Today we got our hands on a media player from Western Digital called WD TV Live. This product is a device for playing video, music, and viewing photos from a computer, removable media, and the Internet with the ability to connect both via Ethernet and Wi-Fi.
It makes no sense to talk separately about the packaging, since no features were found in it. Much more interesting is its content.
The standard package of WD TV Live includes step-by-step instructions for connecting and setting up a media player (by the way, the instructions are really clear, so people who encounter this technique for the first time will be spared hours of blunting and mental suffering in the style of “what to do with it”). The box also predictably contains the media player itself, an adapter for connecting to the mains, an AV cable and a remote control.
The first thing you should pay attention to is the absence of an HDMI cable in the kit, so if you plan to connect a media player through this interface, then take care of purchasing an HDMI cable in advance. This cannot be called a minus, since the inclusion of such a cable in the package would affect the price, and people who already have an HDMI cable will obviously not want to overpay for what they already have.
Now about the remote control. With its not too modern look, it lies very comfortably in the hand, and the main navigation and control buttons are located quite thoughtfully.
We pass to the main, that is, to the player itself. The case is made of matte black plastic. In general, TV Live looks quite strict and technologically advanced and will perfectly fit into the interior next to the HD panel.
The bottom of the player is equipped with special grooves for mounting the device on the wall.
There is only one USB 2.0 port on the front panel for quick and easy connection of a portable hard drive or other storage. The rest of the ports are hidden on the rear panel. There is another USB 2.0, HDMI, AV, an Ethernet port and an optical audio output.
And now, in fact, about how to use the media player. In our case, TV Live was connected to the TV via HDMI, and a Wi-Fi router was used to connect to the Internet. If there is no Wi-Fi, then the obvious option is to connect via Ethernet.
So, when you connect the player to the TV and press the power button on the remote control, a language selection menu appears in front of us. The Russian language was found, which means that there should be no problems with mastering the interface. However, the interface itself is made as clear and intuitive as possible, so even a child can deal with it.
After that, the main menu of the player appears in front of us. All menus are as clear as possible and unified in terms of internal structure among themselves. For example, by selecting the Video section, a list of sources available for viewing appears on the screen, including removable storage, shared network folders, media servers located within the network, and interactive services on the Internet. Menus for music, images and other files are similarly arranged.
The Services section contains by default 15 services through which you can view and listen to various content. YouTube Videos, for example, opens up a familiar directory with video categories broken down by various parameters.
If you don’t feel like watching anything, then you can turn to game services and pass the time with one of the exciting toys.
Recently, it has become quite popular to turn your mobile gadgets into controls for other devices. A similar possibility is implemented here. If for one reason or another you do not want to use a standard remote control, you can install a special WD TV Remote application available for devices on iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play Store). The applications are free and can turn your smartphone and tablet into a full-fledged control panel. The only requirement for the operation of such a remote control is to be on the same local network.
Outcome
WD TV Live will surely find its place in any home. With the combination of the ability to play all popular video and audio formats from both local sources and various resources and services on the Internet, this media player is a great home entertainment center. It is far from always that watching movies and videos on a computer can be called convenient and comfortable, but with a similar media player connected to a widescreen TV, evening movie viewing will become much more pleasant.
In nature, there are many additions to the TV that can make life easier for the user. About five years ago there was no such variety as it is now - either standard DVD and Blu-Ray players were used, or HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer) assembled by craftsmen. Then Apple entered the market with its Apple TV, Chinese developers pulled themselves up - and we have what we have - a bunch of "set-top boxes" with multimedia functions. Personally, I have a second-generation Apple TV at home, this device organically fits into my ecosystem, it costs reasonable money (about $ 100), but the filling is very weak: the maximum supported resolution is 720p and the lack of not only support for flash drives, but also built-in memory. In short, a thing in itself - and I will probably tell you about my experience with Apple TV and alternative firmware for it.
And today let's talk about a product from Western Digital called TV Live Hub. Their devices that connect to TVs and other equipment caught my eye two years ago - but I managed to test only this device and only now.
The unit in question costs 7 thousand rubles, inside there is a 1 terabyte hard drive. At the price of hard drives of this volume (3-4 thousand rubles), we get, so to speak, the cost of the rest of the hardware - the same 3-4 thousand rubles. Let's see what's in the kit, what the Live Hub can do (I'll call the device a player) - and try to figure out who needs such a thing.
