[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

When i want to play Music, i have to UN-necessarily switch the TV on to select songs that i intend to play. How can i avoid doing this.

Search for WD TV live on Play store. There are "remote" apps through which you can browse / select music to be played.

[dadu]

Originally Posted by vcash

Hi Folks,
In the coming few months, I will be seeking advice on two AV setups. I currently have a pair of standalone 32” and 40” 720p LCDs in two rooms that I plan to upgrade to a 1080p 46” LED and 1080p 50” Plasma along with a 2.1 & 5.1 HTIB setup. In the meantime, I have the opportunity in the next few days to get atleast one if not two media players from the US. I would want to pick up both the players right now from there as the cost savings are considerable and it is easy to carry these devices as they have a small footprint.

These are my requirements for the players:


Thanks!
V

P.S. When I do buy a media player from the US, do I need to be mindful of NTSC VS. PAL support for my future TVs (Probably a Panasonic Plasma and a Samsung LED) or are these redundant when it comes to HDMI inputs, etc. (Sorry if this is a dumb question, *but I am a complete rookie when it comes to AV!)

VC, what was your final choice and any feedback on it, I am considering buying one but too many options are available.

Anyone any recommendations for a streaming smart TV media box with content for India.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by dadu

treaming smart TV media box with content for India.

At the moment only device that can do it is Apple TV. iTunes now supplies content in India.

Otherwise, you need to get a US centric device and use a US IP adress with VPN. THat opens up lots of content sources like Amazon prime/Netflix/Roku et.el.

[acurafan]

Originally Posted by vcash

These are my requirements for the players:

1. Ability to stream a wide variety of video files either on a network or locally from an inbuilt hard drive.

2. Decent codec support (Regular firmware updates will be much appreciated) - xvid, divx, mov, avi, mkv, H.264, etc.

3. User Interface – This is my most important criteria – Must be simple, lag-free and fast to use especially while browsing between files.

4. Ease of setup – I do not want anything very complicated so HTPC’s and the like are out – Plug & Play functionality is what I am looking at.

5. Metadata and Subtitle support – Extremely important that the player can connect to IMDB and extract metadata (Is this what is meant by Scraping?) as well ability to read attached sub files.

6. Price: Willing to spend up to $200 on a HDD based model and $100 on a non HDD model.

7. What I don’t particularly care for – 3D \ Blu-Ray ISO \ 7.1 – I will not need support for any of these (Maybe 3D, but once in a blue moon and that too if I buy a 3D TV when upgrading the TV’s)

I have read about a myriad of options but remain confused as ever. My consideration set started out with a pair of Roku 2 XD’s but I believe that these are only good for Internet streaming and not very good for local content.

I then read about Boxee’s fantastic codec support but was a little disappointed with the negative reviews on the user interface and the fact that it’s pretty expensive for a non HDD player.

Also from what I have read, video’s don’t stutter as much if stored on a local HD in the player (Though I may be wrong) – This lead me to the WD TV Live hub 1TB* and the WD TV Live combination – everything seemed great and marked a lot of the tick marks for me but then I began to read several negative reviews including very slow UI and skipping and stuttering in files.

I know that Popcorn Hour, Lacie LaCinema, AC Ryan, Hi Media 600 & 900, Asus O! play are all available, but frankly I can’t seem to decide on the one that is most suitable for my needs?

As of now I am leaning towards the WDTV Live Hub and WDTV Live combination but that is probably because I am overwhelmed with the options out there and these seem the simplest of the bunch. Should I pull the trigger on these or are there better options available?

Thanks!
V

I guess you don't need the answer but for others who may want some information.
Well I was in a similar situation. I have a 47" 1080p in Living room and a 37" 720p in bedroom. I had decided for a Smart TV for the living room. I bought LG 47LW5600 which has a Plex client and for the 37" which is 7 years old I use a Roku box that has a Plex app.
So my Macbook pro runs the Plex Server, the data base sits in a NAS. Whenever a new file is added the Plex server searches for the Meta data and creates a very elegant interface with Film Information, Poster etc. I can then play the content directly using the Plex client or the Roku app. Roku is a 4 year old box that supports only 720p but the newer Roku supports 1080p playback. Plex also supports 5.1 Dolby/DTS audio, which I bring it back to the AV receiver using HDMI Audio Return Channel.

