WDTV Live Media Player & ...

[gonwk]

Hi folks,

I searched this forum for anything on Western Digital (WD) TV Media Player ... and I did not see anything ... so this post ...

I did see a Thread under Hardware - DVD & Bluray Players" that it did give me some ideas but did not address my Question and Comment ... https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/333566-DivX-vs-H-264-vs-Divx-HD-What-best-for-playb...highlight=wdtv

My whole intent of buying a Media Player was so I can play back my MKV or MP4 video files directly without re-encoding them to AVI.

So, I just recently bought the WDTV Live HD Media Player ... since my Philips 5982-37, as good as it is, ... it can NOT playback those files (H.264, ...) files.

But I was totally Disappointed with the WDTV media player ... because ... 1) All my files were displyed "Elongated" the videos were stretched out ... 2) The darn Timeline Bar is displayed at the bottom right where the Subtitles are displayed.

But the main deal-breaker for me was the fact that my Video was played back really bad. So, I am taking the Unit back to the store today for a refund.

Q1: Does anyone else experience this?
I noticed from above post that "Jagabo" has one of these units ... since I respect Jagabo's knowledge and experience I wonder if you can chime in!!! May be I am doing something wrong ... but I doubt it .... I mean it is just Plug & Play deal.

Q2: From reading the above post ... may be my problem can be solved by getting a BluRay Player like "LG BX580" that "mh2360" suggested? Is this true? If so, I guess my next step is see how much that thing cost ... hopefully not an arm & a leg!

Q3: Is "LG BX580" better than "Philips BDP5320" or may be some other LG or Philips Unit somebody can recommend ... NOT too Expensive?

Thanks,

G!

[yoda313]

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/311266-WDTV-Live-%28non-Plus%29

There are tons of wdtv threads on this forum. You need to search a little more.

Regarding your specific problems I can't say for sure.

[gonwk]

Hi Yoda,

Thanks for the link! I am surprised that you found one ... I searched under the Forum (not the Advanced Search) with WDTV, WD TV, and couple of other variations for both Threads and Posts ... and I got no Hits !!!

Q: Can you tell me How did you find this ... your search criteria!?!?

Thanks,

G!

[yoda313]

Q: Can you tell me How did you find this ... your search criteria!?!?

Visually.

I selected the htpc/media center forum. Than I just skimmed a few pages and each page seems to have at least one wdtv thread in it.

edit -

https://forum.videohelp.com/forums/45-Media-Center-PC-MediaCenters

Start with that link. Than just read the post titles and you should find plenty.

there are of course others spread across different forums but most of them should be in that forum.

[jagabo]

I searched this forum for anything on Western Digital (WD) TV Media Player ... and I did not see anything ...

Go to advanced search and search titles for WDTV. You'll find lots.

1) All my files were displyed "Elongated" the videos were stretched out

Either the player or your TV is set up wrong.

2) The darn Timeline Bar is displayed at the bottom right where the Subtitles are displayed.

You can move subtitles up and down with the up and down arrow keys. And the timeline bar can be switched off and on by pressing the Enter button.

But the main deal-breaker for me was the fact that my Video was played back really bad. So, I am taking the Unit back to the store today for a refund.

What kind of video? From what source (USB, network)? What firmware? The latest firmware (be sure to update to 1.04.31_V) play most videos without any problems. If you can provide one of your problematic videos for testing I'd be happy to let you know if my WDTV Live plays it properly.

[jman98]

1) All my files were displyed "Elongated" the videos were stretched out

Either the player or your TV is set up wrong.

For what it's worth, even my first generation WDTV player doesn't do that. Sounds like you just got a bad one. It happens.
I agree with jagabo.

[gonwk]

Hi folks,

@ Jagabo & Jman ... Thanks for your replies.

Well, I already jumped the gun and returned the unit and will just try using straight AVI's for now.

Jagabo, as far as setting up the Unit ... I checked the Menu and the only available was Zooming ... I tried that and nothing. Now, I am not sure about the Firmware ... the only instruction with the unit was the Quick Setup sheet ... as far as TV ... mine is 2000 model Panasonic, Tube type, oldie ... but still plays just fine ... and don't plan to get a flat screen yet.

Anyway, I will keep my eye out for WDTV when goes on Sale ... should be pick one up in near future to try out my luck again ... since speaking to friends they said the same thing you and Jman said.

BTW, I might change my plans and go for a LG-BD630 ... from my reads it seems will do the same thing as WDTV player does ... except I am not sure if it would accept a NTSC formatted External Hard Drive ... like WDTV does.

Thanks again everyone!

EDIT:

@ Jagabo ... I think you & "Jman98" solved my problem ...

1) WDTV Video default setting is set at "Widescreen" ... so since my TV is old CRT type and therefore 4:3 ... I needed to set the resolution to "Full Screen".

2) I might have even have to tell the machine I am on Composite ... even though it was working right out of the box.