Packaging and equipment
The colorful cardboard box is rather big, and it seems that there are a lot of different things inside. But no, about half of the volume is occupied by a box with a player, in addition to it, there is a remote control and a power adapter in the box, and a couple of booklets. Cables are not included, which can be explained, but only partially - and we will deal with this later.
Appearance and ease of use
The material of the player is plastic, matt-rough top and bottom, glossy along the rim. On the front there is an on/off button and a port for connecting USB devices, there is also a WD logo on the front panel, it glows when the device is operating.
There is nothing on the sides, behind - all the connectors for switching: power, optical output, HDMI output, second USB port (also designed for connecting USB devices), composite and component outputs.
Now for the oddities. The first strange thing: there is not a single cable in the kit - even the most common HDMI at the moment. The second oddity: there is not even an Ethernet cable - not to mention the built-in Wi-Fi adapter (even if it can be connected to a USB port). Let it not be a surprise for you - you will have to buy everything at once, without putting it off for later. Moreover, there is considerable benefit from accessing the Internet, about it - a little later. A list of devices compatible with the player can be found.
We turn everything on, the player starts up, signals the presence of a fresh firmware, updates, again a notification about a new firmware (well, that's how it happens), after 10 minutes everything is ready, you can use it.
We see a colorful menu on the screen, you can navigate it left and right by pressing the “down” button on the remote control, we get into the “Favorites” customizable menu, you can see new added files and so on.
Where do the files come from? From external devices (the player copies data from a flash drive or external hard drive to its built-in one if you wish, you can just watch the content) or over the network - you can either upload files to the player or specify a "shared" network folder to the player. That is, WD Live Hub - sort of like, and can be part of your multimedia ecosystem, or maybe aggregate all the data. In principle, a terabyte is a good amount of data, you can also use it as a network hard drive for a torrent client. I would also like to be able to connect the player to the computer directly - but, alas, this is impossible.
As for the main menu, it is extremely simple to understand.
Setting- Here, perhaps, the most opportunities. Customization of outputs, menu type, video, sound, photo, network, even remote control. I don’t see the point in considering everything - one way or another, you won’t get complete freedom of action. Of the interesting - the ability to connect Apple technology for remote control of the player and download (view) photos.
Photo- viewing a photo, implemented in a medium way - the player scrolls through the picture with an effort, flipping takes a couple of seconds (plus, you can see how the picture is drawn, but this is no good). You can start a slide show. It is possible to view JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG formats.
Music– sorting by tags, MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, FLAC, OGG are supported.
Video- the main functionality of the device, in my understanding. I will immediately indicate the supported formats: AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP / M2T (MPEG1 / 2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4 / MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9, FLV (h.264), in fact, this means one thing - no matter what I try, everything is reproduced , up to 1080p. There is a rewind, you have to adapt to it, subtitles are supported.
Services- as many as 22 mini-applications for working with content. These are photos - Flickr, Picasa, and videos - the same YouTube and Vimeo, and even the ability to order videos on demand. There is support for Facebook and even Yota Music (you need a login and password, that is, you won’t be able to listen to it for free).
Games- a selection of simple games, there is not even anything to tell.
RSS– reading tapes, adding new ones is possible, for this purpose the on-screen keyboard is used.
Files– view the device's file system.
Conclusion
The WD TV Live Hub player costs, as I wrote at the beginning of the review, 7 thousand rubles. Let's sum up.
pros:
- Small and quiet device
- omnivorous
- Fast work (except for viewing photos), fast hard disk
- Ability to connect external USB devices
- Good functionality (apps, games, RSS)
- Intuitive interface
- The presence of a file manager
- Network access, connecting Apple equipment to work with the player
Minuses:
- No cables included
- No Wi-Fi adapter (but can be connected to a USB port)
- Not the most convenient file rewind
- Large and not very convenient remote control
- Lacks the ability to connect the player to a computer as a removable hard drive
For me, the WD TV Live Hub turned out to be a device that did not make the best impression at first, but in the end the impression turned out to be positive. I can not say that everything is perfect in it, but it is pleasant to use the device. For the money asked - not bad.
