WD TV Live Plus: Western Digital's Latest Media Player Reviewed
by Cameron Butterfield on July 29, 2010 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Media Streamer
- WD
- WD TV Live Plus
Our piece on media streamer platforms indicated that we were in the process of assembling a test suite of media files. With the help of feedback from readers and some members from AVSForums, we managed to assemble a set of 44 test files covering various media streamer / HTPC scenarios for v1.0.0 of the AnandTech Media Streamer Test Suite. Weights have been assigned to each stream based on how frequently one might encounter them in a home theater setting. The table below indicates the various aspects tested by each file, the assigned weight for the stream, and the score obtained by the WD TV Live Plus depending on the success it had with playback.
WD TV Live Plus: AT Media Streamer Test Suite | |||||||
File Name | Aspects Tested | Max. Score | WD TV Score | Notes | |||
001-1080p30.x264.AC3.m2ts | H.264, AC3, M2TS |
8
|
8
|
||||
002-480i30.MPEG.ASF.dvr-ms | ASF, DVR-MS |
2
|
2
|
||||
003-1080p24.WMV9.WMAPro.6Ch.wmv | WMV9, WMAPro |
8
|
0
|
WMAPro doesn't play | |||
004-1080p60.x264.8ref.mkv | 60 fps L5.1 H.264 |
8
|
8
|
||||
005-1440x1080i30.SonyAVCHD.m2ts | HD Camcorder Clips |
10
|
10
|
||||
006-1080p24.x264.16ref.mkv | L5.1 H.264 |
8
|
8
|
||||
007-1080p.x264.DTS.6Ch.mkv | DTS |
10
|
10
|
||||
008-DTS-HRA.8Ch.m2ts | DTS-HRA Bitstreaming |
8
|
3
|
DTS core bitstreaming | |||
009-TrueHD.6Ch..m2ts | TrueHD Bitstreaming |
8
|
8
|
||||
010-1080p24.x264.AAC.mp4 | AAC, MP4 |
8
|
8
|
||||
011-FLAC.6Ch.ASS.Subs.mkv | FLAC, ASS Subs |
8
|
4
|
Stylized Subs not displayed | |||
012-1080p24.Vorbis.ogg | Vorbis, OGG |
4
|
0
|
Unrecognized Format | |||
013-352p25RV40.RACook.rmvb | Real Media |
8
|
0
|
Unrecognized Format | |||
014-1080i25.AVC.AC3..MPEG-TS.trp | TRP |
2
|
2
|
||||
015-360p24.XVid.12LanguagesSRT.Subs.mkv | UTF Subs |
8
|
2
|
Language Orientation issues. | |||
016-1080i30.MPEG2.HeavilyInterlaced.ts | Deinterlacing for MPEG-2 |
8
|
2
|
Flickering Issues | |||
017-1080p24.TrueHD.PGS.Subs.mkv | PGS Subs, TrueHD Bitstreaming from MKV |
12
|
0
|
||||
018-480p.TVCapture.wtv | WTV |
4
|
0
|
Unrecognized Format | |||
019-240p.H264.AAC.m4v | M4V |
8
|
8
|
||||
020-1080p30.x264.AC3.m2ts | H.264, AC3, M2TS |
10
|
5
|
Slight Choppiness | |||
021-442p30.DivX.AAC.mkv | DivX in MKV Container |
8
|
2
|
Sync Issues | |||
022-DVDISO.iso | DVD ISO |
10
|
10
|
||||
023-BluRayISO.iso | Blu Ray ISO |
10
|
5
|
Unable to play menus / Other Issues* | |||
024-1080p24.x264.DTS-MA.7Ch.mkv | DTS-MA Bitstreaming from MKV |
4
|
0
|
No Audio | |||
025-720p24.x264.DTS-MA.6Ch.mkv | DTS-MA Bitstreaming from MKV |
4
|
0
|
No Audio | |||
026-1080p24.VC1.AC3.mkv | VC1 in MKV |
10
|
10
|
||||
027-1440x576p25.WVC1.wmv | WVC1 |
8
|
8
|
||||
028-720p60.WVC1.WMA3.6Ch.wmv | 60fps WVC1 |
8
|
0
|
WMA No Audio | |||
029-1080p60.AVC.AAC.MP4 | HD Camcorder Clips |
10
|
1
|
Choppiness | |||
030-272p.VP6.MP3.FLV | VP6 in FLV, MP3 |
10
|
0
|
||||
031-854x480p30.H264.AAC.flv | H.264 in FLV |
10
|
10
|
||||
032-1080p.VP8.Vorbis.webm | VP8, WebM |
10
|
0
|
Unrecognized Format | |||
033-480p24.MPEG1.mpg | MPEG-1 |
4
|
4
|
||||
034-1080p24.xvid.avi | HD Xvid, AVI |
10
|
10
|
||||
035-672p30.DIVX.MP3.divx | DivX |
10
|
10
|
||||
036-720p60.MPEG2.m2v | MPEG-2, M2V |
2
|
2
|
||||
037-1080p30.MPEG2TS.ts | TS |
2
|
2
|
||||
038-1080p25.AVC.AAC.6Ch.MOV.mov | MOV |
10
|
10
|
||||
039-1080p24.RV40.Cook.rmvb | HD Real Media |
8
|
0
|
Unrecognized Format | |||
040-Anamorphic.MultAud.MultSubs.mkv | Anamorphic, SSA Subs |
10
|
9
|
Subtitle Issues | |||
041-1080p24.VC1.DTSHD-MA.m2ts | VC1 in M2TS, DTS-HD Bitstreaming |
6
|
3
|
Only passed DTS | |||
042-1080p24.VC1.TrueHD.AC3.m2ts | VC1 in M2TS, TrueHD Bitstreaming |
6
|
6
|
||||
043-1080i30.H264.HeavilyInterlaced.ts | Deinterlacing for H264 |
8
|
2
|
Flickering Issues | |||
044-1080i30.VC1.HeavilyInterlaced.ts | Deinterlacing for VC1 |
8
|
2
|
Flickering Issues | |||
022-DVDISO.iso extracted to folder | Video_TS/VOB Playback | 4 | 4 | ||||
023-BluRayISO.iso extracted to folder | Extracted BluRay Iso | 4 | 0 | One Video Stream at a time only. | |||
Total |
200 out of 344
|
