iomega screenplay director hd media player - STAY AWAY!!!

slowlydownwards · 30-12-2009 8:08pm #1

Was in a bit of hurry this pm, had to get media player there and then. was going for either wd hd tv or else asus oplay. Could not find either. Found the above in H Norman. It is meant to play h.264 (mkv) as well as older formats.

However, there is a stutter when playing 720p .mkv video and can't get the audio to play at all, just cracking noise. Connected via hdmi. Same results over compostite (yellow/red/white). Standard def divx files are playing fine. Can't locate firmware update on the net.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!;)

ps. For weeks I was telling everybody I know not to get anything but wd or asus... should've stuck to my own advice.

Update: Am after browsing iomega's forums for the last hour... guess what... shedloads of people with the very same probs as me, even more... KICKIN' MYSELF!!!! It appears this model is fairly new, does not work that well and no firmware update in site at all. Am off to the shop in am to look for my money back.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

sobero · 13-01-2010 12:51am

I purchased a ScreenPlay Director from Peats of Parnell Street (early Jan 2010). I was impressed with the number of supported media formats, as well as the inclusion of the ethernet port. Also, the connectivity options (HDMI, Composite Video / SCART, Component Video, Digital Audio) were important because my TV is an old 28inch JVC CRT, which only supports SCART and Composite (Yellow/Red/White).

However - no matter what I do I cannot get the thing to display in colour. The unit claims to be able to output in several different formats (PAL→ NTSC→ 480i 60Hz→ 480p 60Hz→ 576i 50Hz→ 576p 50Hz→ 720p 60Hz→ 1080i 60Hz) which you cycle through by pressing a button on the remote. None of the settings I have tweaked have resulted in a colour display on the TV.

I should say that my Sony Cybershot camera connects perfectly to the same TV using the composite video (yellow cable) connector. In fact, the camera allows you to select either NTSC or PAL output mode, both of which I tried and both of which work. Therefore, I am tended to think the problem is not with the TV

I have been onto iomega support and I've had some responses but the most constructive has been to "try a different TV" which I've not yet done. It's largely academic because I'm not prepared to buy a new TV just to support this unit (since it should work on my existing TV). If there was a firmware upgrade, then I'd try it, but apart from that I think the unit will have to go back to the shop. Disappointing though, since I love the features.

slowlydownwards · 13-01-2010 10:59am

A suggestion:

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=488524

+

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=500766

gives you a superb media player with plentiful connectivity options, great codec support (unlike iomega) and ethernet support + 1.5tb space for under 200euro. Don't believe me... then see what mr google has to say about asus oplay. :pac::pac::pac:

Btw, I returned iomega media player and H Norman staff were decent enough to give me a full refund.

subway · 14-01-2010 9:35am

+1 on the O!play

among everything else, it also does DTS downmixing

sobero · 31-01-2010 3:21pm

Just an update on my post above (don't have ability to edit the original - not sure why) regarding the black and white problem on the Iomega Screenplay Directory.

I brought this product back to the Peats and they immediately offered to either replace or refund. However, I wanted to see if the issue was with the device, or with my TV. Full marks to the Peats staff - they tried it on two different TV sets. In both cases, the device worked perfectly and immediately with no tweaking. No-one was able to offer any suggestion why I had problems with my own TV. Everyone was of the opinion that it should work. Part of me was itching to take it home and try it again, but I knew that I had already tried everything to get the thing to work on my home TV. In the end, I accepted a refund. Full marks to Peats though - excellent customer service.

Yesterday I took the suggestions of slowlydownwards and subway above and collected an ASUS HDP-R1 from Komplett. Very happy with it so far. Doesn't have the internal storage of course and none of the fancy internet connectivity, but it certainly does exactly what is says on the tin, and it's cheap as chips!

deceit · 31-01-2010 9:41pm

Sobero, my friend had that problem, turned out to be when you put it on an av chanel showed black and white but if went onto the s-vhs channel worked perfect even using the scart connection.