Declared characteristics
Supported formats
- Video - AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP/M2T ( MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9, FLV (h.264)
- Photo - JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG
- Audio - MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS
- Playlists - PLS, M3U, WPL
- Subtitles - SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI
Other characteristics
- Capacity: 1TB
- Interfaces: Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, HDMI, Composite A/V, Component video, Optical audio
- Dimensions (HxDxW): 32x198x154 mm
- Weight: 0.55 kg
Ilya Tarakanov ()
From its first appearance, it immediately won the sympathy of a huge number of users - simply because it was very cheap, and much more expensive models could envy the built-in functionality. However, the first model also had noticeable shortcomings. For example, it did not have a DTS audio decoder, there was no network support, and there was no support for the latest HDMI version. But Western Digital did not stand still and released the next version called WD TV Live, in which these shortcomings were eliminated. I was going to test this model, but somehow I didn’t get around to it. And then they sent me a special new US version from the States called WD TV Live Plus (this is practically the same WD TV Live, only with support for several specific US network services), for which many thanks to the Reader-Sony.ru online store, and we'll just see what this player is. So, the compact universal media player WD TV Live Plus.
WD TV Live Plus
SpecificationsChipset- Sigma 8655
Dimensions- 126×40×100mm
The weight- 330 g
Net- Ethernet 10/100
WiFi- using a special USB controller
Ports- Ethernet, HDMI, Composite A/V, Component Video, USB 2.0
Audio file types- MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS
Video file types- AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1 /2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9, FLV (h.264)
Image types- JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG
Playlists- PLS, M3U, WPL
Subtitle formats- SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI
Online Services- Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, Pandora, Live365, MediaFly networks
Drive unit- missing
HDD- absent Well, according to the characteristics - it supports at least a trait of a bald man. But let's see how it will look in practice. Equipment The unit itself, remote control with batteries, AV cable (composite signal), AV cable (component signal), AC adapter, quick installation guide, and CDs. Appearance and control There were practically no changes in the appearance of the player - a compact box the size of a pocketbook.
Appearance
On the front panel there is a power indicator and an indicator for connecting an external drive. On the rear panel - the corresponding outputs: power, USB, HDMI, optical, Ethernet, audio-video, component.
Rear end
Another USB port is on the left side. There are no control buttons on the case as a class, the player is controlled only by the remote control, which here, as it was small and primitive, has remained.
Remote Control
Main menu
Image Preview
While viewing a picture, you can call up a menu in which there is an approximation-removal, rotation, information about the file.
menu
Also, if the Internet is connected, you can view images from your Flickr account. Listening to music Various types of selection: by artists, albums, compositions, playlists, recently listened to.
Compositions
Tracks and albums can also be viewed in preview or list mode. The player is simple, but during playback, information about the artist, album and genre is displayed.
Playback
Playback menu
Fast playback is done at 2-4-8 and 16x. You cannot jump to a specific time point - by the way, this is sad. The only "jump" that works here is jumping 10 minutes forward or backward when you press the "next chapter" or "previous chapter" button while in fast forward.
Video with external subtitles
High definition movie
However, here, too, it is impossible to jump to a given time position or to the corresponding number of minutes, which is not particularly convenient. Acceleration from 2x to 16x works, but on some container codecs (especially on "Matryoshka") it's a little crooked. A jump of 10 minutes on the keys to go to the previous / next sections during fast forwarding works here. A key point in my testing of HD media players is how they play folders with Blu-ray disc structures. Because modern players already play all sorts of rips decently, but Blu-ray folders - everything is much more complicated here. At the same time, players are divided into three categories according to the playback mechanism: 1. The player does not understand the Blu-ray structure at all, and in order to play the desired stream stream, you need to select the appropriate file from tens or hundreds. And since the vast majority of players still do not know how to sort files by size (this is the only way to find a file with a movie), it turns out that you really can’t really watch a movie in this format. 2. When playing a Blu-ray folder, the player finds the movie on its own and starts it. In this case, menus and extras are not available, but you can watch a movie. However, if a sufficiently long film about the film is found among the special stages, then the player may miss and launch it - I have come across a similar one. And then the movie itself can only be started manually. 3. The player plays the Blu-ray structure like a normal Blu-ray disc - with all the menus, extras, and so on. This is, of course, the most convenient. But in all my practice, only Dune players have reproduced Blu-ray structures in this way. Some journalists explain the existing problems with the reproduction of such folders by the developers' concern for copyrights - they say that pirated copies of BR discs are distributed in the folders, so they do not reproduce them, so as not to quarrel with the copyright holders. The explanation, in my opinion, is at least strange. Because the same "Matryoshka", in which rips of BR-movies are distributed, all these players reproduce without any problems. And the folders are embarrassed to play. By the way, in these folders I have copies of normal licensed BR discs that I bought myself. It's just that it's much more convenient for me to play them from a hard drive.
