WDTV 2 released in US. can handle 16 ref frames [Archive]

daskino

11-10-09, 11:16

A tweet from ScottWD confirming that the Planet Earth vid works, which opens the floodgates to insanely high reframes in 1080p content. it appears that the WDTV team honestly looked at where we found the most faults (HD audio, network, raw power) of the original WDTV and supercharged the bloody thing. from where i stand, my hat's off to them. i'll have to get one of these soon and test it out! (from avsforums.com)

* handles 16 reference frames!!!!
* DTS downmix and DTS HD pass trough
* 3 times faster menu
* Youtube, flickr, 365, Pandora
* access your medie server on your network
* firmware update from net
* built in file copy management
* se mere her

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQdSLOhrVMc

look like another great addition to the WD Media player line up.

CarverS

11-10-09, 11:35

porkepik

11-10-09, 14:10

The AVS thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1172446

NFS not supported :confused: only Samba?

When you see what the hackers made on the first wdtv, the results on this new one should be impressive...

I'd like to know more about this stuff though:
- network access/browsing
- subtitle support (SSA, tag handling...)
- icon browsing (requirements and options?)

CarverS

11-10-09, 14:38

The AVS thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1172446

NFS not supported :confused: only Samba?

Don't think so. If you watched the youtube vid well you can even see a WHS in the vid. Browsing over the net is fast.

And I like the simple and clear Gui.

ddNils

12-10-09, 08:49

Looks like BestBuy already offers this one at $119.99

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9539591&st=wd+tv+live&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1218121172453

Hope to see it in europe soon...

CarverS

12-10-09, 10:11

Looks like BestBuy already offers this one at $119.99

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9539591&st=wd+tv+live&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1218121172453

Hope to see it in europe soon...

Yeah, retails in the netherlands for EUR 105.-- this week!

http://www.hardware.info/nl-NL/productdb/bGlka5iamJfKZMg/viewproduct/Western_Digital_WD_TV_Live_WDBAAP0000NBKEESN/

MediaMan_Xtreamer

12-10-09, 10:55

porkepik

12-10-09, 11:53

user guide has been uploaded there: http://drop.io/wdtvlive (courtesy of tj32 from wdtvforums)

I thought wdtv handled ogg vorbis in MKV right? Because it's not listed as an audio codec compatible with MKV (check last pages)

afrsa

12-10-09, 13:19

"can handle 16 ref frames"

Some kind joke, 16 ref is is bad encoding, its for people who do not how to encode videos properly..This is not my opinion but I been told this by many members of the community..So you can say the player is great at playing bad encodings..

A lot of Xtreamer buyers said that Xtreamer was better because it could handle more reframes than WD TV 1, even if DVXA movies played OK in WD TV1! So... more reframes than DVXA specs is for me a bad encode too... what I dont understand is when WD TV couldnt handle more reframes than Xtreamer, was a good thing for Xtreamer buyers... now when WD TV 2 can handle more reframes than Xtreamer, is a bad thing for WD TV 2 buyers because 1080p is a bad encode... I don't understand...

porkepik

12-10-09, 13:42

now when WD TV 2 can handle more reframes than Xtreamer, is a bad thing for WD TV 2 buyers because 1080p is a bad encode... I don't understand...
No one said that...

We all want maximum compatibility, but just because a new chip can handle it, is no reason to encourage bad practice.
But it's been a while since warez groups have stopped encoding like that, and they don't care what we think anyway :mrgreen:

Oh well, now we just have to wait for one guy to take that planet earth scene, reencode it with 64reframes and go on forums shouting it's not compatible :lol: after all, this is what happened with that 16reframes sample that now get passed around as a test...

daskino

12-10-09, 14:59

this thing is wicked

It packs the latest Sigma 8655 SoC chipset and 1 GB RAM/flash.

and also you get this

New Functions

* still has 2 usb ports, great for adding ie a wireless adapter and a hd

* Search function for all types of media, and on-screen keyboard for input

* support and cables for Component og Composite and HDMI (no HDMI cable included)

* Music can be sorted by album, genre, Artist, Number, and it can read Itunes and normal playlists

* Network DHCP or static IP adr.