Lossy · 03-02-2010 12:34pm

I have a Screenplay Director and it works on two TVs in colour and is black and white on another. The one it doesnt work on is an old CRT portable. It works properly on a new LCD and an old 32" CRT. I wonder does it only work with TVs that have "RGB" Scart. Looking at the scart adapter that came with the cable it only has 5 pins (two clusters, 3 pins and 2pins). 2 pins for audio and 3 pins for rgb maybe and missing a composite pin. The black and white picture certainly has a filter look about it as if its only using one colour channel. Anyway Im going to try a different scart adapter (one that has all pins) and see if it makes a difference.

Otherwise I am very happy with the Screenplay Director (and I had a WDHDTV!!).

Update: Borrowed another scart adapter and problem still the same. So it would seem that a minority of old TVs have a problem with this player.

PyeContinental · 05-02-2010 7:46pm

Your B&W issue wouldn't be just limited to this player. It's to do with s-vhs having a separate channel for luminance and chrominance and composite having a combined channel for both.

Your tv might have an "s-vhs" option which you could have to manually enable in the setup options (even if you are using a composite cable or s-vhs to composite adaptor).

Or, the box might have an output option to use either s-vhs mode or composite mode.

Most likely, neither your tv nor the media player is "to blame" as such, it's just a case of different transmission/encoding standards existing. I have noticed though that there is a tendency for a lack of support for s-vhs on some older TVs. Perhaps it is linked to a support for RGB scart too?

actuallylike · 13-04-2010 11:15am

Would one of these work if you wanted to watch something off your laptop/computer? My brother's apartment doesn't have a tv, he only watches DVD's off his laptop. I've got a rake load of movies on my computer and want to put them all on a media player with a menu so he could plug it in and watch them off his laptop. Would the iomega model do this?

slowlydownwards · 13-04-2010 11:26am

If we were to put copyright laws aside for minute, all you need to do is copy movies from your laptop to his. If there is not enough room on his laptop, then just get an external HD. The media players are really just for those who want to bypass using a pc when watchin' movies on tv.

actuallylike · 13-04-2010 11:28am

slowlydownwards wrote: »

If we were to put copyright laws aside for minute, all you need to do is copy movies from your laptop to his. If there is not enough room on his laptop, then just get an external HD. The media players are really just for those who want to bypass using a pc when watchin' movies on tv.

Fair enough, I just liked the idea of the menu thingy I saw on my mates but I suppose there's nothing wrong with windows media player or something. Cheaper in the long run too.
(All this is purely hypothetical of course, I would never dream of violating existing copyright

)

actuallylike · 13-04-2010 12:19pm

Also, just another quick question, apologies if this has nothing to do with this thread, it's just that you lot seem to know what you're on about. I'm going out to pick up an external hardrive now but say, hypothetically of course, a friend of mine had a media player (like the imoega) with a load of movies on it. There shouldn't be a problem transferring these to my external hard drive and happily playing them through a laptop should there? Obvioulsy I would only do this if I was that way inclined...which I'm not.

slowlydownwards · 13-04-2010 1:21pm

Want sexy menus ... install xbmc on your laptop. Check out these screenshots.

You get to download fan art, movie info, actors info and posters for every movie. How's that for a menu?!!

As for transferring movies from media player to a laptop... you've got to remember, any (recent) laptop is far superior to any media player out there, in every respect... except size, power consumption and maybe convenience. Install right codecs, or just vlc on your laptop (or the above xbmc) and it will play it all.

Skatedude · 13-04-2010 11:51pm

Àt the end of the day, you cant beat a htpc, but i do have a popcorn hour setup for my mother as its simple to use

he man rugger · 20-05-2010 3:22pm

Was wondering if anyone could help me. Stupidly enough I went and purchased one of these the other night from the Peats website as I was looking for an all in one job that would support MKV, however I'm now reading that it only supports certain MKV files but the most common (264) isn't supported. Have any of the firmware updates solved this problem does anyone know? I'm quite annoyed with myself for purchasing it before doing proper research, I assumed Iomega was a brand to be trusted.

I have a WD Media player and harddrive in another room, that'll play almost anything, should have just bitten the bullet and paid the extra bit of money for it.

browne_rob5 · 18-07-2010 7:33pm

sobero wrote: »

Just an update on my post above (don't have ability to edit the original - not sure why) regarding the black and white problem on the Iomega Screenplay Directory.