High definition MKV movie with subtitles
So how does WD TV Live Plus behave with such folders? Behaves badly. Well, that is, it pretends to understand these folders and sort of plays the movie, but in fact it just clings to the first stream file that appears in the list - as a rule, this is a license warning in a hundred languages. Therefore, there is no sense here with WD TV. Just look for the movie file and run it manually. Price In the States, this player costs about $90 - that is, two kopecks. Against the background of such an ultra-low price, you are more than tolerant of its shortcomings. If you do not need to watch Blu-ray folders, then the player is quite suitable for solving most light tasks of playing media content, including from the network. conclusions Well, the player is clearly developing - most of the problems of the WD TV model in WD TV Live have been removed by the developers. With the network, support for the DTS decoder and various Internet media services, the player has become very good. And if you take into account that it really costs a penny, it turns out to be one of the best budget models on the market. Of the shortcomings - the inability to more flexibly scroll through the videos and get to the right point, well, problems with Blu-ray folders. In the rest - a cool player, just cool.
There is no doubt that WD TV, released almost a year ago, has significantly revived the market for high-definition media players. It very successfully combines the "correct" processor, convenient software shell, spectacular design and, most interestingly, low cost.
The only thing that upset us was the lack of a network connection. This significantly complicates the work with large media libraries, which are most conveniently stored on network drives or personal computers. Of course, since then, enthusiasts have already solved this problem, but for the mass user, this “upgrade” is not easy.
So the release of an updated version of the player with a built-in network controller looks very interesting. Western Digital obviously wants to repeat the success of the first model, but the chosen time of the announcement was chosen well - just before the New Year holidays. Let's see if it works.
Contents of delivery
The player is packaged in a compact cardboard box, decorated in dark colors. The name of the model looks the most contrasting. So if you are looking for a device on the shelves in the store, then you will find it quickly. Also on the packaging you can find several photos, a brief description, specifications. Localization is present only partial. The size is also pleasing - only about 20x18x10 centimeters. Several of these will fit in a familiar plastic bag at once :).
Let's see what is inside and whether there is enough equipment to start working with the device. The box contains: player, remote control, batteries for it (2xAAA), a leaflet with a brief description of the installation process, a CD with full descriptions and programs, two audio-video cables, a power supply (12 V 1.5 A), two sets of rubber feet .
Wires are presented in two options - composite video plus stereo audio and component video. Both cables on the player side use a four-pin minijack connector. Today, this is a fairly common option. But you can't buy them in any store.
On the CD, the user can find a pdf file with the full version of the manual in English (the Russian version can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website), several samples of media files, and a program for searching for a device on the network.
In general, we can say that the kit is quite sufficient. It’s a pity, of course, there is no HDMI cable, but this is probably not worth demanding from a device positioned as “high-quality and inexpensive”.
Appearance
Like its predecessor, the model considered today at the first meeting causes only delight. It is simply impossible to believe that such a compact body can fit a modern multi-format device with full HD video support. And the new model is even more interesting - among other things, there is now a network controller.
Actually, the case itself has remained practically the same - plastic is used, the dimensions are 12.5x10x4 cm. Only now, instead of black glossy, it has become gray matte. Of course, this is more practical in terms of cleanliness and preservation of appearance.
The included rubber feet can be attached to one of the two sides, which corresponds to the horizontal and vertical position of the player. On the front panel there is a small window with device status and USB activity indicators (two stylish white LEDs), as well as an IR signal receiver from the remote control.
There is one USB port and a reset button on the side (or top) side. On the back panel are all the other connectors. Here you can find the power supply input, second USB port, HDMI, optical digital audio output, network port, analog AV connectors.
Compared to WD TV, the new version added a component video output and, of course, a network port. As space is severely limited, this has led to the replacement of conventional audio-visual "tulips" with mini-jacks. This is a little less convenient, but the main connection option today is HDMI, so the remark is not very significant.
The player is passively cooled - the grilles are located at the ends. In this sense, vertical installation is more efficient. The consumption is very small, so that overheating is possible only in case of an extremely unsuccessful installation. In particular, the manufacturer does not recommend installing an external hard drive on the player. This solution also has an undeniable plus in the form of a completely absent noise, especially when working over a network.
Let's once again praise the remote control - compact, with a reasonable minimum of buttons, convenient and functional design. As with the body of the media player itself, matte plastic was used for the remote this time, which significantly affected the appearance during operation. It is worth paying attention to the absence of any volume control from the remote control.
Internal organization
In terms of filling, the new model is similar to the first one - the platform based on the Sigma Designs media processor is again used. But there are differences: the main chip is now SMP8655, the memory capacity has grown significantly (up to 512 MB RAM and 256 MB flash), a network chip has been added, and a separate HDMI output chip, on the contrary, has disappeared.
