Western Digital - WD TV Live Media Player (WDTV2)

MrBillL · 10-14-09, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hijack

If you dont have anything usefull to say to this particular topic why dont you just remain silent?

BTW, are you from the Great Ouse Boating Association (GOBA) in the UK?

If he is not Andy Goba, then he is deceiving people.

toge · 10-14-09, 07:06 AM

can anyone tell me if it plays files off an external optical disc drive?

GuyWD - any chance of Last.fm support for people outside of the US? pandora doesn't work in the UK

Goba · 10-14-09, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrBillL

If he is not Andy Goba, then he is deceiving people.

My name IS Goba... and I don't think that I'm deceiving anyone!

This offtopic is over for me!

AndrewS99 · 10-14-09, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psurob12

Got it hooked up tonight and working w/ my PC using a network share. Overall, very impressed.

Only 2 things bothered me.

-Sound of human voices was a bit low compared to everything else
-If the mkv has subtitles, it seems the default is that they are on
-I need to figure out how to get the movies to display with a picture of my choosing as their icon, if possible

I am not sure if the sound issue is because I don't have a reciever and am just going to the TV over HDMI, or if it is the rip itself.

As for the subtitles, I wonder if there is a way to turn them off on all files by default. Might be, but I'll have to play with it.

Also, is there a method for assigning pictures to folders, so instead of the generic icons, I see the blu ray box art for instance?

1) Not sure about the voices. This is usually a receiver configuration issue or a source issue. The Live is just passing an audio stream so I don't see how it could lower the center channel.
2) Subtitles are ON by default. You can turn them off by default in the settings
3) Movies will display with a picture of their icon. Folders will also. Only over a direct connect USB drive at the moment. Seems like this is broken/not implemented over a "Network Share" as I'm not able to have it work for me (Network Share to a Mac - Everyone - Read/Write)

tkpbrowns · 10-14-09, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christoofar

I would suggest having an external hdd attached directly to the WD Live, and transfer your big files to it somehow & play them from it. I don't think you are going to be able to stream 30GB movie files over any protocol very effectively.
Is your router a G-Max or an N protocol version? You pretty much need N to get anything fast enough to stream high rez video.

I do hook up external drives and it works great. My comment was meant to reflect it's disappointing that USB hubs don't work on it so I can hook up 5 external drives (or more) at once.
My router is N by the way. I was just hoping the new model would support USB hubs. I have a couple of 2 TB drives and 3 1 TB drives. It's no biggy switching them out but would be nicer if I could hook up more drives at once.

psurob12 · 10-14-09, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewS99

1) Not sure about the voices. This is usually a receiver configuration issue or a source issue. The Live is just passing an audio stream so I don't see how it could lower the center channel.
2) Subtitles are ON by default. You can turn them off by default in the settings
3) Movies will display with a picture of their icon. Folders will also. Only over a direct connect USB drive at the moment. Seems like this is broken/not implemented over a "Network Share" as I'm not able to have it work for me (Network Share to a Mac - Everyone - Read/Write)

Andrew, as I said before, I don't have a reciever or surround speakers at this point. That is definitely on my To Do list though.

I figured there was a setting for the subtitles, so I will look for that and change it.

Hopefully WD can get the icons to work over network shares. It would definitely be nice and make it look alot better, but as long as 1080p mkv files play, I am pretty happy.

dgreene4001 · 10-14-09, 08:33 AM

Hi.

Unlike many of the people on this thread, I'm a newbie to this technology. I've been looking at the WDTV for a while and finally decided to make the leap with the WDTV Live. I really, really want to like the box, but I'm having issues that may ultimately cause me to return it.

Let me begin by saying that I had three main objectives for the WDTV2:

1. To play DVD's I have ripped onto my PC (VOB files).
2. To use Hulu (via PlayOn) to play TV content (and hopefully replace one of my $20/month POS Comcast DVR's).
3. Use Netflix streaming (also via PlayOn)

I haven't tried #3 yet but after two days of testing, #1 and #2 don't pass the test.

#1 - I copied my VOB's to a WD Passport and connected it directly to the WDTV2. For the most part, movies tend to play fine but I played the first 10 minutes of "Bolt" last night and there was "stuttering" more than a few times. I have played other segments of movies just fine (and even streamed an AVI file from a Network Share, but not in its entirety), so maybe there's something with this rip. What is the recommended format for playing DVD's (what can I use to get my DVD's into that format?)?? Last night I also tried playing from an ISO and that didn't work at all (started playing but stopped and no sound).

