WD TV HD Media Player smacked up, flipped, rubbed down

Western Digital's WD TV HD Media Player kept a low profile before hitting shelves this month, but with only $99 separating MaddHat.com from a thorough teardown, the inevitable next step was taken. Besides snapshots inside and out -- and the ubiquitous iPhone size comparison photo -- a quick runthrough with a variety of MKV-packed videos revealed delightfully nerdy results. The 1080p h.264 decoding was smooth, although some odd sharpening on 720p files while in 1080p output mode, and less than optimal results with 1080i-encoded files were noted. 1080p24 support didn't make it into the box, same for .ISO direct support -- no worries though, as it wasn't enough to stop the .m2ts files in the Blu-ray backups from playing directly. Good for the price, but with stiff competition -- Popcorn Hour anyone? -- being "good enough" in this sector is getting harder, pics and details are beyond the read link.

[phanbouy @ Nov 4th 2008 12:05PM]

...Oh no!

[Ivan @ Nov 4th 2008 12:08PM]

Damn, beat me to it. :(

[StalematE @ Nov 4th 2008 12:15PM]

you're so beautiful like a tree or a high class prostitute.

[Josh @ Nov 4th 2008 12:15PM]

lol! the first thing that popped into my head when I read the title, too!

[Zak @ Nov 4th 2008 12:22PM]

I would have said it if you didn't. Props!

[rock99rock @ Nov 4th 2008 12:28PM]

Do me bay-bay ( I like it in the morning time)

[Alex @ Nov 4th 2008 2:31PM]

I need a body bag

[Randy @ Nov 5th 2008 10:02AM]

Nice BBD reference.... haven't heard that song in years.

[Gokie @ Nov 4th 2008 12:09PM]

I must say I'm impressed. A $100 device that does a better job of being a media center device than a PS3 (I don't even know how much time I spent trying a variety of ways to make my PS3 play all my digital media until I finally gave up and made one of my computers a HTPC).

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Nov 4th 2008 5:53PM]

I find the PS3 to be a decent media player, other than when it comes to apple quicktime .mov files. The WD unit would be much better if it featured a gigabit ethernet jack and 802.11.

[Cobra Rob @ Nov 4th 2008 12:15PM]

Picked one up last night.. Works amazing well, It will not replace he HTPC downstairs but I have one of the Divx boxes in the bedroom right now from beta testing it. The divx box interface is slow and a pain to use. Does not play bearly any file formats and even gets out of sync quite a bit. The ONLY advantage it has is networking wired/wireless. The WD box beats it in EVERY other way. The interface is simple and QUICK. Its going to stay up in the bedroom. Might even get one for my parents so I can send stuff to them on a USB stick or a HD to watch.

[Matthew Hilario @ Nov 4th 2008 12:18PM]

BVD ON HD.

[Matthew Hilario @ Nov 4th 2008 12:20PM]

whoops not my fruit looms, i meant BBD on HD.

[Eric Maldonado @ Nov 4th 2008 9:59PM]

Boys II Men, ABC, BBD.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Nov 5th 2008 10:33PM]

And the east coast family.

(ABC- Another Bad Creation)
(BBD- Bel Biv Devoe)

[iEye @ Nov 4th 2008 12:23PM]

What was that bit about the iPhone?

[ArcticFox @ Nov 4th 2008 12:25PM]

Wow i didnt take much notice of this when it was announced, i thought it was going to be another one of those generic cheap and nasty players that only support all the low end codecs.

If this really does playback Blu-ray nice and smoothly i might even buy one instead of building a media center pc.

[Anthony @ Nov 4th 2008 12:29PM]

I had to pick a format. Mp3 or AAC was just so easy. DVDs are a real hassle. I chose ISO because it leaves captions (subtitles), menus & is just one file.

Hope 4 gazillion hrs of conversion weren't wasted. Popcorn Hour & LaCinema better stay options for a long, long time.

