Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player - a HTPC replacement??

Well you do have a point there. I think the thread title is all wrong . I mean u really cannot compare a full fledged Computer with a Media player . But I know that I will never spend money on an HTPC especially after the plug and play convenience offered by WD TV and its future versions.

Offtopic : Now Wd TV features have also been included in the Samsung 40 inch LCD (Series 6 ), I think which is just awesome ! Slowly these devices are evolving and somehow becoming more like a complete entertainment centre rather than limited functionality devices.

I know, its really very very interesting to see that but I am not convinced if sammy will perform to the extent of WD TV when it comes to PQ and SQ
 
Offtopic : Now Wd TV features have also been included in the Samsung 40 inch LCD (Series 6 ), I think which is just awesome ! Slowly these devices are evolving and somehow becoming more like a complete entertainment centre rather than limited functionality devices.

I have a Sammy 40" A610. Which features are you talking about?
 
However, the problem for me lies with sound quality. With a HTPC I can aim sky high as far as sound quality goes for music. With these systems I am yet to see one which has some potential in this direction.
When you refer to sound quality - you mean the quality of the analog out of WDTV? If so, would not a good external DAC address that issue?
 
I can put thoughts in my way,
Those who have WDTV shld not go for highend or costly HTPC as WDTV will be doing half the job.PC is needed to download,copying files to HDD,conversion of file.One dont need dedicated HTPC for that.

Others who have HTPC may not need WDTV.
But WDTV works on lesser power than any PC/HTPC.
 
Hi, I thought I'll post about one quirk I noticed and worked around with my wdtv. Maybe most know this issue but when I ran a search for an answer, I could not find one on this (probably longest running) thread, so this post is for the simple minded folks like me!

I connected my wdtv to my old BPL tv through an RCA and to the Denon 1909 with an HDMI cables. Everything worked fine till I navigated to the track to be played, but the moment I pressed 'play' on the remote the display on the tv would turn off! The track would play and so would the next one, but there was no way to navigate around. Had to switch the source on the AVR to get the display back, something was not right for sure...

Finally tracked it to the cables I used. If you are running an HDMI cable to the AVR then the display signal also needs to come from the AVR. (There is no way I could do that for my ancient BPL, which can take only RCAs). So, read the manual and interpreted it to mean that only the sound signal needs to be sent to the AVR separately from the video. I had an optical cable and used that along with the RCA to the TV. I tried with the (red and white) RCAs to the AVR and that works too. But then everyone knows that optical is better than the RCAs.

Hope this helps someone or have I stated the obvious?

PS: Love the ease of switching between all your favourite tracks without having to change CDs etc. Have even disconnected the hard drive and am reading off a simple 8gb pen drive, but maybe my collection is small, yet.
 
Hi Ram,

I am not able to play avi files on the WDTV as it says the file format is not supported as i am playing a HD Terminator movie of size 8 GB. Should i convert to .mkv format to play?
 
Hi Ram,

I am not able to play avi files on the WDTV as it says the file format is not supported as i am playing a HD Terminator movie of size 8 GB. Should i convert to .mkv format to play?


Install klite codec pack. Open the avi file using media player classic. right click on the video being played. click on properties. go to details tab . paste the audio video info here . It could be a codec problem.

Alternatively use Media info for getting the file details.
 
It must be a COdec problem, like Illusion pointed out pls post teh file info. I have many .av'is that plays without a hiccup.

ME too. WD TV has till date played all avi files , even thgse avi files which could not be played with my LG DV 388 DVD player. So figured out that it had to be codec problem.
 
Hello

While playing MP4 files (with AAC audio 6 channels) in WDTV sound does not come out when audio option is set to Digital, but plays when set to Stereo option.

Why is this ? is there any workaround ?

how can i convert the audio alone into AC3 and include it back into MP4 container if there is no way i can play the above combination.

Thanks
Zorro
 
Hello

While playing MP4 files (with AAC audio 6 channels) in WDTV sound does not come out when audio option is set to Digital, but plays when set to Stereo option.

Why is this ? is there any workaround ?

how can i convert the audio alone into AC3 and include it back into MP4 container if there is no way i can play the above combination.

