Can I use this WD TV devise to play AVCHD video files?

[jbitakis]

Can I use this WD TV devise to hook up to my HDTV and play my AVCHD video files that are on an External hard drive? Does it connect with USB?
I was looking at getting a Blu Ray Writer, but if I can play my HD 1920x1080 60p video (that I took on my panasonic HD camcorder) AVCHD video files on my HDTV, then that would be better than having to burn/author/write to a blu ray.
James

[_Al_]

I tested some Panasonic TM600 50p video some year ago and it was all right through my WDTV Live , but what you can do is upload a sample , ant it could be tested for 60p.
WDTV Live was one of my best investments, plays virtually anything and 30Mbit or so over LAN no problem either. Of course through USB from external HDD too.
I decided to skip burning BD's long time ago, it a useless step for the future anyway. If you distribute BD's of course you burn optical disc but for personal use it is just extra step.

[edDV]

WDTV spec says

• MPEG2 MP@HL up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
• MPEG4.2 ASP@L5 up to 1280x720p30 resolution and no support for global motion compensation.
• WMV9/VC-1 MP@HL up to 1280x720p60 or 1920x1080p24 resolution. VC-1 AP@L3 up to 1920x1080i30, 1920x1080p24 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
• H.264 BP@L3 up to 720x480p30 or 720x576p25 resolution.
• H.264 MP@L4.1 and HP@4.1 up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30, or 1280x720p60 resolution.

But maybe it does better in real use. Needs testing.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

[jagabo]

I've played several 1080p50 and 1080p60 videos on my WDTV Live. If you upload a sample from your camcorder I'll try it out.

[_Al_]

WDTV spec says

• MPEG2 MP@HL up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
• MPEG4.2 ASP@L5 up to 1280x720p30 resolution and no support for global motion compensation.
• WMV9/VC-1 MP@HL up to 1280x720p60 or 1920x1080p24 resolution. VC-1 AP@L3 up to 1920x1080i30, 1920x1080p24 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
• H.264 BP@L3 up to 720x480p30 or 720x576p25 resolution.
• H.264 MP@L4.1 and HP@4.1 up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30, or 1280x720p60 resolution.

But maybe it does better in real use. Needs testing.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

The thing with these specs for those different players is , I think, it is just to print something on the box, it could behave differently in different container , somethimes there could be a glitch with certain firmware release etc. So to test video, in this case AVCHD for his camcorder, where his specs are not going to change, is always a good idea ....

[jbitakis]

How do I test it without actually buying it??

[edDV]

How do I test it without actually buying it??

You post a sample file. Then WDTV owners test it.

PS: You are out on the bleeding edge with 1080 60p. We are all interested in what works and what doesn't.

[jagabo]

You can upload files up to 30 MB here. Services like Mediafire and MegaUpload allow 100 or 200 MB files without signing up for an account.

[jbitakis]

Ok here is the video file :
Please let me know if it can play on WD TV or Roku or Popcorn or some other media center.
THanks
James

[jbitakis]

Here is another video file. Keep in mind that 1920x1080 60P HD video takes up a lot of space, so the 30mb limit only allows me to upload 6-10 second video clips.
Let me know if this plays on your media center.

[jman98]

jbitakis - Roku is EXTREMELY limited in what they will play. While I have one and I like it, it's a spectacularly poor choice for a media player in my opinion. It's great for what it was designed to do, which is to stream media from the internet to your TV. The file play capabilities it has are rather limited.

Note that I'm not sure that any WD device understands AVCHD format although they may be able to directly play the m2ts files contained therein. If you are looking for menu support you can probably forget about that.

[jagabo]

The two clips played smoothly on my WDTV Live over a wired network connection. There was an initial delay of about 8 seconds between the time I selected the file and it started to play. But once they started playing the video was smooth and the audio was in sync.

[_Al_]

jbitakis
Both files are played back all right, no hiccups, but to make sure 100% a longer clips need to be tested. I have WDTV Live Plus but thats the same as WDTV Live.

Beware of one thing though , those players, WDTV Live players included , play those clips one after another but it is not gapless playback, there is a 5-6 s gap while playing clips from a folder. Over LAN it could be a bit more about 7 s. This is the case for my WDTV Live Plus and your clips.

[jagabo]

Yes, a longer sample would be better. But it's looking like the WDTV Live series can handle the files.

[khichadi]

Can someone try this little longer file with WD TV Live
No issue with Video but Audio starts for few seconds and than stops

[_Al_]

WDTV Live Plus fw: 1.06.16B no problem, but again, to watch lots of clips in a row is a pain because there are gaps between clips, in some point you better join those clips

[khichadi]

Not sure what WD TV live Plus is...
http://www.wd.com/en/products/homeentertainment/mediaplayers/
I have WD TV live FW 1.16.13 (Latest FW) and I juts bought this yesterday
This was single clip and audio stops after few seconds.
Did you play on your WD TV Live plus (not sure again about plus and your FW)? Audio came out for entire clip?

[jagabo]

The clip played on my WDTV Live. The audio cut out after 22 seconds and the picture continued for about 3 seconds after that. On my computer the clip is about 22 seconds long. So I think what was happening is that the all the audio played but the WDTV was behind in displaying the picture. So it kept going until the video ended.

The WDTV Live Plus is the generation after the WDTV Live. It added the ability to stream NetFlix (ie, decryption of the NetFlix stream and HDCP encryption to the HDMI port).

Note that Western Digital does't claim the WDTV series will play 1920x1080p60. So don't blame them.

[_Al_]

Did you play on your WD TV Live plus (not sure again about plus and your FW)? Audio came out for entire clip?

yes, same like on PC, audio-video in sync, ending at the same time

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Plus-1080p-Media-Player/dp/B003MVZ60I
Wdtv live plus is older model comparing to latest WDTV Live Streamer and was for sale in USA only. Perhaps they are not even making them anymore, that's why the price is overblown on Amazon, I got it for much less then when it was available in BestBuy store, $89 or $99. WDTV Live streamer has Netflix streaming capability so WDTV Live Plus became obsolete (as WD was thinking), but as we can see now, fw is still somehow different ...

[jagabo]

I remuxed the video with MMG into an MKV container and it played correctly on my WDTV Live. Right length, audio and video in sync.

[khichadi]

Would you mind uploading mkv file here? I have other longer clips and I need to double check about sync.. I thought audio just stopped and not a sync issue.

[khichadi]

Just created mkv files with more clips and looks like issue is resolved with mkv container.
Thanks for all your help
Just curious, it's same data just different container(assuming tool doesn't encode data again) and I thought WD player can't handle 1920X1080 60p. So why mkv data plays and m2ts doesn't?

[_Al_]

Firmware is written that way, intentionally or not. It took WDTV Live some time to balanced it better.

[khichadi]

Any media player that can play 1920X1080 60p m2ts file?