#2 - When I read about PlayOn I was really hopeful that it would bring Hulu to my WDTV2. Unfortunately, everything I try and play says "File Format not supported". PlayOn has suggested that I turn off my security software (Microsoft Security Essentials) but nothing more (I have not yet tried this. Could this really be the issue???). I might try PlayOn to my Wii but since it's connected wirelessly, I don't have my hopes up. I really don't know if this is an issue with the WDTV2, PlayOn, my internet connection (Comcast high speed), my network (incl my router - a Linksys WRT54GS), or my PC (a dual-core AMD... show's up as "Medium" on the System Test).

FYI, PlayOn IS working to stream ESPN and CNN (after about a one minute lag before the video starts).

#3 - Have not tested due to the issues with #1 and #2 above.

On the bright side, the WDTV2 is connecting to my Windows shares and is streaming music (both from my HD, and from Live365 and Pandora) just fine. Photos also work from my share, but in the case of both music and photos (from my share) navigating my folder structure is a nightmare (made easy by iTunes and Picasa on my PC).

I'll give this a few more days before I return it but I was hoping I could drop the WDTV2 into my home network without any significant other changes (such as upgrading my home network, my home PC, my router, or my internet connection!).

Any suggestions or comments would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

Indus3al · 10-14-09, 09:10 AM

psurob12 · 10-14-09, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indus3al

X2

This is the thing i am hoping for the most.
The playback etc, is very good.

I would settle for modding for this device to take off and maybe we can get some sweet skins/UI or something?

nithos · 10-14-09, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgreene4001

#2 - When I read about PlayOn I was really hopeful that it would bring Hulu to my WDTV2. Unfortunately, everything I try and play says "File Format not supported". PlayOn has suggested that I turn off my security software (Microsoft Security Essentials) but nothing more (I have not yet tried this. Could this really be the issue???). I might try PlayOn to my Wii but since it's connected wirelessly, I don't have my hopes up. I really don't know if this is an issue with the WDTV2, PlayOn, my internet connection (Comcast high speed), my network (incl my router - a Linksys WRT54GS), or my PC (a dual-core AMD... show's up as "Medium" on the System Test).

FYI, PlayOn IS working to stream ESPN and CNN (after about a one minute lag before the video starts).

PlayOn is really picky. When it works, it's awesome. But 20% of the time, it doesn't work for me. Which is why I was holding out for a WDTV like box with built in Netflix support.

Indus3al · 10-14-09, 09:20 AM

Techaholic · 10-14-09, 09:22 AM

So far I plugged it into my network and it immediately hooked itself up to my Dlink Gaming router, and it has been streaming movies music and pictures from my HP EX485, I copied Bolt to the HP in its native format and the WDTV played each chunk with what seemed to be 7.1 surround sound via HDMI fed into a Yamaha 2700. I also liked how it would stream music and then while the music is playing can run a picture show..

psurob12 · 10-14-09, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indus3al

Hope so, definately possible due to the fairly big memory the WD TV Live has got now, i would think.

How was this with the original WD TV? (haven`t got that one),... were the "modded" firmwares / UIs any good?

I don't think it had the memory for anything worthwhile, but I honestly don't know. This WDTV Live came out of no where it seems. I was about to build an HTPC or settle for a PS3, and then BAM. WDTV live for 120. Hell yes.

psurob12 · 10-14-09, 09:23 AM

ahhhhhh I need a surround sound setup so bad.

msmlynarc · 10-14-09, 10:01 AM

ok so i posted yesterday about how i noticed the PQ was a little worse than that of the wdtv1. I was then able to find the display output settings which helped alot, but i still am wondering if anyone else has noticed the upscaling on the wdtv live isnt as good as the original. I have perused hundreds of 720p and 1080p mkv bluray rips ranging in sizes from 4 gigs up to 30. I have tested two tvs (a 1080p lcd and 720p plasma both 42in) messed around with settings, and i am noticing a lot more grain, out of focusness, and overall the PQ looks rough around the edges, compared to the first wdtv which seperated itself from any other media player ive ever tried because of its abilty to upscale so well. I would received daily compliments from friends and family about how good it looks. However now I can much more easily tell the difference between my 720p and 1080p rips, and this is not a good thing. Before i preferred 720p rips because the wdtv upscaled it SO WELL to 1080p. Now i can spot the imperfections much easier. Maybe i am nitpicking but this is a cause for concern. Does anyone know for sure if wdtv live upscales to 1080p? I cant imagine why it wouldnt. Btw i am also noticing less upscaling taken place when watching sd content as well. Insight and experiences would be appreciated!

