Recently jdrama fansubbed releases came out always more often in HD format (1280×720 x264).
Since I think that nothing can be compared to watching a video sat in a confortable sofa instead of a chair in front of a computer monitor, I’m forced to take in consideration these new video formats. And their visibility in the above context.
My table device has an old chipsets and cannot display the files encoded with advanced codecs. I have decided to take a step forward on this matter.
I bought a Western Digital TV HD Media Player. It has been a good purchase.
It’s a harware media player that recognize the most recents video/audio formats. Connected to the television, it can be used to show pictures, videos or to listen to music.
It does not contain a storage device (HD or memory card) but support any type of external storage device connected to its USB ports.
It’s very useful for people that already have external USB HD or USB keys in their hands (almost all PC users).
It read perfectly the contents of my Kingston 4Gb USB key.
If the USB device is not write protected, it can store the video thumbnails, seek positions of movies or audio files (ex. you can restart watching a movie from a previously interrupted position).
A VERY IMPORTANT thing about this product is that it IS UPDATED. Quite often, using user community responses.
Below a list of what I have PERSONALLY tested with firmware version v1.01:
- recognize AVI, MP4, MKV containers;
- 704×396, 1024×768, 1280×720 resolutions are displayed correctly, even intermediate ones;
- XVID, DIVX5/6, H.264 codecs are played correctly;
- MP3, AAC codecs are played correctly;
- Files are recognized by extension name, not by content so a wrong extension makes file unreadable;
- Search function is not available for AVI/MP4/MKV files (but it memorizes last played position);
- SRT and ASS are showed correctly, but without format tags;
- subtitles size can be changed from several fixed sizes;
- long subtitles don’t exit from visible video part but are splitted across lines;
- read files stored in any position (root or subdirs);
I will update this list when I notice new worth features.
Firmware version 1.02 is already out, I’m going to d/l and testit now!
Recently jdrama fansubbed releases came out always more often in HD format (1280×720 x264).
Since I think that nothing can be compared to watching a video sat in a comfortable sofa instead of a chair in front of a computer monitor, I’m forced to take in consideration these new video formats. And their visibility in the above context.
My table device has an old chipset and cannot display the files encoded with advanced codecs. I have decided to take a step forward on this matter.
I bought a Western Digital TV HD Media Player. It has been a good purchase.
It’s a hardware media player that recognize the most recent video/audio formats. Connected to the television, it can be used to show pictures, videos or to listen to music.
It does not contain a storage device (HD or memory card) but support any type of external storage device connected to its USB ports.
It’s very useful for people that already have external USB HD or USB keys in their hands (almost all PC users).
It reads perfectly the contents of my Kingston 4Gb USB key.
If the USB device is not write protected, it can store the video thumbnails, seek positions of movies or audio files (ex. you can restart watching a movie from a previously interrupted position).
A VERY IMPORTANT thing about this product is that it IS UPDATED. Quite often, using user community responses.
I will update the following list with my discoveries.
PERSONALLY tested with firmware version v1.01:
- support AVI, MP4, MKV containers;
- recognize and play files with 704×396, 1024×768, 1280×720 resolutions (even the intermediates);
- recognize and play files with XVID, DIVX5/6, H.264 video codecs;
- recognize and play files with MP3, AAC audio codecs;
- show JPEG pictures;
- files are recognized by extension name, not by content so a wrong extension makes file unreadable;
- search function is not available for AVI/MP4/MKV files (but it memorizes last played position);
- x2, x4, x8, x16 fast forward speeds available;
- SRT and ASS are showed correctly, but without format tags;
- subtitles size can be changed from several fixed sizes;
- long subtitles don’t exit from visible video part but are divided across lines;
- read files stored in any position (root or subdirs).
06/06/2009: Firmware 1.02.07 installed.
- above functions are confirmed.
- plays correctly also 1440×1080i files.
- M4V videos are recognized and played properly but fast forward does not work with them. Also if the file is a MP4 renamed. FF works well with AVI/MP4 files.
