Western Digital - WD TV Live Media Player (WDTV2) - Page 13

So, if this WDTV Live is sporting the Sigma 8655 chip, we're looking at a really enhanced feature set, replete with true HD audio bitstreaming support, and support for BD & DVD ISO, according to my interpretation of the information disseminated in this thread over at NMT.com. Is this approximately correct?

Really Looking forward to the WD HD TV Live

Hm, no settings for resolution and frequency?! Is autoframerate-detection working? Anyone with a TV with 24p Support checked this? A working 24p mode is very important.

And what about zoom-options for movies (options key at playback)? Are there only 2x,4x,... or also 1.1x,1,2x or something like that?

@ScottWD What's version of Sigma SoC?

P.S. Please don't forget wdtv1 customers.

Looks like you can now officially buy this from BestBuy for $119.

WDTV Live - BestBuy

Knowing that it passes Dolby TrueHD, could a firmware upgrade allow it to pass DTSMA native as opposed to DTS core?

Has anyone else had luck playing Blu-ray .ISO files (I'm not talking about menu support, though feel free to comment on that)? As I reported previously, I could play a Blu-ray .iso main-movie rip of mine, but it wasn't starting at the beginning, so I wasn't sure if this was a defect with my .iso rip, or a defect with the WDTV Live. I'm leaning towards the former right now.

Scott: will there be good news any time soon for the owners of the previous model? (WD TV 1)?

Again.....
Somebody please......

1. Will this play Video_TS folders? With chapters or just the jump feature?
2. For thumbnail mode, I have high quality, large, folder.jpg in each Video_TS folder. Will it show those or will they not be shown because of their large sizes as I've seen mention of 120x180 sizes needed?
3. I would also like to know about zoom modes for non-anamorphic DVDs.
4. I'm not doing bluray at this time, but may soon. I would only care for the .m2ts file (are all BDs .m2ts??). Can it play those and play it through the composite (NOT component) video output (I would like to have one of these connected to a composite matrix system for bedroom TVs)?

Thanks everyone!

Can the WD Live play .FLV files?

No need to break open your boxes... It is using the Sigma 8655.

-ScottWD

Nice! But why not use sigma 8645 has this chip is more powerfull and recomended for Media players... Popcorn C200 uses sigma 8645! The Sigma 8655 was made for IPTV boxes...

And how about the WD TV 1? When will we have a decent firmware? The last one broke the 1080p 24Hz option again...

Scott, will we be seeing the WDTV Uservoice page updated soon? that would probably be the most efficient way to let us all know once and for all what kinds of features were implemented.

It's using the old WD TV as it's picture though...

Can anyone confirm that it's the WD TV Live? Just want to make sure before I get it.

do we know the amount of FLASH memory it has?
original had 32MB ROM, which limited what developers could do (current firmware is around 32MB (at least the b-rad firmware I use)
hopefully this is rectified, and it has >64MB (Asus O!Play has 128MB!)

@ ScottWD, could you please confirm my question in post #362?

I am willing to swap/sell my 2 Eminent EM7075s, to buy 2 WD TV Live's, if that is confirmed working.

Thanks for the information.

Sigma Designs SMP8643


16MiB (current firmware is around 16MiB

@ScottWD Can you share firmware? I'd like to start preparation of the lilibabe's OSD Mod.

DTS-HD, 16 reference frames and a lush interface at $119 this may be the best offer for a media player on the market just now.

Bought the WDTV Live at bestbuy in Massachusetts yesterday for $139 and used the 10% rewards coupon I found on this site. Then today I noticed it on bestbuy.com for $119. I went back to store and it's still listed $139 instore which is normal according to them. They say the local stores and bestbuy.com sometimes have different prices since one is local and the other is the corporate. So they price matched the online for me and I had to hassle with them to give me the 10% Rewards off the $119. Usually they don't allow the 10% off for online but I spoke to the manager and she relented. Got it for $107 after tax.....sweet.

Quick question. I noticed you have a choice of 8-bit color or 12-bit color. It defaults to 8-bit....but if I use 12-bit will it make a difference in picture quality? and if I use 12-bit will it affect performance of the machine since by using the 12-bit the memory will cause any lagging? Since the picture looks great in 8-bit already...I would much rather have non stuttering playback vs a bit better picture. Just wondering if anyone knows about this? ScottWD?