The WD TV Live Plus has some drawbacks when it comes to media compatibility, especially compared to an HTPC system which due to its flexible software options which lets it play virtually anything. (For instance the ASRock Core100HT-BD HTPC scored 336 out of 344 in our media compatibility test suite). The WD TV Live Plus acheives a score of 200 out of 344 here (58.14%). Some of the key shortcomings in media compatibility include failure to decode WMAPro audio codecs and RMVB, poor deinterlacing capabilities, some subtitles problems and a few issues with choppiness on certain test files.
While the device does have full WMV support, it does not have support for WMApro audio codecs. Several of our WMV test files played perfectly but without audio; including a de-facto WMV-HD test file from the WMV showcase website. There are many users who do not utilize any windows media codecs in any shape or form and so this will not bother many people. However, this could mean major compatibility issues with users who have previously encoded much of their video content to WMV for Xbox media streaming purposes. RMVB is not listed as a supported format and indeed the rmvb files do not even show up in the folder when browsing through the content. Deinterlacing performance on the WD TV Live was sub-par and most of the deinterlacing test videos had flickering issues. A drastic improvement was seen when offloading the deinterlacing to my HDTV's deinterlacing processor by setting the WD TV Live to 1080i and allowing the television itself to interpolate the fields. If you are going to be using the WD TV Live for watching interlaced content, you might do yourself a service to do the same.
The WD TV Live does support subtitles and has a wide range of language/region options. The SSA subs worked fine on most content, but some of the stylized subs were not visible on our test file. PGS subtitles did not play from MKVs. Also, some languages that read right to left were displayed incorrectly. Other lost points in this test suite came from a few test files that had choppiness issues such as some of the HD camera clips and a Panasonic demo reel.
Blu-ray menus are not supported at all, but the device does ask if you would like to play the video within the ISO, and it is possible to view the video stream inside the ISO. This worked on our test Blu-ray ISO that only included one video stream, but when attempting to do the same with our HQV Blu-ray ISO, it resulted in only one video being played, although there were several video streams inside. Most likely, the WD TV attempts to play the largest video stream and that is all. Some points were docked for this issue.
With the incompatibilities and other issues noted, the WD TV Live Plus does support a wide range of files and plays them very well. With a few exceptions, the content that the WD TV Live advertises as being compatible with plays smoothly even at high bit-rates and full 1080p resolutions. Dolby TrueHD is supported, although only in the mt2s container (strangely, this is not listed in the manual as supported). DVD ISO playback seems flawless including full menu support. Even Blu-ray ISO files work on the device, with certain quirks, as mentioned above.
[UPDATE]
Due to reader feedback, we have added an additional test to the benchmark suite to determine if the player is capable of playing extracted Blu-Ray and DVD ISO formats. The WD TV Live Plus was capable of playing the DVD with menus just fine after clicking the first file in the Video_TS folder. The extracted Blu-ray ISO could be played one video stream at a time by navigating into the folder structure of the extracted ISO, no Blu-Ray menus were available. Please note the updated scores.
81 Comments
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Methusela - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
Hey, something you probably want to add is that WD's support of the WDTV line of products is _legendarily_ bad. Please check the network media tank and streaming forums at AVS, at wdtvforums.com, or at wdtvforum.com for verification of the following information. Here's what WD does to its userbase:1) Releases product. Claims they will support it with significant bug fixes and additional, user-requested features.
2) Releases 2-5 firmware updates over the course of the product's 6-10 month lifespan. Often, these sparse firmware releases come with huge problems (like bricking your device), and they almost never address the bugs that the retail device shipped with, nor do they add the functionality that the WD representatives (Scott, Tim, et al) claim would be added when masquerading as "support" on user forums such as those mentioned above.
