HD Media Players | Digital Media Streamers : The Future of Home Entertainment

Ranked #3,415 in Computers & Electronics, #62,023 overall

Stream media files from the internet or from your hard drive and watch them in full glory on your TV!

Looking to buy an HD media player? You've come to the right place! An HD digital media player or hard drive media player is a device that lets you play media files on your storage device and view them in full high definition on your TV screen. Use it as an external hard drive or connect it to your TV or receiver via HDMI cable and watch files from your external hard drive or, in the case of a streaming media player, across a wired network.

My husband gave me a networked media player for Christmas and I am completely enjoying the convenience of streaming my favorite shows and playing my movie and music files stored in a portable hard drive directly on the TV in the comforts of our living room. Gone are the days of watching them on a computer monitor!

Below is a selection of the most popular and bestselling HD media players and digital media streamers out in the market today.

Photo: Western Digital WD TV Live Network-ready HD Media Player

Amazon Connected Home

Digital Media Streamers & HD Media Players in One

Devices that can stream media files through the internet or a home network and also play media files from an external hard drive.

Western Digital WD TV Live Network-ready HD Media Player

Play Full HD 1080p video, music and photos on your HD TV

HD video, photos and music - they're on your computer, on your USB drives, on the Internet, but how do you enjoy them on your TV? Now it's easy! Play a world of Full-HD, 1080p media on your big screen TV with the WD TV Live network-ready HD media player. Stream content from internet sites and experience spectacular Full-HD video and crystal-clear digital audio. Supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats, no need to spend time transcoding.

Western Digital WD TV Live Network-ready HD Media Player

Amazon Price: $139.99 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

The WD TV Live HD Media Player from Western Digital has everything you need to play your HD media collection and the fun stuff you find on the web in brilliant HD 1080p on your big screen HDTV. You also get direct access to a huge selection of video, photos, and music from popular internet sites like YouTube, Flickr, Live 365, and Pandora.

File Formats Supported
Video: AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9
Photo: JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, PNG
Audio: MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS
Playlist: PLS, M3U, WPL
Subtitle: SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI

Popcorn Hour A-200 Networked Media Tank: the original network digital media streamer

Stream digital video, audio and photos to your home theater.

Popcorn Hour is the world's first and original Networked Media Tank. It allows you to stream digital video, audio and photos from your PC, storage device, home network or the Internet to your HDTV or home theater setup. The great thing about Popcorn Hour is that it can support practically every media file type there is out there so no time is wasted converting files to supported media formats.

Popcorn Hour A-200 Networked Media Tank (Black)

Amazon Price: (as of 05/31/2012)Buy Now

It's Time to Unleash Your TV! The A-200 gives you total control over your digital media experience. Add an optional hard drive to the Popcorn Hour's standard expansion slot to open up a host of additional features and options. Easily share media with friends and family; utilizing the hard drive the Popcorn Hour can act as a file server to share files over your home network.

File Formats Supported
Video containers: MPEG1/2/4 Elementary (M1V, M2V, M4V), MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG, DAT, VOB), MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, M2TS, MTS), AVI, ASF, WMV, Matroska (MKV), MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4
Video Decoders: XVID SD/HD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 MP@HL, MPEG-4.2 ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC, MPEG-4.10 (H.264) : BP@L3, MP@L4.0, HP@L4.0, HP@L4.1, WMV9 : MP@HL, SMPTE 421M (VC-1) : MP@HL, AP@L3
Audio Containers: AAC, M4A, MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA), WAV, WMA, FLAC, OGG
Audio Decoders: Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA, WMA Pro, MPEG-1 Layer 1, 2, 3, MPEG-4 AAC-LC, MPEG-4 HE-AAC, MPEG-4 BSAC, LPCM, FLAC, Vorbis
Audio Pass-Through: DTS, DTS-HD HR, DTS-HD MA, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD
Other Formats: ISO, IFO navigation, AVCHD navigation, Blu-ray** ready (requires addition of compatible BD-ROM and at least 2GB USB memory stick)
Photo Formats: JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, TIFF
Subtitle Formats: SRT, MicroDVD SUB, SSA, SUB/IDX

Zinwell "ZinTV" 3-in-1 Networking-Ready HD Multimedia Player / Streamer / Torrent Downloader

The Ultimate "Media transformer" that decodes all.

