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With the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) just wrapping up in Las Vegas, NV, I thought that this overview of Western Digital's media center products (and information about the world of "set-top boxes" in general) would be helpful. Due to the emphasis on their video capabilities, most still photographers may not realize how useful these products can be.

Above: WD TV Live Hub Media Center (photo courtesy Western Digital Corporation)

At the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City (Oct, 2010) I had a hands-on demo of a few new Western Digital products, including the WD TV Live Hub Media Center. That was followed by a demo about a week ago at a friend's studio of another product: The WD TV Live Plus. I've also been reading reviews of various Western Digital Media Player products, and have collected some thoughts and suggestions for why photographers and other graphics professionals might consider one or more of the products. Having that information may also help you to decide if another company's product might fit your needs better, or serve as a compliment to one of Western Digital's offerings.

A Buyer's Market

There are many products in the "set-top box," or "media center/media player" arena, and some have unique features that set them apart from their competitors–including some with capabilities previously found only on traditional desktop or laptop computers. Without going into all the options one has today for making your TV "smarter" (including a new wave of TVs with built-in internet connectivity), I believe the questions that come to most people's minds when considering any set-top box are: "How can one of these devices help me consume media in a more interesting way and/or give my business an advantage?" 

First, to give you a sense of what features Western Digital's products offer, an excellent overview can be found here: http://wdc.com/en/products/homeentertainment/mediaplayers/

Above: WD TV Live Plus HD Media Player (photo courtesy Western Digital Corporation)

Following is a list of the majority of the company's latest media players with approximate USA street prices (most of the 12 suggestions below pertain to the first two products listed, which were introduced in 2010): 

1. WD TV Live Plus HD Media Player (about $100)
2. WD TV Live Hub Media Center (about $200)
3. WD TV Live HD Media Player (about $90 - introduced in late 2009)
(Please note: The two products listed below may still be available for sale, but as of the publication date of this article, they are no longer being manufactured by WD)
4. WD TV Mini Media Player (about $90 - introduced in late 2009)
5. WD TV HD Media Player (about $100 - introduced in 2008)

12 Reasons to Consider a Western Digital Media Player

1. All of the devices are relatively small and light, which allows you to take them along in a small bag whether you are traveling across town or around the world. You just need a TV, projector or other compatible device (and cables) to view and hear content. From a security standpoint, I think that these products would be great at a gallery show opening or anywhere you'd rather not have your laptop away from you. In fact, you can create a series of projections for an extended amount of time with a few Media Players.

2. They can all replace a laptop or desktop computer as a video player for entertainment or presentations. To get data onto the devices, either download your content to the built-in hard drive (WD TV Live Hub Media Center has a 1TB hard drive), copy the content to a flash thumbdrive (check wdc.com for compatible models), attach a compatible hard drive that contains the content via USB, stream the content over your home network, or plug a compatible camera directly into the device via USB. An advantage over playing video through a computer is that the Media Center devices are built to play video. Video playback through a computer is often less than perfect, with occasional hiccups.

3. They can replace a laptop for photo or photo + text presentations. Like the suggestions for video files above, place your still image files in a folder or convert your Powerpoint or Keynote slides to JPGs and you are good to go. Even if the device is used just as a backup for important presentations/lectures, it is well worth considering. I've been at presentations where a laptop computer would not sync to a projector, so having a product like this can save the day. Also important to note is their built-in slide show capability. Just feed it some photos, choose your transitions and duration for each image, and you've got an instant slide show.

4. All have support for 1080p which is critical for optimum photo viewing on an HDTV. By sizing your photos properly for a Media Player, the image quality on a large-screen HDTV can be stunning. Also, you can adjust all of the Media Players to display on of about 8 different resolutions, including 720p and 480i (Standard Definition).

5. You can search and view all the content on Flickr.com. This can be useful as a way to show a client your portfolio if you use Flickr.com.

