- Play Full HD 1080p video, music and photos on your HD TV
- Play a wide variety of file formats
- Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS audio support
- DVD-like menu
Product Features |
Product Information
Technical Details
| Brand Name | Western Digital |
| Item Weight | 10.7 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 3.9 x 4.9 x 1.6 inches |
| Item model number | WDBABF0000NBK-NESN |
Additional Information
| ASIN | B002USAIYS |
| Shipping Weight | 2 pounds |
| Shipping | This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S. |
| Date First Available | November 17, 2009 |
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Product Description
From the Manufacturer
WD TV HD Media Player - Turn your USB drive into an HD media player. You've collected photos, videos and music but they're stuck on your PC. Set them free! Play Full-HD 1080p movies, digital music and family photos in brilliant 1080p resolution on your big screen HD TV.
Full-HD 1080p resolution. Experience spectacular Full-HD video and crystal-clear DTS 2.0 digital audio. | Enjoy your media instantly. Plays most popular file formats so you can instantly enjoy your favorite media on your TV. | Collect without limits. Turn your USB drive into an HD media player. There's no limit to the size of your media collection. Just add more drives. |
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| Simple and compact. Designed to easily fit on or in your media cabinet.(My Passport™ portable drive sold separately) |
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| Browse through your media with beautiful high-definition menus. |
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Turn your USB drive into a Full-HD media player.
Play content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players. Optimized for My Passport portable hard drives.
Full-HD 1080p video playback - Experience spectacular Full-HD video picture quality and crystal-clear DTS 2.0 digital audio.
Easy on-screen interface - Use the included remote control to navigate through your entertainment choices using our crisp, animated HD menus.
Play a wide variety of file formats - Plays most popular file formats so you can instantly enjoy your media.
Collect without limits - There's no limit to the size of your media collection; just add more USB drives for more space.
Transfer files easily - Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) lets you view or backup photos and video directly from your digital camera, camcorder or USB drive. Use the on-screen menus to copy, move or delete files.
Automatic play - Set the player to play a selected media file automatically when the unit is turned on. Perfect for living art on your HD TV or for digital signage.
Advanced navigation
Thumbnail, list and video previews – Browse your content by file name or by thumbnails of photos, album covers and movie cover art. Preview videos while you browse your content.
Media Library – This unique feature lets you view all your media by media type in one menu regardless of its location in folders or drives. You can view your content by categories such as genre, album, artist and date.
Search – Search by genre, title, artist, filename and partial filename.
Photo viewing
--Create custom slide shows with a variety of transitions and background music
--Zoom and pan
--Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date
Movie viewing
--Fast forward, rewind, pause, zoom, and pan
--View subtitles
--Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date
Music playback
--Fast forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat
--Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date
Access two USB drives simultaneously - Two USB ports on the player let you connect two USB storage devices and access them simultaneously for playback and file management. Our Media Library feature aggregates the content on both drives into one list sorted by media type.
HDMI 1.3 and composite video connections - The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) version 1.3 port lets you connect to the highest quality HDTV or home theater. Additional composite (RCA) outputs ensure compatibility with virtually all television sets.
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File Formats Supported
Video: AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9
Photo: JPEG, GIF, 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
Note:
-- MPEG2 MP@HL up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
-- MPEG4.2 ASP@L5 up to 1280x720p30 resolution and no support for global motion compensation.
-- WMV9/VC-1 MP@HL up to 1280x720p60 or 1920x1080p24 resolution. VC-1 AP@L3 up to 1920x1080i30, 1920x1080p24 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
-- H.264 BP@L3 up to 720x480p30 or 720x576p25 resolution.
-- H.264 MP@L4.1 and HP@4.1 up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30, or 1280x720p60 resolution.
-- An audio receiver is required for multi-channel surround sound digital output.
-- Compressed RGB JPEG formats only and progressive JPEG up to 2048x2048.
-- Single layer TIFF files only.
-- Uncompressed BMP only.
For details, please refer to the user manual.
Formats not supported -- Does not support protected premium content such as movies or music from the iTunes® Store, Cinema Now, Movielink®, Amazon Unbox™, and Vongo®
Languages supported -- User Interface: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese
Subtitle: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Greek, Russian (KOI8-R & Windows 1251), Portuguese, Central European, Turkish, Bahasa
External Drive Formats Supported -- FAT32, NTFS, HFS+
System Requirements: WD's My Passport portable hard drive or other USB storage device with supported video, photo, or audio content stored on it. Television with HDMI, composite or component video connection.
