Author Topic: WD TV HD Media Player (Read 182568 times)

docelmo · « **Reply #840 on:** Apr 01, 2009 at 09:23 AM »

Has anyone tried this firmware "upgrade".....support for external dvdrom!
http://b-rad.cc/wdtv-firmware-dvd-enabled

pooch · « **Reply #841 on:** Apr 01, 2009 at 09:54 AM »

Quote from: docelmo on Apr 01, 2009 at 09:23 AM

Has anyone tried this firmware "upgrade".....support for external dvdrom!
http://b-rad.cc/wdtv-firmware-dvd-enabled

kakatakot hehe

jeyps11_c · « **Reply #842 on:** Apr 01, 2009 at 10:07 AM »

Official firmware update ba yan?

Alfie · « **Reply #843 on:** Apr 01, 2009 at 11:05 AM »

Quote from: Invinciible on Apr 01, 2009 at 08:43 AM

Boss Alfie, by "off" do you mean unplugged? i remember this happening to me once when i turned off the line conditioner my wd was plugged into... i havn't turned the line conditioner since will experiment later...

Yes, and even when just turned off and placed on stand-by,it's really weird.

anyway, I can live with it, and probably the WDTV was designed for composite viewing.

barrister · « **Reply #844 on:** Apr 01, 2009 at 12:34 PM »

Scott's latest post on avsforum (posted today):

As promised, I am going to release the new WD TV 1.02 firmware to you first! I am arranging a link to provide to you prior to releasing it to the general public on WD's website. I will have it worked out very soon.

Here is a bit more information to share about the upcoming release!

What’s new?

- Enhanced cover art, album art, and thumbnail support for media files and folders
- Additional subtitle languages and decoding support
- Improved media playback and navigation
- Added more audio formats for MKV container
- Fixed several bugs that were reported by the WD TV user community!

More information to be posted later...

-ScottWD

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16165268#post16165268

jeyps11_c · « **Reply #845 on:** Apr 01, 2009 at 12:57 PM »

Hehehe...la pa din DTS decoding.

pooch · « **Reply #846 on:** Apr 01, 2009 at 01:06 PM »

the comments are funny in the avs forum

audiojunkie · « **Reply #847 on:** Apr 01, 2009 at 01:08 PM »

Quote from: t33k0y on Mar 31, 2009 at 09:53 PM

That's weird..

I own a different media player... an NMT actually.. but I had a similar experience just recently... Initially thought the NMT is the problem. But later on found out that the HDMI cable is the culprit.

It appears the HDMI cable that came with my NMT has a defect or compatibility issue (I'm not really sure about this... ) because it suddenly stopped working.. no picture on the TV... tried everything I know to troubleshoot the problem but not successful. Finally, I switched cables and used the 2 y.o. HDMI of my Oppo 981, don't know if it's already the 1.3 version but it worked . Until now it's still connected to my NMT and never encountered the problem again.. so far... I tested the supposedly defective HDMI cable with my Oppo and panasonic HTIB players and it worked fine naman.. Weird!

Ano kaya naging problem? Maybe compatibility issue?

Quote from: Carlo777 on Apr 01, 2009 at 01:14 AM

That's the problem with some of these media players sometimes namimili ng hdmi cable. My brother tried 2 cables before it "connected". Must be a weird "handshaking" issue, this could be easily fixed with a firmware update - I guess

you are both correct.

I first thought the player has a problem so I brought back to the store but works fine when tested there. i'm using generic cable that's been connected to my oppo player for sometime already.

last night, I tested with the oppo freebie cable and it works fine.

and that both cables are perfectly working with the oppo player except the freebie is a bit darker.

IMHO, not all HDMI cables are the same in BQ and Configurations that may not be compatible with other A/V gears... how sad if the store you bought the cable " No Return policy "...

jhayc · « **Reply #848 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 06:28 AM »

Guys, for the longest time I've been scrimping to buy an NMT (Popcorn Hour or EGreat). However, I've now decided to buy (or ask my parents to buy me one, since I'm graduating anyway) the WD TV HD Player, but I have some questions and I hope you guys can help me.