microhaxo · 10-14-09, 10:12 AM

To me the video quality is just as good if not better than the first WDTV. I have mine set in 12bit hdmi mode and that causes the menu too look a little saturated color wise but the movies look superb.

Zack and miri make a porno 1080p looks great, in fact maybe better than on the WDTV1.

But this is just my opinion.

msmlynarc · 10-14-09, 10:22 AM

i do agree that 1080p rips look just as good if not better, however the 720p and SD content look worse imo. Im just wondering if anyone's noticed the upscaling to be not as good.

migsev · 10-14-09, 10:27 AM

I have a question with regards to networking.

If I have a WD TV Live with a hard drive attached to it, could I copy files from my computer onto the hard drive using the network?

If not, would a WD MyBook World attached to the WD TV Live work this way?

Goba · 10-14-09, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msmlynarc

i do agree that 1080p rips look just as good if not better, however the 720p and SD content look worse imo. Im just wondering if anyone's noticed the upscaling to be not as good.

I would like to hear more about that please...

Egreat and Popcorn players were worse than WDTV 1 in terms of PQ regarding SD movies...

Is this new version worst in PQ regarding those type of files?

Civuck · 10-14-09, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goba

Thats really good! But I just find info for 8654... what are the diferences between chip 8654 and 8655?

WD TV Live is using Sigma 8655, right?

8655 is the non-macrovision version of the 8654. See bottom of the chart on page 2 of this.

msmlynarc · 10-14-09, 10:50 AM

Ive tested some SD simpsons episodes (200mb), and some movies (800mb) on a tube tv and an HDTV. From what i can tell upscaling seems to be a bit worse imo. More pixels are exposed, alot more grain, and imperfections are much more visible than before. Whereas the wdtv1 used to smooth over noticeable pixel gaps and made the picture look more vibrant and shiny than any other media device. (Ive watched stuff on my macbook via vga-hdmi, PCHa110, and PS3.) Me and a friend used to joke about how the wdtv1 could make the even sh**tiest youtube quality videos look much better. This is how i would rate the differnet media players upscaling performance in which i have tried.

PCH a110 4/10 (dreadful)

PS3 7/10 (very good upscaler)

Xbox360 5/10 (average pq)

Macbook 2/10 (via VLC player which upscales only slightly)

WDTV1 9.5/10 (absolutely superb)

WDTV2 6/10 (this is what i can tell at this point, I'm really confused
why the upscaling is worse from what ive seen!)

hdtvforme · 10-14-09, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by migsev

I have a question with regards to networking.

If I have a WD TV Live with a hard drive attached to it, could I copy files from my computer onto the hard drive using the network?

If not, would a WD MyBook World attached to the WD TV Live work this way?

There are two ways I know of doing this.

1) Through the file management interface of the WD TV Live.

2) On the included CD is a utility called WD Discovery. That utility will allow
you to open the drive attached to the WD TV Live in windows explorer for easy file management.

Goba · 10-14-09, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Civuck

8655 is the non-macrovision version of the 8654. See bottom of the chart on page 2 of this.

Thank you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by msmlynarc

Ive tested some SD simpsons episodes (200mb), and some movies (800mb) on a tube tv and an HDTV. From what i can tell upscaling seems to be a bit worse imo. More pixels are exposed, alot more grain, and imperfections are much more visible than before. Whereas the wdtv1 used to smooth over noticeable pixel gaps and made the picture look more vibrant and shiny than any other media device. (Ive watched stuff on my macbook via vga-hdmi, PCHa110, and PS3.) Me and a friend used to joke about how the wdtv1 could make the even sh**tiest youtube quality videos look much better. This is how i would rate the differnet media players upscaling performance in which i have tried.

