Amazon.com: Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player: Electronics (http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WD-Media-Player/dp/B001JZFQU4/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1228320004&sr=11-1)

Just got this and it's GREAT! Plug in a cheap USB2 drive (even 5400 rpm) and watch the output via HDMI in full 1080p glory! You need to make your files in a format it can read, but H.264 or MPEGs look GREAT! It can read MANY, MANY file formats. I've been waiting for Apple to support Blu-ray mainly so I could hand my clients an HD master for their use (alot of corporate clients), but now this is so much better (and cheaper!). Instead of factoring in Blu-ray players, blank media etc., I'll include this unit and a drive in the cost of the production! About $200 total.

The quality is stunning! It's very small and even with the drive can fit in a purse or carry on luggage! So far I have EVERY HD master file I've made on 1 - 350GB drive (only half full!).

Unlike the Apple TV which can only do 720p at 24fps, this can do any size up to 1080p! Really an amazing product that is long overdue. People have had issues with making SD DVDs from EX footage, or had to show it in HDV res off a tape, but now, show it in it's full raster glory.

Any thoughts on how it compares to this:

LaCie - LaCie LaCinema Rugged (http://www.lacie.com/ca/products/product.htm?pid=11153)

SG

Great find Paul just what I need for a few clients who have HDTV's and want to see the footage in HD. Perfect for trade shows.

Placing a order now since you can't go wrong with the price and besides your review all reviews praise the unit.

Like you site. Grew up on the Hudson River

FYI - Apparently 1080p is limited to 24fps on the WD TV.

SG

Thanks Steve still worth a look and to show a few clients.

I wonder if it would work with a USB thumb drive. That would eliminate having to power a secondary device.

That would work to show a a couple of small movies. I'm thinking like commercials or a wedding video.

Very interesting indeed. Now to buy an HDTV!

I have this box, and it's awesome. It even plays Quicktime MOV files in 720p from my EX1, even though that format is not in the list.

Awesomeness aside, it does have some drawbacks. It's always on, even if you soft-power it off. The remote control is weak and requires double button pushes. The box is confused if you pull out the USB media while on and requires a hard reboot. The glitziness of the user interface animations slow down navigation. It doesn't decode DTS from MKV files, but I'm trying to get a DTS receiver for the job. This thing needs a firmware upgrade, that's all.

FYI - Apparently 1080p is limited to 24fps on the WD TV.

SG

I've seen that too but can assure you I have played 1080p 30fps files with no problem! I encoded them to H.264. The big drawback now is the extra encode time to H.264, or even making an MP4 takes a while. I'm experimenting with taking an HDV master file and seeing if I can just change the extension to something it will play (HDV is an MP2 file after all), however I'm on a MAC so everything is in a QT wrapper. Only QT it will play is if it's Mpeg or MP4. It doesn't seem to like 48k audio as it'll say "Audio not supported" if that is present.

Also trying different programs to encode (Compressor/MPEGstreamclip/QT Pro etc.). I'll report back if I find any quick work arounds. I'm using an older G5 dual PPC so the encode time is horrible.

Any thoughts on how it compares to this:

LaCie - LaCie LaCinema Rugged (http://www.lacie.com/ca/products/product.htm?pid=11153)

SG

Steve, Checking that out and it doesn't really say it'll play HD files. It says will use HDMI upscaling. Maybe it can, and having the hard drive all as one unit is good, less cables, though if your hard drive goes down, so goes your player! Having them seperate can have some advantages too...different drives can be brought with only certain things on it. If it gets lost or stolen, not everything is gone. Plus the WD will read off of flash drives! An 8GB drive can hold quite a bit of stuff for only about $30! Talk about small and portable!

Thanks for posting. They don´t have them in stock yet here in Norway, but are expected shortly.
We are producing content for 5 big screens in placed in different bars at a ski resort here in Norway and we shoot everything with EXs.
We were trying to figure out how to deliver the content to the HD TVs, everything from using PCs, burning Blu-Rays and keep them running in loops.

Now this comes out and it´s better AND cheaper that any other solution
(and we already use WD Passports for file handling.)
Thanks for making my day

I wonder if it would work with a USB thumb drive. That would eliminate having to power a secondary device.

That would work to show a a couple of small movies. I'm thinking like commercials or a wedding video.

Very interesting indeed. Now to buy an HDTV!

James, It does indeed power an external drive (thumbdrive) I'm using a 320GB WD Passport and it doesn't need power at all!