Thanks
Zorro

Ahh , sad news here . AVR's dont understand 6 channel aac. as a result when the audio is passes as digital aac to avr no sound.

You will need to convert AAC files to ac3 here to hear sound as ac3 is recognized by AVR's.

In stereo mode WD TV downmixes it to pcm, I think, which is again recognized by avr's and thus the sound is heard.


Guys pls correct me here if i am wrong.
 
Ahh , sad news here . AVR's dont understand 6 channel aac. as a result when the audio is passes as digital aac to avr no sound.

You will need to convert AAC files to ac3 here to hear sound as ac3 is recognized by AVR's.

In stereo mode WD TV downmixes it to pcm, I think, which is again recognized by avr's and thus the sound is heard.


Guys pls correct me here if i am wrong.

U r correct, more than the AVR WD TV does not recognize AAC as 6 channel so it wont send it through the digital line

Use Popcorns audio convertor and convert the audio to AC3 and rencode it to mp4 or mkv and play it. Avoid downloading aac files from now
 
U r correct, more than the AVR WD TV does not recognize AAC as 6 channel so it wont send it through the digital line

Use Popcorns audio convertor and convert the audio to AC3 and rencode it to mp4 or mkv and play it. Avoid downloading aac files from now

very diff. max releases are coming in aac format to reduce file size !
 
Madbullram

What tool should i use to extract AAC audio from MP4 file. Popcorn Audio converter does not identify MP4 file but only MKV file


Thanks
Zorro
 
Madbullram

I have used MKVToolnix for re-muxing. I extracted AAC from MP4 file using another tool called OJOSoft converter and converted to AC3.

I used MKVToolnix to mux MP4 video (AVC1) and AC3 and generated a MKV file. So far so good. When i played the file, my AVR recognized the audio as Doby Digital and reproduced the sound. However, there seem to be a sound lag (no synch between Video and Audio). There seem to be no issue when i play with VLC on my comp, but WDTV seem to be having the lag issue.

I tried setting the "Delay (in ms)" and "Stretch by" fields in MKVToolNix (MKV Merge), but no luck. Any pointers to what could be the issue and what settings should i use for Lag and Stretch fields.

Thanks
Zorro
 
U r correct, more than the AVR WD TV does not recognize AAC as 6 channel so it wont send it through the digital line

Use Popcorns audio convertor and convert the audio to AC3 and rencode it to mp4 or mkv and play it. Avoid downloading aac files from now

Madbullram

I have used MKVToolnix for re-muxing. I extracted AAC from MP4 file using another tool called OJOSoft converter and converted to AC3.

I used MKVToolnix to mux MP4 video (AVC1) and AC3 and generated a MKV file. So far so good. When i played the file, my AVR recognized the audio as Doby Digital and reproduced the sound. However, there seem to be a sound lag (no synch between Video and Audio). There seem to be no issue when i play with VLC on my comp, but WDTV seem to be having the lag issue.

I tried setting the "Delay (in ms)" and "Stretch by" fields in MKVToolNix (MKV Merge), but no luck. Any pointers to what could be the issue and what settings should i use for Lag and Stretch fields.

Thanks
Zorro
 
Well WDTV 2 will be out shortly, below is how the rear may look like, pricing is expected to be between $200 to $175.

Will recommend any new buyers to hold on and wait for the new product launch.

 
Madbullram

What tool should i use to extract AAC audio from MP4 file. Popcorn Audio converter does not identify MP4 file but only MKV file


Thanks
Zorro


Sirji even though this is directed towards MBR , let me help out here .

Download and install mkvtoolnix.
After installation click on mkvmerge.
Add the file , then simply choose a diff location and click on start muxing.
This will save the file as mkv with no changes in audio video stream.
Next use Popcorn Hour Audio converter.
open the app.
Navigate to the AAC tab .
Make sure that the Convert AAC 5.1 tracks is ticked.
Choose a location for the file.
Click on Run.

Presto your old mp4 aac file has been rencoded to mkv with ac3 . :yahoo:

Hope this helps.


Also the entire navigation is purely put of memory.In case the steps dont match then do let me know and I will tell you the exact navigation from there.


Cheers !
 
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