3) I could have also upgraded my Firmware ... which I found your below post very helpful ... since not only I downloaded the latest F/W ... but also the Full Version of the Manual where it told me about the widescreen vs full screen deal.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/322117-WDTV-Live-(BETA-has-DVD-Navigation!)?p=20726...=1#post2072675


Thanks again,

G!

[95teetee]

I bought one of those WDTV players...despised it. Not so much aspect ratio problems, but frame-rate problems. I had to go into the settings and change the display settings pretty much every time I tried watching a different movie. And still some wouldn't play properly. Auto? Forget it. Then pretty much every video didn't play properly.


I bought a cheap (sorry-very cheap) Seiki BD player form Walmart instead because it was recommended to me- it's 1000x better.

[jman98]

gonwk - Yeah, might have been useful to tell us from the beginning that you were using an old 4:3 TV. We don't read minds.

95teetee - NEVER had any issues with frame rates with my WD player, not even with 25 fps stuff. Maybe the stuff you get is weirdly converted and you're blaming the player when the problem is with the video.

[yoda313]

1) WDTV Video default setting is set at "Widescreen" ... so since my TV is old CRT type and therefore 4:3 ... I needed to set the resolution to "Full Screen".

I found for 4:3 tv material I used 480p and auto setting on the wdtv to properly show 4:3 on my hdtv. I would assume 480p over composite would set it to letterbox on a crt set. Leaving it to "auto" should have also worked.

I had to use 480p when using hdmi out - when using composite it was automatically set to be 4:3 on my hdtv - confusing I know. I expected there to be a 4:3 option but 480p did it for me.

[95teetee]

95teetee - NEVER had any issues with frame rates with my WD player, not even with 25 fps stuff. Maybe the stuff you get is weirdly converted and you're blaming the player when the problem is with the video.

I'm talking about DIVX, mpeg, mpeg2, mkv, everything- not a video or conversion problem ...but with 25fps stuff there was no way to get smooth playback.

I've never seen anyone else mention this problem so perhaps I got a bad one -it also tended to periodically-like, every other day- lose the ability to keep track of the length of videos (then the '10 minute fwd and rwd' feature would be lost- it would be 20 or 30 seconds instead. Had to unplug it for a while to get it back.

Maybe I could have exchanged it and got one that worked properly, but by then I hated it so much that I wouldn't have cared anyway lol.

[jagabo]

95teetee - NEVER had any issues with frame rates with my WD player, not even with 25 fps stuff. Maybe the stuff you get is weirdly converted and you're blaming the player when the problem is with the video.

I'm talking about DIVX, mpeg, mpeg2, mkv, everything- not a video or conversion problem ...but with 25fps stuff there was no way to get smooth playback.

I watch all kinds of stuff with odd frame rates and never have any problems (aside from a few files that the player doesn't like, but those aren't frame rate issues). I have the WDTV Live set to output 1080p60 and it repeats frames as necessary to achieve that frame rate. 60 fps material is displayed as is, 24 fps material goes through 3:2 repeats, 25 fps goes through 3:2:3:2:2 repeats, 30 fps material goes through 2:2 repeats, 15 fps 4:4 repeats, etc. Of course that means 24 and 25 fps material exhibit the same judder that they always have on 60 field/frame per second displays.

There have been several buggy firmware releases since it came out though. That may have been part of the problem.

[gonwk]

Hi folks,

@ Jman98, heck I didn't even know my problem was 4:3 or my TV was 4:3 spec ... bought it in 2000, floor model, and don't even know where my manuals are. But after you guys said the set up thingy ... I start looking for that ... anyway, Thanks Fella!

@ 95teetee, Thanks for your input on Seiki brand ... I am gonna check it out ...

@ Yoda313, Thanks for the links and everything else ... Yoda, if I had a HDMI input my life could have been easier since I was planning just to use my Gateway laptop and feed everything thru there ... now I know VLC plays everything and anything.

@ Jagabo, thanks for your continuous feedback and support.

Someone suggested "Netgear EVA9100" and since it was on sale for $70, $30 below "WDTV Live HD Player" I picked it up and hooked it up ... WOW ... plays almost everything except couple of MKVs ... that it shows Video, but No Sound ... can't figure it out.

Here are the things that I love about this unit:
1) With a button on the Remote I can Switch between 4:3 and 16:9.
2) I have the ability to Change Font Size and Color of the Font.
3) The Player has multiple Presets for the different TV Setups that you can click thru and pick ... but default is "NTSC 480i" ... 480p gives me a Blank screen.

Q: BTW, since I already returned the "WDTV Live HD Player" can someone tell me if the WDTV Player can do numbers 1 & 2 items (see above).

Thanks,

G!

[jagabo]

1) With a button on the Remote I can Switch between 4:3 and 16:9.

Not with one button on the remote. But you can do it through the setup menus. But that is some thing you only need to do once.

2) I have the ability to Change Font Size and Color of the Font.

For subtitles? You can change the size of the font and the position, but I don't think you can change the color. You can set the black outline to thick or thin but when set to thick the subtitle and outline become semi-transparent -- a longstanding bug.

[gonwk]

Hi Jagabo,

Thanks for the info on the Subtitles & everything else!

G!