I brought this product back to the Peats and they immediately offered to either replace or refund. However, I wanted to see if the issue was with the device, or with my TV. Full marks to the Peats staff - they tried it on two different TV sets. In both cases, the device worked perfectly and immediately with no tweaking. No-one was able to offer any suggestion why I had problems with my own TV. Everyone was of the opinion that it should work. Part of me was itching to take it home and try it again, but I knew that I had already tried everything to get the thing to work on my home TV. In the end, I accepted a refund. Full marks to Peats though - excellent customer service.

Yesterday I took the suggestions of slowlydownwards and subway above and collected an ASUS HDP-R1 from Komplett. Very happy with it so far. Doesn't have the internal storage of course and none of the fancy internet connectivity, but it certainly does exactly what is says on the tin, and it's cheap as chips!

I also had a problem the black and white problem when I started using this. It was black and white on an older TV in my house but worked fine on any newer TV's. I fixed it by going into settings, then video/photo, then composite output and then I selected NTSC. Not sure why this fixed it but it does.

I have this 2 months and I am very happy with it. It plays everything you throw at it, its pretty user friendly and it is fairly good value. Think some of the criticism of it is a bit harsh.

Jokesetal · 28-07-2010 9:40am

Quick Question: Has Komplett stopped selling MMHD's?
All the links previously don't work and the site doesn't seem to have any when I searched it (or I simply missed it?)

slowlydownwards · 28-07-2010 1:19pm

Komplett recently underwent change of corporate ownership and a major website overhaul, which may be a cause of dead links.

Media players

External hard drives

subway · 30-07-2010 1:12pm

i wouldnt buy anyhting from komplett ever again.
suggest you buy somewhere else

slowlydownwards · 30-07-2010 7:14pm

subway wrote: »

i wouldnt buy anyhting from komplett ever again.
suggest you buy somewhere else

I wouldn't disagree with this. Unfortunately, this seems to be a very common sentiment at the moment. Think that amongst others amazon has decent enough prices on these players / hard drives + free shipping for items dispatched by them directly.

Cypher. · 22-08-2010 2:05am

I also had the black and white problem on an old Sanyo tv.
To get the colour working, hit the tv sys button and it will goes through various tv settings. two of them had colour, 3 were black and white and a few showed nothing on the screen.

in too deep · 07-10-2010 11:48am

Does anyone know how to get the scrrenplay director to connect to the net via the wifi dongle?

Also I cannot get the hard drive to show up/ connect to my computer?

I installed the disc that came with the device and I have also gone online and downloaded the iomega discovery programe from iomega direct.

Can anyone help.

browne_rob5 · 07-10-2010 12:00pm

To get it to show up on your computer connect the Iomega to your computer before you have turned the Iomega on and while the computer is on. Once connected turn the Iomega on and it should show up in My Computer.

Not sure why it works like that.

I didnt buy the dongle thing so cant help you with that.

novice · 15-11-2010 12:40pm

browne_rob5 wrote: »

To get it to show up on your computer connect the Iomega to your computer before you have turned the Iomega on and while the computer is on. Once connected turn the Iomega on and it should show up in My Computer.

Just be aware that the ethernet port on the Screenplay HD is painfully slow - almost unusable. I transfer everything on/off via USB.

And the fan is so noisy you can't leave it on all the time behind your TV.

And the remote control won't bring it out of standby mode - you have to get up to power it up/down, so not really a living room device.

P.S. And forget abou tthe onlinemedia stuff (youtube, etc. - it's a clunky interface and too frustrating to use with a remote control.

novice · 15-11-2010 12:57pm

in too deep wrote: »

Also I cannot get the hard drive to show up/ connect to my computer?

Did you see this FAQ?

Why doesn't the computer detect my ScreenPlay when it's connected to USB?

When connecting a ScreenPlay to the USB port on a computer, you should always power down the ScreenPlay first, then connect the USB cable and turn power back on. This changes the ScreenPlay from video mode that allows it to communicate with a TV set to USB mode that allows it to communicate with a computer.

When you want to reconnect the ScreenPlay to a TV, use the safe removal process for your operating system to unmount the drive, then power down the ScreenPlay and disconnect the USB cable. Turn power back on after the ScreenPlay is correctly connected to the audio/video connection on the TV set.

