons, Power/Hold slider
Storage capacity Available in 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 GB flash memory
Display 2.5" backlit TFT LCD Screen
320 × 240 resolution
24-bit color depth (16.7 million colors)

The ZEN is a portable media player designed and manufactured by Creative Technology. The flash memory-based player is the de facto successor[1] of the ZEN Vision:M and was announced on August 29, 2007, to be available in capacities of 4, 8, and 16 GB, as of September 14.[2] A 32 GB model was announced on December 4, 2007, setting a record for storage capacity among flash players.[3]

The player has a width of 3.26 inches, a height of 2.16 inches and is 0.44 inches thick - making it the slimmest ZEN player and the second slimmest Creative player (other than the MuVo Slim[4]) so far. Because of its dimensions, the ZEN is advertised to be the "size of a credit card".[5] This is the first Creative player to have an SD card slot (enabling the support of SD and SDHC cards - an optional adapter is needed for microSD and miniSD cards), support for unprotected AAC (in a ".m4a" extension), as well as a truecolor TFT LCD display.

Contents

[edit] Specifications

ZEN
Feature Description
Capacity 2 / 4 / 8 / 16 / 32 GB
Memory type Flash-based
Dimensions 8.2 × 5.4 × 1.1 cm / 3.26 × 2.16 × 0.44 in.
Weight 65 g / 2.3 oz.
Screen 2.5" TFT LCD
Screen resolution 320 × 240 pixels (QVGA)
Color depth 24-bit (16.7 million colors)
Battery life Audio playback > 25hrs
Video playback > 5hrs
Video formats MJPEG, WMV, and AVI (MPEG-4 SP, DivX, Xvid), while MPEG-1, and MPEG-2 are supported through transcoding
Audio formats MP3, AAC (unprotected ".m4a"), WMA (including protected and lossless), WAV, and Audible 2, 3, and 4 formats
Photo formats JPEG (Other formats would be transcoded)
Battery Non-removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Signal-to-noise ratio Up to 97 dB
EQ types Pop, Jazz, Rock, Disco, Vocal, New Age, Classical, Acoustic & 5-band custom setting
Album art source Folder.jpg or from ID3 tag
Microphone input quota 10hrs
FM radio presets 32
Connection type USB1.1 / 2.0, SD Memory Card
PIM Syncs with Microsoft Outlook Contacts, Calendar & Tasks
System requirements Windows Vista or XP (Compatible with Windows 2000, Me, and 98SE when this driver is installed. For Linux, see libmtp.)

[edit] Firmware releases

A number of firmware updates has been released since the player's launch. The earlier ones have reportedly caused players to occasionally result in a white screen of death.[6][7]

Version 1.10.05 was released on October 23, 2007. Thai language support was added, while video playback was improved. Adapter charging and startup time were quickened.[8]

The prior version,[9] 1.20.02, was released on December 19, 2007. Transferring content via the SD card slot is enabled, though only image files are viewable.[7]

The latest version, 1.21.01, was released on February 28, 2008. It improves the player's playback performance of WMA (.wma) files.[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References