WD TV
The WD TV was a consumer device produced by Western Digital that played videos, images, and music from USB drives or network locations. The device was introduced in 2008 and played high-definition video through an HDMI port, and standard video through composite video cables. The device had support for most common video and audio formats. The WD TV was discontinued as of August 2016.
| Manufacturer | Western Digital |
|---|---|
| Type | Digital media receiver |
| Release date | September 2013 (current release) November 2008 (original release) |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), 10/100 Ethernet, Micro-USB, HDMI |
Models
WD TV (1st Gen)
In November 2008 Western Digital introduced the WD TV.[1] with full HD 1080p multimedia player with DTS pass-through only.[2] The hardware starts with a 300 MHz TangoX MIPS 4KEc from Sigma Designs, which has 100 MB of memory.[3][4]
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV (1st Gen) |
1 HDMI 1.2 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.2 1 Component 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
2 USB 2.0 | none |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) AVI (AVC, MPEG1/2/4) WMV9, MPG/MPEG, VOB, DVR-MS MKV (h.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) | |||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS (pass-through only) | |||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT | |||
WD TV (2nd Gen)
Updated device with 2-channel DTS support.[5] Uses the same Sigma SMP8655 Secure Media Processor as the Live.
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV (2nd Gen) |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Component 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
2 USB 2.0 | none |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) MPG/MPEG, M2TS, WMV9 AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1) MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) | |||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS | |||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI | |||
WD TV Mini
Released in Fall 2009,[6] it was a Media Player with DVD quality, upscales to 1080i, Plays back RealVideo and many other popular file formats with no need for transcoding, but lacks the ability to play H.264 encoded video.
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV Mini |
1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 Component 1 Composite 1080i 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
1 USB 2.0 | none |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4) AVI (Xvid, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB, RM or RMVB 8/9/10 | |||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC FLAC, MKA, OGG, Real Audio, APE | |||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI | |||
WD TV Live
Released in Fall 2009[7] with Full HD 1080p resolution. An updated device with 2-channel DTS, streaming and network support, which comes in the form of an Ethernet port on the back. Also compatible with certain wireless USB adapters.[8] Connects to Internet sites: YouTube (until 2017), Flickr, Live365, myTV, Pandora, Mediafly, Flingo, AccuWeather, Facebook or stream content from a home network.[9] Supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats. No need for transcoding. Mediafly and DVD menu support added in firmware update.
The device supports three playlist formats.
The Sigma Designs SMP8655 SoC inside the WD TV Live features a 500 MHz CPU, a 333 MHz coprocessor, a 333 MHz DSP, 512 MB of DRAM, and 256 MB of NAND flash memory. Western Digital has tweaked the original Sigma SMP8600 Family design slightly by including 6 video Digital to Analog Converters (DACs) which should give it the ability to handle high-def content with ease.[10] (Model number WDBAAN0000NBK).
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV Live |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Component 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
2 USB 2.0 1 Ethernet |
Facebook AccuWeather Deezer Flingo TuneIn YouTube Pandora Flickr Live365.com Mediafly Funspot |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB, M2TS, WMV9 TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1) MKV (h.264 AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) | |||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS | |||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI, PGS, VobSub | |||
| File systems | FAT32, NTFS, HFS+, NFS | |||
WD TV Live Plus (WD TV Live 2nd Gen)
Released early in 2010[11] and having all the features of the WD TV Live along with Netflix streaming support. In order to support Netflix, a macrovision enabled SoC was required (Sigma Designs SMP8654) and the Linux system is also now encrypted.[12] However, actual user experience has lagged for some. As of April 12, 2011,[13] Netflix Canada works on a WD Live TV Plus as long as the firmware has been upgraded to version 1.04.31_B or newer. It is also known as WDTV Live Plus (Model number WDBABX0000NBK, WDBREC0000NBK, WDBG3A0000NBK).
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV Live Plus |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Component 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
2 USB 2.0 1 Ethernet |
Netflix Blockbuster CinemaNow Hulu Plus AccuWeather Deezer Flingo TuneIn YouTube Pandora Flickr Live365.com Mediafly |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB, M2TS, WMV9 TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1) MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) | |||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS | |||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI, PGS, VobSub | |||
| File systems | FAT32, NTFS, HFS+, ext3 | |||
Reviews: WD TV Live Plus was met with generally positive reviews. Review Horizon names it a worthy successor of WD TV Live.[14]
WD TV Live Hub
Released in fall 2010,[15] this is a WD TV Live device with an internal 1 TB storage disk. It uses the same Sigma Designs SMP8654 found in the WD TV Live Plus with four 64 MB Nanya NT5TU64M16GG DDR2 667/800 MHz modules (256 MB total), and a 2 GB Samsung K9F2G080UB flash chip.
