New Firmware

Resolved thumb quality…

Lets hope this is the news we’ve been waiting for …

  • Resolved movie thumbnail extremely grainy and pixilated.

it’s still grainy on a High End TV but it is like 6million times better :smileyvery-happy:

Still no support for TRUE pngs, nor can you use the png/jpg trick and there is still a cropping issue for thumbs.

Staying with 2.07.:cry:

Thanks Tinwarble, you just answered my question. 

Been waiting for this update to see if any of the issues im concerned about have been addressed, ie the true png support etc, allowing those brilliant themers / moviesheet makers to really shine. which in turn would make this media device even better. i have been dissappionted with all the WD products, hoped the hub along with WD Would change my view.  but as of yet… they have failed. well at least it gives me something to look forward to this weekend… Thanks WD, im off to get myself something new… and it wont have WD anywhere on it.,

and im guessing from past history, there will be pages of things they have broken in this firmware during the update from the last.

Oki… I’ve tested

There’s a complete resume

  1. png renamed to jpg don’t show

  2. jpg re-renamed to png will show without alpha channel

  3. JoeySmith(Cover+Backdrop) & Tinwarble(Cover+Perspective cover) PanTrick  still grany.

That’s goes bad…

i think is better i stay on Firmware 2.07 - :cry: 

  • Come on WD whats wrong…

Take the Firmware 2.07 and integrade the non Error Add On’s from the  following Firmwares

Regards

Gerd 

I Installed Firmware 3.03.13 today and had a bit of a tinker…

  1. PNG with Alpha Transparency still not Supported.
    (Please WD, if you have no plans to support it… please, a simple “Status: Unplanned” would put the matter to rest)

  2. Converted my 859x360 Png Moviesheets to Pure Jpg… Resulted in a Pixelated Mess

  3. Played around with a New Template and Resolution (733x300) for An Alternate Gallery View (which i working on for 2.07.17)  Screenshots where done using the “Capture” option in the Latest Firmware.  ie. They are not "Mockups

(SCREENSHOTS BELOW)

  1. Looked “OK” but the biggest problem  how the  “Database/Cache” works.
     Even with a proper JPG Moviesheet it creates at least 6 Cache Thumb Files + .backdrop files (when there is none in my theme) Resulting in a “Snails Pace” Navigavtion compared to FW 2.07.17 using Alpha Channel Pngs (which are not cached… they are generated ‘on the fly’)

  2. Folder Sheet look Good with the New Firmware… but painfully slow.

  3. MPAA not working anymore in “List View”  Greaaaaat

In closing, it seems all the Firmware changes are aimed at improving the “Mochi” Interface Theme. 

(With no consideration for custom user themes… thanks)

Anyways im back running Firmware 2.07.17 … in future probably wont bother wasteing my time with downloading another Firmware “Update”

Screenshots from FW3.03.13 733x300 Template Pure Jpg  (REALLY SLOW)  

Running on FW2.07.17 with PNG a Much Faster (No Caching Involved)

I feel for you mate.

I am starting to think they know that any png fixes will break something, but as you said either give us the option of a slower menu, or tell us its not doable.

I am used to better network shares etc, but I would love to have one of your themes for the latest firmware, I don’t think its going to happen though. :frowning:

I agree with you wdtvhub, i feel for the guys that spend so much of there free time producing  the great themes and moviesheets. which are great, but could be greater, if WD would listen to its users, maybe work with them. 

They havent listened in the past, and doubt that is going to change. I have already said my fairwell to WD, sold my hub this morning, well almost gave it away. time to change for something better. WAKE UP!!! WD… you have lost a faithful customer, and as my friends who usually follow suit, that will be another 4 customers.

Just to add a Positive Comment…

I Purchased my WDTV Live Hub about a Year ago  to play HD Movies.

Which i am very happy with (only a couple minor glitches over the past year)

I still own a WDTV Gen1 and a Live, but seldom use them, as i prefer the ‘All In One’ Hub.

I Guess, Themes are “Icing on the Cake” …  but i am still happy with the “Cake”

I will still continue to play around with “Icing” … even when some ingredients are not available.

1 Like

Yes I agree with you there.

But, I don’t know about you, but having come from a Gen 1, I was expecting a lot more.

I read about Gigabit Network, saw the cool main screen and it had an internal hard drive.

The network turned out to be fine for streaming, but moving was a bit of a disappointment.

The Menu was a front literally, because you get past it and its just plain ugly, why and even at this late stage now, would I want a folder called Films_02, Films_03 and WDTV Live folders with no way of putting pictures on them as they are plugged in drives or internal, this is no further forward, and maybe even backwards compared to a Gen 1.

The internal hard drive is a bit of a joke as well, its nice, but in hindsight once its full I don’t want to touch it again, as its such a pain to fill.

So yes playing Bluray rips is pretty painless, but getting to that stage is clicking through ugliness, unless I want to be back to the early firmwares you are so creatively helping.

I’m looking inside gpl code is base theme was update too… in 3.01.19 some function was in firmware when you install, but when you look a gpl code some xml seem older (missing information)

yeah wdtvhub

that is the piont, they havent come any further. still using the same chipset internally, eccept for the new live i believe, sure i will corrected on that. i only purchased the gen 1, because i saw a moviesheet, and at the time it seemed the best. then i ordered another one due to the first freezing all the time and was lucky to be sent a gen 2 instead. which i used for about 6 months, and sat waiting for an update that would fix mkv compression problem that it had., which never came. then got the live because it would play mkv`s with compressed headers. i promised myself i wouldnt go with WD again.