PCH a110 4/10 (dreadful)

PS3 7/10 (very good upscaler)

Xbox360 5/10 (average pq)

Macbook 2/10 (via VLC player which upscales only slightly)

WDTV1 9.5/10 (absolutely superb)

WDTV2 6/10 (this is what i can tell at this point, I'm really confused
why the upscaling is worse from what ive seen!)

Thats bad!

The best thing I liked in WDTV 1 was the PQ quality... because I watch a lot of SD series... Now if this new version is worse in upscalling, I guess thats a show stopper! Too bad...

But I look foward for more feedback!

blackssr · 10-14-09, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msmlynarc

i do agree that 1080p rips look just as good if not better, however the 720p and SD content look worse imo. Im just wondering if anyone's noticed the upscaling to be not as good.

Wow... I thought I was seeing things... To me the HD content looks perfect. I use 1080P and am thrilled with the PQ. However on SD content... OMG..my eyes..it looks worse then the Asus O!Play or the WDTV1... I was thinking it was just me but I feel the scaling is not up to par with the first one in the series.

msmlynarc · 10-14-09, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackssr

Wow... I thought I was seeing things... To me the HD content looks perfect. I use 1080P and am thrilled with the PQ. However on SD content... OMG..my eyes..it looks worse then the Asus O!Play or the WDTV1... I was thinking it was just me but I feel the scaling is not up to par with the first one in the series.

yea, if it truly isnt that would be a huge disappointment. everything else is perfect!! Well i guess its a good thing i didn't give away my original.

marco916 · 10-14-09, 12:24 PM

Some of the posters were asking about WDTV Live and PlayOn functionally, just my 2 cents on what I experienced was really good.

I had a chance last night to test it. Literally right out the box, the WDTV Live is already set to pick up DHCP, you can also set a manual address as well. I chose Media Server from the WDTV Live menu's, it found the PlayOn server without blinking, My monitor has a composite input, so I'm watching a Blu-ray rip of the movie 300.Mkv file on the monitor, so it's not sharp through the composite hookup, but it works. I also choose to watch some CNN clips and LiveTv PlayOn plugins, it takes about 2 to 3 seconds for the video to start playing. Now keep in mind my WDTV Ethernet is plugged into the same gigabit switch as the PlayOn server, so this might be why it spools up so quick. My DSL download stream is almost 8000kbps, slow compared to most cable connections, but it does the job. The WDTV Live UI is allot faster I noticed compared to the 1st WDTV model that I also own. Even going through the PlayOn server video menu's of local media and Plugins compared to the Wii setup is soo quick. One other cool thing I can do with the WDTV remote that I haven't figured out how to do on the Wii-Mote is just skip to each video segment through the Playon Plugins. But overall, it's seems like a good match with PlayOn, the best $120 bucks I've spent in a long time. The real test will be moving the WDTV to my master bedroom behind a 2nd ethernet switch "house is wired with Cat6 BTW" too see how well it does on streaming video and on a HDMI cable.

Robin · 10-14-09, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msmlynarc

yea, if it truly isnt that would be a huge disappointment. everything else is perfect!! Well i guess its a good thing i didn't give away my original.

Can the scaling be defeated so that the TV can do the scaling?

hdtvforme · 10-14-09, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marco916

Some of the posters were asking about WDTV Live and PlayOn functionally, just my 2 cents on what I experienced was really good.

I had a chance last night to test it. Literally right out the box, the WDTV Live is already set to pick up DHCP, you can also set a manual address as well. I chose Media Server from the WDTV Live menu's, it found the PlayOn server without blinking, My monitor has a composite input, so I'm watching a Blu-ray rip of the movie 300.Mkv file on the monitor, so it's not sharp through the composite hookup, but it works. I also choose to watch some CNN clips and LiveTv PlayOn plugins, it takes about 2 to 3 seconds for the video to start playing. Now keep in mind my WDTV Ethernet is plugged into the same gigabit switch as the PlayOn server, so this might be why it spools up so quick. My DSL download stream is almost 8000kbps, slow compared to most cable connections, but it does the job. The WDTV Live UI is allot faster I noticed compared to the 1st WDTV model that I also own. Even going through the PlayOn server video menu's of local media and Plugins compared to the Wii setup is soo quick. One other cool thing I can do with the WDTV remote that I haven't figured out how to do on the Wii-Mote is just skip to each video segment through the Playon Plugins.