So if we draw a diagram then it will be some thing like this

NAS (Content) ---> Macbook/PC (Plex Server) --> Wifi ---> LGTV --> AVR
|-------> Wifi ---> Roku --> Sharp

This is something I found to be decently optimal solution with least cost. Let me know if you have any questions as I have tried lot of other options which have their own pros/cons

[Technocrat]

I recently started facing a problem while playing BD MKVs, my WDTV Live Plus was not displaying Subtitles. Searched & found the solution, its a double work but atleast it allows me to view subtitles. basically you need to Remux your MKV file

Found following solution on MakeMKv forums & its working now

Step 1: Download MKVtoolnix from Here

Run the downloaded file and install it. Just keep clicking "next" and it'll make an icon on your desktop called "mkvmerge GUI". Run it.

Step 2: Click "file", then "options", look down the list of options and put a tick in the box that says "Disable header removal compression for audio and video tracks by default". Once you have a tick in the box click "OK".

Step 3: Now you're back on the main Windows, click the "add" button and navigate to one of your MKV files which isn't displaying subtitles, select it and click "open".

Step 4: By default the file will be written to the same place as the original. For example, if your file is called "OldBoy.mkv" the new file will be called "OldBoy (1).mkv". Your original will be unchanged. Click the "start muxing" button and wait. It will be 10-15 mins depending on the speed of your hard drive.

Step 5: Once the process is complete test the new file e.g.: "OldBoy (1).mkv" on your WD TV Live, and see if the subtitles display.

Source

[aah78]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

I recently started facinga problem while palying BD MKVs, my WDTV Live Plus was not displaying Subtitles. Searched & found the solution, its a double work but atleast it allows me to view subtitles. basically you need to Remux your MKV file

Found following solution on MakeMKv forums & its working now

Do you use HandBrake? I haven't tried working with BD but regular DVD mkv files work fine on my WD TV Live with multiple audio streams & subtitles.

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by aah78

Do you use HandBrake? I haven't tried working with BD but regular DVD mkv files work fine on my WD TV Live with multiple audio streams & subtitles.

I use Makemkv, regular works fine its just BD which was having issues with Subtitles, audio streams etc work great.

Will try out Handbrake for creating MKVs.

[vcash]

Originally Posted by dadu

VC, what was your final choice and any feedback on it, I am considering buying one but too many options are available.

Anyone any recommendations for a streaming smart TV media box with content for India.

I went with the Zotac Zbox AD-04 - I think it was the one running Cedar Trail. Working out really well with XBMC. I paid about $300 for that - It takes a little bit of customization but it's worth it in terms of the functionality (Hello iPad remote!) and the slick look and feel. Hope this helps. Cheers.

[nitinbose]

Hi Everyone!

I guess I'm late to this discussion! Based on your experiences, Can the WD or similar media players higher bitrate videos, especially those 1080p with sizes exceeding 2GB?

It looks like everybody votes for the WD player, please suggest me if there's something better now. How about using a laptop with HDMI out? Will it work the same way?

[JMaruru]

I have this WDTV HD Media Player(WDBABF0000NBK) and am on the latest FW 1.01.77. Please help me understand why some video files of same format play and some does not. I see some of the .avi or .mp4 throw up the message "Unable to play the selected file".

[sharninder]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

I have this WDTV HD Media Player(WDBABF0000NBK) and am on the latest FW 1.01.77. Please help me understand why some video files of same format play and some does not. I see some of the .avi or .mp4 throw up the message "Unable to play the selected file".

avi and mp4 are what are known as containers. Check which codec is your video/audio stream actually encoded in.

[Fillmore]

Originally Posted by nitinbose

Hi Everyone!

I guess I'm late to this discussion! Based on your experiences, Can the WD or similar media players higher bitrate videos, especially those 1080p with sizes exceeding 2GB?

It looks like everybody votes for the WD player, please suggest me if there's something better now. How about using a laptop with HDMI out? Will it work the same way?

Not sure if you have already picked up a media player since this is a late response.

If you have a laptop with HDMI out, then you can install XBMC on it and run it like a full fledged media player.

Very versatile and configurable, plus it has a full support forum.
You can download it from here
http://xbmc.org/download/

Support Forum : http://forum.xbmc.org/

[abishek2222]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Found following solution on MakeMKv forums & its working now

You could alternatively try mkWDclean you just have to drag and drop the mkv file into the mkWDclean.exe. it creates a clean mkv file which plays back on the WD player.
"Also comes with mkWDclean to modify files in a way they can play in broken/incomplete players."
http://www.matroska.org/downloads/mkclean.html

[Fillmore]

Amazon launched their own device yesterday labelled "Amazon Fire TV" @$99

It is competing with the likes of Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, etc..

For more reading ..
Amazon Fire TV..

Quick comparison chart (however it appears that they included only the points where their product leads)

[gsurya]

Can an HDD be attached to it to stream movies from the disk for the same interface? Can we record to the disk? Doesnt seem to or say so.