A Comparison of HD Media Players
High Definition (HD) media players are a class of consumer electronics that provides an interface between your television and various digital audio and video files stored on a hard drive. These devices vary in media support and connectivity.
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Internal vs. External Hard Drive
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Most HD media players include the ability to connect an external hard disk drive (HDD) to the player via USB; however, some include the ability to install a hard drive directly into the media player itself. This allows for fewer cables and boxes when integrating an HD media player into your home theater setup. Western Digital TV Live media player allows only HDDs to be externally connected (up to two at a time), while the Iomega Screenplay Plus has an integrated hard drive.
Network Connectivity
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Increasingly, HD media players include the ability to connect to the Internet and network file shares. These players don't require an external HDD, as they can pull their media from a file server (a computer dedicated to sharing and storing files through a network) or from Internet sources such as YouTube or Hulu. Some devices, like the Roku, are advertised as HD media players but allow access only to Internet sources.
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High Definition Output
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There are two basic types of HD signals: 720 and 1080. These numbers refer to the number of pixels -- individual colored dots on the screen -- that exist from the top to the bottom of a TV screen. While other factors affect quality (particularly progressive and interlaced scanning technologies), it's generally accepted that the 1920-by-1080 (1080) screen resolution is a higher quality HD than 1280-by-720 screens. Some HD media players will output a signal only as high as 720, resulting in less-than-optimal quality on 1080 television screens.
Codecs
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Digital media files use a variety of file formats and encryption technologies. Reading these different files requires a set of instructions called a "codec." Most media players strive to include enough codecs to play the majority of media files; however, different companies provide different combinations of codecs. If you have a specially formatted digital file, check with the manufacturer to see that this codec is included on the device. This does not apply to media presented through the Internet.
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References
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