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV Live Hub |
1 HDMI 1.4 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.4 1 Component 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
Modified Linux OS Media Server Games Programmable Remote 1TB hard drive 2 USB 2.0 (Supports Keyboard, External Drives, Wireless Antenna) 1 Gigabit Ethernet |
Netflix Blockbuster YouTube Pandora Slingbox Flickr Live365.com Mediafly AccuWeather Picasa Flingo |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MPV/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) AVI (Xvid/divX, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB, WMV9, FLV TS/TP/M2T/M2TS (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1) MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) | |||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WMA, OGG/OGA, MKA, FLAC WAV/WAVE/PCM/LPCM AAC/M4P/M4R, MPEG2/M2A AIF/AIFF, Dolby Digital, DTS | |||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI, PGS, VobSub | |||
| File systems | FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ | |||
WD TV Live Streaming (WD TV Live 3rd Gen)
Released in October 2011.[16] It has customizable themes, a larger remote control, can get content information from the internet, plays DRM-protected services, has a built-in wireless adapter, a 10/100Mbit/s RJ45 Ethernet port and is the first WD TV model to include the Spotify service. The WD TV Live has WiFi and a Sigma Designs SMP8670AD 700 MHz processor with 512MB of DDR2 memory from Nanya. It is also known as WD TV Live Gen 3 (NTSC model number WDBHG70000NBK, PAL model number WDBGXT0000NBK).
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV Live Streaming |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
2 USB 2.0 1 Ethernet Wi-Fi |
Netflix Spotify Blockbuster CinemaNow Hulu Plus AccuWeather Deezer Flingo TuneIn YouTube Pandora Flickr Live365.com Mediafly |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB, M2TS, WMV9 TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1) MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) | |||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS | |||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI, PGS, VobSub | |||
| File systems | EXT3, FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ | |||
WD TV Play (WD TV 4th Gen)
According to the WD Site, it was released in early 2013.[17] (NTSC model number WDBMBA0000NBK). Their exact words are:
The software does not support DTS or MPEG2, as these features were removed.
WD TV Media Player (WD TV 2nd Gen)
Released in July 2014.[18] (NTSC model number WDBYMN0000NBK, PAL model number WDBPUF0000NBK). Identical hardware to the WDTV Live Streaming but missing Netflix. This last version of the WDTV was finally discontinued by Western digital in June 2016 and is no longer available for sale through the manufacturer.
| Model | Audio out | Video out | Built in | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD TV |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Fiber Optic 1 RCA |
1 HDMI 1.3 1 Composite 1080i/p 720p 576i/p (PAL) 480i/p (NTSC) |
2 USB 2.0 1 Ethernet Wi-Fi |
Facebook AccuWeather Deezer (Premium+ service required) Spotify (Premium service required) Flingo TuneIn YouTube Pandora Flickr Live365.com Mediafly Funspot |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1) TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1) MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) M2TS, WMV9, FLV (h.264) | |||
| Photo | JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG | |||
| Audio | MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC (up to 24/192) MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS | |||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI | |||
| File systems | FAT32, NTFS, HFS+, NFS | |||
Hacking
The WD TV has been hacked to enable further options, including using external optical drives, Ethernet connection via USB to Ethernet adapters, bittorrent downloading and improved thumbnail preview images.[19] The newest versions of the WD TV (Streaming Media) have encrypted firmware and there are efforts to continue hacking them.[20]
See also
- Comparison of set-top boxes
References
- "Western Digital quietly intros WD TV HD Media Player". Engadget. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "WD TV Product Update". Wdc.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "How Much Ram Memory". Retrieved November 3, 2009.
- "Western Digital's WD TV HD Media Player: Break out the popcorn". The Tech Report. March 12, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
- "WD Product Update". Wdc.com. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "WD TV Mini loses Full HD, but remains a handy Media Player". Engadget. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "Western Digital WD TV Live HD media player gets official". Engadget. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "List of devices that can be connected to a WD TV Live HD Media Player". Wdc.custhelp.com. May 16, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "WD TV Live". Wdc.com. Archived from the original on July 22, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
- "Western Digital WD TV Live HD Media Player". Retrieved March 1, 2010.
- "Western Digital announces WD TV Live Plus HD with Netflix streaming". Engadget. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "B-RAD » WDTV Live Plus undressing". B-rad.cc. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "NetFlix support in Canada for the WD TV Live Plus, WD TV Live Hub, and WD TV Live Streaming". Wdc.custhelp.com. April 12, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "Western Digital WD TV Live Plus 1080p Media Player/Streamer Review". Review Horizon. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "Western Digital stuffs 1TB HDD into Live Hub networked media streamer". Engadget. October 26, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "NetFlix, CinemaNow, Blockbuster On Demand, and Hulu Plus support on WD TV Live products". Wdc.custhelp.com. February 29, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "Differences between the WD TV Live, WD TV Live Plus, WD TV Live Streaming, WD TV Live Hub, and WD TV Play Media Player". Wdc.custhelp.com. June 25, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
- "Media Player WD TV".
- "WDLXTV – enhanced WDTV firmware". B-Rad.cc. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
- "WDTV Live Streaming (Gen3) Homebrew - Born to be compiled". Retrieved May 2, 2012.