To ensure that the ScreenPlay is correctly recognized, do not connect a ScreenPlay to USB and a TV set at the same time.

novice · 17-11-2010 3:36pm

And the remote control won't bring it out of standby mode - you have to get up to power it up/down, so not really a living room device.

I stand corrected - the full power-on/off can be done on the remote - I was just too impatient.
The noisy fan, the very slow power up time, the need to change from NTSC to PAL mode after every power-on, and the slow clunky user interface are all reasons why it's a long way from a consumer friendly living room device. Only techies will use the multimedia features, I suspect.

And regarding the FAQ above about connecting to USB and TV at the same time - I don't see this restriction; I can always connect. But there must be some truth in the FAQ ...

brenthedub · 04-01-2011 11:24am

Has anyone come across the solution regarding the sound not playing for MKV files? Picture quality was excellent for over 4 GB files (high def) but no sound. There must be some firmware available.

I am kicking myself also that I did not buy the WD HD TV as a present for both my father and father in law. Like the previous person, I was under pressure at Xmas and bought 2 Iomega's in Powercity. Might take them back if I cannot find a solution to the above problem. Thanks

04-01-2011 1:24pm

Got one of these recently and it works great - plays everything so far and no problems.

I had the black and white issue on an older tv, I plugged it into my NTL box and turned the ntl box onto standby and went to one of the AV channels and it worked ok.

Quick question though - will this allow me to play HD? If not - is there anyhting I can do to play in HD?

If not - where can I get a HD playing Media player, what do I need to look out for?

Cheers -

brenthedub · 04-01-2011 4:50pm

Hi Venjur

I have a WD (Western digital) HD TV Media player and it is brilliant. Plays all video (movie) formats I have, including FLAC files for music which I think is very impressive. It is a brilliant little box and a lovely interface also.

The Iomega is more expensive but doesn't play all the formats i have, so being honest, I would stay clear of it. If if do not find firmwear which fixes my problem, I may bring both of the iomega's back to powercity and ask for money back.

Seriously, WD HD TV Media player is super and I would definitely recommend it for all MKV file types, avi's, flv, mp4 etc. The Iomega might or might not work.

If someone knows of a solution to getting the sound working on some of the MKV files, could you let me know.
Cheers

dpaulod · 06-01-2011 4:46pm

Hi there,
I have the nexus 500 media player. I am very pleased with it.
Can all media media types, has wifi with built in bit torrent. Also possible to
ftp files into the unit from the pc

http://www.o2media.es/en/nexus500

Regards
paul.

dr ro · 10-01-2011 1:08pm

I have mostly .avi files on an iomega screenplay. For some reason .mp4's don't show up when plugged into tv, only when connected to laptop. Can someone advise how to fix this please. Thanks.

brenthedub · 11-01-2011 10:47am

Hi Paul

Thanks for reply and I will defintely look at the Nexus in future. I real question is, is there firmwear to fix the problem of no sound when playing MKV files on the IOMEGA. It works for some MKV types, but not for others.

Does anyone have this sound problem and if so, were you able to fix/address the problem ?

Thanks
Bren

o1s1n · 02-02-2011 7:24pm

My parents bought a reconditioned Iomega Screenplay Plus straight from the supplier (I think it was a link in Bargain Alerts) at the end of December. My mam was dragging some files onto it this evening and it froze up. Now the PC won't detect it.

I've tried several different ways of scanning for it but it's not showing up anywhere. In fact if I use software to scan for it, the software stalls until I plug out the HDD. As does Disk Management.

There is one single place it shows up - devices and printers. Just an icon with the name. But I can only right click on it. (with limited to no options to do anything)

Anyway, anyone else come across this? I think it may just be borked.

morklee22 · 04-02-2011 9:23am

If you connect the iomega director to a surround system via the optical output you will not have an audio issue in saying that iomega should release a firmware update to fix this issue

brenthedub · 08-02-2011 11:20am

I have come across this issue before. You were probably copying or moving files onto the HDD when it disconnected. Hence it didn't carry out the action completely. Generally means there are some corrupt files/directories on your HDD.