1.) Since the WD TV HD player doesn't have DTS decoding, I intend to use a TOSlink cable and connect the WD to our Samsung HT-Z210T HTIB. The questions is, would it work well? Would there be no audio lag? What kind of TOSlink cable should I buy? And where can I buy good (and cheap) TOSlink cables?

2.) I think I've read before that the WD HD TV has some problems playing 1080p files. Was this problem corrected by the latest firmware? Don't you guys have problems playing back huge 10-20gb mkv or mt2s files? I've been wondering if USB can play these files well, given their size (I thought that eSATA would do a better job).

3.) Where can I buy the WD TV HD Player and extras?

Thanks a lot guys

iiinas · « **Reply #849 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 07:21 AM »

Guys, for the longest time I've been scrimping to buy an NMT (Popcorn Hour or EGreat). However, I've now decided to buy (or ask my parents to buy me one, since I'm graduating anyway) the WD TV HD Player, but I have some questions and I hope you guys can help me.

1.) Since the WD TV HD player doesn't have DTS decoding, I intend to use a TOSlink cable and connect the WD to our Samsung HT-Z210T HTIB. The questions is, would it work well? Would there be no audio lag? What kind of TOSlink cable should I buy? And where can I buy good (and cheap) TOSlink cables?

i dont have a wdtv but i do have a popcorn nmt. but i think its the same (except for network features), and i think there will be no audio lag or any issues when you use toslink/optical cable for audio decoding. i think any optical cable will work just fine as long as the cable is not damaged (heavily bent). i think there are some in electronic boutique, not sure if cdr king has optical cable though.

2.) I think I've read before that the WD HD TV has some problems playing 1080p files. Was this problem corrected by the latest firmware? Don't you guys have problems playing back huge 10-20gb mkv or mt2s files? I've been wondering if USB can play these files well, given their size (I thought that eSATA would do a better job).

i think its a case to case problem, it really depends on the encodes you get also, so you will have mix results when playing 1080p files (my popcorn still has issues with 1080 files now and then, even after several firmware upgrades already), but i guess the other members with wdtv is in a better position to answer that question. with regards to usb, correct me if im wrong, but i dont think there is any media player/nmt that uses esata as a connection to the hdd for playing the files. the egreat has esata just for transferring files but for playing the files you still have to utilize the usb connections, which means the bus speed of the usb is enough for playing these mkv files.

3.) Where can I buy the WD TV HD Player and extras?

i think you can buy the wdtv now in tipid pc for 5.5k, as for the hard disc/s, you can just ask @gren here and i'm sure there will be extras. goodluck!!!

Thanks a lot guys

disturbed · « **Reply #850 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 09:05 AM »

Quote from: pooch on Apr 01, 2009 at 01:06 PM

the comments are funny in the avs forum

binasa ko nga lahat eh..haha!

so baka tom meron na bago yahoo!

jaypd97 · « **Reply #851 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 09:26 AM »

nangangati nako sa bagong firmware!!!!

exciting!!! hehehehe

aikon · « **Reply #852 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 09:57 AM »

eto na ang pinakahihintay ninyo...

http://www.wdc.com/wdtvprerelease

can't wait to go home and update

jeyps11_c · « **Reply #853 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 10:11 AM »

Thanks for the link. DLed, will upgrade later.

pooch · « **Reply #854 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 10:27 AM »

ayan na

honestly, i can see the drastic improvement from firmware versions.

pooch · « **Reply #855 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 10:59 AM »

Scott is the Man haha

uvax · « **Reply #856 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 11:35 AM »

Quote from: iiinas on Apr 02, 2009 at 07:21 AM

2.) I think I've read before that the WD HD TV has some problems playing 1080p files. Was this problem corrected by the latest firmware? Don't you guys have problems playing back huge 10-20gb mkv or mt2s files? I've been wondering if USB can play these files well, given their size (I thought that eSATA would do a better job).

i think its a case to case problem, it really depends on the encodes you get also, so you will have mix results when playing 1080p files (my popcorn still has issues with 1080 files now and then, even after several firmware upgrades already), but i guess the other members with wdtv is in a better position to answer that question. with regards to usb, correct me if im wrong, but i dont think there is any media player/nmt that uses esata as a connection to the hdd for playing the files. the egreat has esata just for transferring files but for playing the files you still have to utilize the usb connections, which means the bus speed of the usb is enough for playing these mkv files.