[Eric M @ Nov 4th 2008 12:30PM]

Ok, I don't normally comment on site design issues, but really grey-on-black text (with a very light stroke text on top of that)? This is the hardest to read site I've seen in a really long time.

[Etinmot @ Nov 4th 2008 1:11PM]

Oh nooooooooooooo.

I need a body bag.

[Jason W @ Nov 4th 2008 1:13PM]

Oh NOOOOO.
You know I saw BBD a few months ago live and they have not skipped a beat. Infact better than when I was a kid.

[FoO @ Nov 4th 2008 1:27PM]

What files systems does this thing recognize? I'd love to see HFS but I /really/ doubt it. I'm certain of fat32 and ntfs but what about EXT3? Anyone know? The review lacks these essential details ):

[thelostswede @ Nov 4th 2008 1:38PM]

Dude, you really need to learn how to read, or put in you contacts or something...
"It supports drives formatted with FAT32, NTFS, and HFS+ file systems."

And to those moaning about this and that support, the thing is $100, it's not going to have support for every feature you can dream up.
Why is that people just come on here to bitch about stuff?
Personally I think it looks like a great deal, although my Xbox 360 have been fine for 90% of the stuff I have, so I haven't had to look else where so far.

[Vcook @ Nov 4th 2008 1:27PM]

Needs a network port and support for HD dolby and dts and I'm on board!!!!!!!!!

[InfiniteLoop @ Nov 4th 2008 4:17PM]

It does support DTS by pass through via the HDMI or optical connection (need to change the Audio Output setting to Digital). You need a reciever that decodes DTS, and if you have one that does Dolby TrueHD it probably does DTS.

[Tobi @ Nov 4th 2008 2:10PM]

Just collected mine (UK/EU version) from the delivery depot. Very impressed with the size of it and no more Xbox 360 noise! Interface is nice and video plays smooth. Very good for the price (£60) and a welcome friend for my WD Passport :)

[dij @ Nov 6th 2008 7:04PM]

Hello mate, how did you get this in the UK? i've been looking for a while now

Thanks!

[Chris @ Nov 5th 2008 12:43PM]

Hi, where did you pick it up for £60? I live in the UK and the best I can see is £79 on play! Cheers in advance.

[Ian @ Nov 4th 2008 2:12PM]

Would it be fair to describe this as a NeurosAudio OSD Media Center PLUS the ability to play back 720/1080 but w/o the ability to record?

[pball_inuyaha @ Nov 4th 2008 2:18PM]

I agree with the previous person who said get it network capable.

Add in a few more codecs and support for ISOs then that would be awesome. As is I think it could play anything I have, only problem is I have it on my computer and don't have an external hdd. Could use my new 8 gig flash drive, I knew that would come in handy.

I'll look for a v2 when I get an HDTV.

[GaMeFaNaTiC @ Nov 4th 2008 2:22PM]

@ Tobi

Where did you get it from for £60??

[Tim Anderson @ Nov 4th 2008 2:24PM]

It will never be network capable. The whole point is to boost sales of external HDs for Western Digital.

Best you can hope for is NAS compatability.

[Rob @ Nov 4th 2008 4:28PM]

I'm hoping Wi-Fi can be hacked in using one of the USB ports. Seems plausible.

[mcdj @ Nov 4th 2008 3:29PM]

Got one Sunday. It rocks. It gets really hot though.

[Xoom @ Nov 4th 2008 4:02PM]

Will it play subs in a MKV container?

[Dimensions Of Hell @ Nov 4th 2008 4:13PM]

It would have been great if there was anyway to stream files directly to the device. I have everything on my computer. I hate having to plug/unplug stuff (e.g. flash drives) to transfer files.

Anybody know of any other hardware that has all these options, but let you stream files directly to the device?

[Dubb @ Nov 4th 2008 6:20PM]

http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/

Not sure of what codecs it supports, you'll have to check that out yourself. The A110 allows you to add a HDD directly to it or stream, the A100 can only play from streamed sources.

