with all the stuff being added to tv’s with wifi support usb ports hdmi dvi and vga support and ethernet ports, i wonder how can the media players keep one step ahead of the tvs… I have the WD live media player and use it to stream movies wirelessly. With new tvs coming with all this hardware support i cant see how they will compete with the tv’s and whats available to them. TV prices are falling all the time and getting cheaper and in a few years time whats to be of the media servers/players…
with all the stuff being added to tv’s with wifi support usb ports hdmi dvi and vga support and ethernet ports, i wonder how can the media players keep one step ahead of the tvs… I have the WD live media player and use it to stream movies wirelessly. With new tvs coming with all this hardware support i cant see how they will compete with the tv’s and whats available to them. TV prices are falling all the time and getting cheaper and in a few years time whats to be of the media servers/players…
Any suggestions ?
I do not think TV’s with built in gadgets will represent any threat to media players. The same way that TV-VCR and later TV-DVD combos never represented a threat to VCR or DVD players. There is a subtle reason to this: people expect electronic gadgets to fail. But a TV is seen as a long term investment. People do not change TVs the same way they change other gadgets. Let it be the old RCA 26" TV or a Sony wide screen 32" Bravia. You do not simply change these every day due to some added feature or an upgrade.
Second, portability is a main factor. I can move a WD Live unit from one room to another. I can take it to a friend place to watch a movie. You do not move a TV from one room to room to watch a movie with its built in media player.
Third, a majority of audiohiles (and videophiles) opt for components instead of all in one combos. I want my media player to be routed to an AVR that is good at decoding. Good decoders are not cheap. Good video scalers are not cheap too. You want to have the freedom to route signals instead of being dictated by a combo.
Finally, I do not want my TV to CRASH on boot up due to faulty software. A TV should monitor an outside signal and show it to me in the best color and resolution. Not connect to ethernet. And not have anything else that takes from its main function. The last thing you need is a TV that CRASHES due to buggy software.
I also think media players will be here to stay. TV’s built-in players won’t support as much formats and be less flexible since manufacturers see them as a bonus. Just look at the crappy MP3 player functionality of DVD standalones.
The last thing you need is a TV that CRASHES due to buggy software.
What bothers me most about your post is that while you have high expectations for your TV firmware, you make it sound like you’re OK with, and even expect, your media player to be sucky. I’m sorry that you’re expectations are based on the WD TV whatever, but that’s not the way it should be. There’s something really wrong with this attitude.
The last thing you need is a TV that CRASHES due to buggy software.
What bothers me most about your post is that while you have high expectations for your TV firmware, you make it sound like you’re OK with, and even expect, your media player to be sucky. I’m sorry that you’re expectations are based on the WD TV whatever, but that’s not the way it should be. There’s something really wrong with this attitude.
You are misquoting me. Subject is if TV’s with built in media players will weaken the market of media players. Above is one reason I gave for getting a TV with nothing built into it. Any software carries with it the potential of bugs. So, I do expect things to fail from time to time taking into account the bewildering array of media formats. This does not make a media player sucky. It makes it susceptible to software failures that can be fixed if within the scope of what media player is supposed to do. I do have realistic expectations - that is all!
Having said that, WD TV units have performed well and I do not think they are sucky.
As for TVs, you BET that people expect them to perform and show a picture when they are turned on. A blown up capacitor or some IC burned up chip can render a TV useless, but YES we do not expect the DISPLAY to disappear because of a software bug in a TV. Why? Because this HITS at the heart of what a TV is expected to do - DISPLAY and MONITOR! So while other gadgets can be forgiven for a bug or two that can be fixed, you do NOT forgive a TV for a software failure.
with all the stuff being added to tv’s with wifi support usb ports hdmi dvi and vga support and ethernet ports, i wonder how can the media players keep one step ahead of the tvs… I have the WD live media player and use it to stream movies wirelessly. With new tvs coming with all this hardware support i cant see how they will compete with the tv’s and whats available to them. TV prices are falling all the time and getting cheaper and in a few years time whats to be of the media servers/players…
Any suggestions ?
Like Lunar makes mention of, TVs are generally long term investments for the vast majority of people. We are not yet at the point where a TV can match all the features and support all the formats that a dedicated device can. Also, the DLNA spec is pretty poor at supporting stuff like external subtitles and disc images or less popular containers. That needs to be addressed and then supported by the hardware manufacturers. That all takes time…
Once we get to that point, you’d still have to wait a significant amount of time for people to slowly upgrade their TVs to newer models with this as yet hypothetical “perfect” media player feature set.
Most people would choose to buy an affordable dedicated media player to accompany an existing, working TV; it’s certainly cheaper to buy a media player than a new TV!
To me, the biggest threat to dedicated media players is the increasing capabilities of the games consoles in that area. If Sony started natively supporting MKV on the PS3, they could absolutely dominate the media streamer market. I would certainly get one!