The main processor has a large heatsink. The remaining microcircuits do without cooling systems.
The player has one board, which ensures the reliability of the design. In addition to these components, you can also find a console output on it, which will allow you to modify the firmware.
The filling is placed in a metal casing, which ensures the rigidity of the structure and the "solidity" of the player, due to the relatively large weight. Well, in turn, all this is in a plastic case, consisting of two elements. If desired, it can be disassembled even without using a screwdriver.
Connection and settings
By and large, this entire section could be fit in one sentence - "connect the HDMI, network and power cables, turn on the player and start watching the video." Indeed, in our case, you can do without preliminary settings - HDMI immediately started working in 1080p mode, the network card received an address via DHCP, and the player found several DLNA servers on the test network. Nevertheless, let's go through the settings pages of the player's interface.
There are seven groups of parameters in total. The first - "Audio and Video" - is used to set the operation of the outputs - the type and mode of the video output is configured, DeepColor support on HDMI is activated, the aspect ratio of the screen and the audio output mode (stereo analog or digital) are selected. We note here the lack of support for auto-selection of frame rates depending on the type of source material, although 1080p24 itself is present in the parameters.
The following three groups refer to video, photo and music playback respectively. For all types of files, you can select the playback sequence and the type of list of files and directories (thumbnails, list, preview). The player supports the use of external jpeg files to design folder icons.
In addition, subtitles are configured for the video - font size, outline type, automatic use if available. To view photos in a slide show, select the interval and type of transition (one of seven options or random selection), as well as the zoom mode. For music files, the only additional option is to show the file name or track name.
Next comes File Management. In fact, this is not a settings page, but a built-in utility for copying and moving documents between network and local drives. There is also an option to delete files.
Obviously a new item for this model - "Network settings". This is about specifying the parameters for connecting to the network. Manual mode for setting IP addresses is supported, as well as DHCP. Interestingly, the device can also be used with wireless networks, but apparently you need to connect a special USB adapter for this. There are more than a dozen models listed on the site's compatibility list, including 802.11n. Of the really available in Russia, we note the D-Link DWA-140. You can remember five wireless networks and quickly switch between them. The modern WPA encryption standard is supported, so connecting the player to a wireless network will not compromise security. Although, of course, it should be noted that for an HD player this option of network integration is not very interesting because of the low (for the tasks under consideration) performance.
There are also options that allow access to connected USB drives over the network, auto-connect network resources and reset stored network details (username and password). Network access speed is typical for this class of devices - about 5 MB / s for reading and 3 MB / s for writing (and writing is also supported on NTFS). The device name can be overridden from the default "WDTVLIVE", but the workgroup does not change.
The last page is dedicated to system settings. In particular, the choice of the interface language (Russian is available, although the translation is sometimes incorrect or with errors), the inclusion of file indexing (a function similar to WD TV that allows you to work with information from tags, and not with folders, applies only to local drives, creates a hidden folder on removable disks, requires free space), selecting a timeout for the screen saver, setting the code page, resetting all options, checking for firmware updates and installing them (the tests used the recently released 1.01.17). Localization touched not only the menu - the player works correctly with Russian file names both locally and over the network, tags are also read correctly. To access some updates, WD requires you to register your device on the site. For WD TV Live, this can be done directly from the player's interface. Just enter your name and email address.
So, we have finished with the settings, you can start working with media files.
Working with multimedia
"Communication" with the player occurs through the menu using the remote control. Its design is quite pleasant and convenient - a “grid” version similar to its predecessor is used with a choice of points vertically and horizontally. Separately, we note a good response speed that does not cause discomfort.
On FullHD-devices, the picture does not “ring” - obviously in the original version, the design was focused on standard definition or 720p. Although, of course, this does not affect the work with files and still looks very high quality.
The first choice consists of the Video, Photo, Music, and Settings items that were described above. After determining the content type (affects file filtering while viewing lists), you must select the source - local drives, network resources, media servers or Internet services (different for each content type).
Two USB 2.0 ports are provided for connecting local drives. Working with USB hubs is not supported, which is not very convenient. But several partitions on disks can be used. File systems can be FAT/FAT32, NTFS, HFS+. When using disk indexing, it is advisable to use the corresponding button on the remote control to disable them.
