Expert- Many questions from Italy

WD Legacy Products WD TV Media Player
1

Hello, and greetings to all the forum , I’m Italian and sorry for my bad English . I am going to buy a WD TV . I would have just a couple of questions :
i want use WD TV with a Hard -Disk WD Elements Portable 500GB from ; the precise model is: WDBUZG5000ABK and a samsung soundbar .

Now the question arises :

  • Will recognize my model of Hard- Disk?
  • With a TV with Soundbar , HDMI cable and / or optical cable , as to be connected ?
  • The WD TV has a system to download posters, textures, rewiew etc. … like xbmc ? The download in Italian ?
  • And if i put In ad Out some time the HD (WD Elements , which I update continually with new film) the WD TV download every time the posters again or only updates the files it finds new ?
  • They told me that it is rather slow to recognize the hardisk ( how slow then ?), But from what I understand you can also avoid this “check” ?
  • To date in October 2014 , the WD TV can read all the movie files? (Obviously not talking about a 4k, but I hope at least all MKV movies , because I buy it mainly to see those kind of MKV not seen on tv )

I forgot one question:
You can use it if you are not connected to the Internet? The first time I can also use it , but the next time I want to leave it unplugged, maybe connect it only when I have to download any covers or information (as long as you can do, see question above)
Thanks to all who can help me …

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Will recognize my model of Hard- Disk?

Should be fine (as long as it is formatted NTFS) i have several WD HDD’s 500GB, 1TB Elements, 3TB Elements etc. All OK

With a TV with Soundbar , HDMI cable and / or optical cable , as to be connected ?

Either way … HDMI or Optical will work  (in WDTV settings you need to select HDMI or Optical Passthrough  (a friend of mine has a Samsung soundbar, works fine)

The WD TV has a system to download posters, textures, rewiew etc. … like xbmc ? The download in Italian ?

Yes, it supports Italian and many other languages

And if i put In ad Out some time the HD (WD Elements , which I update continually with new film) the WD TV download every time the posters again or only updates the files it finds new ?

There is a setting for “Manual” or “Auto” Get Content Info

They told me that it is rather slow to recognize the hardisk ( how slow then ?), But from what I understand you can also avoid this “check” ?

Depends on how much content is on the HDD … my 3TB with a 1000 movies approx 60-90 secs (*edit* that’s after the cache is built … which can take a while on 1st run)

(if you have 30,000 mp3’s then that will take a lot longer)

The speed will also depend on if you have “Auto” Get Content Info ON … and if you are using the “Media Library” feature.

(Media Library “ON” is required to download  Movies Covers and Movie Information … but once gathered  /downloaded … you can turn the Media Library “OFF” and still see the Covers and Movie Info)

To date in October 2014 , the WD TV can read all the movie files? (Obviously not talking about a 4k, but I hope at least all MKV movies , because I buy it mainly to see those kind of MKV not seen on tv )

Yes, it can read most formats   http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1270#Tab3

(there has been some trouble lately though with MP4 (some MP4’s will play … others won’t. … but, i haven’t had any problems with MKV)

You can use it if you are not connected to the Internet? The first time I can also use it , but the next time I want to leave it unplugged, maybe connect it only when I have to download any covers or information (as long as you can do, see question above)

Yes, after you have gathered your Covers, Movie Information with the internet connection … you can unplug the internet and still view your Covers and Movie Information.  (eg. you can take it on vacation, with no internet… and still view the covers and movie info that you have previously downloaded.)

Hope this all makes sense :smiley:

1 Like
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Thank you so much for your reply. I would have just another couple of questions .
I have a problem with the cables on the Samsung TV I only have two HDMI outputs , one occupied by xbox360 .
Now I buy a SoundBar and the WD TV .
I had planned to connect like this:

  • XBox360 to the TV via HDMI ;
  • WD TV to the TV via HDMI ;
  • Soundbar to the TV via Optical Audio .
    is that correct? or do I have to connect the WD TV soudbar with optical audio ? 
    IMPORTANT QUESTION:
    I’m torn between buying a sounbar with 2 optical audio outputs (Yamaha YAS-101), or 1 optical output audio and 1 HDMI output (Samsung HW-F350). Wich should I buy? And how to connect them (for have the best sound) between TV and WD TV?

PS . for the cover, the plot, the review … it is an XML file ? You can change it manually? Maybe with a cover and a review by putting me

4

Now I buy a SoundBar and the WD TV .
I had planned to connect like this:

  • XBox360 to the TV via HDMI ;
  • WD TV to the TV via HDMI ;
  • Soundbar to the TV via Optical Audio .
    is that correct?

Yes it “should” work … but consult your TV User Manual to make sure.   (eg.my TV will output via Optical … but only 2CH PCM)

IMPORTANT QUESTION:
I’m torn between buying a sounbar with 2 optical audio outputs (Yamaha YAS-101), or 1 optical output audio and 1 HDMI output (Samsung HW-F350).

You mean “Inputs” don’t you ?   (WDTV has Optical / HDMI Output … so you need something with a “Input” to plug into)

Wich should I buy? And how to connect them (for have the best sound) between TV and WD TV?

I would’nt recommend buying either of them … or  “Soundbars” in general.

If you want the \ *Best * sound, buy a proper 5.1 Surround Sound AV Reciever Amplifier.