Thanks for posting. They don´t have them in stock yet here in Norway, but are expected shortly.
We are producing content for 5 big screens in placed in different bars at a ski resort here in Norway and we shoot everything with EXs.
We were trying to figure out how to deliver the content to the HD TVs, everything from using PCs, burning Blu-Rays and keep them running in loops.

Now this comes out and it´s better AND cheaper that any other solution
(and we already use WD Passports for file handling.)
Thanks for making my day

This really made my day too! As stated, it needs firmware update for some things like playing DTS files, and being able to fast forward, rewind some other formats but otherwise for corporate client stuff, it's good to go right now! Just always remember to eject the drive before shutting it down. On AVS forum, a WD rep said they were planning better power management for a future firmware upgrade.

Links etc. to reviews of it in this thread

WD HD Media Player (with HDMI out etc.) - The Digital Video Information Network (http://www.dvinfo.net//conf/showthread.php?t=137184)

How loud is this thing?
Not like my PS3 I hope

anyone know if you can loop for in-store displays? i have a work around for looping using apple tv, but it's kind of a pain.

How loud is this thing?
Not like my PS3 I hope

Dead quiet. Don't think it makes any sound at all. Certainly has no fan.

anyone know if you can loop for in-store displays? i have a work around for looping using apple tv, but it's kind of a pain.

Yup! I just checked on this feature. In the "settings" menu, select the TV monitor icon, it then says "Normal", "Repeat One", "Repeat All". Select one of the repeats and then exit the set up menu. Go to a clip and hit play! If you said "Repeat One" it'll play that clip over and over, repeat all plays all the clips in that folder over and over! Very simple, and this has a bunch of uses for use content producers.

Thanks again Paul ordered yesterday from Amazon and it arrives today. A local store where I plan to buy my HDTV has said bring it in and lets hook it up to all the HDTV's.

It needs an SD card slot! Then you can forego the hard drive altogether!

I'm thinking a USB 2.0 card reader that reads SDHC cards at full USB 2.0 speeds would do it.

How loud is this thing?
Not like my PS3 I hope

There are no moving parts...

the only noise would have to come from the hard drive you plug into the player....

I'm using it with a projector, so the fan in the projector is the noise generator

I'm thinking a USB 2.0 card reader that reads SDHC cards at full USB 2.0 speeds would do it.

I've got a dumb question, please be patient cuz I'm new to this format. How can a card that is rated at 15mb/sec capture a 35mb/sec data stream? Are my numbers goofed up?

Dead quiet. Don't think it makes any sound at all. Certainly has no fan.

Are you talking about the Western Digital HD media player? It gets very hot. I picked it up once and thought I heard a fan going in there. Still, it's very quiet. I'll recheck when I get home.

I've got a dumb question, please be patient cuz I'm new to this format. How can a card that is rated at 15mb/sec capture a 35mb/sec data stream? Are my numbers goofed up?

It's because it's 15MB/s which means 15 megabytes per second verses 35mbps (which is 35 megabits per second. 8 bits = 1 byte, so 15MB/s = 15x8= 120mbps.

It's because it's 15MB/s which means 15 megabytes per second verses 35mbps (which is 35 megabits per second. 8 bits = 1 byte, so 15MB/s = 15x8= 120mbps.

ah of course, thanks, always get those things mixed up. mb, MB, MBA, MD...

I purchased one to replace an AppleTV to review dailies. After encoding H264 it played great but could FF or Rev which is a bug that is discussed on other threads.

I have not had a chance to test this much, but it would be great if it played back ProRes clips.

It needs an SD card slot! Then you can forego the hard drive altogether!

That would be cool, but would probably drive costs up. You CAN use a thumbdrive though!

I purchased one to replace an AppleTV to review dailies. After encoding H264 it played great but could FF or Rev which is a bug that is discussed on other threads.

I have not had a chance to test this much, but it would be great if it played back ProRes clips.

I tried a ProRes clip and it wouldn't play. There are some file formats that won't allow fast forward or rewinding. I forget now but one of these will and one won't: MP4 and M4V, but I forgot which!

So far I'm finding if I output my MASTER to MPG2 at 25mb CBR Program Stream the files encode faster than H264, allow Fast Forward and Rewind and look identical to the MASTER. I need to try some different encodes though because it still is taking me about 4-5 times run time of the clip to encode this way.

It needs an SD card slot! Then you can forego the hard drive altogether!

You can use an sd card, just get a sd>usb reader. Or an SDHC>USB reader, same as were using for the EX1 SDHC cards.

Paul.

Took the WD TV to a local HDTV store yesterday and played off a 2GB thumb drive. It would only play the Apple TV encoded footage which looked great since the footage is 720P. It would not play the .mov, H264, and MPEG4. Need to re-render and see what the problem is since the store would like to run my footage as part of their daily HDTV demo's and I want to give them 1080p.