Package Contents: HD Media Player, compact remote with batteries, composite AV cable, CD with sample media, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide.
Product Description
WD TV HD Media Player turns your My Passport, or similar USB drive, into an HD media player. Supports Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation of a wide variety of file types. Simply plug in your drive to the HD media player. No need to delete movies to make room for more; simply add another USB drive to expand your collection.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
68 of 74 people found the following review helpful
By LoveMyToys
Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased the WDTV Media Player (version 2) through Amazon two weeks ago. I have an extensive collection of movies and tv shows that I have ripped from my blurays and dvds over the past few years, plus downloads etc (over 2.8 gigs worth and counting). I built a HTPC 1.5 years ago and always hoped there would be a simple, inexpensive solution that would allow me to easily transfer my media to the TV without constantly playing with settings to the point where my wife is getting up from the couch out of boredom.
Along came the WDTV Media Player, the best solution for someone like me. I have tried as hard as I can to dig up a format (H.264, X.264, .mkv, .flac, .omg etc.) or problem to throw at this device to muck it up and I have yet to succeed. It has even been able to playback halfway decompressed files. I have it hooked up by HDMI through a Pioneer 819 AVR and set to bitstream audio codecs. I have had none of the audio syncing issues that were prevalent in the first generation machines. The user interface is attractive and intuitive. If you are use to using a HD set top box from your cable company and a PVR/DVR, this is basically the same functionality. Set up takes minutes and playback is beautiful. Unlike an previous reviewer, I have found that playback on standard definition content to be excellent. It upscales as well as any high quality dvd/bluray player. For HD playback, playback is just as good as bluray--without and time lag between pressing play and start time.
As with any device, it has its flaws-although they are minor in the scheme of things. First, it will not play menus from ripped DVD's and blurays (only the largest file in the rip, i.e. the movie). The WDTV does have its own menu that allows you to change audio tracks and subtitles on the fly. Unless the chapters are ripped and formatted correctly, you cannot skip to the next chapter. This sounds like a bigger problem than it is. This can be rectified by ripping with better quality software. If you downloaded your movie with bit torrent, you get what you pay for with your "free"/stolen content. Even using content without the ability to skip chapters, fast forward and reverse work quicker than on my panny bluray player and I am able to fast forward up 16x speed and the devise allows you to skip ahead in 30 second intervals (just enough to allow you to jump ahead of commercials from video capture off your cable box).
Other minor gripes: They are not able to bitstream lossless sound codecs (TrueHD and DTS-HD MA). Frankly, this is minor and most people will be happy with Dolby Digital and DTS (which the WDTV v2 and Live can send by bitstream over the HDMI capable--a feature lacking in the first gen WDTV). I have been told by people familiar with the Sigma 3365 processor that firmware may allow it to bitstream TrueHD, although probably not DTS-HDMA). We'll have to wait an see.
I have seen the Asus, Seagate and Popcorn C-110 and, they all have their pro's and con's. Dollar for dollar, the WDTV (v2) or WDTV Live (for an extra $20) are the best media players on the market. I give this three thumbs up and my strongest recommendation.
Update: 12/29/09 I picked up an WD HD Live at one of the big chain electric stores over the weekend to see if it was worth the extra few dollars. Pandora internet radio is a nice feature and I think the Live has a lot of "potential". There are some problems though. To test the machine, I tried to set up with a wireless dongle (g--i don't have a wireless n dogggle although I am not sure it would make much differenec). I also used a direct ethernet connection (obviously the best way to set it up).
First, HD streaming from a network harddrive was disappointing. Although 720P playback was usually not bad through ethernet. It did stutter and lose audio sync from time to time. If I paused playback to allow the WDTV LIve to rebuffer (or HDD drive--I am not entirely sure which devise had the issue), it seemed to fix the problem for a while. Using the dongle, playback about the same as with the ethernet. To be clear, some files played back without a hitch and others were far more problematic. The same files played perfectly on both the WD TV Live and WD TV (v2) when connected directly to a USB HDD.