Also...why decide to use the 8655 vs 8643 since one is for blu-ray (8643) and the other is for IPTV (8655)? I don't care much as long as it plays everything correctly, but I figure there must be a reason.

Thanks and the new version is an awesome improvement thus far by what I can tell...especially the DTS Downmix for when I travel and don't have a receiver to decode a 5.1 soundtrack.

Wait, what? The ROM is only 16MB in size? I find that _very_ hard to believe, given the issues with space limitations in the last WDTV, plus the total, drop-in chip replacement cost of upgrading that to 128MB is almost negligible, like $0.15 in lots of 1000 (or less), and is a direct pinout drop-in replacement, and doesn't require any different voltages or traces whatsoever. If that 16MB ROM is true, it would be an enormous engineering blunder.

I'm shocked that this thing has been in the wild for several days and there's no concrete information available from the manufacturer. That's really suspect in a place like AVS where almost everyone is significantly more informed than the guy on the street. It's odd for such a developed, multi-national corporation with huge marketing resources to also botch this release so monumentally. The amount of misinformation and speculation contained in this thread alone is astonishing since the product is available on retail store shelves. We simply don't know much at all other than it's a Sigma 8655 (IPTV) chip.

I guess maybe it's possible that these devices aren't supposed to have been available yet, and that WD is, in fact, scrambling to get the pieces in place to support and market the device. However, I'm always dubious of a product that's launched without even a press release and accompanying product page on the mfg's website.

I would think you have hundreds of forum members and lurkers hovering over this thread on a daily basis, just waiting to pull the trigger with the right info and a reliable place to purchase. I know there is a lot of activity associated with threads pertaining to this device and the Asus O!Play on deal websites (who, by the way, have millions of registered users). Time to step it up, WD, and provide real support and engage the community.

I noticed it looks for wireless with adapter
What kind of An Adapter does it need?
I only have a usb dongle

Will it play dvd iso files? Lot's of theories posted, but no confirmations.

I have two of the cinematube players and still need one more media player for the bedroom, but I have been converting my collection to DVD ISO files.

I am using .m2ts files for the blue ray dvd's as the ISO files would take up too much space.

swmeister

Maybe they choose the 8655 because it's cheaper and the power of the 864x isn't needed.

And where do you all get the information that the 8655 is specifically for IPTV?! Where is the difference between IPTV (also with HD) and a MediaPlayer!? Just because it is used for IPTV doesn't mean its only for IPTV. The Eminent MediaPlayer also come with the sigma 8655. And i think it's just a price question.

iboum.com wrote the difference between 864x and 865x is, that the 864x "is clocked faster than the 865X (667mhz vs. 500mhz) and also has more audio processing power". That could be the reason why it's cheaper and used for the low-price-product wdtv live.

@swmeister
dvd iso's (without menu) worked at the old wdtv, why it should not work at the new wdtv live?!

if the chip is SMP8655 Sigma lists IPTV, Cable and NMT as target markets

I actually like the IPTV/ATSC facet of it. It says it can be used as a thin client for ATSC - so it should be able to stream from my HDHomeRun one day. I just hope it has more memory than the original one does.

picked one of these up at best buy for the aforementioned online price + the reward zone coupon.

Since it can do you tube and all, too bad it cant do Hulu and the like as well. That would be awesome. A plugin for that weather official or hacked firmware would be awesome. Would be a nice not to mention usefull addition.

No wonder it does 1920x1080 16reframes...
That's a 500+333 Mhz CPU (kind of a "dual core") vs the 300 MHz of the previous model...
It looks that the 8655 chip can only do 5.1 audio though: http://www.sigmadesigns.com/Products...ion_guide.html...


Overall, many improvements (better chip/dts downmix to stereo/component/ethernet) for the same price.

I guess all that whining/bitching/moaning pays off (they listened hard to what the users wanted, then offered it with the next model).

This will be the best seller of the "cheap" media players. If the firmware is right (btw working 23,976fps out for .m2ts and .mkv or I'm not buying)...

best buy online has it 119 now! i cancelled my previous, placed a new one

I would like to know this as well. And does anyone know how it looks on a CRT tv with the "AV out" Is this as good as a normal composite output? (yellow tulip)