What you should do is carry out the dos command "CHKDSK" on the HDD, specifying the drive letter for the HDD. Check disk will remove corrupt files for you, thus allowing the directory structure to rebuild for you.

I'm an old timer (not that old, but have worked on DOS), so would carry out CHKDSK from the DOS command prompt. I believe you can do it through windows also.

If you carry out CHKDSK successfully, i gather it will address your issue.

o1s1n wrote: »

My parents bought a reconditioned Iomega Screenplay Plus straight from the supplier (I think it was a link in Bargain Alerts) at the end of December. My mam was dragging some files onto it this evening and it froze up. Now the PC won't detect it.

I've tried several different ways of scanning for it but it's not showing up anywhere. In fact if I use software to scan for it, the software stalls until I plug out the HDD. As does Disk Management.

There is one single place it shows up - devices and printers. Just an icon with the name. But I can only right click on it. (with limited to no options to do anything)

Anyway, anyone else come across this? I think it may just be borked.

novice · 09-02-2011 10:26pm

o1s1n wrote: »

Now the PC won't detect it.

I've tried several different ways of scanning for it but it's not showing up anywhere. In fact if I use software to scan for it, the software stalls until I plug out the HDD. As does Disk Management

Have you had a look at these Q&A on their site?
If you connect by ethernet or wifi use the Discovery utility:
https://iomega-eu-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/21152/related/1

If you're having problems then USB is the most reliable way to connect, but check out their notes:
https://iomega-eu-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/24842

I had to do a complete reinstall of mine because it crashed while updating the firmware - had to completely reformat the drive.
[I have the procedure if you need it, but probably best to go through their support page
https://iomega-eu-en.custhelp.com/app/account/questions/list )

Now it works fine. I've got used to the fact that it's slow, that Youtube doesn't work (though every seller advertises this), and that I have to enable PAL every time I turn it on.

mrj0hn · 19-02-2011 6:56am

novice wrote: »

Just be aware that the ethernet port on the Screenplay HD is painfully slow - almost unusable. I transfer everything on/off via USB.

And the fan is so noisy you can't leave it on all the time behind your TV.

And the remote control won't bring it out of standby mode - you have to get up to power it up/down, so not really a living room device.

P.S. And forget abou tthe onlinemedia stuff (youtube, etc. - it's a clunky interface and too frustrating to use with a remote control.

Pretty much says it all about this device!! Playback freezes continuously and to reboot the thing... have you got all day!! It's a piece of garbage. Stay away!!

robcen · 22-02-2011 12:03am

I must admit that this player is a piece of s..t as it hangs up continuously, not playing on line stuff, network connection slow like hell, and the worst part is their support. I asked about all issues and they told me that they are working to bring on-line stuff back to work (almost a year), they also told me that this is a media player not storage disc so they don't care about network connection speed. They are real bas...ds, my disc is still on warranty but I can't use it and they don't want to fix it...

Nanoc · 26-02-2011 10:59pm

must say i haven't had the problems as above posters have had, but what I do have a problem with is that there seems to be no "resume playback" on this, am I correct or jsut missing something? seems like something basic that if you stop a movie you may want to keep watching from where you left off???

conor2me · 01-03-2011 5:16pm

Harvey norman are messing me around so got a full refund.looked at iomega ireland website and they have all new multimedia drives that look better than the screenplays cause they play mkv files. What are they like to buy off. Whats their delivery to Ireland like? has anyone bought the ScreenPlay MX HD Media Player, cause it looks good

novice · 09-03-2011 11:39am

Nanoc wrote: »

must say i haven't had the problems as above posters have had, but what I do have a problem with is that there seems to be no "resume playback" on this, am I correct or jsut missing something? seems like something basic that if you stop a movie you may want to keep watching from where you left off???

Maybe it depends on the file format? For me I hit the play button and it restarts where it left off (ScreenPlay Director HD.)

conor2me wrote: »

Has anyone bought the ScreenPlay MX HD Media Player, cause it looks good

Worth checking the IOMEGA forums to see what feedback people are giving. MX doesn't seem to feature highly - unlike the other ScreenPlay boxes.

finglashoop · 24-06-2011 4:50pm

I have a screen play director myself and was wondering what format is the best to use??

Most things i download work but some wont work when i copy them on to screenplay director.