With respect to 1080P playback, there were some significant hiccups. Using the network, playback stuttered badly on more than half of the files played. It appeared that the machine was dropping frames and lost audio sync. This was more prevalent when playing back large files (17 gig archived BD movies for example). Smaller 1080P files (8-12G) played about as well as 720P--some played perfectly and others with only minor issues. all files, however, played without issue using a direct usb harddrive. In my bedroom I am using an LG BD player that already has netflix, YouTube and pandora. The WD does not handle netflix, and the other services are redundant (Pandora is nice, but, frankly, YouTube is a pain to use with all of these systems).
In conclusion, the WDTV Live and WDTV (v2)have the same capabilities when used as stand alone devices connected to USB harddrives. Although I didn't mention this earlier, streaming SD content from a network was no problem with the Live. HD streaming capabilities were suspect, particularly with large files. As a caveat, other more sophisticated videophiles may have the time and computing power to convert larger HD files into smaller formats that will stream better. The thought of using handbrake to downsize my entire collection is not something I have any intention of doing. The WD TV LIve is a great first start. With some more firmware updates, it may be a better network streamer, but I think network streaming for 1080P is still a generation or two away from prime time.
Along came the WDTV Media Player, the best solution for someone like me. I have tried as hard as I can to dig up a format (H.264, X.264, .mkv, .flac, .omg etc.) or problem to throw at this device to muck it up and I have yet to succeed. It has even been able to playback halfway decompressed files. I have it hooked up by HDMI through a Pioneer 819 AVR and set to bitstream audio codecs. I have had none of the audio syncing issues that were prevalent in the first generation machines. The user interface is attractive and intuitive. If you are use to using a HD set top box from your cable company and a PVR/DVR, this is basically the same functionality. Set up takes minutes and playback is beautiful. Unlike an previous reviewer, I have found that playback on standard definition content to be excellent. It upscales as well as any high quality dvd/bluray player. For HD playback, playback is just as good as bluray--without and time lag between pressing play and start time.
As with any device, it has its flaws-although they are minor in the scheme of things. First, it will not play menus from ripped DVD's and blurays (only the largest file in the rip, i.e. the movie). The WDTV does have its own menu that allows you to change audio tracks and subtitles on the fly. Unless the chapters are ripped and formatted correctly, you cannot skip to the next chapter. This sounds like a bigger problem than it is. This can be rectified by ripping with better quality software. If you downloaded your movie with bit torrent, you get what you pay for with your "free"/stolen content. Even using content without the ability to skip chapters, fast forward and reverse work quicker than on my panny bluray player and I am able to fast forward up 16x speed and the devise allows you to skip ahead in 30 second intervals (just enough to allow you to jump ahead of commercials from video capture off your cable box).
Other minor gripes: They are not able to bitstream lossless sound codecs (TrueHD and DTS-HD MA). Frankly, this is minor and most people will be happy with Dolby Digital and DTS (which the WDTV v2 and Live can send by bitstream over the HDMI capable--a feature lacking in the first gen WDTV). I have been told by people familiar with the Sigma 3365 processor that firmware may allow it to bitstream TrueHD, although probably not DTS-HDMA). We'll have to wait an see.
I have seen the Asus, Seagate and Popcorn C-110 and, they all have their pro's and con's. Dollar for dollar, the WDTV (v2) or WDTV Live (for an extra $20) are the best media players on the market. I give this three thumbs up and my strongest recommendation.
Update: 12/29/09 I picked up an WD HD Live at one of the big chain electric stores over the weekend to see if it was worth the extra few dollars. Pandora internet radio is a nice feature and I think the Live has a lot of "potential". There are some problems though. To test the machine, I tried to set up with a wireless dongle (g--i don't have a wireless n dogggle although I am not sure it would make much differenec). I also used a direct ethernet connection (obviously the best way to set it up).
First, HD streaming from a network harddrive was disappointing. Although 720P playback was usually not bad through ethernet. It did stutter and lose audio sync from time to time. If I paused playback to allow the WDTV LIve to rebuffer (or HDD drive--I am not entirely sure which devise had the issue), it seemed to fix the problem for a while. Using the dongle, playback about the same as with the ethernet. To be clear, some files played back without a hitch and others were far more problematic. The same files played perfectly on both the WD TV Live and WD TV (v2) when connected directly to a USB HDD.