Playback-ZIN-5005HD is an advanced multimedia player that brings full high-definition movies with fidelity audio to your 1080p HDTV display. It can play media files stored on any USB storage device, regardless of the device's format. Enjoy over 20,000 Internet music stations and 8,000 Internet TV programs collected from 210 countries in the world, offering stable and categorized high quality channels - all with easy search functionality.

Zinwell is a relative newcomer in the field but if you want a low-priced digital media streamer that can play most file formats, this is your best bet.

Zinwell ZIN-5005HD 'ZinTV' 3-in-1 Networking-Ready 1080p Full HD Multimedia Player/Streamer/Torrent Downloader

Amazon Price: $79.98 (as of 05/31/2012)Buy Now

ZIN-5005HD supports the most high definition 1080p video formats so there's no need to install media conversion software on a separate PC. No more time wasted converting video, photos and music!

File Formats Supported
Video: MPEG 1/2/4, Divx 3/4/5/6, Xvid, H.264/AVC, VC-1, WMV9, RM/RMVB 8/9/10 (.avi, .mkv, .ts, .m2ts, .tp, .ifo, .iso, .vob, .dat, .mpg, .mp4, .mpeg, .mov, .wmv, .asf, .flv, .rm, .rmvb)
Photo: HD JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIF, TIFF
Audio:MP3, MPEG Audio, Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA, PCM, LPCM, ADPCM, FLAC, WAV, AAC, RA, OGG, MKA
Subtitle: srt, sub, smi, ssa, idx+sub
HDD/USB Drive Format Compatibility: NTFS, FAT 16/32, FAT, EXT3, HFS+

Roku XDS Streaming Media Player

Watch movies on your TV using your high-speed Internet connection

Roku is a little box that allows you to instantly stream tons of entertainment on your TV. Watch over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, and more. Listen to music on Pandora, or listen to your own iTunes playlists. Even watch major sports, news, or original Internet programming, it's all available whenever you want it. It also has a USB port for playing stored photos, music, and videos stored on an external hard drive. Simply connect to your TV and to your high-speed Internet service and enjoy!

If you want a basic networked media player for streaming files for under $100, this is it. The file format support is limited so its best used for streaming videos online on your TV.

Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080p

Amazon Price: $100.00 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

The all-new, top-of-the-line Roku XDS sets a new standard with 1080p streaming video, the latest wireless technology, and Instant Replay. Does not require a PC for streaming. All for under $100!

File Formats Supported
MP4 video, MP3 or AAC audio, and PNG or JPG photos

Other Network Media Players

Loading

Get a Network Media Player for less on eBay

Loading

HD Media Player Reviews and Walkthroughs

Know what's best suited for your needs before you buy!

Western Digital TV Live Plus Network Media Player Review
by AttackOfTheShow | video info

45 ratings | 17,736 views
curated content from YouTube

HD Digital Media Players

Devices that can play all sorts of media files directly on your TV from a USB hard drive enclosure.

Western Digital HD Media Player

Play content from USB drives, digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players on your TV!

Combined with a MyPassport portable drive (sold separately), the WD Media Player is the most convenient way to play HD movies or user-generated videos, listen to high-quality digital music and show high-resolution slideshows of your family photos on your TV.

Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player

Amazon Price: $79.99 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

The WDTV HD Media Player supports full HD 1080p video playback and is an ultra-compact, USB 2.0 device that attaches to an entertainment unit through a variety of audio/video interfaces and supports playback of major audio, video, and image file formats. It supports high-definition video playback of up to 1080p through an HDMI connection or standard definition for TVs with lower capabilities.

File Formats Supported
Music - MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV/PCM/LPCM, AAC, FLAC, Dolby Digital, AIF/AIFF, MKA
Graphics - JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG Video -MPEG1/2/4, WMV9, AVI (MPEG4, Xvid, AVC), H.264, MKV, MOV (MPEG4, H.264)
Playlist - PLS, M3U, WPL Subtitle -SRT (UTF-8)

ASUS O!Play HD Media Player

A convenient way access your media files on your TV

These days many of us have a constantly growing media library with our favorite music, movies, and photos in a variety of formats and locations. The ASUS O! Play is designed to easily bring your media into your living room, without sacrificing quality.