3) Release new product at a higher price point with almost identical specifications and some of the user requested features of the last generation product, but all of the same bugs.
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 to infinity.
I know, this sounds a lot like many of the technology corporations around these days, but that doesn't mean you should put up with it. And, this isn't simply a case of sour grapes. Go read those forums and see for yourself how many problems there are and how WD continually fails to address them.
Anandtech should note these issues in a legitimate review of the device because, though it's reasonably inexpensive, the WDTV product lineup is not supported by its manufacturer and, thus, in light of its other shortcomings, is very difficult to recommend.
ganeshts - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
Methusela,We will add a section on customer support / community firmware dev support for future media streamer reviews.
However, note that files which are problematic for WDTV Live Plus are included in the media streamer test suite. The score is around 57%, and if some other streamer gets more, we will obviously recommend that. Unfortunately, this is the first media streamer which has been put through the test suite, so we didn't provide any 'recommendations' as such.
vision33r - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
The 2 consoles would've been the perfect setup as media players but MS and Sony decided to cripple their abilities and the only way to get them to play anything today is to use PCs and stream media to them.What a joke. So you've paid $150+ and still need a PC to transcode media.
These little boxes such as the WDTV Live+, Popcorn Hour, and Seagate Freeagent + all does it with ease and they use so little power compare to a Xbox/PS3 setup pumping hot air into the room.
Finite Loop - Friday, July 30, 2010 - link
While the AC Ryan plays most content very well, I've noticed some documentaries don't come out well with the AC Ryan.I have 3 seasons of the History channel's "The Universe" and most people agree that the encodings are rather poor (see Amazon reviews on this).
I normally playback using a computer running Linux with an 8800GT connected with a 37" TV's HDMI connector. Playback (of The Universe) becomes acceptable if I apply Yadif (2x) and crop to 16:9 (using VLC player).
When I playback the Universe using the AC Ryan, I can't get an acceptable picture. Something bad goes on with interlacing and I'm not sure if the TV is applying it's own deinterlace filter but the picture is simply not as nice as when playing from VLC. I'm not noticing any interlacing so I assume that somewhere there's a bad/cheap deinterlace filter being applied. Additionally, the AC Ryan seems to stumble on the aspect ratio. If I "Zoom to width" then sections of the left and right of the picture are cut off. Changing the output mode to the TV doesn't help.
The AC Ryan is otherwise perfect for most other content and matches the quality I get from the 8800GT (which is used together with vdpau in mplayer for HD content).
These media streamers are at least much better than DLNA which is a very bad joke. I'd still prefer a media streamer over a separate computer. The AC Ryan is nice and small, generates no noticeable heat, plays most content fine and I already have ethernet running to every TV and a file server in the basement which is on 24x7x365, so a drive bay is not necessary.
I can even run MIPS compiled binaries on the AC Ryan.
Drag0nFire - Friday, July 30, 2010 - link
Why wasn't the WTV format given more weight? This means I can't stream anything I record in my Win7 Media Center, unless I transcode first! It seems like this would be very important for home theater use.scJohn - Friday, July 30, 2010 - link
WTV is pretty much a proprietary container from Microsoft. There are some commercial software that can read the container and transcode to a new container that the WD Live HD Plus can play.I use an external USB drive to hold my recorded TV shows to play on my WD Live HD. I use the program: WTVConverter.exe included in Windows 7, to rip the WTV file(s) to DVRMS files. Since this is just a rip and not a transcode the process only takes a couple of minutes per file. Since I have to copy files from my HDD to a USB drive any way .... I just tell WTVConvert to output the ripped file to my USB drive.
ravib123 - Saturday, July 31, 2010 - link
I generally shy away from the WD external hard drive enclosures ... they usually overheat the drives leaving them to die just inside or outside of the 3 year warranty period. (I've lost 5 drives of different generations like this).I am using an ARGOSY media player hard drive, and aside from it not having netflix there is no issue with it. Plays all the formats I've thrown at it with dual audio and subs, dvd isos, oggs, etc. Plus plays others streaming off my network available shares if needed.
Not sure on the longevity of the system yet as it is my first hdd based media player.
skipperpma - Saturday, July 31, 2010 - link
Super excited about this product. I have been backing up my dvd's to hd for a while, and when this was going to be perfect! -The first movie played fine. The second wouldn't play at all. Went back to the first, and it wouldn't play. I power cycled the unit, and it played a different move fine. Stopped and tried another, and again it wouldn't play.
I also got random drop outs on sound and picture freezing.
I'll be returning it..
:(
Krichek - Saturday, July 31, 2010 - link
Not sure if it matters to most or not or even if an * should be placed in the original article, but for what it is worth. Both the WDTV Live Plus and the previous WDTV will play .wtv files when you use the "play to" function in Windows 7.Decaff - Monday, August 2, 2010 - link
The "play to" function automatically transcodes the stream into another format if the DLNA devices you're playing to doesn't support the original format. So basically, you can "play to" almost anything that has DLNA, Windows will make sure the format comes to fit in someway.