With respect to 1080P playback, there were some significant hiccups. Using the network, playback stuttered badly on more than half of the files played. It appeared that the machine was dropping frames and lost audio sync. This was more prevalent when playing back large files (17 gig archived BD movies for example). Smaller 1080P files (8-12G) played about as well as 720P--some played perfectly and others with only minor issues. all files, however, played without issue using a direct usb harddrive. In my bedroom I am using an LG BD player that already has netflix, YouTube and pandora. The WD does not handle netflix, and the other services are redundant (Pandora is nice, but, frankly, YouTube is a pain to use with all of these systems).
In conclusion, the WDTV Live and WDTV (v2)have the same capabilities when used as stand alone devices connected to USB harddrives. Although I didn't mention this earlier, streaming SD content from a network was no problem with the Live. HD streaming capabilities were suspect, particularly with large files. As a caveat, other more sophisticated videophiles may have the time and computing power to convert larger HD files into smaller formats that will stream better. The thought of using handbrake to downsize my entire collection is not something I have any intention of doing. The WD TV LIve is a great first start. With some more firmware updates, it may be a better network streamer, but I think network streaming for 1080P is still a generation or two away from prime time.
44 of 54 people found the following review helpful
This review is about WD TV Live and WD TV generation 2 (featured on this page), which share the same hardware minus the network capabilities.
I bought this unit recently, after having bought WD TV generation 1 a few weeks ago. There was a significant improvement in user interface, plus the capability to copy/move files between media and to play DTS audio over a stereo or HDMI output (on WD TV gen1 DTS won't decode, it only outputs it in digital mode through the optical output).
Besides occasional problems with audio sync, the unit operates beautifully for high definition video. However, for standard definition video, which needs to be upscaled by the device to play on most LCD or plasma TVs, the picture quality is quite worse than that of the WD TV generation 1. The picture is grainier, with very noticeable artefacts. This is super annoying for me and a great disappointment for a device that otherwise would be ideal.
WD has not addressed the matter and has not replied to queries about it. I hope this is solved in future firmware upgrades, because the device is otherwise excellent.
I've seen this issue addressed in many user forums, there's no clear explanation for the phenomenon, hopefully WD will address it.
Meanwhile, I'm returning my unit.
I bought this unit recently, after having bought WD TV generation 1 a few weeks ago. There was a significant improvement in user interface, plus the capability to copy/move files between media and to play DTS audio over a stereo or HDMI output (on WD TV gen1 DTS won't decode, it only outputs it in digital mode through the optical output).
Besides occasional problems with audio sync, the unit operates beautifully for high definition video. However, for standard definition video, which needs to be upscaled by the device to play on most LCD or plasma TVs, the picture quality is quite worse than that of the WD TV generation 1. The picture is grainier, with very noticeable artefacts. This is super annoying for me and a great disappointment for a device that otherwise would be ideal.
WD has not addressed the matter and has not replied to queries about it. I hope this is solved in future firmware upgrades, because the device is otherwise excellent.
I've seen this issue addressed in many user forums, there's no clear explanation for the phenomenon, hopefully WD will address it.
Meanwhile, I'm returning my unit.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By nijaju
I've now owned the Gen1 and Gen2 of this product. Gen2 is quite a bit faster for loading and navigating menus which makes it nice. They've released one firmware update but I don't think it fixed any of the many bugs and may have even introduced some.
With the Gen1, I don't remember having audio/video sync problems like I experience now. This makes many of the movies I have completely unwatchable. I'm not talking millisecond differences, I'm talking 3 to 5 seconds for some movies. Sometimes more.
There are workarounds for many, but not all, problems you'll experience if you own or plan on purchasing one of these. Many of the workarounds can be found on WD's community forum. If it wasn't riddled with so many bugs for so long, I would give it 2 or even 3 more stars but WD seems to have lost interest with device.
Why didn't I give it more stars??
- Does not meet USB and HDMI mechanical specifications. Since this is the case, who knows about well the meet the electrical specs. (workaround - Some people trim 1 to 2 mm off the ends of the cable to resolve issues)
- Problems with audio/video sync (workaround - I wish there was one. Sometimes stopping the movie and resuming playback works, but mostly it doesn't.)
- Certain sized USB devices work when updating to new firmware, others do not. This is not documented so your guess as to what sizes work are as good as mine. (workaround - For updating, only use FAT32 formatted drives of less than 256MB and you should be fine)
- While the power is on, if I plug in a USB drive, the first time I go to that drive, the WD hangs for about 1 or 2 whole minutes without any sign of doing anything. (workaround - Turn off the WDTV, plug in the drive, turn on the WDTV. This takes less time.)