ASUS O!Play - TV HD Media Player (Black)

Amazon Price: $399.99 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

Enjoy video in full HD 1080p resolution, full-fidelity audio, and photo slideshows on your HDTV or home theater setup. With impressively wide format support, a wealth of connection options, and playback over a network or directly from USB and eSATA drives, the O!Play is an elegant and modern media solution.

File Formats Supported
Video Compression: MPEG1/2/4, RM/RMVB, VC-1, H.264
Video File Extension: .MP4, .MOV, .XVID, .AVI, .DIVX, .ASF, .WMV, .MKV, .RM, .RMVB, .FLV, .TS, .M2TS, .DAT, .MPG, .VOB
Audio: MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG, FLAC, AIFF
Image: JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, TIFF
Subtitle: SRT, SUB, SMI, SSA

Other Popular Digital Media Players

Loading

HD Media Players reviewed in the blogosphere

Digital media player reviews and testimonials by bloggers

Egreat S-Series R300 Network HD Media Player | Egreat S-Series R300 Network HD ...
Sigma Designs followed closely by Realtek are the two dominant powers in the media player market and with both of them releasing their latest HD decoding chipsets in the market it's not really surprising that most media player manufacturers have ...

Buy a WD Media Player for less on eBay

Keep your eyes peeled for discounted rates on Western Digital Media Players

Loading

HD media player and streaming player standard features

What conventional networked media players can usually do.

You may be thinking, "I already have a DVD or Blu-ray player, why do I need an HD media player?". Well here now is a list of features that are common to digital media players and, I'm sorry to say, not available on DVD players, Blu-ray players and *gasp* VCRs. Welcome to the future of home entertainment!

  • Supports full-HD 1080p playback. Sit back and enjoy the spectacular picture quality of brilliant high definition video and the crystal clear sound of digital audio.
  • Plays almost any type of media. Multimedia players have a USB port for easy connection to external hard drives and supports playback of media files in various file formats including jpg, mp3, mp4, avi, mkv, wav, etc.
  • Allows access to media anywhere on your home network. The Ethernet port lets you connect this media player to your home network so you can access and stream video, view photos, and play music from any Mac, PC, and network drive in your house.
  • WiFi ready. Supports wireless network connection to your home network with an optional USB wireless adapter so you can surf, stream and even download videos and music (from legal sites) to your connected external hard drive without the need of a computer.
  • Supports DVD navigation and playback. No worries, you can still watch your DVDs, including complete menu navigation, chapter listings, special features, and subtitles on an HD media player.
  • Allows access to photos and movies directly from your digital camera or video camera. Connect your digital cameras, digital video cameras, or any digital imaging device that supports Picture Transfer Protocol and view the picture files on your TV.

Read HD Media Player comparison reviews

Informed digital media player reviews by the experts.

Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player Review - Portable Video Players (PVPs)
"While it isn't infallible, the Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player plays back a wide array of audio, video, and image files on your TV without the need for a computer."
Iomega ScreenPlay Plus HD Media Player Review - Portable Video Players (PVPs)
"User Rating: 5.0/5 from 7 users; A very good product Pros: Good product with good price and usage.; Cons: Cons: wish to see an improved interface"
Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Review (500GB) - Portable Video Players (PVPs)
"While the Seagate FreeAgent Theater has a decent interface and good photo display options, it doesn't read as many video file formats as its competitors."
Roku XDS Review (2100X) - Digital Media Receivers
"Thanks to its wide range of content offerings--including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu Plus, and Pandora--the Roku XDS is the best all-around streaming media box you can get for less than $100."
WD TV Live Plus Review - Digital Media Receivers
"If you don't already own an Xbox 360, PS3, or Blu-ray player and you're serious about networked streaming, the WD TV Live is one of your best choices for getting content to your TV."
Apple TV Review
"The Apple TV's new low $99 price makes it an easy impulse buy for Apple fans looking to bring Netflix into the living room, but you may want to wait until more content--or Apple's forthcoming AirPlay update--becomes available."
D-Link Boxee Box Review - Digital Media Receivers
"The Boxee Box by D-Link has some innovative design choices and a promising user interface, but mainstream content is mostly missing in action until future firmware updates are available."

