Media players have come a long way from large-sized receivers to portable devices that can work offline for a long time without recharging. Satisfied with miniature gadgets, the consumer again began to pay attention to stationary equipment - and not in vain, as manufacturers prepared for connoisseurs of high-quality pictures and sound a lot of interesting things. A home media player with a hard drive has the necessary set of tools for working with almost all existing types of audio and video files, while also offering an unprecedented level of communication capabilities.
What is a media player?
We are talking about a balanced media player, but with advanced functionality. Moreover, the inclusion of new options and capabilities not only does not reduce the quality of playback, but allows you to "read" modern HD-formats, which not every TV can do without a built-in set-top box. But then another question arises - why is a media player better than the same TV with integrated Blu-ray? The fact is that the presence of a built-in set-top box does not exclude problems with playback, including slowing down and freezing. This may be due to the nuances of internal connections, the characteristics of the optimized processor and low power. In turn, a media player with a hard drive provides much more options for connecting not only to a TV, but also to a projector, while maintaining stable playback. It is also a universal player for a wide variety of files that can be obtained from an unlimited range of existing content sources - from a regular flash drive to a wireless network.
Structural design
For the most part, these are prefixes that are compact in size and whose body is made of metal (usually extruded aluminum). In general, plastic in media centers of this type, if applicable, is only used in budget models of the lowest price group. The rear panel of the device acts as the main base for the placement of connectors and communication ports, and the front provides a modest display to reflect basic information about the operation of the device. The side panels, in combination, also play the role of radiator grilles from the cooling system. The latter is required to reduce the temperature in the processor, which is the computational basis of the media player with a hard disk and is located on the motherboard. Power supply for the entire system is provided by the power supply. At this stage, remote BPs are mainly used, but progress does not stand still and serious changes in approaches to the implementation of this part are not ruled out. But manufacturers of media players are not in a hurry to give up classic remote controls. Although many companies willingly demonstrate control capabilities via a smartphone, the familiar button manipulator is still the most convenient solution to this problem.
Hard disk implementation
The question of the possibility of working with a hard drive in itself may seem to be of little relevance in the age of ubiquitous high-speed data transfer without wires, but for a stationary home media center this is an essential point. Firstly, the presence of a HDD or, moreover, an SDD compact disc is unlikely to violate the ergonomics of the device, reducing internal free space. Secondly, a network-independent storage with terabytes of high-quality content is a pretty significant argument in favor of such models. In extreme cases, you can use an external hard drive for a media player of the appropriate format. Particular attention should be paid not only to the type of hard drive, but also to compatibility with the file system of the main device.
As for the internal drives, for them on the same motherboard provides an appropriate connector. So far, the basis is compartments of the standard 3.5-inch format, but, again, relying on maximum size optimization, manufacturers are gradually mastering the SDD format. In terms of connecting a hard disk to a media player, the configuration is the same as in the case of a computer. A SATA cable of the appropriate format is used - for example, a 6 Gb / s channel is used for SDD.
Network Features
A set of tools is also provided for working with computer networks, including an Ethernet interface, a LAN connector, or a Wi-Fi module. Thanks to a special function, some models allow you to organize automatic work with torrent trackers by downloading content from the Internet. For example, models with a Bittorent client have such options. Initially, it is worth paying attention to which Internet services a particular network media player with a hard disk and corresponding interfaces is oriented to. For example, Western Digital software interacts with Flickr and YouTube by default.
Additional functionality
Of the latest innovations, it is worth noting support for the 3D format and the Android OS. As for the three-dimensional playback, then, as the name implies, it allows you to watch stereo video. The problem is only a shortage of high-quality content, as is the case with other progressive, but demanding for volume formats like 4K and 8K. Actually, this is one of the reasons why media players without a hard drive are in a known losing position due to the lack of a direct ability to manage valuable and rare files. If we talk about the Android OS, then, as experts say, this is only the first step towards a full-fledged operating system, which all media players will switch to in the future. At this stage, “Android” greatly facilitates the work on the same Internet and with the player’s applications.
Device connection
Despite the technological effectiveness of modern media players, many of them support obsolete interfaces like the RCA connector (“tulips”), S-Video, and even Scart. Without fail, media players with a hard drive for a TV are equipped with an HDMI port, and if communication with a computer is assumed, then the presence of VGA and DVI will also have to be taken into account. In full accordance with the current moment, you should focus on high-speed connectors such as DisplayPort and Thunderbolt. Thanks to these interfaces, you can truly feel all the advantages of a digital media center in its modern design. Although, of course, a lot will depend on the capabilities of the device for direct playback, it always makes sense to purchase a device with the characteristics of "growth".
Media Player Settings
The user interface to a large extent determines the usability of the media player. What do you have to deal with in terms of settings? Unlike TVs, the settings menu in this case is extremely limited. As a rule, these are either context-sensitive dialog boxes, information panels or file selection menus. Apart from the stylistic design of the interface, only the choice of the actual connectors for connection, the definition of codecs or software updates can be of fundamental importance. By the way, for those who plan to perform basic playback settings through a media player with a hard drive, it is just worth buying a model with an operating system. In this case, problems with the settings will disappear by themselves, since the main functions, parameters and tasks can be configured according to the familiar ergonomic scheme.
What are the disadvantages of media players?
With all the advantages of a media player, this device also has weaknesses. Most of them rest against the standard nuances of using individual devices that require connection. In particular, situations are common when the media player does not see the hard drive or simply does not "read" the data on it. In this case, problems with a lack of power for the hard drive are not ruled out, or the mismatch of file systems makes itself felt. For example, today a new exFAT configuration is often used, with which not all gadgets are compatible. A separate group of problems arises with the establishment of wireless connections, so you should approach the issues of similarity of operating parameters for all equipment and devices, which in principle are planned to be involved in the work of the media center, with utmost care.
Conclusion
The concept of a stationary universal media player shows its viability and market demand, which also encourages manufacturers to develop this class of entertainment equipment. Moreover, manufacturers are moving towards the consumer, not only in terms of improving the characteristics of technology, but also in pricing. A productive and functional media player with 2 hard drives can now be purchased for 8-10 thousand rubles. It will have the optimal set of interfaces and all modern functions for working with the network. If you need no more than a solid player without unnecessary optional load, then in the families of leading brands you can find a simple model for 3-5 thousand rubles. In terms of playback quality, both devices are more likely to correspond to each other, and the selection according to specific characteristics should be done individually, since a lot of the work of media centers depends on the nuances of the workflow and the tasks that the device will have to solve.