There are no special presets for network resources. UPnP AV/DLNA servers are found automatically. The player works with WMP from Windows 7, TwonkyMedia and MediaTomb servers, as well as NAS with built-in DLNA service. The speed of work in this mode is very high - we were able to play test files with a video bitrate of 52 Mbps, and there was even room for fast forwarding. Of course, this is one of the positive features of the device in question.
To connect ordinary network folders (SMB/CIFS protocols), there is a built-in network browser. When accessing a resource, a username and password are requested if necessary. This data is saved and you do not need to repeat the action later. In general, this option is not bad, although in the case of a large network it might be more convenient to have a list of favorite resources for quick access. The speed of working with SMB is usually slower, but this time we could not determine the exact limit. As a rule, we test the speed with a regular Windows PC and network drives and the results are almost the same. But with the device in question, the numbers were very different, and the repeatability was poor - sometimes it was not possible to read a file with a video bitrate of 30 Mbps normally from a computer, and 50 Mbps video was also well shown with a NAS. As one test, we looked at a 40 GB m2ts file from a disk image without any problems. So just keep in mind that the network speed may be enough for remixes, but we do not undertake to predict success.
Let's start as usual with the simplest - photos. The device can work with jpeg, gif, tiff, bmp, png files. During playback, the image can be rotated and scaled. The orientation flag from exif is read and used correctly. There is also a mode for displaying brief information about the file - modification date, resolution, size. On the fly, you can also change the repeat mode for the slideshow. To set these options, use a special dedicated button on the remote control with the same name. Unfortunately, its action "interrupts" all other controls - if the "option" menu is visible on the screen, then you must first remove it, even to stop playback.
Photo previews are visible only when working with local and network resources, as well as with a DLNA server. Indexing local disks allows you to use for navigation, in addition to "by directories", also sorting by date (similarly for video files). There is a built-in library search system that works with indexed content.
An online photo viewing service provided by flickr. When using it, you can select some categories of files, such as the most interesting or recently published. Only now there are clearly some problems with the resolution of the pictures - they look very sad on a FullHD TV.
Let's move on to music. According to the manufacturer, here we can use the mp3, wma, wav, aac, flac, mka, aiff, aac, ogg formats. In addition, you can decode DD and DTS directly in the player and output in stereo. In general, all this was confirmed (we did not check some rare formats). Fans of high quality sound will certainly enjoy working with flac. It’s a pity that there weren’t enough developers for ape. The sound output is also not very good - the maximum sampling rate of the decoded signal is 48 kHz, even if the original file (for example, in wav format) was recorded at 96 or 192 kHz.
Tags are supported in mp3, wma and flac formats. Russian versions are visible both in Unicode and in cp1251 (with the appropriate choice of code page in the settings).
If your library is already boring, you can use the built-in clients for Live365 and Pandora services. They provide access to a huge number of Internet radio stations. True, the first works in VIP mode for only five days (to demonstrate the full range of features), and the second is available only in the United States (and requires registration). However, in the free version of Live365 you can find something interesting to listen to. And if this is not enough - purchase a VIP account (about $8 per month).
By the way, if you first turn on the music, and then return to the photo mode, you get a slide show with music.
In addition to individual files, the player also works with playlists in pls and m3u formats, which may be useful for some users. Sorting for local drives is by album, artist, genre, date.
This model of the player, of course, is primarily intended for viewing modern high-definition video formats. However, it is quite compatible with "regular" video and can display such familiar formats as mpeg, avi/divx/xvid and wmv. It's a pity that the manufacturer never got around to working with DVD-Video: neither folders nor disk images can be fully used - only file-by-file or only the main movie (and even then not always). Although switching audio tracks and subtitles works fine with them. To fully enjoy the picture, you should look for something with FullHD resolution in mkv, ts/m2ts, mp4 or mov containers. There are no problems with codecs either - all the capabilities of the chip from Sigma Designs are used. The player successfully decodes mpeg1/2/4, wmv9, h.264/avc and vc-1. In particular, you can view recordings from modern HD cameras without any editing or processing.
During viewing, you can use rewind - up to 16x (depending on the format) in both directions. Of course, the actual speed depends on the performance of the data source. Unfortunately, there is no provision for quick timecode navigation. Some compensation for this can be the automatic memorization of the position when playback is stopped. If you then select the same file, the player will offer to start from it or from the very beginning. Another quick way to navigate is to use the next/previous file buttons while rewinding - they allow you to "jump" 10 minutes at once.
Files can have multiple subtitles and multiple audio tracks. Switching - only through the options menu. This, of course, is not very convenient. Also, through it, you can try to scale the picture by 1/8x, 1/4x, 1/2x, 1.1x, 1.2x, 2x, 4x, 8x.
