Show content of Mac via WD TV Live on tv

I’m pretty new with WD TV Live. Playing movies via ‘Network Shares’ is no problem.

But I was wondering if it is possible to use Safari or Firefox of my Mac and see the content on my TV.

My second question is: can I use iTunes on my Mac someway?

My configuration

MacBookPro mid '07

Router = Draytek Vigour 2900G

TV = Philips 42PFL7403D/10

AV/DVD Harman Kardon 138-28

I’m afraid the short answers to your questions are “no” and “no”.  There is no browser on the WDTV Live and I’m not aware of any plan to get one running; and to access browsers on other computers, one would need some kind of remote desktop software, which is even less likely to be included in the future.

As for iTunes, the problem is that Apple don’t support the Upnp/DLNA standard which the WDTV Live supports, and conversely, iTunes can act as a media server but using only the Apple-proprietary DAAP protocol which the WDTV Live does not support.

Furthermore, iTune’s playlists are not stored as standard M3U or PLS files, but are embedded in an XML database. There are tools out there to read this file and export the playlists as M3U or PLS files, which are readable by the WDTV Live. Also it may be possible to find other media server software which are able to expose iTunes’ playlists to the WDTV Live, but I don’t know about them. I would certainly like to know if somebody found a way to do that.

Neutro, thanks a lot for your clear and detailed answer.

Now I know that I don’t have to expect results of the WD TV Live in this case.

I am using the Playback Media Server from Yazsoft and though right now it won’t give you access to Internet services,  it will give you access to all your iLife libraries (iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie).  Playback of video was also much improved with no stuttering on large HD video files over my network.  It’s $15 and requires no Network configuration, just turn it on (START) and it will be seen by the WD HD Live.  

sounds like you need a regular ol’ VGA cable, then you can use your tv screen as a monitor

Greetings,

I’m running OS X and have narrowed my choices for a new media player down to WDTVL (possibly with Playback) and Apple TV (likely modified, minimally for MPEG-2 support).  Has the combination of WD TV Live and Playback worked reliably for you, richien2?

Most H.264 content I’d be streaming would be exported EyeTV recordings (from analog SDTV) that have been imported to iTunes, which I’m sure Apple TV will easily handle.  But it doesn’t natively support unexported EyeTV recordings (MPEG-2 TS) and DVD content (MPEG-2 PS), which my trusty old Elgato EyeHome still handles quite well (with 802.11 WLAN streaming) but lacks much-desired H.264 support.  I now want a single device that reliably supports MPEG-2 and H.264 streaming playback.  Relatively simple configuration/requirements here.  I haven’t even migrated to HDTV yet so whichever box is likely to work better with my 480i CRT TV for awhile would have influence on my choice.

Any feedback is appreciated - thanks!

  I haven’t even migrated to HDTV yet so whichever box is likely to work better with my 480i CRT TV for awhile would have influence on my choice.

 

Any feedback is appreciated - thanks!

 

    • *> Since AppleTV only supports HDTV, I think you have your answer. I was in the exact same situation a few weeks ago and I haven’t regretted my WD HD Live purchase for a moment. I use Playback on OS X and it works flawlessly. I’ve wirelessly streamed full 1080p files without skipping a beat and this box has the horse power to play almost anything. It doesn’t even stutter on the Big Bang Theory opening montage - if you’ve seen it on other boxes you know what I mean.
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Since AppleTV only supports HDTV, I think you have your answer.

Shortly after it originally came out I read some blog post about getting it to work with 480i even though the specs don’t mention it, but obviously I’d need to confirm that.

I was in the exact same situation a few weeks ago and I haven’t regretted my WD HD Live purchase for a moment. I use Playback on OS X and it works flawlessly.

Glad to hear it.  I’m pretty much convinced that Playback is an essential add-on for improving WDHDL usage with OS X.

Was there any major reason that convinced you to pick WDHDL or just a combination of factors that leaned in its favor?

I’ve wirelessly streamed full 1080p files without skipping a beat and this box has the horse power to play almost anything.

Impressive.

It doesn’t even stutter on the Big Bang Theory opening montage - if you’ve seen it on other boxes you know what I mean.

Funny you’d pick that as an example since I’ll be watching last night’s BBT episode a bit later, though this week I trimmed the opening when editing out the commercials.  I don’t recall it stuttering with EyeHome playback in the past but that’s just with a wimpy analog recording.  Anyway, I get your point. :slight_smile:

Likely I’d be quite satisfied with either player (both being significant upgrades from EyeHome), though might possibly prefer having WDTVL after migrating to HDTV.  And even if Apple eventually releases a more compelling aTV that I’d clearly want it’s not like the WDTVL is a major investment that would hurt to replace.

A few hours ago I was favoring aTV a bit more, though your response may have tipped the balance towards WDTVL (again)… thanks? :slight_smile:

Maybe I can get 'em both for testing, with liberal return policies …

From what I’ve been reading it seems like my JVC i’Art AV-27F704 480i TV will, at best, only display black and white with Apple TV, even using component video, possibly because it lacks any “widescreen” or “16:9” setting. I’m trying to figure out if going through my A/V receiver would make any difference.

I could tolerate a squishy UI and other glitches until upgrading my TV, but lack of color would be an immediate deal-killer and ice the decision to try WD HD Live instead.

“My second question is: can I use iTunes on my Mac someway?”

You can if you buy Playback from Yazsoft. Then you can also access your iPhoto library.

Alternative would be using Eyeconnect from Elgato but there are serieus problems also it is almost triple the price of PB.

I see that using Playback for Mac seems to be working well with the WD HD Live Media Player.  With that said, does it also make it possible to transfer purchased movies from iTunes to an external hard drive connected to the media player?.