Understandable maximums for MP4s for WD TV Live?

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live & Live Plus
1

Though support is finished for this product, I bought my WD Live TV a little over 3 years ago and my brother shorty after. I am adding more videos to an external hard drive but have moved away from AVI so running into issues with many MP4s (which I still prefer over AVIs).

Taking a chance that there are still users here and that some kind soul can help, as I just can’t make real heads or tails over information on why the unit can’t accept certain MP4s. For example, here’s one it can’t play:

[Container]
Format: MOV,MP4,M4A,3GP,3G2,MJ2 (QuickTime / MOV)
Duration: 02:10:30.74
Bit Rate: 1,148 kbps

[Metadata]
major_brand: isom
minor_version: 512
compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41
encoder: Lavf58.2.103

[Video]
Codec: H264 (H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10)
Codec Tag: avc1 (0x31637661)
Picture Size: 1280x534 (PAR 801:800, DAR 12:5)
Frame Rate: 23.98 fps
Bit Rate: 1,006 kbps

[Audio]
Codec: AAC (AAC (Advanced Audio Coding))
Channels: Stereo
Sample Rate: 48,000 Hz
Sample Data Format: 32 bits (Float)
Bit Rate: 141 kbps

What is critical to change in the re-encode, pls? I’ve tried re-encoding twice but I’ve obviously not changed what is critical for playback. i.e., manuals says max bit rate is SD:20, HD:40, but my media info tools talk about bit rate in terms of kbps, as above: Bit Rate: 1,148 kbps, etc.

?

Any help appreciated. I’m not exactly a newbie in terms of video conversion, by any means, but I’m not an expert/pro, either.

Thanks!

2

Please post the FULL TEXT output of MediaInfo for one of the unplayable files.

MediaInfo gives so much more detail, like this:

General
Complete name                            : Zootopia.m4v
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                                 : mp42
File size                                : 1.10 GiB
Duration                                 : 1h 48mn
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 1 448 Kbps
Movie name                               : Zootopia
Genre                                    : Adventure
Description                              : MPAA:PG Rating:7.4 Determined to prove herself, Officer Judy Hopps, the first bunny on Zootopia's police force, jumps at the chance to crack her first case - even if it means partnering with scam-artist fox Nick Wilde to solve the mystery.
Recorded date                            : 2016-02-11
Encoded date                             : UTC 2016-08-03 02:41:09
Tagged date                              : UTC 2016-08-03 03:48:23
Writing application                      : HandBrake 0.10.5 2016021100
Cover                                    : Yes
LongDescription                          : MPAA:PG Rating:7.4 Determined to prove herself, Officer Judy Hopps, the first bunny on Zootopia's police force, jumps at the chance to crack her first case - even if it means partnering with scam-artist fox Nick Wilde to solve the mystery.

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 1h 48mn
Bit rate                                 : 1 281 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 536 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps
Minimum frame rate                       : 19.231 fps
Maximum frame rate                       : 24.390 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.078
Stream size                              : 995 MiB (88%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 142 r2389 956c8d8
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=9 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=22.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=17500 / vbv_bufsize=17500 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date                             : UTC 2016-08-03 02:41:09
Tagged date                              : UTC 2016-08-03 02:41:09
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : LC
Codec ID                                 : 40
Duration                                 : 1h 48mn
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 160 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 124 MiB (11%)
Title                                    : Stereo
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2016-08-03 02:41:09
Tagged date                              : UTC 2016-08-03 02:41:09