* Option for adding wireless adapter by USB port, and support for wireless setup in the menu with WPA2

* a connected usb harddisk can act as a network harddive when connected to the wd tv, other clients can see and acess the harddisk and MAC support.

* flickr, youtube, 365 og Pandora web services built into the menu with login and search

* file magement for delete, copy, move on usb harddisk

* change of border and size of subtitles

* Photo scaling size, Diff transitions in slideshow and interval between pics in slideshow

Hijack plz review this one for a change..

Redshift

12-10-09, 15:28

Sigma 8655 SoC chipset

So this means it's faster then the dune 3.0 and c-200?

daskino

12-10-09, 15:31

no the 8655 chipset is a different chipset than the 44 C-200 uses. The C-200 have a higher clockfreq an should in theory be faster, however, this chip is definetly better at handling high bitrate video than the SMP 8635 SoC used in the old A-110 and WD TV, how the extra RAM on the WD tv plays a difference remains to be seen, but in general the more ram the higher the buffer can be.

porkepik

12-10-09, 16:01

Redshift, you can spot the differences between the 864x & 865x chips here:
http://www.sigmadesigns.com/Products/SMP8650/pdf_files/SMP8650_br.pdf
http://www.sigmadesigns.com/Products/SMP8640/pdf_files/SMP8640_br.pdf

BTW, do we know if the WDTV2 can passthrough HDAudio with TS/M2TS containers?

The C-200 can't do it because of a SDK bug, would be interesting to see iif it affects the 865x range too ;-)

Redshift

12-10-09, 16:12

Thanx for the info daskino and porkepik.

MediaMan_Xtreamer

12-10-09, 17:04

A lot of Xtreamer buyers said that Xtreamer was better because it could handle more reframes than WD TV 1, even if DVXA movies played OK in WD TV1! So... more reframes than DVXA specs is for me a bad encode too... what I dont understand is when WD TV couldnt handle more reframes than Xtreamer, was a good thing for Xtreamer buyers... now when WD TV 2 can handle more reframes than Xtreamer, is a bad thing for WD TV 2 buyers because 1080p is a bad encode... I don't understand...

I dont remember anyone saying this...

Im not defending any device just stating the problem with the title of thread...

Yes xtreamer cannot support 16 reframes, this is fact..(not tested there new 2.0 firmware yet so we will see)..I dont have any movies with this much reframes anyway...

The only people that cared are the ones who download there dodgy warez from the net..

So my point was that just because it can handle 16 re frames this does not mean the player is excellent, as your saying that the player can play bad encodes...

I think your confusing yourself...This is not a WD 1 Vs Xtreamer war at all..Of coruse xtreamer is more powerful and better than WD1 but the new western digital now does look good and promising packed with features...Would be good idea to change thread title.

Thank you...

Hi-Jack

12-10-09, 17:46

I'm pretty sure now Xtreamer must step it up a bit as indeed the WDTV comes out promising however, without NFS, no Blu-ray support, a limited remote and so on, there's still things that might become a dealbreaker between comparing the two. In fact, and correct me if i'm wrong, neither has xtreamer got NFS and blu-ray at the moment but will have it sooner or later according to them.

It would be nice to "fully check" the WDTV in more than just formats supported and specs like some poeple said, performance, trick play, subtitle support and the likes... see the global specs as not just the few points that make you go "wow" like the price and 16 reframes (i confirm this is useless unless using bad files)...

I'm sure WD has taken a lot into consideration building this new unit but remember, it's also still based on low level code from external vendor (Sigma) and the unit can only be as good as the basis just like the other players based on this chip... so it won't make that much of a difference unless there were WD has made efforts to build the shell, activate features and properly developed the rest of the stuff we need... So i'd expect differences in filters, interface etc... not that much in playback (depends on Sigma) and then, missing NFS already costs you a lot of points...

Bring it on... :-)

olax

12-10-09, 18:48

Still no ISO support for DVD Menus? Seems an oversight to me as this was one of the complaints on the first unit.