I have had very good success with PlayOn and the WD TV Live. I have on occasion gotten the unsupported format message, but for the most part queuing the video up again get's it working. Netflix has been perfect in this regard. Hulu just about perfect. The most trouble has been using the Playon! live plugin which streams things from Justin.tv (but I don't expect this to be perfect simply because of what it is).

I'm also using the feature to share local directories through PlayOn and that works perfect as well.

I also have the CinemaTube, and PlayOn has been a complete bust for me on that unit. It's rare that I can get anything to work properly. Certainly in need of firmware fix here for this unit.

jmoose · 10-14-09, 12:38 PM

ok i purchased 2 of these last night. got the "network shares" to show up AFTER massive dicking around.. ill explain my setup..

linksys wireless g router
dell xps laptop
wdtv live

the wdtv live is hooked directly into the linksys router using ethernet cable, the dell is wireless.

my wdtv live sees "jacob-pc" which is my laptop under the "network shares" area. it connected the file time and i shared the proper folders and it worked flawless, was able to stream video/music from my laptop to the wdtv live.. then i shut the wdtv live off and went to bed.. come today i try and stream music again i go into the "network shares" and at first it doesnt see my laptop "jacob-pc" so i shut wdtv off and turn it back on now the wdtv sees my laptop so i click on it.. it goes thru its "connecting" stage and then pops up a message saying "no media in current folder"

this cant be right nothing has been changed what so ever. same folders are still shared etc etc..

so i back out of the menus and try to go back into "jacob-pc" on the wdtv and now i get a "this media server can not be accessed" error on the wdtv..

what is causing this and how do i fix it? i bought 2 of these units and im very annoyed!

now after rebooting the wdtv and laptop my "network shares" no longer sees my "jacob-pc" what the hell?!

is a firmware update already need to be issued by wd?

Everdog · 10-14-09, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmoose

ok i purchased 2 of these last night. got the "network shares" to show up AFTER massive dicking around.. ill explain my setup..

linksys wireless g router
dell xps laptop
wdtv live

the wdtv live is hooked directly into the linksys router using ethernet cable, the dell is wireless.

my wdtv live sees "jacob-pc" which is my laptop under the "network shares" area. it connected the file time and i shared the proper folders and it worked flawless, was able to stream video/music from my laptop to the wdtv live.. then i shut the wdtv live off and went to bed.. come today i try and stream music again i go into the "network shares" and at first it doesnt see my laptop "jacob-pc" so i shut wdtv off and turn it back on now the wdtv sees my laptop so i click on it.. it goes thru its "connecting" stage and then pops up a message saying "no media in current folder"

this cant be right nothing has been changed what so ever. same folders are still shared etc etc..

so i back out of the menus and try to go back into "jacob-pc" on the wdtv and now i get a "this media server can not be accessed" error on the wdtv..

what is causing this and how do i fix it? i bought 2 of these units and im very annoyed!

Silly question, but is your laptop going into standby mode or is the drive going into power saver mode?

10-14-09, 07:06 AM	#932 \| Link
toge Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: UK Posts: 21	can anyone tell me if it plays files off an external optical disc drive? GuyWD - any chance of Last.fm support for people outside of the US? pandora doesn't work in the UK __________________ Western Digital WD TV Wikisite - WE NEED CONTRIBUTORS! Please help :) \| 90 members and counting