It's not the file size that is important but the transfer rate. Take for example a 1080p mkv file with 8959MB and 106 min playing time. That averages out to roughly 1.4MB/s. With dedicated access USB 2.0 reaches ~40MB/s for HDDs. There is more than enough margin for playback.

Clondalkin · « **Reply #857 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 12:16 PM »

Quote from: uvax on Apr 02, 2009 at 11:35 AM

It's not the file size that is important but the transfer rate. Take for example a 1080p mkv file with 8959MB and 106 min playing time. That averages out to roughly 1.4MB/s. With dedicated access USB 2.0 reaches ~40MB/s for HDDs. There is more than enough margin for playback.

But you have to consider that playback is data flow + decoding. The USB 2.0 certainly has more than enough speed to handle the transfer. Decoding or efficiency and compatibility of the built-in codec as well as the processing power of the CPU is another matter. However, I understand the WDTV and the popular NMTs basically have the same hardware, hence the playback potential of the WDTV should be very similar to that of NMT.

OT: Im about 3 days away from finally testing an NMT (Egreat).

jhayc · « **Reply #858 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 08:40 PM »

Thank you iiinas, uvas, Clondalkin, and all the others who bothered to help.

I have another question:

Does the WD TV HD Player have an option to select where audio would pass through? To illustrate, let's say that I have the WD TV HD Player connected to the TV via HDMI cable. The WD TV HD Player is also connected via TOSlink (optical) to the Samsung HTIB (to play movies with DTS tracks). The question is, can I select in the WD whether I'd want it to use HDMI or TOSlink for the audio? For example, I might just be playing a normal 350mb xvid tv show and I wouldn't want to turn the HTIB on since the file I'm playing doesn't have 5.1 anyway. I'm afraid that once I connect the optical cable, the WD TV HD player might use it at all times and I have to physically remove the cable for it to use HDMI.

Thanks again guys!

And oh, if you have any offers on the WD TV HD Player, please PM me

Alfie · « **Reply #859 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 10:09 PM »

I just did the update, and only file 1080p file I tested was The Matrix, which played smoothly, I will try to test The Dark Knight (once I find it). I also tested a file with DTS and it still needs the optical out.

sardaukar · « **Reply #860 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 10:12 PM »

Quote from: jhayc on Apr 02, 2009 at 08:40 PM

Does the WD TV HD Player have an option selecting where audio would pass through? To illustrate, let's say that I have the WD TV HD Player connected to the TV via HDMI cable. The WD TV HD Player is also connected via TOSlink (optical) to the Samsung HTIB (to play movies with DTS tracks). The question is, can I select in the WD whether I'd want it to use HDMI or TOSlink for the audio? For example, I might just be playing a normal 350mb xvid tv show and I wouldn't want to turn the HTIB on since the file I'm playing doesn't have 5.1 anyway. I'm afraid that once I connect the optical cable, the WD TV HD player might use it at all times and I have to physically remove the cable for it to use HDMI.

Yes. It's in the settings menu.

Beefy · « **Reply #861 on:** Apr 02, 2009 at 11:30 PM »

Quote from: jhayc on Apr 02, 2009 at 08:40 PM

Thank you iiinas, uvas, Clondalkin, and all the others who bothered to help.

I have another question:

Does the WD TV HD Player have an option to select where audio would pass through? To illustrate, let's say that I have the WD TV HD Player connected to the TV via HDMI cable. The WD TV HD Player is also connected via TOSlink (optical) to the Samsung HTIB (to play movies with DTS tracks). The question is, can I select in the WD whether I'd want it to use HDMI or TOSlink for the audio? For example, I might just be playing a normal 350mb xvid tv show and I wouldn't want to turn the HTIB on since the file I'm playing doesn't have 5.1 anyway. I'm afraid that once I connect the optical cable, the WD TV HD player might use it at all times and I have to physically remove the cable for it to use HDMI.