Tolax

PrimeTime

12-10-09, 20:28

One rumor on the AVS forum is that a new firmware due next month will enable full ISO menu support for the WDTV2 and the original WDTV.

The WDTV2 (WDBAAP0000NBK-EESN) is due in the UK this week. One of the major UK online retailers (Scan) is reporting stock due in. Hopefully, there will be no supply issues and the player will be readily available on the high street and online as it is priced very keenly given all that it offers.

daskino

13-10-09, 11:19

WDTV comes out promising however, without NFS, no Blu-ray support, a limited remote and so on,
It would be nice to "fully check" the WDTV in more than just formats supported and specs like some poeple said, performance, trick play, subtitle support and the likes... see the global specs as not just the few points that make you go "wow" like the price and 16 reframes (i confirm this is useless unless using bad files)...

Bring it on... :-)

I Think WD TV have come a long way with this new product.

sure a 16 ref could be a bad encode, but the ref fram test movie clips like planet earth that is refering to is a very good indiucation to stress test the capbilites of the players video chip, so it is not a bad encode it is used as tool for testing.

Now we have a new player from WD, that handles 23,976fps, ethernet, DTS HD decoding, has a super fast interface that is by many said to be the best and most intuitive menu of the palyers in the market. WD have now had one of the best track record of firmware relaes, who else from the other Medie players makers have been realesing regulary updates, count 11 since the prodcut came out in January 2009. Thats almost once a month.

DVE

13-10-09, 12:02

This is like a suspense movie . . . can't wait for Hi-Jack to get a hold of one of these and "enlighten" us with his razor-sharp insights . . . ! :mrgreen:

reju

13-10-09, 12:34

WD have now had one of the best track record of firmware relaes, who else from the other Medie players makers have been realesing regulary updates, count 11 since the prodcut came out in January 2009. Thats almost once a month.

Too many firmware updates also is not healthy. Firstly were there so many bugs that they had to resolve? Firmware update is risky. You could brick your player. Taking risk every month is too much.

Superic

13-10-09, 14:14

WD have now had one of the best track record of firmware relaes, who else from the other Medie players makers have been realesing regulary updates, count 11 since the prodcut came out in January 2009. Thats almost once a month.

That's right, however between release 10 and 11 there were more than 3 months.
Those were no official release, but prereleases. Downloadable on http://www.wdc.com/wdtvprerelease.
There were only 2 official firmware updates. Latest was Release 1.02.07 (4/27/2009).

They make use of feedback forum (http://wdtv.uservoice.com) where issues are planned or started for months, but no firmware release has these comments so far.:confused:

Hope the rumors are right and they have a firmware release next month with the DVD menu ISO support.

porkepik

13-10-09, 14:36

New review (french) on lesnumeriques.com: http://www.lesnumeriques.com/article-320-6586-162.html

It contains a new video of the interface.

review pretty much sums up what everything been said so far on other forums.
They do however point out that it support OGM container, a not so common feature :-o

spanik

13-10-09, 14:39

Hello all,

WD has finally updated their website with the product !!!
WD Products (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=30)

and

Blog WD TV Live (http://www.wdtvlive.com)

Cheers

ddNils

13-10-09, 19:48

I just ordered a WD TV Live (WD TV 2) in Germany, its already available in some shops, though availability seems to be another story... ;)

daskino

13-10-09, 22:07

ordered one from germany also, hope that delivery wont take ages they do list them as available

daskino

14-10-09, 08:33

some first user impressions from other board

1. The GUI and navigation is is MUCH snappier compared to the first one. The remote feels much more responsive, and you can go through the menu much speedier than before. (I know alot of people including myself were annoyed with the laggy interface)

2. In addition, loading times are much quicker as thumbnail art comes up almost instantly whereas before it would take a few seconds for each thumbnail to one by one show up. Fast forwarding, skipping, going back also happen much faster. Also scanning drives for media is A LOT faster as well. I have two 2TB drives hooked up at the sametime both full, and the original wdtv took about 15 minutes to scan everything which was really annoying. Now it takes about a minute tops, very impressive indeed.

