Choosing a Media Player

Media player is one item that has mushroomed recently and as more and more brands appear, buyer find it very difficult to make their choices. Hopefully this Blog will make it easier to pick one that is just right for you. As the title of the Blog suggests, this is only about HD Media Player. Here HD refers to High Definition and not Hard Disk as this can also be confusing. What is High Definition? In the HD video world, this is any resolution from 1280x720 (720p) to 1920x1080 (1080i or 1080p) which is full HD.


Points to consider in choosing a HD Media Player
1. What do you want it primarily for? Obviously you want to watch HD videos. If it is just for listening to MP3 music or watch JPEG photos, you can buy the cheapest normal media player you can find and it will do. All HD media player can play MP3 music files and display JPEG photos and it is in the area of HD videos that each media player function a bit differently. But if it is some exotic music or photo format, check to make sure.
2. What video format will you be watching? Make sure the file format is supported by the player and it is best to have a sample file and test it on the player itself if it is possible. The WDTV series cannot support RMVB so if you need to watch video with this format, look elsewhere.
3. How do you connect to your audio visual equipment? The simplest will be via HDMI to your HDTV or just the RCA connector (blue, red, yellow cable) to older TV sets. Or you may want component connection (red, blue, green) and audiophile may want coaxial and optical connections. Look at the back of the player to see if what you need is provided as not all are available.
4. How do you want your sound? For most users, as long as there is sound it is OK. (Actually, sometimes there can be no sound for certain player running certain video format, hence the need to test). But for the more serious, they need DTS5.1, true HD, etc and these should be pass through to their amplifiers to do their job. This is difficult to test in the shop since you cannot bring along your Hi-Fi gear to do an actual test.
5. Do you need the player to house a Hard Disk Drive(HDD) internally? What physical size, 3.5" or 2.5"? All players can connect a USB external HDD though.
6. Do you want to have networking? Most can have physical LAN connection, some can work with WiFi either built-in or using USB dongle.
7. Do you need a built-in card reader? But it is easy to plug in one via USB.
8. What is the physical built and does it blend it with your other gears?
9. How does the graphical user interface (GUI) look and what other bells and whistles are available?
10. What about firmware update and after sales support so that your player is kept up-to-date? Anyway there is only so much you can update before a new chip comes along.
11. And finally the price. Do I get value for money?


So you never thought that buying a HD media player can be so complicated and this is only a summary. I'll go into more details in my later posts. Good luck in your choice. 

Ronald Kwok