10-14-09, 08:33 AM	#937 \| Link
dgreene4001 New Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 5	WD TV Live Issues Hi. Unlike many of the people on this thread, I'm a newbie to this technology. I've been looking at the WDTV for a while and finally decided to make the leap with the WDTV Live. I really, really want to like the box, but I'm having issues that may ultimately cause me to return it. Let me begin by saying that I had three main objectives for the WDTV2: 1. To play DVD's I have ripped onto my PC (VOB files). 2. To use Hulu (via PlayOn) to play TV content (and hopefully replace one of my $20/month POS Comcast DVR's). 3. Use Netflix streaming (also via PlayOn) I haven't tried #3 yet but after two days of testing, #1 and #2 don't pass the test. #1 - I copied my VOB's to a WD Passport and connected it directly to the WDTV2. For the most part, movies tend to play fine but I played the first 10 minutes of "Bolt" last night and there was "stuttering" more than a few times. I have played other segments of movies just fine (and even streamed an AVI file from a Network Share, but not in its entirety), so maybe there's something with this rip. What is the recommended format for playing DVD's (what can I use to get my DVD's into that format?)?? Last night I also tried playing from an ISO and that didn't work at all (started playing but stopped and no sound). #2 - When I read about PlayOn I was really hopeful that it would bring Hulu to my WDTV2. Unfortunately, everything I try and play says "File Format not supported". PlayOn has suggested that I turn off my security software (Microsoft Security Essentials) but nothing more (I have not yet tried this. Could this really be the issue???). I might try PlayOn to my Wii but since it's connected wirelessly, I don't have my hopes up. I really don't know if this is an issue with the WDTV2, PlayOn, my internet connection (Comcast high speed), my network (incl my router - a Linksys WRT54GS), or my PC (a dual-core AMD... show's up as "Medium" on the System Test). FYI, PlayOn IS working to stream ESPN and CNN (after about a one minute lag before the video starts). #3 - Have not tested due to the issues with #1 and #2 above. On the bright side, the WDTV2 is connecting to my Windows shares and is streaming music (both from my HD, and from Live365 and Pandora) just fine. Photos also work from my share, but in the case of both music and photos (from my share) navigating my folder structure is a nightmare (made easy by iTunes and Picasa on my PC). I'll give this a few more days before I return it but I was hoping I could drop the WDTV2 into my home network without any significant other changes (such as upgrading my home network, my home PC, my router, or my internet connection!). Any suggestions or comments would be most appreciated. Thanks!

10-14-09, 09:10 AM	#938 \| Link
Indus3al New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 6	. Last edited by Indus3al; 10-15-09 at 06:11 AM..

10-14-09, 09:20 AM	#941 \| Link
Indus3al New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 6	. Last edited by Indus3al; 10-15-09 at 06:14 AM..

10-14-09, 10:01 AM	#945 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
msmlynarc New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 13	ok so i posted yesterday about how i noticed the PQ was a little worse than that of the wdtv1. I was then able to find the display output settings which helped alot, but i still am wondering if anyone else has noticed the upscaling on the wdtv live isnt as good as the original. I have perused hundreds of 720p and 1080p mkv bluray rips ranging in sizes from 4 gigs up to 30. I have tested two tvs (a 1080p lcd and 720p plasma both 42in) messed around with settings, and i am noticing a lot more grain, out of focusness, and overall the PQ looks rough around the edges, compared to the first wdtv which seperated itself from any other media player ive ever tried because of its abilty to upscale so well. I would received daily compliments from friends and family about how good it looks. However now I can much more easily tell the difference between my 720p and 1080p rips, and this is not a good thing. Before i preferred 720p rips because the wdtv upscaled it SO WELL to 1080p. Now i can spot the imperfections much easier. Maybe i am nitpicking but this is a cause for concern. Does anyone know for sure if wdtv live upscales to 1080p? I cant imagine why it wouldnt. Btw i am also noticing less upscaling taken place when watching sd content as well. Insight and experiences would be appreciated!

10-14-09, 09:22 AM	#942 \| Link
Techaholic Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 385	So far I plugged it into my network and it immediately hooked itself up to my Dlink Gaming router, and it has been streaming movies music and pictures from my HP EX485, I copied Bolt to the HP in its native format and the WDTV played each chunk with what seemed to be 7.1 surround sound via HDMI fed into a Yamaha 2700. I also liked how it would stream music and then while the music is playing can run a picture show..

10-14-09, 09:23 AM	#944 \| Link
psurob12 Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 32	ahhhhhh I need a surround sound setup so bad.

10-14-09, 10:12 AM	#946 \| Link
microhaxo Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 116	To me the video quality is just as good if not better than the first WDTV. I have mine set in 12bit hdmi mode and that causes the menu too look a little saturated color wise but the movies look superb. Zack and miri make a porno 1080p looks great, in fact maybe better than on the WDTV1. But this is just my opinion.

10-14-09, 10:22 AM	#947 \| Link
msmlynarc New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 13	i do agree that 1080p rips look just as good if not better, however the 720p and SD content look worse imo. Im just wondering if anyone's noticed the upscaling to be not as good.