3. Some large (20-25gb) bluray MKV files that used to playback very pixelated on wdtv1 playback flawlessy on the wdtv2, which was one of my biggest concerns.

4. Mac Formatted drives work seamlessly, finally. My drives are mac journaled, and although the wdtv1 could recognize and play them. It would always come up with a "storage cannot aggregate" error message, and I wouldnt be able to access sorting features like date, most recent, and playlists. Now it finally has full support.

5. DTS down mixing does indeed work. I know that was one of the biggest gripes with the last one, and because i have two tv's one with surround sound and one without, not being able to play the movies with digital audio was annoying. With the wdtvlive however, i have been able to play each mkv dts file perfectly with audio in sync.

daskino

14-10-09, 08:56

short article in macworld on the new Live, plus great to read comments from unhappy appletv fans he he

http://www.macworld.com/article/143260/2009/10/wdtvlive.html

Hi-Jack

14-10-09, 09:17

That's right, however between release 10 and 11 there were more than 3 months.
Those were no official release, but prereleases. Downloadable on http://www.wdc.com/wdtvprerelease.
There were only 2 official firmware updates. Latest was Release 1.02.07 (4/27/2009).

They make use of feedback forum (http://wdtv.uservoice.com) where issues are planned or started for months, but no firmware release has these comments so far.:confused:

Hope the rumors are right and they have a firmware release next month with the DVD menu ISO support.

It's not the amount of updates, but what are inside of them and as such WD has a poor record of updates. Mainly cosmetic fixes and little bugs but nothing fance... and that was for a none networked model. Let's see how they do with this model which also lacks "balls" for network use (NFS for instance is a biggy) :-) I also can't get over the remote... so unless there's a snappy and great online OSD that can be operated easily, that will be a limiting factor as well... We will certainly look at this model soonest we get one... Potential... (a word I keep using lately)

daskino

14-10-09, 09:37

another comment, speaks for itself

This thing boots to a menu IN 4 SECONDS from pressing the power button...insane.

bass4040

14-10-09, 13:44

do subs in m2ts and bd isos work

Superic

14-10-09, 18:34

Yes, I agree with that. The contents of the firmwares was quite poor.

daskino

15-10-09, 10:51

The remote is it so bad? I have grown to like the small footprint of it, and it has the buttons I need, I dont like big grey remote with tons of colored buttons on it. sure a vol button would be nice but do you really need more than 16 buttons?

Just got a confirmation on the WDTV board that the GPL code for the WDTV live is coming, so hold your horses, we will see a costum NFS implementation within two weeks is my bet.

poor content on the frimware upgrade? how about fuull subtitle support like SUB/IDX ? and the latest upgrade fixes the mkv audio/video sync prob.

CarverS

15-10-09, 11:05

I think this will be a winner. First user comments are good. Simple but nice box, no fan, network, two! USB connections and so on. It has all a player must have. Nothing more, nothing less. The price, well don't go out for a weekend, save the money and you can buy it.

Superic

15-10-09, 12:50

poor content on the frimware upgrade? how about fuull subtitle support like SUB/IDX ? and the latest upgrade fixes the mkv audio/video sync prob.

I maybe have a bit of a clouded opinion, because I wait for certain functionality.
But I see that WD requests users to give ideas for new firmware releases in the uservoice for the WDTV. They accepted now 53 ideas. Then only solve 4 (1 even for a different player) of the 53in firmware releases. I would have expected more of them.

In the user manual of the WDTV2 I see some of the ideas back of the uservoice. Which make the player better than the WDTV.
I do like that new stuff in the WDTV2. Hope that they will do a firmware release for the WDTV that adds the applicable functionality from the WDTV2.

p.s.: the remote I like as well.

daskino

16-10-09, 14:19

Looks like there is a built in NFS client on the wdtv2, no need to tinker with add firmware even

also B-rad reported that there are loads of free ram for firmware, xtra apps and caching on this baby.

B-rad have been testing and he was able to mount NFS shares on it.

