FreeAgent Theater and GoFlexTV

[jamie12345]

I copied some movie files from my digital camera to the FreeAgent drive I've connected to the Theatre+.

According to "MediaInfo", the movie files my digital camera produces are of this format:

Format                           : MPEG-4
Format profile                   : QuickTime
Codec ID                         : qt  
File size                        : 744 MiB
Duration                         : 3mn 21s
Overall bit rate                 : 31.0 Mbps

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : M-JPEG
Codec ID                         : jpeg
Duration                         : 3mn 21s
Bit rate mode                    : Variable
Bit rate                         : 30.5 Mbps
Width                            : 1 280 pixels
Height                           : 720 pixels

Now when playing them on the Theatre+ unit from the attached drive, the video seems to be a little jerky, whereas if I connect my digital camera directly to the TV and play off the camera's memory card, they look much smoother.

My firmware is version 1.45 (for the APAC region). I believe this is the first (and latest) firmware version that supports .MOV files from digital cameras. Most other rival media players won't play .MOV files which is the main reason I bought the Theatre+, although it's a shame the video is a bit jerky.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Is there hope they'll improve playback of MOV files in later firmware versions?

[Tinwable]

It looks as though you don't have a compatibale contaiiner/codecs for the the FAT+ to read the file properly.  You can try converting your video's using Handbrake or something like it to mp4/h.264 and see if that helps.

[jamie12345]

I've now tried HandBrake and converted one of the digital camera Motion-JPEG (.MOV) files to both Mp4 and MKV format using the MPEG-4 codec.  And yes, they now play nice and smooth (no jerky movements) and even the colour representations look a little more vibrant, now perfectly

matching what I see if I hook the digital camera up directly to the TV.

So obviously it's the FAT+ not supporting the Motion-JPEG (M-JPEG) video codec correctly.  It obviously supports it to some extent, otherwise I wouldn't be able to play the files to begin with.

I hope a future firmware version will improve this as I really don't want to spend days converting all these movie files I have to a different format.  That's one of the reasons I bought the FAT+ so I wouldn't have to convert stuff, otherwise I would have bought one of those cheap media players that play just a small and limited set of media files.

[Tinwable]

Well, I just have to say this.  Every camera manufacture has it's own file format, container and codec it uses.  The FAT+ can't decode every type that is out there, it is not a PC after all and I don't know any media player, within it's price range, that can.

It's not that the FAT+ doesn't support M-JPEG, but that it doesn't support it in the container that your camera puts it in.  I don't defend Seagate when something is actually broken, or when the FAT+ doesn't do something that it should.  But on this you maybe asking a little much, since every container can have multiple codecs which it can use and expecting the FAT+ to be able to translate them all in it's small package is a little much.

[jamie12345]

Still, you'd think they'd fully support movie formats by the major digital camera & camcorder manufacturers such as Panasonic and Canon. These are not obscure formats - they are immensely widespread.

Yes, I know the FAT+ is not a PC, but it's being marketed as a device for viewing content people have created using their digital camera or digital camcorder on a big screen TV without having to crowd in front of a laptop or PC. When I look at the latest version of the user manual, I'm seeing it supports a myriad of file formats, some I have never heard of.  You'd think a few of the more popular Motion JPEG container/codec combinations that the major camera/camcorder manufacturers use wouldn't be too much to ask. There's zillions of PC software movie players that can play every single one of those without any problem, so technically it shouldn't be hard to extend the FAT+ firmware to be able to decode/play more of those.

[Tinwable]

Yes, I hear you, but then what about Kodak, Nikon, Sony, JVC, Olympus, Samsung, all major manufactures and all with different formats.  It's not that the formats are obscure, but that they don't use a standardized format.  All of these use different containers & different codecs, which even with a PC you have to install codec packages to decode.  And it's not the problem that the FAT+ can't read the container or that it can't decode the codecs, it's in the combination of the 2.  There are hundreds of combinations of containers/codecs and the FAT+ does read the most popular of these combinations.

As far as your statement about zillions of PC software movie players playing every single one, well, first, I don't think that there are a zillion players out there and most are firmware based, the one's that are software based are called "PC's" and are not in the same price range as the FAT+.  If you want a media player that can do all the things that you want it to do, take a look at THIS, but look at the price too.  Or maybe something a little cheaper like the Zino, but you'll pay extra to be able to use a remote.  Maybe another media player like the Popcorn Hour, which even the most expensive of these still doesn't support every digital camera format.

[jamie12345]

Looks like the WD Elements Play can play all the common digital camera movie files.  In the user manual, it says:

Extension: .mov

Container: QuickTime

Video codecs: MPEG-4, MJPEG-A, MJPEG-B, MJPA, H.263, AVC(H.264)

So that would suit me & many, many others. Shame FAT+ can't have such a wide range of codecs supported.

[Chuckster]

Just a hunch.  Change the extension to MP4 and try playing it.  This has worked for me for some formats.

[jamie12345]

Renaming makes no difference.  The movie is still jerky, therefore the FAT+ is missing the common "MJPEG" movie codec used by many digital camera manufacturers for their movies including Canon and Panasonic.

I'm using the 1.45 APAC firmware.  I won't upgrade to 2.2 due to all the bugs that it seems to have introduced, judging from what people are saying on here, and I don't think 2.2 brings any new features anyway.