Thanks again guys!

This is how my WDTV is connected.

1. WDTV to LCD via hdmi
2. WDTV to Samsung z210 via optical

When playing mkv, sound is played through the samsung. But when playing xvid, sound comes out through the TV. I didn't changed anything in the menu system.

thesaint · « **Reply #862 on:** Apr 03, 2009 at 12:51 PM »

Quote from: Furio on Apr 02, 2009 at 11:30 PM

This is how my WDTV is connected.

1. WDTV to LCD via hdmi
2. WDTV to Samsung z210 via optical

When playing mkv, sound is played through the samsung. But when playing xvid, sound comes out through the TV. I didn't changed anything in the menu system.
And oh, if you have any offers on the WD TV HD Player, please PM me

check your setting at Audio section. It's either stereo/digital out yata yun.
Hope it would be help you.

Beefy · « **Reply #863 on:** Apr 03, 2009 at 01:09 PM »

Audio was set at digital. I just tried playing xvid file and sound came out from the LCD. But when playing mkvs, sound will come out of the samsung htib

young_Miklo · « **Reply #864 on:** Apr 03, 2009 at 03:49 PM »

hi guys i just downloaded the fw update. how do i set the thumbnail of the folder of my movies? After updating, my "HD movies" folder had a thumbnail from the one of the sample content included in the wdtv cd. How do i change this to a preferred thumbnail? tia

sardaukar · « **Reply #865 on:** Apr 03, 2009 at 04:13 PM »

For Folder Thumbnails:

Music:
1. Display folder.JPG (the image file must be named “folder.JPG” or thumbnail will not function)
2. If no folder.JPG file is found, display the first album art image (.MP3 with embedded..JPG)
3. If no album art is available, display the first .JPG in the folder

Photo:
1. Display folder.JPG
2. If no folder.JPG file is found, display the first photo in the folder

Video:
1. Display folder.JPG
2. If no folder.JPG file is found, display the first cover art (.MP4 with embedded .JPG)
3. If no cover art is available, display the first photo in the same folder as the video to be played

For File Thumbnails:

Music:
1. Display album art (.MP3 file with embedded .JPG)
2. If no album art is available, display the image file with the same name as the audio file to be played. (for example, song.wav will be associated with song.JPG)

Photo:
1. Display thumbnail

Video:
1. Display .MP4 with embedded .JPG
2. Display image file associated with the video file to be played (for example video.mkv will be associated
with video.JPG)

jeyps11_c · « **Reply #866 on:** Apr 03, 2009 at 09:49 PM »

I noticed a longer lag when playing movie files. Dati pag press ko ng play probabaly a second nag di-display na sa tv.
After the fw update it takes around 3 seconds before lumabas yung picture sa tv. nothing biggie but just really an observation after the update.
not impact on playing mkv, avi or xvid files so far.

radforce · « **Reply #867 on:** Apr 04, 2009 at 08:45 AM »

Quote from: jeyps11_c on Apr 03, 2009 at 09:49 PM

I noticed a longer lag when playing movie files. Dati pag press ko ng play probabaly a second nag di-display na sa tv.
After the fw update it takes around 3 seconds before lumabas yung picture sa tv. nothing biggie but just really an observation after the update.
not impact on playing mkv, avi or xvid files so far.

It's one of the known issue with the FW 1.0.2(its still on beta release, hopefully ma-fix agad)

barrister · « **Reply #868 on:** Apr 04, 2009 at 10:46 AM »

On my AVI files, it takes around 20 secs. for the video to start playing. That's way, way too long.

Video thumbnails are very convenient. Searching with thumbnails is easier than having to read a list of text that all look the same.

But I can't get folder thumbnails to work. Folders keep displaying the first cover art JPEG, no matter what I do.

Subtitle sync is now fixed.

barrister · « **Reply #869 on:** Apr 04, 2009 at 11:42 AM »

I finally got the folder art working. You have to type folder, or if file extension is displayed, folder.jpg.

For example, if folder name is Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the folder art inside the folder should be named folder.jpg, not Lord of the Rings Trilogy.jpg.