B-rad http://b-rad.cc/974/wdtv-live-unboxing-undressing/comment-page-1#comment-10224
"So although the WDTV Live claims only SAMBA network sharing capabilities I have managed to mount my NFS and have watched various 1080p material stutter free"

digitalera.co.uk

16-10-09, 17:20

nice player nice seller.
something for the masses but missing some of the HD audio features advanced users may want

daskino

16-10-09, 19:06

please elaborate on that Digitalera

CarverS

17-10-09, 21:41

HD-audio passthrough and high bitrate video just positively tested by hardware info.

Soon network performance test!

afrsa

18-10-09, 06:09

Daskino... you seem very happy with your new toy but everybody knows that the WD support is terrible!!!

3 months in the begining to had thumbnails... then 2 months to fix external SRT sub delays and 1080p 24Hz in 23,976fps movies... with the sub fix, Mkv 1080p 5 reframes with subs "on" started to have problems and audio out of sync in mkv appeared! So... after 4 months, audio out of sync in mkv seems to be fixed but now 1080p 24Hz option is broken again! And to be true 1080p 24Hz in 23,976fps movies never was properly fixed!

A completly joke! WD is a huge company... and they fail to deliver proper support for their costumers... look at B-Rad work... that guy does more in 2 weeks than the WD labs in 9 months!

WDTV is a nice player but badly supported by WD!

greywizard

18-10-09, 07:26

well thats the rub isnt it. If you get a WDTV2 then you need to realize that you are going to be using 3rd party firmware to get the most out of the player. If you are ok with that then it can be a great product if not that it will probally be a pass.

daskino

18-10-09, 11:30

Daskino... you seem very happy with your new toy but everybody knows that the WD support is terrible!!!

!

Hey Afrsa, welcome to mpcclub, Nice to see you expressing your opinions here like on avsforum.com, more of that please.

Monkeyface

18-10-09, 13:41

Hey Afrsa, nice to see you expressing your opinions here like on avsforum.com......

Hey, don't bully him already....

Every word of what afrsa just said in his post here is TRUE.
WD's customer support reagarding firmware development is indeed very unsatisfying :twisted:

The guys in the AVSforum simply deny it! :p

afrsa

18-10-09, 17:42

Hey Afrsa, welcome to mpcclub, Nice to see you expressing your opinions here like on avsforum.com, more of that please.

I believe that you are doing the same! ;)

Hey, don't bully him already....

Every word of what afrsa just said in his post here is TRUE.
WD's customer support reagarding firmware development is indeed very unsatisfying :twisted:

The guys in the AVSforum simply deny it! :p

Correct! I realise that people are satisfied with WDTV! I have one and I like it! What I dont understand is that a lot of people seem to idolize a service that is beyond terrible! I really don't undertand the need to misinform! I am just expressing my opinion as everyone else! :)

daskino

20-10-09, 13:04

first frimware hack out now from B-rad.

Includes among other things a netmout cfg file for enabling nfs and samba mounts.

extreamer

20-10-09, 21:15

HD-audio passthrough and high bitrate video just positively tested by hardware info.

!

DD TruHD, DTS-HD MA, DTS-HD HR the whole shebang ?

daskino

22-10-09, 10:03

I MAde a few Video's of the new WDTV Live, Covering its User interface, Video palying and streaming, copy functions and settings, and Playing music and pics etc.

Check them out here,

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=daskino30&search_type=&aq=f

note they are all in dansih but for Ducth people its almost the same, with a little practice ;)

daskino

22-10-09, 10:08

It bitstreams TrueHD but only plays DTS core from the DTS-MA.

MVDH

22-10-09, 11:16

I also was very sceptical but compared to a hdx1000 and Xtreamer this little device plays almost every files I through at it. I have master - slave connection with my existing HDX1000 and without any problems it plays the files.
Also I have a Xtreamer and, it's not bad, but compared with todays software 1.03 it has problems with large ISO (MKV) files. I have to say the Xtreamer is easier to use then the WDTV live.
What's bad is DVD TS(VOB) support. It works but this could be better.........

In general, as normal user, having different files, AVI / ISO / MKV etc. it plays them and that's the way it should be.