Then i came across joeys theme on youtube, running on the hub. and that sold it to me. i dont network the hub, or even use any off the net addons. i just want it to play the usual dvd, home movies, and odd bluray rip. i do prefer to watch bluray from disk. either way i want it to look nice when im doing it.,

if you took away the modded firmwares, and moviesheets, and themes that the users have added, none of these products would have sold half as many as they have, and we would still be stuck with an interface slightly better looking than ceefax. i mean 10 - 15 years ago i got hold of one of the first creative dvdroms, with a Dxr 2 card to play dvds, from computer to tv. and the interface on that was 10 times better then. i agree the hub is a step forward, but its still behind whats out there, and its only got where it has from consumer input. I deal with numerous stores that stock mid to high end home cinema hardware. and i get the chance to test alot of them, and write reviews and i will be honest i havent yet come across an item that has so many firmware upgrades, with so many faults. and im surprised of the lack of input from WD on this site. Joeysmyth made a comment that it would be nice to know where WD are heading. if they were going to support full .png or not. , im guessing that WD will ignore that., and it will go unanswered, or they will bring out the hub gen 2 with true .png support. and leave this one for the dust.

 My advice sack all the guys that deal with the hub and hire Joey.  I DONT have a good word to say about my experience so far with there products and that is exactly what i will pass on to people wanting advice on media / cinema setups at home that i deal with. As i have mentioned in one of my other posts directed at WD. a bad word travels further and faster than a good one. and in todays climate you want to keep customers happy, not just ignore them, or make them buy another product for something that the previous products should have had, and they couldnt be bothered to fix…

so saturday im off for a replacement for the hub, and will be writing a review for the stores magazine, which will cover my reasons for leaving WD, and the new replacement. 

Agreed. I was looking but have neither the time/patience at the moment to narrow one down.

I followed the same path as yourself really, the Mkv compression was the straw for me as well.

I tell you what I am really amazed at, how can a free android app control my Hub perfectly, yet when I use the proper remote I have to rely on tidal forces and planet alignment for it to work, due to furniture. :slight_smile:

Mannymiller –

I would love to read your reviews and recommendations.  Can you tell me where they will be available?

Thanks,

Mike

My review was supposed to have been done yesterday… been pretty lazy, and was waiting for the hub firmware update, to see if WD would come through with something worthwhile., i wasnt expecting anything, but hey there is always hope.

thing is… i have owned or had chance to use most, if not all the WD devices. what frustrates me the most is that the hub has so much potential. The themers have proven this. If i was WD and i designed a device. and someone came along and made it better, by the means of theme or firmware. i would certainly take note. i would look at making it better, or open the door for the guys out there to express themselves fully.  and it would be free. instead of paying 20 school boys to sit for weeks and design something that doesnt work. Ok… for example, give the guys .png support, and sort out the other graphic issues. then these pages would fill with new themes / moviesheets looking exactly as they were designed to look. making the hub  more desirable to more users.

just because WD designed there interface, and theme doesnt mean its the best looking, or suit everyones taste. Its called giving the customer choice. i did make a statement earlier, about the ammount of firmwares these devices get. The positive side, shows that they are working to make it better. the down side they never do. 

Hazmat96… im working on the review as i write this… or should be. waiting on a few items yet to arrive. i will gladly post it when printed / finished straight from the page of the magazine.

I would LOVE to see a device (made by any major player, like WD, so it looks fairly good when I buy it) actually use the BEST sigma (or who ever is best at the time) chipset.  Instead they continue to play the “build it cheap to sell more” game.  When will they realize there are a lot of us who will pay a premium for the best machine they can imagine.  Look at the PC market for proof – plenty of very high priced boxes sell very well for bragging rights if nothing else.

I was glad to see the last SMP (from oct 2011) use a better sigma chipset, but disappointed to look at the sigma details and see they simply choose a cheap chipset again.

Mannymiller – I welcome a chance to see your reviews and will JUMP at a chance to buy a media player that does all the WD hub could be.

Thanks,

Mik

Chiming in, I will say it is disappointing to see that the PNG Transparency issue wasn’t addressed. Like many people have pointed out, customizability sells devices. And, with such a fervant community of top motch modders/themers, it’s a shame that the WD Team isn’t listening to the overwhelming cry for transparent PNGs.

If the issue is not going to be addressed, put the issue to bed and say it. If it is a priority issue, state that as well, so there aren’t constant posts complaining about it (which shows how many users WANT this to be addressed…)

However, when MANY people are sticking with old firmware, or even rolling back firmware,  just to be able to use the themes, that really says something…

wdtvhub wrote:

I tell you what I am really amazed at, how can a free android app control my Hub perfectly, yet when I use the proper remote I have to rely on tidal forces and planet alignment for it to work, due to furniture. :slight_smile:

Ya, I prefer the Android app over the actual remote [which i hvae converted to use on my BlackBerry Playbook].

Honestly if WD doesnt want to listen to the themers and implement the requests that are made by themers and users that appreciate the themers hard work and want to enjoy them, then why even have a themes section on their forums? And its not like they have never had the features… It used to work, why doesnt it work now. And maybe give us this answer… did they remove it on purpose because it impeded with something else? Or are they just embarrassed that users can make better themes than they can?