6. You can stream content from the WD TV Live Hub media center to an iPad, iPhone, or Android smart phones. I see this as a great option for showing a bride or portrait client a portfolio of images either before or after a wedding or photo session.

7. You can search and view all the content on YouTube.com. This can be useful as a way to show video portfolios or other video content if you use YouTube. It's also useful as a way to stream music videos during photo sessions, gallery openings or in a waiting room.

8. Access to Pandora.com's music platform is a great tool to have during photo shoots or in a waiting room/makeup room. It allows you, your client and/or models to choose a music genre (set it and forget it).

9. All of the media players come with a remote control and an easy-to-use graphical user interface (once you practice a bit with it!), and some allow for a USB mouse and keyboard (wired or wireless) to be attached. This can make searching for content much faster, and with connectivity to Facebook.com, the mouse and keyboard allow your Media Player to feel a lot more like a computer.

10. For Netflix subscribers in the USA, some of the WD Media Players allow you to search and view all the TV shows and movie content that's available via streaming on Netflix.com.  WD TV Live Plus media player customers in the USA can also instantly rent or purchase the newest movie releases available on DVD and Blu-ray Discs through Blockbuster OnDemand. This makes the products capable of being "movie theaters in a box" wherever there's a good Wi-Fi or network connection.

11. Another possibility is downloading files to a WD TV Live Hub Media Center and sending the device to a client for them to review a collection of images. Sending DVDs is very common, but they provide just 640x480 resolution, resulting in less-than-ideal quality on a large flat-screen TV. Being able to provide 1080p still images (1080 pixels in the vertical dimension), or a movie with your images and sound in high definition allows you to showcase images with much higher detail.

12. All of the WD Media Players support many video and still image file types. One of the most frustrating aspects of some media center boxes and TVs that accept media cards directly from cameras is their limited media file format compatibility. This is particularly an issue with video formats. Different digital cameras, smartphones and flash media video cameras like the popular Flip brand video cameras will often use different codecs, such as MPEG (similar to JPG for still photos) to compress video, resulting in the need to convert the media to another format to play on specific devices. Although not perfect, the WD Media Players support many file types, including tiff files with a max resolution of 2048x2048. JPG files are supported up to 4096x4096 pixels, which means that as long as you feed it JPGs with a max dimension of 4096 pixels and below, the image will play right out of your camera.

This page has a long list of compatible media file types for virtually every Western Digital Media Player.
 
A Drawback (with an Inexpensive Fix)

One of the drawbacks of all the Western Digital Media Centers is the fact that they have no built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. That means you'll need to either run an Ethernet wire from a router, or add a Powerline or wireless network adapter. Western Digital, Netgear and Actiontec all make 200 Mbps Powerline Network Adapter Kits starting in the $100 range (also consider 85 Mbps options if you are on a budget). These products allow you to wirelessly send internet through your home electrical system, and in most cases, they will perform at speeds similar to a hardwired configuration (while being faster and more reliable than many Wi-Fi USB adapters).

For those who would rather simplify things and save money, a USB Wireless-N Network Adapter will usually suffice, even when streaming hi-def video to a WD Media Player. See the first link below for an excellent hands-on article by Ron Risman of Cameratown.com. Risman talks about the lack of built-in Wi-Fi and how he was able to solve the problem for under $40 by purchasing a USB network adapter. He also goes over a lot of the "nitty-gritty" details of using the WD TV Live Hub Media Center, including suggesting a third party app that allows you to view Media Player content on the Apple iPad and other mobile devices.

More Info and Links

Hands-on review of the WD TV Live Hub Media Center by Ron Riseman of CameraTown.com.

This press release covers a number of recent feature updates for the WD TV Live and WD TV Live Plus media players.

This article on zdnet.com does not mention any of the WD products listed above, but it covers some other media players, and I think it's worth reading, especially if your goal is to replace your cable provider with a less expensive option.