With HD soundtracks, the situation is ambiguous. From the test set of files, some variants were successfully played, in some there was no sound (although the player correctly determined the track format). So there is no unequivocal answer about the applicability of the player in this case. Of the successful options, we note DTS HD output as DTS, full-fledged DD TrueHD, LPCM output with a downmix in stereo.
Subtitles are supported both external (srt, ssa, smi/sami, idx/sub) and embedded in the video file (mkv with ssa or srt). When setting the player to Russian, you can use cp1251, Unicode and UTF8 to display text correctly. You can also have multiple language versions of external subtitles that differ in suffixes. External subtitles do not work when playing files through a media server.
In addition to files, the user can view videos from the popular YouTube service. You can select by popularity, rating and other criteria. A coup is the support for HD formats streamed from this service. In this case, on large screen TVs, the videos do not look as terrible as they do for standard definition.
Complete programs
Full versions of user manuals and various documentation are written to disk in pdf format. Unfortunately, Acrobat Reader is not included. Although, of course, most likely everyone already has it installed.
There are also several examples of media files on the disk - photos in jpeg, music in mp3 and video in mp4. Note that the video and photos are in FullHD resolution, so that the user can immediately evaluate the possibilities of his new acquisition.
The disk shell is presented as an interactive program that links both to files on the disk and to various network resources (for example, to the Adobe website). There is also a WD Discovery utility that will help you find the player on the network and organize access to connected USB devices.
There are no programs for transcoding media files included. Apparently, this time the manufacturer considers his product "omnivorous", which was confirmed in our tests. Although, of course, several times on specific samples we were asked to re-encode the file for playback on the player.
conclusions
The new model of the WD TV Live player turned out to be certainly successful. In addition to all the positive characteristics of its predecessor, it also received a very fast network that allows you to view almost any type of content from remote resources.
Some users will also benefit from the increase in HDMI output version, which has resulted in (currently partial) support for the new HD soundtrack formats. Of course, you will need an appropriate receiver to use them.
Unfortunately, in pursuit of high-definition video, the manufacturer forgot or did not have time to implement full-fledged support for the still popular DVD-Video today - the player cannot display disc menus.
In our opinion, WD TV Live can successfully compete today with numerous models of the NMT family. First of all, on its side is a "licked" design, a beautiful and convenient user interface, a very fast network connection. The price of $149.99 declared by the manufacturer at the beginning of sales (we are talking, of course, about the USA) has already managed to drop to $119.99 today and looks great. In the local market, it, unfortunately, differs markedly from this figure. The current average retail price of this model in Moscow is $128() .
We thank the 2L agency for providing the player for the test.
gvrax 2 years ago
Yandex Market
I've been using it since 2012!
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Advantages: 1) Durability and reliability of the device! 2) Relevance - I still use it 3) UPDATE: I re-flashed it to a modified firmware, now youtube works again :)
Disadvantages: Ceased to support - outdated software on it (but it is treated with a re-firmware with the installation of plug-ins)
alexey chugunov 3 years ago
Yandex Market
great product, I use it all the time. Reads everything 95% of the time. I am 100% satisfied with the purchase and I recommend it to everyone
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Pros: compact, easy to read
Disadvantages: after turning off and then turning on the electricity, it turns on by itself
Vasily K. 4 years ago
Yandex Market
In vain they were removed from production - the model is successful. But! I know where they are still for sale! In the summer of 2016, I bought such a player in a store for 2499 rubles. - This is the second such player in my house. The first one still works flawlessly.
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Pros: Small, versatile, plays any files both from USB-drives and over the network. The remote control is convenient, the location of the buttons is intuitive. Soft LED light on the front panel (does not hit the eye). With alternative firmware gets new features.
Disadvantages: The side usb-jack broke - it physically broke off from the board.
noname 5 years ago
Yandex Market
A few years ago I bought exactly the same device, but with a built-in 2 TB hard drive. It still works great, reads additional drives easily.
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Advantages: There is only one advantage, you can connect an external drive to this device.
Disadvantages: A huge disadvantage is that this device does not (judging by the description of the characteristics) have a built-in HDD!
Dimitry-188 6 years ago
Yandex Market
Great device. An important point: if you just press the red button on the remote control, the device falls asleep, but in a very peculiar way: instead of 8 W (in the "on mode") it consumes 6 W. At the same time, it actively heats up and continues to keep WiFi on. But if you press the red button on the remote control and keep it pressed for 5 seconds, the device falls asleep completely, does not heat up and does not consume excess energy.