Menu
ID                                       : 3
Codec ID                                 : text
Duration                                 : 1h 48mn
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2016-08-03 02:41:09
Tagged date                              : UTC 2016-08-03 02:41:09
00:00:00.000                             : Chapter 1
00:00:59.648                             : Chapter 2
00:05:50.208                             : Chapter 3
00:10:05.652                             : Chapter 4
00:14:31.639                             : Chapter 5
00:18:24.121                             : Chapter 6
00:26:03.490                             : Chapter 7
00:30:57.586                             : Chapter 8
00:37:07.260                             : Chapter 9
00:40:43.601                             : Chapter 10
00:44:31.912                             : Chapter 11
00:51:40.592                             : Chapter 12
00:55:40.540                             : Chapter 13
01:00:48.431                             : Chapter 14
01:03:37.948                             : Chapter 15
01:09:19.998                             : Chapter 16
01:13:39.257                             : Chapter 17
01:17:07.575                             : Chapter 18
01:21:52.484                             : Chapter 19
01:28:19.371                             : Chapter 20
01:32:43.551                             : Chapter 21
01:36:12.234                             : Chapter 22
Bit rate mode                            : VBR
3

Oh, okay. Thanks!

Here is the info using MediaInfo:

Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 1.05 GiB
Duration : 2 h 10 min
Overall bit rate : 1 148 kb/s
Writing application : Lavf58.2.103

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 2 h 10 min
Bit rate : 1 000 kb/s
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 534 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Original display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.061
Stream size : 933 MiB (87%)
Writing library : x264 core 152
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=1000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=31250 / vbv_bufsize=31250 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 2 h 10 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 144 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 spf)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 132 MiB (12%)
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1

(Sorry, don’t know how to keep the columns even as they look in MediaInfo and as in your example! Hope this output is readable enough.)

4

Anyone?

What I’m actually more interested in being able to do is just throwing this at something like FFMpeg and having the MP4 come out readable for the WD LIVE TV box. I just don’t know all the parameters as it’s too much information that I don’t know how to interpret (and not about to pay for something like PavTube, which is recommended for re-encoding in some of the many, many google searches done in the last few days re this). The manual just doesn’t help.

So if any kind person here knows of a freeware that has the specs for a compliant vid format for the WD LIVE TV, perhaps that would be ideal approach. My box and my brother’s both work perfectly and there’s no need to change. So, also, it’s not necessary to really know what is wrong with the above file, just what mp4 format to target for from this point forward when re-encoding that would work.

Thanks.

5

I, and many others use the free Handbrake program to make mp4 files. The pre-made defaults work great for the iPad mp4/m4v files I make from ISO files. The iPad files are much smaller that I make for iOS mobile devices. I make ISO files for the WDTV I believe Handbrake allows for scaling size for larger screens. It does not decrypt videos it only accepts decrypted ones.

Making videos for WDTV, tablets and phonse is both an art and a science and one needs to do a lot of googling to learn about it. Good luck on your journey. Go here for Handbrake:

6

Making videos for WDTV, tablets and phonse is both an art and a science and one needs to do a lot of googling to learn about it.

Actually, for the WDTV yes, but not for the PC and Android, at least. VLC and MXPlayer in Android play everything thrown at it, just like in Windows and LInux (both of which I have) with VLC. It’s the WDTV and an even older media box that I replaced the WDTV for (it only played AVIs, but at least i played them all - with exception of corrupted ones, of course). The WDTV Live has been much better than that old one but new files are now in mp4 format and most won’t play.

I haven’t cracked Handbrake yet but will try it again. As long as there’s a preset that works, that’s what counts. My brother has a couple of Sony PSPs that I had to do this for and I have an app that I just used to throw the movies I shared with him and everything I outputted would play on it. That’s what I’m hoping for here but didn’t want to prompt for, trying to see what anyone would contribute that was their solution.

Will open Handbrake again. It’s been sitting on my PC for quite some time now (couple of years?) but like the old Super converter, it has a learning curve due to the myriad of options available.

Here goes …

7

Basically, if one makes an ISO file (a disk image of a DVD) there is nothing to setup, it is just an exact copy of a DVD, Programs that can do this are AnyDVD, DVD Fab) these files play perfectly on a WDTV from the Network Shares setting of WDTV. They cannot be played via any DLNA media server or player.

Handbrake is simple, too, alhough you need to select the correct default setting.

VOB and AVi are very old fashioned formats I and many others do not use.
MKV is another popular format and easy to make from ISO files.