WD TV
Encyclopedia
The WD TV is a consumer device produced by Western Digital
that plays videos, images, and music from USB drives. It can play high-definition video
through an HDMI
port, and standard video through composite video
cables. It can play most common video and audio formats.
and many other popular file formats with no need for transcoding, but lacks the ability to play H.264 encoded video.
port on the back. Also compatible with certain wireless USB adapters. Connects to internet sites: YouTube
, Flickr
, Live365
, Pandora, Mediafly, Flingo
, AccuWeather
, Facebook
or stream
content from a home network. Supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats. No need for transcoding. Mediafly
and DVD menu support added in firmware update.
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.
Note that, contrary to published specs, on component video, WD TV Live supports only 480p/576p; 480i/576i is supported only on composite video.
streaming support. In order to support Netflix, a macrovision enabled SoC was required (Sigma Designs
SMP8654) and the Linux system is also now encrypted. However, actual user experience has lagged for some. As of April 12th, 2011, 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 (versions 1.04.18_B or older are *NOT* compatible with Netflix Canada). It is also know as WDTV Live Plus (Model number WDBABX0000NBK, WDBREC0000NBK, WDBG3A0000NBK).
Reviews:WD TV Live Plus was met with generally positive reviews. Review Horizon names it a worthy successor of WD TV Live.
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.
downloading and improved thumbnail preview images.
Western Digital
Western Digital Corporation is one of the largest computer hard disk drive manufacturers in the world. It has a long history in the electronics industry as an integrated circuit maker and a storage products company. Western Digital was founded on April 23, 1970 by Alvin B...
that plays videos, images, and music from USB drives. It can play high-definition video
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
through an HDMI
HDMI
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
port, and standard video through composite video
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
cables. It can play most common video and audio formats.
WD TV (1st Gen)
In November 2008 Western Digital introduced the WD TV. with full HD 1080p multimedia player with DTS pass-through only. The hardware starts with a 300 MHz TangoX MIPS 4KEc from Sigma Designs, which has 100 MB of memory.| 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 (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) WMV9, MPG/MPEG, VOB, DVR-MS 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 |
|||
| Playlist | PLS, M3U, WPL | |||
| Subtitle | SRT | |||
WD TV (2nd Gen)
Updated device with 2-channel DTS support. 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, it was a Media Player with DVD quality, upscales to 1080i, Plays back RealVideoRealVideo
RealVideo is a suite of proprietary video compression formats developed by RealNetworks – the specific format changes with the version. It was first released in 1997 and is at version 10. RealVideo is supported on many platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, and several mobile...
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 (1st gen)
Released in Fall 2009 with Full HD 1080p resolution. An updated device with 2-channel DTS, streaming and network support, which comes in the form of an EthernetEthernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
port on the back. Also compatible with certain wireless USB adapters. Connects to internet sites: YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, Flickr
Flickr
Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
, Live365
Live365
Live365 is an Internet radio network where members can create their own online radio station or listen to other Live365 broadcasters' online stations. As of October 2006, there were about 6,500 active stations, some of which play niche genres seldom heard on AM/FM radio...
, Pandora, Mediafly, Flingo
Flingo
Flingo is a set of protocols, a bookmarklet, and a client-server program developed by Free Stream Media Corp., which does business as "Flingo". Flingo enables users to instruct an Internet-connected TV device to acquire and playback media files located on remote computers.Flingo was recently...
, AccuWeather
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for-profit weather forecasting services worldwide.AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the...
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
or stream
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
content from a home network. Supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats. No need for transcoding. Mediafly
Mediafly
Mediafly, Inc. is a Chicago-based company specializing in the distribution of rich media across multiple web-connected devices. There are two sides to Mediafly: Consumer-facing podcast application and Media solutions for businesses...
and DVD menu support added in firmware update.
The Sigma Designs
Sigma Designs
Sigma Designs is an American public corporation that designs and builds high-performance system-on-a-chip semiconductor technologies for Internet-based set-top boxes, DVD players/recorders, high-definition televisions, media processors, digital media adapters, portable media players and home...
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.
| 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 | |||
| File systems | FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ | |||
Note that, contrary to published specs, on component video, WD TV Live supports only 480p/576p; 480i/576i is supported only on composite video.
WD TV Live Plus
Released early in 2010 and having all the features of the WD TV Live along with NetflixNetflix
Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
streaming support. In order to support Netflix, a macrovision enabled SoC was required (Sigma Designs
Sigma Designs
Sigma Designs is an American public corporation that designs and builds high-performance system-on-a-chip semiconductor technologies for Internet-based set-top boxes, DVD players/recorders, high-definition televisions, media processors, digital media adapters, portable media players and home...
SMP8654) and the Linux system is also now encrypted. However, actual user experience has lagged for some. As of April 12th, 2011, 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 (versions 1.04.18_B or older are *NOT* compatible with Netflix Canada). It is also know 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 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, 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 | |||
| File systems | FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ | |||
Reviews:WD TV Live Plus was met with generally positive reviews. Review Horizon names it a worthy successor of WD TV Live.
WD TV Live Hub
Released in fall 2010, this is the latest WD TV Live device and has an internal 1 TB storage disk. It uses the same Sigma DesignsSigma Designs
Sigma Designs is an American public corporation that designs and builds high-performance system-on-a-chip semiconductor technologies for Internet-based set-top boxes, DVD players/recorders, high-definition televisions, media processors, digital media adapters, portable media players and home...
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) |
Media Server Games Programmable Remote 1TB hard drive 2 USB 2.0 1 Gigabit Ethernet |
Netflix Blockbuster YouTube Pandora Flickr Live365.com Mediafly AccuWeather Picasa Flingo |
| Supported formats | ||||
| Video | MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264) AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4) MPG/MPEG, VOB, M2TS, WMV9, FLV 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 | |||
| File systems | FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ | |||
WD TV Live Streaming Media Player
Released in October 2011, this is the latest WD TV Live device. 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, and is the first WD TV model to include the Spotify service. It is also know as WDTV Live Gen 3 (Model number WDBHG70000NBK, WDBGXT0000NBK).Hacking
The WD TV has been hacked to enable further options, including using external optical drives, Ethernet connection via USB to Ethernet adapters, bittorrentBitTorrent
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used for distributing large amounts of data over the Internet. BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, and it has been estimated that it accounted for roughly 43% to 70% of all Internet traffic .Programmer...
downloading and improved thumbnail preview images.