10-14-09, 10:27 AM	#948 \| Link
migsev New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 4	I have a question with regards to networking. If I have a WD TV Live with a hard drive attached to it, could I copy files from my computer onto the hard drive using the network? If not, would a WD MyBook World attached to the WD TV Live work this way?

10-14-09, 10:50 AM	#951 \| Link
msmlynarc New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 13	Ive tested some SD simpsons episodes (200mb), and some movies (800mb) on a tube tv and an HDTV. From what i can tell upscaling seems to be a bit worse imo. More pixels are exposed, alot more grain, and imperfections are much more visible than before. Whereas the wdtv1 used to smooth over noticeable pixel gaps and made the picture look more vibrant and shiny than any other media device. (Ive watched stuff on my macbook via vga-hdmi, PCHa110, and PS3.) Me and a friend used to joke about how the wdtv1 could make the even sh**tiest youtube quality videos look much better. This is how i would rate the differnet media players upscaling performance in which i have tried. PCH a110 4/10 (dreadful) PS3 7/10 (very good upscaler) Xbox360 5/10 (average pq) Macbook 2/10 (via VLC player which upscales only slightly) WDTV1 9.5/10 (absolutely superb) WDTV2 6/10 (this is what i can tell at this point, I'm really confused why the upscaling is worse from what ive seen!)

10-14-09, 12:24 PM	#956 \| Link
marco916 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Antelope/Sacramento Posts: 26	WDTV Live and PlayOn setup works well Some of the posters were asking about WDTV Live and PlayOn functionally, just my 2 cents on what I experienced was really good. I had a chance last night to test it. Literally right out the box, the WDTV Live is already set to pick up DHCP, you can also set a manual address as well. I chose Media Server from the WDTV Live menu's, it found the PlayOn server without blinking, My monitor has a composite input, so I'm watching a Blu-ray rip of the movie 300.Mkv file on the monitor, so it's not sharp through the composite hookup, but it works. I also choose to watch some CNN clips and LiveTv PlayOn plugins, it takes about 2 to 3 seconds for the video to start playing. Now keep in mind my WDTV Ethernet is plugged into the same gigabit switch as the PlayOn server, so this might be why it spools up so quick. My DSL download stream is almost 8000kbps, slow compared to most cable connections, but it does the job. The WDTV Live UI is allot faster I noticed compared to the 1st WDTV model that I also own. Even going through the PlayOn server video menu's of local media and Plugins compared to the Wii setup is soo quick. One other cool thing I can do with the WDTV remote that I haven't figured out how to do on the Wii-Mote is just skip to each video segment through the Playon Plugins. But overall, it's seems like a good match with PlayOn, the best $120 bucks I've spent in a long time. The real test will be moving the WDTV to my master bedroom behind a 2nd ethernet switch "house is wired with Cat6 BTW" too see how well it does on streaming video and on a HDMI cable. Last edited by marco916; 10-14-09 at 12:30 PM..

10-14-09, 12:38 PM	#959 \| Link
jmoose New Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 4	ok i purchased 2 of these last night. got the "network shares" to show up AFTER massive dicking around.. ill explain my setup.. linksys wireless g router dell xps laptop wdtv live the wdtv live is hooked directly into the linksys router using ethernet cable, the dell is wireless. my wdtv live sees "jacob-pc" which is my laptop under the "network shares" area. it connected the file time and i shared the proper folders and it worked flawless, was able to stream video/music from my laptop to the wdtv live.. then i shut the wdtv live off and went to bed.. come today i try and stream music again i go into the "network shares" and at first it doesnt see my laptop "jacob-pc" so i shut wdtv off and turn it back on now the wdtv sees my laptop so i click on it.. it goes thru its "connecting" stage and then pops up a message saying "no media in current folder" this cant be right nothing has been changed what so ever. same folders are still shared etc etc.. so i back out of the menus and try to go back into "jacob-pc" on the wdtv and now i get a "this media server can not be accessed" error on the wdtv.. what is causing this and how do i fix it? i bought 2 of these units and im very annoyed! now after rebooting the wdtv and laptop my "network shares" no longer sees my "jacob-pc" what the hell?! is a firmware update already need to be issued by wd? Last edited by jmoose; 10-14-09 at 12:49 PM..