WD TV
The WD TV is a consumer device produced by Western Digital that plays videos, images, and music from USB drives. It can play high-definition video through an HDMI port, and standard video through composite video cables. It can play most common video and audio formats.
Contents |
[edit] Models
WD TV devices come in six versions:
[edit] WD TV (1st Gen)
In November 2008 Western Digital introduced the WD TV.[1] with full HD 1080p multimedia player with DTS pass-through only.[2] The hardware starts with a 300 MHz TangoX MIPS 4KEc from Sigma Designs, which has 100 MB of memory.[3][4]
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV (1st Gen) |
1 HDMI 1.2 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.2 1 Component 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
2 USB 2.0 | none |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) WMV9, MPG/MPEG, VOB, DVR-MS MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) |
|||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC FLAC, MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital |
|||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT | |||
[edit] WD TV (2nd Gen)
Updated device with 2-channel DTS support.[5] Uses the same Sigma SMP8655 Secure Media Processor as the Live.
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV (2nd Gen) |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Component 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
2 USB 2.0 | none |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) MPG/MPEG, M2TS, WMV9 AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1) MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) |
|||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS |
|||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI | |||
[edit] WD TV Mini
Released in Fall 2009,[6] it was a Media Player with DVD quality, upscales to 1080i, Plays back RealVideo and many other popular file formats with no need for transcoding, but lacks the ability to play H.264 encoded video.
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV Mini |
1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 Component 1 Composite 1080i 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
1 USB 2.0 | none |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4) AVI (Xvid, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB, RM or RMVB 8/9/10 |
|||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC FLAC, MKA, OGG, Real Audio, APE |
|||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI | |||
[edit] WD TV Live (1st gen)
Released in Fall 2009[7] with Full HD 1080p resolution. An updated device with 2-channel DTS, streaming and network support, which comes in the form of an Ethernet port on the back. Also compatible with certain wireless USB adapters.[8] Connects to internet sites: YouTube, Flickr, Live365, Pandora, Mediafly, Flingo, AccuWeather, Facebook or stream content from a home network. Supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats. No need for transcoding. Mediafly and DVD menu support added in firmware update.
The Sigma Designs SMP8655 SoC inside the WD TV Live features a 500 MHz CPU, a 333 MHz coprocessor, a 333 MHz DSP, 512 MB of DRAM, and 256 MB of NAND flash memory. Western Digital has tweaked the original Sigma SMP8600 Family design slightly by including 6 video Digital to Analog Converters (DACs) which should give it the ability to handle high-def content with ease.[9]
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV Live |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Component 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
2 USB 2.0 1 Ethernet |
Facebook AccuWeather Deezer Flingo TuneIn YouTube Pandora Flickr Live365.com Mediafly Funspot |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB, M2TS, WMV9 TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1) MKV (h.264 AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) |
|||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS |
|||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI | |||
| File systems | FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ | |||
Note that, contrary to published specs, on component video, WD TV Live supports only 480p/576p; 480i/576i is supported only on composite video.[10]
[edit] WD TV Live Plus
Released early in 2010[11] and having all the features of the WD TV Live along with Netflix streaming support. In order to support Netflix, a macrovision enabled SoC was required (Sigma Designs SMP8654) and the Linux system is also now encrypted.[12] However, actual user experience has lagged for some. As of April 12th, 2011[13], Netflix Canada works on a WD Live TV Plus as long as the firmware has been upgraded to version 1.04.31_B or newer (versions 1.04.18_B or older are *NOT* compatible with Netflix Canada). It is also known as WDTV Live Plus (Model number WDBABX0000NBK, WDBREC0000NBK, WDBG3A0000NBK).
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV Live Plus |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Component 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
2 USB 2.0 1 Ethernet |
Netflix Blockbuster CinemaNow Hulu Plus AccuWeather Deezer Flingo TuneIn YouTube Pandora Flickr Live365.com Mediafly Funspot |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB, M2TS, WMV9 TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1) MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) |
|||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS |
|||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI | |||
| File systems | FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ | |||
Reviews:WD TV Live Plus was met with generally positive reviews. Review Horizon names it a worthy successor of WD TV Live.
[edit] WD TV Live Hub
Released in fall 2010,[14] this is a WD TV Live device with an internal 1 TB storage disk. It uses the same Sigma Designs SMP8654 found in the WD TV Live Plus with four 64 MB Nanya NT5TU64M16GG DDR2 667/800 MHz modules (256 MB total), and a 2 GB Samsung K9F2G080UB flash chip.
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV Live Hub |
1 HDMI 1.4 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.4 1 Component 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
Media Server Games Programmable Remote 1TB hard drive 2 USB 2.0 1 Gigabit Ethernet |
Netflix Blockbuster YouTube Pandora Flickr Live365.com Mediafly AccuWeather Picasa Flingo |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB, WMV9, FLV TS/TP/M2T/M2TS (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1) MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) |
|||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS |
|||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI | |||
| File systems | FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ | |||
[edit] WD TV Live Streaming
Released in October 2011[15]. It has customizable themes, a larger remote control, can get content information from the internet, plays DRM protected services, has a built-in wireless adapter, and is the first WD TV model to include the Spotify service. It is also known as WDTV Live Gen 3 (NTSC model number WDBHG70000NBK, PAL model number WDBGXT0000NBK).
[edit] Hacking
The WD TV has been hacked to enable further options, including using external optical drives, Ethernet connection via USB to Ethernet adapters, bittorrent downloading and improved thumbnail preview images.[16] The newest versions of the WD TV (Streaming Media) have encrypted firmware and could not be hacked at the moment.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/01/western-digital-quietly-intros-wd-tv-hd-media-player/
- ^ http://www.wdc.com/en/products/wdtv/
- ^ "How Much Ram Memory". http://wdtvforum.com/main/index.php?topic=502.0. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
- ^ "Western Digital's WD TV HD Media Player: Break out the popcorn". The Tech Report. March 12, 2009. http://techreport.com/articles.x/16565. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/updates/?family=wdfwdtv_hd
- ^ http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/18/wd-tv-mini-loses-full-hd-but-remains-a-handy-media-player/
- ^ http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/13/western-digital-wd-tv-live-hd-media-player-gets-official/
- ^ List of devices that can be connected to a WD TV Live HD Media Player
- ^ "Western Digital WD TV Live HD Media Player". http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1118/2/. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ "480i output on component mode". http://community.wdc.com/t5/Live-Live-Plus-Ideas/480i-output-on-component-mode/idi-p/2904. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
- ^ http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/09/western-digital-announces-wd-tv-live-plus-hd-with-netflix-stream/
- ^ http://b-rad.cc/1231/wdtv-live-plus-undressing/
- ^ http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/search/1/a_id/6612/c/130/p/208,333
- ^ http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/26/western-digital-stuffs-1tb-hdd-into-live-hub-networked-media-str?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_tuaw
- ^ http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5305/p/208,333
- ^ "WDLXTV – enhanced WDTV firmware". B-Rad.cc. http://b-rad.cc/wdlxtv. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