Xtreamer is nice but they lost the main focus, chasing Apple has no sense. Personally I think a wrong path. Hdx1000 is still a good player but the market is moving forward........

silvom

22-10-09, 12:45

What about BD ISO playback ? Is it already functional or only planned for the future updates ?

warpet

23-10-09, 03:25

Video review by Tweaktown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ahAkLPlH0U&feature=player_embedded

dobeman

23-10-09, 20:20

AlgisP

26-10-09, 11:32

Given the price, this unit must be a candidate to appear in Reviews section.

The biggest drawback for me is that the unit is produced by HDD company and does not have a place for optional internal 2.5" HDD. :confused:

HD User 2009

26-10-09, 17:47

What about BD ISO playback ? Is it already functional or only planned for the future updates ?

Very interesting question. I am also interested in. Also internet radio.

pimpolho

08-11-09, 10:49

WDTV is a nice player but badly supported by WD!

Can someone tell me one company that really supports its devices ? :lol::lol::lol: Or the on one with the least badly supported device....:lol::lol:

oRBIT

08-11-09, 11:32

Can anyone confirm that this device can stream blu ray rips via the ethernet port (AVC, VC-1, and MPEG2)? I currently use my Tvix 6500 to do the job, but am looking for another unit for the bedroom, and this is obviously much cheaper than a Tvix or HDi unit. Thanks in advance.

I ripped a blu-ray with MakeMKV and put it on my QNAP NAS. Both my WDTV Live and QNAP are connected to my DLINK 655 router. Streaming worked fine!
(However WDTV Live doesn't seem to like blu-ray subtitles at the moment).

TheSwissKnife

22-11-09, 02:45

Can anyone confirm if this device will play 1080p60 H.264 files (eg those from Xacti HD2000 camcorder). I have been searching for a player that can do this and so far have not come up with anything. It seems all the Sigma 8635 based units can not (this suffer audio sync problems) - even the Sage which has a good review. Also the PCH C200 is reportedly failing. I do not know about realtek devices yet but I though I would first look at this unit as it seems to be relatively warmly recieved (in the world of buggy and problematic media players). Playback needs to work from a NAS (SMB or NFS), but knowing if local playback works would be a start.

This is the first criteria for me choosing a player, but of course I will need to look at other features later (eg BD ISO, MKV, Resolution Pass-through mode, DVD playback, thumbnail support, good gui etc.).

Any help much appreciated.

Monkeyface

22-11-09, 14:05

Sanyo Xacti HD2000 camcorder
I do not know about realtek devices yet

I have two short "Sanyo Xacti HD2000" video files (60 MB + 550 MB) on my HDD and both play fine on the Xtreamer through USB! (Realtek) :D

On the WD TV 1 (Sigma 8635) video playback of the 550MB file FAILS!!! (no sound after 10 seconds + video pixelation) :(

I can't tell you if the audio is going async because the videos are too short...
Do you have a download link for a longer video?

TheSwissKnife

23-11-09, 19:14

Thanks - I assume your samples are 60 fps.

My samples are not so long either, but I have included some visual references for audio sync checking. The second clip is 1:30 odd and includes a section with lens cap on in an attempt to reduce file size (so you have to go through the pain of letting it play through).

http://rapidshare.com/files/311078492/SANY0210.MP4.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/311100724/SANY0216.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/311118792/SANY0216.part2.rar

Monkeyface

23-11-09, 23:42

My samples

Nice videos :mrgreen:
I really like the pink color of the your wall :D
---

These two videos play fine, too!

TheSwissKnife

24-11-09, 01:08

Err..yeah...the pink wall...that's her indoors...apparently its salmon!

Thanks for testing. Audio stayed in sync all the way? If so it sounds like the realteks might be good.

Can anyone try these with WDTV2?

I would then be looking for one that outputs in source direct or passthrough mode so that I can have resolution and frame rate come out based on source. Next I would be keen to find one that offers outputting the correct SD width for 720 or 704 pixel-width based sources (ie most professionally mastered material and all broadcast material is actually 702 active pixels wide for such material). Again I won't hold my breath. I know the Sage offers the source-direct mode but not sure about horizontal SD pixels.