WD HD Media Player (with HDMI out etc.)

Gints Klimanis · December 11th, 2008, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Shahinian

Any owners know if additional codecs (Cineform) can be installed?

Other than the obvious future firmware update, I don't see a way to do this. In any case, it would have to be from WD as they use a Sigma processor in this device. There is some companion software to manage the WD TV for Windows computers.

Greg Harris · December 17th, 2008, 02:17 PM

Ok, it seems like this is kind of like Apple TV minus the wi fi correct? Say i get a blue ray disk, how do i go about ripping it onto my computer and converting it to full 1080p? I guess that's the same question I have for reguar DVD's. I have a DVD ripper but it only rips to a certain file type and I have to convert it to ipod format which would be very small for my TV.

Gints Klimanis · December 17th, 2008, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Harris

Ok, it seems like this is kind of like Apple TV minus the wi fi correct? Say i get a blue ray disk, how do i go about ripping it onto my computer and converting it to full 1080p? I guess that's the same question I have for reguar DVD's. I have a DVD ripper but it only rips to a certain file type and I have to convert it to ipod format which would be very small for my TV.

While I haven't "backed up" BluRay disks, DVDDecrypter does the job for most DVDs. You would then make a folder with the name of your movie and copy the VIDEO_TS folder there. Navigate to the VOB file after the menu (usually ending in the number 1) and push play. The WD TV will play the video files in succession, though that may be due to the "Play all" files setting. I haven't been able to turn off the DVD subtitles, and the WD TV doesn't have a setting for that. WD : send us a firmware upgrade.

BluRay ripped/reencoded movies are "out there", but you'll find that most include DTS for audio. So, either you have to reencode the audio or output to a DTS receiver as the WD TV doesn't decode DTS streams. The 1080p ripped files I've tried don't work well either with VLC Media Player on my WinXP machine or on the WD TV in that there are weird decompression blocky problems. The 720p versions I've found play well.

Greg Harris · December 19th, 2008, 08:58 AM

So you can play VOB files on this unit? In that case I will go out and buy this thing right away!!

Ray Bell · December 19th, 2008, 10:44 AM

I'm using the slysoft solution for ripping DVD/Blu ray movies.... its easy, all you have
to do is put the disk into the computer, hit the right mouse key and tell the software
where you want the files to go... then the movie is ripped to the hard drive...

SlySoft AnyDVD HD

Marty Hudzik · December 19th, 2008, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Bell

I'm using the slysoft solution for ripping DVD/Blu ray movies.... its easy, all you have
to do is put the disk into the computer, hit the right mouse key and tell the software
where you want the files to go... then the movie is ripped to the hard drive...

SlySoft AnyDVD HD

I have done this already and have a movie residing om Hard Drive for play with Power DVD. Are you confirming that the WD HD Media player will play the blu-ray files directly to you TV? That would be great but sounds highly unlikely at this point.

Gints Klimanis · December 19th, 2008, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Harris

So you can play VOB files on this unit? In that case I will go out and buy this thing right away!!

Yes. Just navigate to the first VOB in the VIDEO_TS folder.

Gints Klimanis · December 19th, 2008, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Bell

I'm using the slysoft solution for ripping DVD/Blu ray movies.... its easy, all you have
to do is put the disk into the computer,

And buy a BluRay drive ...

Graham Hickling · December 19th, 2008, 10:11 PM

The folks at Cineform replied on one of their threads that quite apart from codec issues, these kinds of players (I have a TiVX, with built-in harddrive) are not capable of handling the high bitrate of CFHD avi. I'm sure that will be the case for DVCProHD also.

Ray Bell · December 20th, 2008, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty Hudzik

I have done this already and have a movie residing om Hard Drive for play with Power DVD. Are you confirming that the WD HD Media player will play the blu-ray files directly to you TV? That would be great but sounds highly unlikely at this point.

Yes, they play fine.... I used the WD HD Media player to play the Blu ray movie " Into the Blue " on my projector...., for the hard drive I used the portable WD passport (500gb)

and yes, you do need a blu ray player on your computer to rip the video... :-)

Gary Nattrass · December 20th, 2008, 06:25 AM

Wooo Hooo my lovely wife has bought me one of these for chrimbo!

