WD TV and embedded systems

Last week, I bought my new hardware gadget, WD TV, an HD Media Player that supports almost all famous codec available for audio and video. Basically turning your USB based storage into an HD Media Player!

As I tested it on our home, I must say that this slick baby is so cool and that I don’t even need my DVD player or my laptop to watch, listen and view all my media files, it does the job pretty well. Tried playing the AVI/XvID video files and amazingly the quality of the video is so clear and crisp giving my daughter more time to watch SpongeBob series on our TV screen. The high compression MKV files also gives vivid screen output but just noticed that the sound is not that loud, I have to set the volume to 15 – 17 for the normal sound. I also like the menu system especially the Vista-like animation on fading-out, slick!  What I like most on this hardware is the ability to upgrade the firmware versions to support even more codecs and other bug fixed. I just wish they soon include a customized theme to change the way the interface looks.

Overall – Impressive hardware and design.

Truly, embedded systems has gone a long way that makes our devices, equipments work smarter and better. Just like existing routers today that embeds tiny web server to access/configure/upgrade versions and settings and tweak your way to perform even better. WD TV uses an SQLite database to handle files and playlist found on your USB Hard disk (hidden). I wish DVD players also created this way to allow home users upgrade their firmware and menu systems.

If you do not have this hardware yet, I highly recommend buying this one now.

See WD TV Official Website