[Dubb @ Nov 4th 2008 6:24PM]

I thought they had Wi-Fi but they do not, only an Ethernet port.

[jimmy @ Nov 4th 2008 6:29PM]

both the popcornhour a100 & a110 can play off of an internal hd or usb hdd/stick as well as network.. a100 has pata, a110 has sata connex

[jeremy @ Nov 4th 2008 8:12PM]

You might as well just get a popcorn hour with an internal hard drive. The price will be very similar in the end plus you have much more versatility such as to stream from your PC or from an internal hard drive. With this WD box you need unplug and swap the hard drive every time you add new media. I suppose it is a cheap alternative if you already have an external hard drive or flash drive and you don't mind the back and forth. I bought one and really want to keep it but the new popcorn hour just seems like a better alternative.

[sdsdv10 @ Nov 5th 2008 8:47AM]

Check out the Mediagate MG-450HD. The interface is a little clucky, but works with streaming over ethernet or Wifi.

http://www.mediagateusa.com/mg450hd.html


Goes for $200 here http://www.eworldsale.com/mediagate-mg-450hd-80211g-wireless-hd-multimedia-center-35-inch-sata-hard-drive_5853_9115.html

[lazyjai @ Jan 8th 2009 5:47AM]

I know the MediaGate MG-450HD can stream files and plays on TV and can also support HD Movies (via HDMI port) - http://www.mwave.com.au/newAU/mwaveAU/productdetail.asp?sku=29030209

I'm now sure where your from... but they are being sold over at the US also...

[Precurse @ Nov 4th 2008 5:00PM]

This sucks.. I live in Canada and BestBuy up here doesn't carry it. I can't even order it and have it delivered IN the States, as BestBuy requires both billing and shipping to reside in the States. The Western Digital site sells it for $129, which is 30% higher.. I think I may just go with the iSTAR HD, which comes with network (ftp/http/samba/nfs) support, as well as an external eSATA connector, etc and sells for $188.

[Tim K @ Nov 4th 2008 7:42PM]

Anyone think this thing can/will get firmware updates? Would be great if they support updating the interface and added format such as .ISO files. Just curious.

[Mike Hilton @ Nov 5th 2008 3:08PM]

Just got one of these after reading 'confirmations' on here on the previous post that it supported ISO and .IFO..... It seems it doesn't? It just plays VOBs individually, and doesn't pick up the .IFO for playing dvd rips.....or am I missing a trick? Any info appreciated

[Tranquillian @ Nov 5th 2008 3:09PM]

I just got one today, and it does support DVD in ISO format as far as I can tell, but on selected dvdrips, the aspect ratio is squished, more so than the correct aspect ratio that it maintains playing on my PC....is anyone else experiencing this? My mkv's and avi's are displaying correctly, but some 2:35:1 aspect films are being squished =/

[Tranquillian @ Nov 5th 2008 3:13PM]

Just to clarify, I have a straight rip, in VIDEO_TS folder, of Around The World In 80 Days, and the player is squishing the aspect ratio beyond the intended 2:35:1 widescreen. However another rip I have of Happy Feet is displaying correctly, not sure what the problem could be.

[Strap @ Nov 5th 2008 10:44PM]

Try adjusting the aspect ratio under video setting to "normal"; seems counter-intuitive, but it worked for me for some of my widescreen movies. Only problem is, you have to change it back to "widescreen" for your other movies. Hopefully this will be corrected in a firmware update.

[Strap @ Nov 5th 2008 10:47PM]

Try adjusting settings to "Normal" from "widescreen" under video settings. Sounds counter-intuitive, I know, but it worked for me for some of my movies. Only problem is, you have to switch back to "widescreen" for your other movies. Hopefully, this will be remedied in a firmware update.

[wana10 @ Nov 6th 2008 3:34PM]

some older widescreen dvds have the black bars encoded as part of the video, so while you see it as widescreen the player sees it as 4:3. when the 4:3 image is stretched across your widescreen tv the image would then looked squished.