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Advantages: 1. Perfectly plays "through the air" almost all files. 2. Well made.
Disadvantages: 1. It was not immediately possible to force him to play files via DLNA from the file storage. 2. Connected to the TV via HDMI - the top of the picture is "cut off" a little.
Andrey G. 6 years ago
Yandex Market
I have been using it for over 4 years. During this time, there were a couple of inadequate and inexplicable failures in the summer heat (spontaneous shutdown, inability to turn on). Internet services and connections do not use. Only watching movies (files up to 4GB) from three 1TB disks (2.5", USB 2.0 and 3.0, without power), sometimes photos from a vacation, sometimes music in MP3 on an active analog triphonic for $ 100. In general, it works perfectly as Swiss Watches.
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Pros: build quality, picture, sound. Reliability, ease of management
Cons: None at this price point
N. Roman 6 years ago
Yandex Market
Great box showing everything and everywhere. Works well with properly configured media server
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Advantages: Reads everything (failure 1% for 3 years of use), connects to any TV, good video signal through all wires, simplest interface, excellent functionality.
Disadvantages: Sometimes buggy inside the grid (perhaps not configured correctly) and does not see everything that is shared. Not the best solution for viewing files over 20 gigs.
Evg B. 6 years ago
Yandex Market
Super machine for your money. A good opportunity to turn a somewhat outdated plasma model (which I have) into a real media center. Ideal for viewing downloaded rips. Viewing MKV rips from 2 to 3 GB in size through this machine on a 40" plasma - the quality is acceptable / good, more good. Sizes from 4 to 6 GB. (720r) - the quality is very good. Rips AVI, in my opinion, go generally better than through a computer video card, with the exception of traditional soap on dark areas of the frame.Recommended for purchase._______________________ Addition: after 3 years of use (quite intensive) there are failures in playing movies (during movie 4 -5 times the image and sound are turned off for 2-3 seconds).
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Pros: Plays all formats of video rips that I have. Sees a 2 TB hard drive. Great picture. For best quality, you must connect via HDMI.
Disadvantages: 1. Out of about 600 films in MKV, only 2 films were not taken. The reason is unknown, possibly an outdated codec. But this is a funny shortcoming.2. Sound roads in AAC play worse than others (stutters every 10 seconds). Well, if you don't pay attention, it doesn't matter. 3. If the harddisk connected to the media player contains a file that it does not read for one reason or another, then when you replay other files recorded on the harddisk and which it easily read before, the media player may not open them. It is treated by disabling / enabling, or deleting an unreadable file.
Guest 6 years ago
Yandex Market
I wanted to change the box for an android - I bought a minix neo x7 - but this android is resting - I sold it a month later for Avito.
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Advantages: plays everything that is, if turned off - continues from the same place. small convenient, the remote control is what you need. can play with VK - on an alternative firmware.
Cons: no wifi no ivi
Alexander p. 6 years ago
Yandex Market
I connected the device to the network with a twisted pair cable, cut a 1TB disk without additional. nutrition. Ruthlessly installed an alternative firmware (b-rad) on it on the first day of purchase. The first requirement was the presence of a torrents download, the firmware has rtorrent, but I didn’t like it and an additional transmission plugin was installed. After that, the piece of iron itself began to download / distribute files, at the same time, you can play these files with the player. BUT ... sometimes the toy hangs ... the only thing I could achieve was the ratio of the firmware / plug-in, in which, after a hard reboot, the rocking chair resumes work. It currently distributes more than 100 video files. In general, we found a compromise with the device, although iron is apparently rather weak for the full-fledged work of the rocking chair. I am supplementing the review on 11/15/2013, the player has worked as a rocking chair / distributor of torrents since 02/18/2011, in addition to this, it showed these films. I managed to give away about 35 TB, download 2 TB, today I was sent to a well-deserved rest (read "to work as intended") in connection with the acquisition of a NAS. Honor and praise to the manufacturer, resistant piece of iron. Yes, by the way, I left the alternative firmware, rolled up a plug-in for showing films from external file storages, now you can watch simple series and all kinds of entertainment programs online without downloading.
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Advantages: The undisputed leader in terms of price / quality. Serious electronics manufacturer - WD propellers have never failed. Read 99% of available video files. Dimensions of the player and the remote control.
Disadvantages: Perhaps the lack of a volume control, although somewhere on the forum I read that you can plug in a plug-in and the volume will appear.