Greg Harris · December 21st, 2008, 03:50 PM

so I've been ripping DVDs onto my computer as VOB files but can't watch them? when I click on the file to watch it, it says "This is a file that quicktime doesn't understand". I then tried to watch them using quick time and my DVD programs on my computer overrules it somehow but still doesn't play. Does anyone know what i'm doing wrong?

Bruce Foreman · December 21st, 2008, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gints Klimanis

Thanks for the news. I ordered it from BestBuy.com for $99 on sale, but it's on backorder.

Here is an alternative, though I have no idea where to get this in the USA.

Welcome to A.L. Tech! - Multimedia Player, GPS System, Network

It's not the same "critter". The WD TV is a very simple small "box", you supply the USB storage media. I'm running HD content on mine from USB thumb drives. A 26 minute project shot in 1920x1080 17Mbps edited in Pinnacle Studio 12 and rendered to a 1920x1080 HD WMV file played beautifully on my 42" LCD TV.

From a thumb drive (file size not quite 2GB).

I really like this thing!

Gints Klimanis · December 21st, 2008, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Harris

so I've been ripping DVDs onto my computer as VOB files but can't watch them? when I click on the file to watch it, it says "This is a file that quicktime doesn't understand". I then tried to watch them using quick time and my DVD programs on my computer overrules it somehow but still doesn't play. Does anyone know what i'm doing wrong?

Try VLC Media Player on your computer.

Bill Koehler · January 5th, 2009, 02:03 AM

Has anyone fed this thing footage from a Canon 5D Mark II?
That would seem to be a great way of testing its ability to handle high bit rate footage.

So far the only limits I see listed on the Western Digital website are resolution+framerate, not bitrate.

December 20th, 2008, 06:25 AM	#26
Gary Nattrass Trustee Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Cornsay Durham UK Posts: 1,992	Wooo Hooo my lovely wife has bought me one of these for chrimbo! __________________ Over 15 minutes in Broadcast Film and TV production: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1044352/

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December 17th, 2008, 02:17 PM	#17
Greg Harris Major Player Join Date: May 2004 Location: Fairfax, VA Posts: 356	Ok, it seems like this is kind of like Apple TV minus the wi fi correct? Say i get a blue ray disk, how do i go about ripping it onto my computer and converting it to full 1080p? I guess that's the same question I have for reguar DVD's. I have a DVD ripper but it only rips to a certain file type and I have to convert it to ipod format which would be very small for my TV.

December 19th, 2008, 08:58 AM	#19
Greg Harris Major Player Join Date: May 2004 Location: Fairfax, VA Posts: 356	So you can play VOB files on this unit? In that case I will go out and buy this thing right away!!

December 19th, 2008, 10:44 AM	#20
Ray Bell Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,414	I'm using the slysoft solution for ripping DVD/Blu ray movies.... its easy, all you have to do is put the disk into the computer, hit the right mouse key and tell the software where you want the files to go... then the movie is ripped to the hard drive... SlySoft AnyDVD HD

December 19th, 2008, 10:11 PM	#24
Graham Hickling Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 1,669	The folks at Cineform replied on one of their threads that quite apart from codec issues, these kinds of players (I have a TiVX, with built-in harddrive) are not capable of handling the high bitrate of CFHD avi. I'm sure that will be the case for DVCProHD also.

December 21st, 2008, 03:50 PM	#27
Greg Harris Major Player Join Date: May 2004 Location: Fairfax, VA Posts: 356	so I've been ripping DVDs onto my computer as VOB files but can't watch them? when I click on the file to watch it, it says "This is a file that quicktime doesn't understand". I then tried to watch them using quick time and my DVD programs on my computer overrules it somehow but still doesn't play. Does anyone know what i'm doing wrong?

January 5th, 2009, 02:03 AM	#30
Bill Koehler Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Alpharetta, Georgia, USA Posts: 760	Has anyone fed this thing footage from a Canon 5D Mark II? That would seem to be a great way of testing its ability to handle high bit rate footage. So far the only limits I see listed on the Western Digital website are resolution+framerate, not bitrate.