High-Definition Video Playback
We loaded up our FreeAgent Go drive with a variety (MKV, M2TS, TS, ISO, VOB, AVI, MOV, MPG) of high-definition files to test the playback of the FreeAgent Theater+. Our 1080p and 720p MKV files played flawlessly from our local drives. Load times were quick for even very large (>30GB) files.
For those who have archived their DVD and Blu-ray collections to ISO, the Seagate not only plays DVD ISO well, we were able to navigate the DVD menus on many of the disks. Now, we weren’t 100-percent successful with all of our ISO copies, but Seagate has informed us that they are continuing to improve the playback ability of the FreeAgent Theater+ and to look for future firmware upgrades that will enhance this ability.
We will keep our fingers crossed for this for the future, but in the meantime, the Theater+ plays just about every form of video well.
When we played these same files over our wired and wireless network, our results were more mixed. Using the Seagate Wireless-N USB adapter, we were not able to play any high-definition media file. This was quite disappointing since we had high hopes for the improved speed that wireless-N would give us. Every standard-definition file (including MKV, TS, M2TS) played however. It is my guess that there is some file checking going on and when the Theater+ detects a file that is over a certain bitrate, it rejects the request to play.
Over the wired Ethernet, we were much more successful in playing our HD files. We had a few pixilation problems with very high bitrate files, but for the most part every 720p and most ripped 1080-files played over the network. Blu-ray ISO files continued to give the Realtek-based player fits though over the network.
When we wanted to play music or view our pictures on the FreeAgent Theater+, we simply navigated over to the “Pictures” or “Music” area and selected the source for our file. Like the Patriot Box Office, we were able to play every test music file that we had in our collection. The MP3s, FLAC, OGG, WMA, and OGG files we had all played great and sounded crystal clear through our A/V system and the HDMI port. One pleasant surprise that we had when playing music was the ability of the Seagate to play M3U playlists. We loved having the ability to set up our music files and playlists with Winamp or iTunes and jam to our custom mix!
While playing music, the FreeAgent Theater+ shows us the name and running time of the file that is playing.