- The file manager (used to move files and whatnot) hides files with certain extensions. Unfortunately, it hides files with the .srt extension which contains subtitles for a given movie. (workaround - take the drive(s) to the PC and move the file)
- Sometimes when I select a movie to play, it'll start playing the audio but not the video. This requires the box to be powered off and then on sometimes unplug and plug back in even because it stops responding to the remote. (workaround - After power cycle, try again.)
This is only a smattering of the fun you'll have if you decide to buy one. In a nutshell, many bugs, slightly fewer workarounds, and even less support from WD.
With the Gen1, I don't remember having audio/video sync problems like I experience now. This makes many of the movies I have completely unwatchable. I'm not talking millisecond differences, I'm talking 3 to 5 seconds for some movies. Sometimes more.
There are workarounds for many, but not all, problems you'll experience if you own or plan on purchasing one of these. Many of the workarounds can be found on WD's community forum. If it wasn't riddled with so many bugs for so long, I would give it 2 or even 3 more stars but WD seems to have lost interest with device.
Why didn't I give it more stars??
- Does not meet USB and HDMI mechanical specifications. Since this is the case, who knows about well the meet the electrical specs. (workaround - Some people trim 1 to 2 mm off the ends of the cable to resolve issues)
- Problems with audio/video sync (workaround - I wish there was one. Sometimes stopping the movie and resuming playback works, but mostly it doesn't.)
- Certain sized USB devices work when updating to new firmware, others do not. This is not documented so your guess as to what sizes work are as good as mine. (workaround - For updating, only use FAT32 formatted drives of less than 256MB and you should be fine)
- While the power is on, if I plug in a USB drive, the first time I go to that drive, the WD hangs for about 1 or 2 whole minutes without any sign of doing anything. (workaround - Turn off the WDTV, plug in the drive, turn on the WDTV. This takes less time.)
- The file manager (used to move files and whatnot) hides files with certain extensions. Unfortunately, it hides files with the .srt extension which contains subtitles for a given movie. (workaround - take the drive(s) to the PC and move the file)
- Sometimes when I select a movie to play, it'll start playing the audio but not the video. This requires the box to be powered off and then on sometimes unplug and plug back in even because it stops responding to the remote. (workaround - After power cycle, try again.)
This is only a smattering of the fun you'll have if you decide to buy one. In a nutshell, many bugs, slightly fewer workarounds, and even less support from WD.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely worth the money
I have this connected to a 1.5 tb external hd and it does an amazing job. the only complaint I have is that because of the sheer volume of movies I have on it it takes several... Read more
Published 3 months ago by kwhisman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love it
Love it and bought 3 more of them for my friends. My son is a pc geek and recommended I get one to back up all my pics. :)
Published 3 months ago by Laura Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect Item for vidio file viewing
This unit is used for taking vidio files in almost any format and watching them on your TV. Works with tri-colored audio/vidio jacks or HDMI cable. Read more
Published 5 months ago by James M Mitchell
3.0 out of 5 stars
Average
I purchased this after reading many of the reviews. I wanted something where I am not forced to enter a credit card number to activate it (i.e. Read more
Published 5 months ago by ID
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't waste your money, buy newest unit
First, and foremost, these are decent products, just don't waste your money on the first gen. The new units have built in wi-fi, have capability for HULU and Netflix (and other... Read more
Published 7 months ago by hautedawg
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wish it was better
I've had this for a few years. When it works (90% of the time) its flawless, no lag, 100% quality. Other times it fails to read files, or its slow in the menu. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Hind
4.0 out of 5 stars
AWESOME addition to my media options
This product does what it says. Works great although more directions on how to use would be helpful for technically challenged people. Read more
Published 14 months ago by nanc
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works great!!
This product was in perfect working condition when received!! Thanks so much for providing me with a top notch media player!!
Published 17 months ago by Sunlover1966
3.0 out of 5 stars
I got a great deal for this used but...
I thought for the money this thing costs that it would play my movies on my harddrive. It played the video part (.mkv) but it didn't support ac3 audio. I had to get a roku xs. Read more
Published 17 months ago by P. Williford
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solid Product - If you know what you are doing
I just recently purchased my second one of these and I say that while there was a learning curve (more below), this box performs admirably. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Gregory C. Schmidt