B&H explains the player. I already have my computer hooked up to my TV so this is a non issue. But it would be nice to transport this to another TV and watch the files there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3mXZazm6Zw&fmt=22

Took the WD TV to a local HDTV store yesterday and played off a 2GB thumb drive. It would only play the Apple TV encoded footage which looked great since the footage is 720P. It would not play the .mov, H264, and MPEG4. Need to re-render and see what the problem is since the store would like to run my footage as part of their daily HDTV demo's and I want to give them 1080p.

Maybe it's your audio encode? The WD doesn't like anything with 48k audio.

I will double check the audio settings.

Home > Products > TVIX HD M-6500A (http://www.tvix.co.kr/Eng/products/HDM6500A.aspx)

This is another alternative which I find pretty cool. It can do m2ts or m2t directly as well. Has many inteface options and the HDD goes rite into it with expansion capability. Only thing there seems to be heat issues with the non alum case.

Folks - not sure if this has been reported already but...

If you copy the .MP4 files off the SxS cards to a USB drive (flash, hard drive, etc) and then just RENAME them to a .M2TS extension, you can play the video NATIVELY on this Western Digital media player.

Still working on sound.

SG

UPDATE: Just did another experiment - connecting this WD media player to an HDCAM VTR via a NanoConnect HDMI->HD-SDI box. It worked! Video passed through fine.

We're definitely getting one of these. Thanks to those who did all the research. Great solution.

I don't have an EX1 (yet) but have an HV30. I can edit in Media Composer and then "output 1080i to device" which creates an HDV transport stream (m2t). The m2t files play perfectly with the WD TV unit. I love it.

If you have a TV that doesn't have HDMI input, there is also the Roku HD-1000 photo viewer and media player. It will loop movies or photos while playing an MP3 in the background. This device has an Ethernet connection and supports wireless media streaming. I always thought the Roku was easier to use with its chubby remote buttons and various compact flash slots.

Folks - not sure if this has been reported already but...

If you copy the .MP4 files off the SxS cards to a USB drive (flash, hard drive, etc) and then just RENAME them to a .M2TS extension, you can play the video NATIVELY on this Western Digital media player.

Still working on sound.

SG

UPDATE: Just did another experiment - connecting this WD media player to an HDCAM VTR via a NanoConnect HDMI->HD-SDI box. It worked! Video passed through fine.

Exactly how do you rename them?
Do you just write M2TS instead of MP4?

EDIT: Figured it out, just open the properties window (Mac).
Anyway, I did this to an overcranked shot, 720 50P and it didn´t play smooth at all. Very jerky

What am I missing?

Our EX-1 file names are all .mov but the media player (just got it today) isn't recognizing them (no thumbnails, but it shows the file and folder names correctly). The box displays photos fine but not video. I'm using Final Cut. What should I do to convert my files into a readable format?

Thanks for any help!

Paul began this thread by saying, "You need to make your files in a format it can read, but H.264 or MPEGs look GREAT! It can read MANY, MANY file formats. "

Could someone please tell me how to do this?

All I've ever done is download my EX-1 footage to Final Cut via Sony's File Transfer software. All my files are 1080i 60 .mov. and the media player won't recognize them. What do I need to do in order to enjoy my magic box???

I don't have the box, but I'm guessing that it won't accept QT files in the EX codec (would be shocked if it did). QT .mov files can have any number of compressors. Apparently this device likes H264 and MPEG. So just use QT Pro or Compressor to convert your EX QT's to H264.

"So just use QT Pro or Compressor to convert your EX QT's to H264."

Thanks, Rob, could you tell me the simplest way to do this?

OPTION #1 (straight from your FCP timeline)
Build your timeline up the way you want in FCP. Go to File>Export with Quicktime Conversion. Choose Quicktime. Then at the bottom you can choose a preset setting. I'd start with LAN/Intranet (that would be a good guess). If that doesn't work, try some of the other "presets" from that list.

OPTION #2 (from a finished Quicktime movie)
Build your timeline up the way you want in FCP. Go to File>Export Quicktime (not Quicktime Conversion this time). Choose a location where to store your Quicktime file. Exit Final Cut Pro, find your saved movie file, right click on it (Control Click) and choose Open with Quicktime Player. Your movie will open in Quicktime Player. Then choose File>Export (or type command E) and you can choose from the same list of file types as Option #1.

Hope that makes sense. I'm at home now and I'm doing all this from memory. :)

Thank you, Mitchell.

