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Forum Discussion
The WDTV is a fantastic Video Streamer
I have a Readynas Pro 6, Virgin TIVO box and 2 Apple TV's and 3 Logitech Squeezeboxes
I have loads of movies and music stored on my ReadyNas Pro.
I have all my music stored in iTunes with the actual music files stored on my ReadyNas. I have 2 libraries, one for mp3 and the other for LossLess files. I use iTunes so that I can synchronise my music to my iPad, iPhone and iPod. iTunes also allows my to set the tags etc. I have the Logitech Music Server on my ReadyNas which allows me to access the music from my Logitech Boom boxes etc. I can even synchronise the music on all 3 Squeezeboxes. This is a wonderful solution and works really well for me.
I have been trying to do the same with my Video files for some time but have not been able to find an ideal solution. I bought 2 Apple TV's which allowed me to access my video files, but unfortunately I had to do it through iTunes. I also had to convert all my video files to be compatible with iTunes. It worked but was a real pain and not an ideal solution.
I then installed the Plex server on my ReadyNas but unfortunately you cannot install a Plex client on the Apple TV's unless you jailbreak them of course. I then installed the Plex client on my iPad which allowed me to play videos via the Apple TV using Airplay from the iPad. Again it worked, was better than the previous method but was not ideal.
A few days ago I bought a Western Digital TV Live box from Dabs.com for £80.00 inclusive. It arrived within 2 days and took me about 5 minutes to set up and get working. I have it connected to my network via ethernet. I have activated the DNLA server on my ReadyNas which allows me to access all my video, movies, music, photos etc on the WDTV box. I have it connected to my TV via HDMI and use the optical output to give 5.1 sound. It actually plays at 1080P compared to 720P on the Apple TV boxes.
The user interface is not quite as slick as the Apple TV or Plex, but the functionality is fantastic. Unfortunately when I view the list of films on the WDTV it does not give a synopsis of each film which you get when using Plex. I believe this is possible but at the moment I've not found out how to do it.
So for anyone who wants to keep all their movies on the ReadyNas and view them on their TV get a WDTV box unless of course you have some other DNLA client.
If Apple eventually introduce an App store for the Apple TV then I would imagine a Plex client would be quickly available. Again that would be a wonderful solution especially if it is upgraded to 1080P. There are rumours of a 3rd generation Apple TV and perhaps thats what Apple have in mind. Watch this space....
I have loads of movies and music stored on my ReadyNas Pro.
I have all my music stored in iTunes with the actual music files stored on my ReadyNas. I have 2 libraries, one for mp3 and the other for LossLess files. I use iTunes so that I can synchronise my music to my iPad, iPhone and iPod. iTunes also allows my to set the tags etc. I have the Logitech Music Server on my ReadyNas which allows me to access the music from my Logitech Boom boxes etc. I can even synchronise the music on all 3 Squeezeboxes. This is a wonderful solution and works really well for me.
I have been trying to do the same with my Video files for some time but have not been able to find an ideal solution. I bought 2 Apple TV's which allowed me to access my video files, but unfortunately I had to do it through iTunes. I also had to convert all my video files to be compatible with iTunes. It worked but was a real pain and not an ideal solution.
I then installed the Plex server on my ReadyNas but unfortunately you cannot install a Plex client on the Apple TV's unless you jailbreak them of course. I then installed the Plex client on my iPad which allowed me to play videos via the Apple TV using Airplay from the iPad. Again it worked, was better than the previous method but was not ideal.
A few days ago I bought a Western Digital TV Live box from Dabs.com for £80.00 inclusive. It arrived within 2 days and took me about 5 minutes to set up and get working. I have it connected to my network via ethernet. I have activated the DNLA server on my ReadyNas which allows me to access all my video, movies, music, photos etc on the WDTV box. I have it connected to my TV via HDMI and use the optical output to give 5.1 sound. It actually plays at 1080P compared to 720P on the Apple TV boxes.
The user interface is not quite as slick as the Apple TV or Plex, but the functionality is fantastic. Unfortunately when I view the list of films on the WDTV it does not give a synopsis of each film which you get when using Plex. I believe this is possible but at the moment I've not found out how to do it.
So for anyone who wants to keep all their movies on the ReadyNas and view them on their TV get a WDTV box unless of course you have some other DNLA client.
If Apple eventually introduce an App store for the Apple TV then I would imagine a Plex client would be quickly available. Again that would be a wonderful solution especially if it is upgraded to 1080P. There are rumours of a 3rd generation Apple TV and perhaps thats what Apple have in mind. Watch this space....
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- Oh and the YouTube option on TV is pretty crappy in comparisons to other models out there.... But as you said I never use mine unless searching for a trailer to watch to decide which movie is going to be good :D
RichIX wrote: Audio Sync should be fine? Have you tried to see if your box needs any Firmware updates they are really good at giving up to date firmware releases with the WDLive Box. I take it that the iso plays fine on your PC?
Rich
Yes, the firmware update cycle does seem very good. I actually have one outstanding now which I haven't done yet; however, the last one was only a short time ago, and I've had the sync problem for a while. It tends to get worse every time I pause the movie and then re-start from the same place, implying that the system is using a bad algorithm to determine how to re-start the paused audio stream.
To be honest, audio sync problems are a little mysterious to me. I can think of several points in the processing chain where they might be generated, but I've no real idea what the truth is. I think that part of the problem is that video and audio were treated as separate output streams in the early days of PCs. Separate audio card and graphics card means separate buffering, and hence the possibility that sync problems can occur because one device can't know how far behind the other device is.