All work fine in Windows media player on my laptop but is there a certain format i should use before i transfer it to screen play director??

If so how do i change the format of films etc. I have Downloaded?

midavid · 30-06-2011 8:48am

This is a heap of rubbish. Bought mine from Harvey Norman - continually hangs, very slow response and a lot of media do not play even though they will play through windows media player. Takes an age to start as well....keep away would be my advice.:mad:

blogger18 · 16-09-2011 7:13am

MY Screenplay Director HD 1TB isn't showing up on my comp.
I think i did the cardinal sin of attaching it to the TV set and comp simultaneously. now it runs in TV mode always. can anyone help me get it back to the disk drive mode?
i think the company would have been better to provide a button to switch it between TV & video modes, just to prevent these kind of goof ups.
it has been working fine till now, if you dont consider the sluggish startup.

any suggestions on switching it back to the disk drive mode???? :mad:

Taltos · 16-09-2011 7:29am

Try connecting to a different USB port.
Also go to Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management (depending on version of windows) and seeing if you can discover it here.

conor2me · 16-09-2011 2:47pm

Happened to mine the other day aswell. .I just have to restart my computer with it plugged in and it shows up. I know its a pain in the arse but better than nothing

mickredirl · 03-10-2011 3:30pm

Hi

Please help!!!

In the last three days my multimedia hd software appears to have become corrupt. First movies started to freeze and now when I enter the screenplayer on my tv I cannot see my movies, I get a list of folders called untitled with nothing in them?

Even if I go into the setting of the screenplayer I have no access to setting up a internet connection? I have downloaded the update.wup to my pc and used a usb key as per instructions on your site to upgrade the software but that fail?

I even tried to remove any kind of firmware that I could see on the screenplay while connected to my pc and just place the update.wup file in the fat32 partition to let it set it's self up... that did not work??

In the screenplayer director settings I tried the reset.. that also fail. Bottom line the software on screenplayer is corrupt??

How do you remove it?? Firmware update fails?
Can anyone help before i go crazy!!! o yea iomega were no help when I emailed them!!

Thanks :-)

stephen97 · 14-12-2011 10:59am

when plugging to pc press the power button on the back beside the power cable and hdmi cable this will sync with pc

stephen97 · 14-12-2011 11:02am

mickredirl wrote: »

Hi

Please help!!!

In the last three days my multimedia hd software appears to have become corrupt. First movies started to freeze and now when I enter the screenplayer on my tv I cannot see my movies, I get a list of folders called untitled with nothing in them?

Even if I go into the setting of the screenplayer I have no access to setting up a internet connection? I have downloaded the update.wup to my pc and used a usb key as per instructions on your site to upgrade the software but that fail?

I even tried to remove any kind of firmware that I could see on the screenplay while connected to my pc and just place the update.wup file in the fat32 partition to let it set it's self up... that did not work??

In the screenplayer director settings I tried the reset.. that also fail. Bottom line the software on screenplayer is corrupt??

How do you remove it?? Firmware update fails?
Can anyone help before i go crazy!!! o yea iomega were no help when I emailed them!!

Thanks :-)

best thing to do is plug via usb to pc press power button on player to sync and click on computer then click drive and click properties click format and this will erase all files and restore player to factory settings

stephen97 · 14-12-2011 11:03am

blogger18 wrote: »

MY Screenplay Director HD 1TB isn't showing up on my comp.
I think i did the cardinal sin of attaching it to the TV set and comp simultaneously. now it runs in TV mode always. can anyone help me get it back to the disk drive mode?
i think the company would have been better to provide a button to switch it between TV & video modes, just to prevent these kind of goof ups.
it has been working fine till now, if you dont consider the sluggish startup.

any suggestions on switching it back to the disk drive mode???? :mad:

when plugged via usb to your pc press the power button on the back of player to sync with pc

stephen97 · 14-12-2011 11:06am

conor2me wrote: »

Happened to mine the other day aswell. .I just have to restart my computer with it plugged in and it shows up. I know its a pain in the arse but better than nothing

wrong you need to press power button on the back of player when plugged via usb to pc its located beside the hdmi connection and power connection

iomega screenplay director hd media player - STAY AWAY!!!

Comments