I've got it working now (thanks Paul!)and it looks great except for the horizonal lines that erupt during any motion.

I'm shooting everything in 1080i60 HQ.

In the video settings (Standard Video Compression Settings) window I have these settings:

Compression Type: H.264
Frame Rate: 30
Key Frames: Automatic
Frame Reordering: Checked
Data Rate: 8000
Encoding is Best Quality (multi-pass)

Dimensions: 1920X1080 (current)

Any idea why I'm having the line problem? Is there another file type that would give me a better picture (I don't care about file size)?

Thanks for any help!

Arthur

That sounds like a field dominance problem to me. Because you're shooting in 60i (interlaced) you need to make sure that when you're converting the video to a different format:

1) You have your field dominance set correctly. Is 60i upper or lower field dominant? I dunno.....yet.

2) If you're converting from interlaced (i) to progressive (p) you use software that does a good job with it. Honestly, this has been a real problem for us. We haven't found any software that does a great job going from interlaced to progressive.

Maybe you could upload a photo of it?

With all due respect, title of this thread may lead some people to believe that they can simply use WD Media Player to play their EX1 files as they come from the camera. Which is not the case, to the best of my knowledge - you still have to convert EX1 files to the codecs readable by WD player.

So this makes it not some "EX1 magic playback box", but yet another consumer media player.

My issue with WD player is that it only has digital out (HDMI).

I needed component too, so I bought Popcorn Hour A-110 (hey, I didn't name it, OK :)) ...and super happy with it. It has HDMI, but also Component, as well as RCA and S-Video, plus excellent audio output options. May be worth checking out. A-110 (A-100 before it) has a huge following, by the way.

WD Player seems to be great when you have more control over what is playing, and what TV is connected to it.

With all due respect, title of this thread may lead some people to believe that they can simply use WD Media Player to play their EX1 files as they come from the camera. Which is not the case, to the best of my knowledge - you still have to convert EX1 files to the codecs readable by WD player.

So this makes it not some "EX1 magic playback box", but yet another consumer media player.

Alex that would be me. Right now I'm trying to do a one-minute best quality H.264 file on Compressor that looks like it's going to take something slightly short of a geological age to render. This on a new Mac Pro...

I'm VERY happy with the picture quality of my H.264 file created in Quicktime--except for the horizonal line issue--which happens during any motion.

Surely there's a simple way to get a good clean file conversion I can look at on this not-quite-so-magic box that doesn't require a major mastering effort.

I've got over 600G of 1080i footage on my drives that I download via the Sony File Transfer software for three upcoming projects. The best EX-1 picture I've been able to display on my 106" screen before getting the WD TV Media box (which, except for the motion problem, is the hands-down best) was (a) through component straight out of my camera and (b) a 15 minute HD-DVD burned on Compressor.

Arthur, my workflow with EX1 involves transcoding mp4s into Cineform Prospect HD 1920x1080 files right away, as soon as I get the footage.

Everything else happens in Cineform codec, including edit/effects/output to master.

Now, for deliveries, I encode from CFHD to blu-ray. Same BD m2ts file that goes on optical disc, also plays perfectly on my Popcorn Hour A-110.

Very happy with this workflow.

You can also encode into WMV or DivX with very close results. WMV encoding is the slowest, but is also produces the smallest file size with the same high image quality.

I use TMPGenc products to encode into DivX and all flavors of MPEG, including Blu-ray.

Check TMPGenc Express (v 4 is current, I think) - it's great. However it does Not directly accept EX1's mp4 files, sorry.

That's why I was a bit surprised with this thread's title.

Arthur and Alex,

Sorry if my title for this thread is misleading. I meant this device is perfect for viewing and showcasing EDITED MASTER files, once transcoded to one of the acceptable formats. I have many MASTERS that, as a MAC user (which isn't supporting Blu-ray) I couldn't show very easily, or sell to my clients. Now I can, by using this box. I would never consider it for looking at raw footage due to the long conversion times. However if you look at this whole thread, someone does mention that RAW EX files can be viewed directly without transcoding by simply changing the name to .m2ts I believe, though there will be no sound since it's 48k.

Anyway, this device is a god send for watching final masters! I could output to HDV to show people but that loses quality compared to the EX XDCAM format. That is what I meant by this is the magic box to view EX footage in it's full 1080p glory. (Again, only my final MASTERS are transcoded and put on it due to the lengthy conversion times) I have no knowledge of the Popcorn machine, and it sounds like a winner too. I'm hoping with the new firmware update to the WD (due in January) that it will handle 48k audio and possibly EX files directly (which it should it it can play 48k audio since they are MP4's).