The obvious answer is to:
(a) make codecs that are strict about syncing audio and video channels, so that the two CANNOT get out of step, and
(b) always play digital video over a single device, OR if the audio and video channels must be split, ensure that the peripherals handling the signals have very small buffers (which is not always an easy design problem to solve)
It amazes me that people seem so happy to put up with the current mess! I frequently try to watch videos on YouTube and have to stop because I can't bear to see sound and picture at different times. I'm going to sound like a "grumpy old man" when I say this, but VHS tapes never went out of sync!! Why can't modern technology move things forward instead of backward? Hmm?- Audio / Video sync requires accurate timestamps in the container (above the codec layer). There are several scenarios where it is lost.
-bugs in conversion software used (either remuxing or transcoding) which results in the original audio/video offset getting lost. Sometimes simple remuxing will fix it. Most muxing tools let you enter a manual adjustment, which you can also use. However it can be time-consuming (and usually takes experimentation to find the right offset).
-errors in the media bitstreams which cause unequal amounts of audio/video to be discarded. If you are making over-the-air recordings, this can occur at the very beginning, since the video decoder waits for an I-Frame (which might not be the first frame it sees). Transcoding often resolves this, but not always.
-If an audio A/D converter is in the recording path, the clock rate of the A/D is not perfect. With a nominal 48000 samples per second stream, consumer devices actually typically clock at 47956 Hz to 48048 Hz. Even a 1 sample per second error will create a 100 ms delay in about 80 minutes. If audio/video is captured by the same device, it is usually avoided by locking the audio and video clocks together (so there is an identical video frame rate error). However, if was not done in the original recording, it is not very easy to solve it later. Some transcoding tools allow you to resample the audio to a different sample rate, though figuring out what the right value is takes experimentation. Also, the actual clock rate drifts.
-playback equipment (particularly surround sound receivers and TVs) have their own processing chains, and need to share information on their delays. In new equipment this is done over HDMI, and sometimes fails. Older non-HDMI connections need to be configured manually.
Might be going a bit off topic here though... - Thank you StephenB - I've just learned a whole lot of stuff I didn't know!
The key thing you said there was "However, if was not done in the original recording, it is not very easy to solve it later." I guess this is the main reason why it happens a lot - there's a lot of opportunities to get it wrong at the source, and then fixing it becomes too costly (it reminds me of recording, mixing and mastering in some ways; the earlier you make the error, the harder it is to fix later).
Given that it's such a complex problem with so many causes, I'd suggest that the most effective solution for the consumer is to allow an adjustable offset at the point of viewing - which is exactly what has been done with the WDTV Live. It's just a bit of a shame it doesn't allow finer control for those of us who are more sensitive to small differences. I wonder whether there's also a reason why they can't provide this feature with the DVD playback? I can't really think of one. At some point, whether you're watching an mp4 or an iso, it must have a video stream and an audio stream - isn't the opportunity for bolting on this feature the same in each case? - The adjustable offset at point of viewing is very useful - even if you want to fix it in the file, it helps you find the right value efficiently. And it is much less frustrating if you can work around the problem right away.
100 ms is certainly too coarse. Getting to within 1/2 a video frame time needs 20 ms for the usual movie rate ( ~24 fps). WDTV does upgrade their firmware pretty regularly - you might want to join their forum and point out the need for a finer-grained control. - Good idea - just created an idea topic here:
http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live- ... i-p/437076 - Hey guys,
I'm looking into buying a WDTV Live box. Is this the best one for me to stream from my duo to my tv?
Also could you recommend what software & process I need to get my DVD onto my computer.
Is it possible to rip by Blu-Rays too?
Thanks,
Craig - Craig - don't know about the duo question, but regarding rippers - are you on PC or Mac?
If you're on Mac, I use the following, in this preference order:
Ripit
Mac DVD Ripper Pro
Ideal DVD Copier
I use Ripit because I like the simple interface, but sometimes it has trouble with disc errors, and in those cases one of the other two usually takes care of the problem.
If you're on PC, I've used DVDFab in the past with a lot of success, but I've not used it for some time, so not sure what the latest versions are like. - Hey,
I'm on PC, DVDfab, I'll have a look into it thank you.
I presume I just install the software, insert the DVD & it should be pretty self explanatory from there?
Do you have a movie library on your NAS? Seen some people who stream there's that look like a proper library with covers, blurbs etc & others that have just a file name. Is this due to the type of NAS or type of software? Obviously I'd like it to look as 'pretty' as possible.
Thanks for the quick reply!
Craig CrA!G wrote: Hey,
I'm on PC, DVDfab, I'll have a look into it thank you.
I presume I just install the software, insert the DVD & it should be pretty self explanatory from there?
Do you have a movie library on your NAS? Seen some people who stream there's that look like a proper library with covers, blurbs etc & others that have just a file name. Is this due to the type of NAS or type of software? Obviously I'd like it to look as 'pretty' as possible.
Thanks for the quick reply!
Craig
Yes I seem to recall that DVDFab is quite easy to use. It offers quite a few options too - you can rip individual tracks from the disc, change subtitle and audio options, copy discs, and even split a large format disc into two smaller ones to make it fit etc.
I personally just have a direct copy of the DVD content in each folder on my NAS. The WDTV Live plays the folder, and saves a bookmark in it so that I can resume each disc where I left off (I'm not sure this would be possible with an ISO image, which is one reason I don't use them - but I could be wrong).
I don't bother with artwork etc. because I still have the DVD boxes on my shelf and I can look at them whenever I want. If you want to make it all look nice, I believe there are ways to get the player to read a "poster" file in each folder and display it as a cover, but I've never tried it.
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