Today's top Selling Digital Media Players and Streaming Players

Live feed of Digital Media Streamer Bestsellers on Amazon

Loading

Portable external hard drives to store your media files in

Easily access your jpg, mp3, mp4, avi, mkv and other media files

Make sure to read your HD media player's manual to see if you need to format your hard drive to FAT32 before you can use it with your digital media player.

Loading

Stream the latest movies from Amazon

New at Amazon Video On Demand

Loading

Free and Legal Streaming Video Sites

Sites from where you can watch free internet videos legally.

Hulu - Watch your favorites. Anytime. For free.
Hulu.com is an online video service that offers hit TV shows including Family Guy and 30 Rock. Our extensive library also includes classic TV series and blockbuster movies. Start watching now. No registration or downloads required.
Watch Full Episodes - ABC
Watch full episodes from your favorite ABC programs online. The official ABC video player can help you catch up if you miss a few shows.
NBC.com - NBC Official Site
Watch full episodes from your favorite NBC programs online.
FOX Broadcasting Company - Watch Full Episodes - Watch TV Online Free - Free Internet Television
Watch TV Online Free - FOX offers free internet television on demand for all your favorite shows. Watch full episodes of Family Guy, Glee, American Idol and more on your computer at FOX.com.
Discovery Channel Videos
Discovery Channel videos that feature clips about science, technology, news, mythbusters, dirty jobs and more.
MTV Original Shows, Reality TV Shows | Episode Guide, Video Clips, Blogs & More | MTV
Watch your favorite MTV shows online.
VH1.com Videos | Watch Music Video & VH1 Reality TV Show Clips | Movie Trailers & Pop Culture Videos | VSPOT
Watch Online Music Videos, VH1 Reality TV Show Clips & see Live Performances on VH1.com. View the Latest Movie Trailers & Pop Culture Video Clips. Tune in to VH1 TV or visit VH1.com to see the Editor%uFFFDs Picks Videos Online
Snapfilms, LLC. - New York Based Entertainment Company
Welcome to snapfilms, a full service entertainment company based in New York City. We assist an array of clients worldwide in the production of TV content, commercials, music videos, on-air graphics and industrials.
Watch popular Korean dramas for free, the best of kdramas
DramaFever brings you the best of Asian primetime TV for free. The latest hits and classic favorites available uncut, subtitled, and in high quality streaming video.
South Park Studios
Watch every episode of South Park for free and get news straight from the studio at the official site for television series. South Park is an Emmy and Peabody award winning animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone

More shows you can watch on your Digital Media Streamer

Loading

Do you own an HD digital media player?

Which one do you own? Tell me more about it!

If, like me, you've found yourself addicted to your HD digital media player, please tell me more about how you use it and what shows you watch on it. Your comments on the selection of HD media players on this page are most welcome too.

  • prosperity66 Jan 4, 2011 @ 3:46 am | delete
    I NEED a husband like yours as I NEED an HD digital media player! Like you, I'm addicted to online TV and definitely would like to watch movies and series comfortably sitting on the sofa and not on a chair in front of my computer screen :(
  • arncyn Jan 4, 2011 @ 4:20 am | delete
    LOL, Dom, you are too funny but yes, I recommend that you get one too! You'll have a grand time watching (and surfing) from your living room. Thanks for the visit as always. (:

This page is called a Squidoo lens.
If you're passionate about something -- anything! --,
you can make a lens about it and even earn money on the side.
Isn't that awesome?
Click on the button below to get started!

Loading

Check out my other shopping guides

Looking for gifts? Find the perfect item in one of my guides below.

Loading

by

arncyn

I'm a more »

Feeling creative? Create a Lens!

Western Digital WD Elements 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 

Backup and store your media files in this reliable external storage device

Western Digital WD Elements 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive

Amazon Price: $149.99 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

Western Digital is a trusted name in computer electronic devices so you can be sure that your precious media files will stay safe in this reliable and hardworking 2 TB hard drive.

Enhance your TV viewing experience with the following gadgets 

Loading

Top Selling Home Theater System Accessories  

Loading