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| Manufacturer: Iomega | Product: Screenplay Director HD |
| Price: £179 | Web: Iomega |
Whilst there’s still no sign of the digital media receiver hitting the mainstream in 2009, manufacturers are still working hard to crack the market by releasing a variety of networked music and video players, some with storage and some without. Iomega’s Screenplay line has been around for a little while, and the move from standalone storage to networked storage with media playback is a simple one for the brand. The Screenplay Director HD is Iomega’s latest offer in the DMR space, offering a choice of 1 and 2 TB networked drives with a host of media features including a wide range of format support, 1080P high definition playback via HDMI, internet content (RSS, Podcast, YouTube et al) and advertised support for torrent files.
What’s in the Box?
The Screenplay Director HD, as you’d expect from Iomega’s top of the line digital media player, comes equipped with a host of cables and connectors:
In the box you’ll find:
- Iomega Quik Protect
- Retrospect Express HD (PC)
- Retrospect Express for Mac
- MozyHome Online Backup 2GB Free (PC/Mac)
- McAfee Anti-virus software (PC)
Note that you’ll need to supply your own networking cable if you wish to connect the ScreenPlay Director to your network over Ethernet. Wireless networking options are available, but again, you’ll need to purchase the adaptor separately. The good news, however, is that Iomega do supply an HDMI cable in the box, so no need to rush out and get clobbered by a retailer for a high price, high margin equivalent.
Specifications
The ScreenPlay Director HD supports playback of a decent range of file formats, including:
Video
- MPEG-1
- MPEG-2 (AVI, VOB)
- MPEG-4 (AVI, DivX 3.11, 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, XviD)
- H.264
- WMV
- AVCHD
- VC-1 (SMPTE 421M)
Supported file extensions include: avi, asf, divx, mkv, mov, mp2, mp4, mpe, mpeg, mpg, m4a, m4v, vob, xvid, ifo, iso (DVD ISO), WMV, FLV, TS
Music
- MP3
- AC3 (Dolby Digital Encoding)
- WAV
- OGG
- WMA
- AAC (non-DRM)
- FLAC
Photo
- JPEG
- BMP
- GIF
- PNG
- TIFF
Supported Interfaces
- 10/100 Ethernet for wired network connection
- Wireless Ready support for Iomega WiFi adapters (sold separately)
- USB 2.0 for computer connection and external USB devices
- AV PAL/NTSC — native to 1080i/1080p
24. February 2010 at 1:25 pm
Got one yesterday… I agree with the above.
Had some troubles to keep NETWORK flowing without interruptions (was happening every 2~3 min…) using Wired.
Went to the IOMEGA website and downloaded the latest Firmware, and indeed… resolved the problem.
Some MKV files don't play the sound, not sure if it is because the sound is on some format (digital) or because I’m not using optical, only HDMI.
I'm sure more firmware updates will appear soon.
2. June 2010 at 6:18 am
Flaps..Need your help!
As u said u updated the new firmware…I tried the same..But its not happening!
Mine version is 1.4.0.38 ….the new one is 1.4.0.70
as instructed online…..i did the same..but the player reads my pendrive but not the latest firmware . why?? can u help me how u did it!!!
12. June 2010 at 12:55 pm
Connect the USB pen drive containing the update to one of the ports behind. Start your player and go to Settings and then Version. It should say detected new version and should run the update software …
Managed to update my player to 1.4.0.68 last week.
26. August 2010 at 7:35 am
I have the same problem and the answer provided below doesnt work. Anyone know why the player is not reading the update file from the USB drive and how can we make it do so? Thanks!
1. September 2010 at 9:50 pm
make sure that the file is not in the folder for the device to recognize it.
8. March 2010 at 10:07 pm
I got two of these yesterday and I feel ripped off … the interface is appalling (i cannot stress that enough….brutal) and the startup time isn't much better either, I have the latest firmware.
I am sorry I didn't get an Apple TV… the Apple TV doesn't have the capacity nor does it play as many formats but at least its useable.
3. April 2010 at 10:53 am
Installed the last update v1.4.0.68 as per instructions,then checked to see if it had done so,it did.I played a few music videos ok.I later put it back on,it will boot up to normal screen then go off,tried a few times same thing,it also does'nt register as drive on my computer via the usb lead,it is now defunct.The other drawback for me when ir was working that video music files don't shuffle only mp3's etc,the older screenplay does.Not a got buy.
4. April 2010 at 5:14 pm
if MKV audio is DTS it does not process the audio. you will have to convert to Dolby Digital.
i use popcorn software, its free and takes about 10 min.
11. May 2010 at 4:35 pm
Don't agree that it supports a wide variety of video formats. More than half of my mkv's don't play well on this and there's lots of films where for some reason or another it can't read the subtitles. Big mistake buying this one, should have bought a second eGreat instead.
When it does read the subtitles they are miserably small and I haven't found any way of changing their size. DTS files have no sound (the eGreat just downmixes them to stereo) and there's no way to move a specific point on a file.
21. May 2010 at 6:39 am
the worst thing i have ever bought, no support for most videos, and there's always something wrong with playback, i thought you can have a dvd menu that you can use.
3. June 2010 at 6:22 pm
If you need to use the drive with DVD format files (VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS) you can convert those files to an ISO. The player plays ISO files beautifully as per DVD menu.
If you don’t want to do so, just click on the VIDEO_TS.IFO and the DVD manu will appear.
Cheers
22. May 2010 at 3:18 am
HELP PLEASE
iomega screenplay director HD mediaplayer subtitle problem.
konuşmaların altyazısı 2 defa yazıyor ekrana , bu problemi nasıl çözebiliriz.
yardımlarınızı rica ederim.
teşekkürler
23. May 2010 at 2:38 am
i need codec to play itunes movies is there any out there
2. June 2010 at 7:53 pm
Did upgrade to version 1.4.0.68 and resolved issues with Network (Wired) and some MKV files. Tried to install newer version 1.4.0.70 and have the same problem as reported: Systems does not read automatically the file. Chated with technician on line and he could not help me, promissed to check what the problem is… probably we will have, soon, a new update.
Regarding the Sound… if it is DTS it does not process the sound via HDMI. I'm using my optical connection to my YAMAHA amplifier and sound great. Let's hope this new update brings new stuff for this drive.
17. June 2010 at 7:37 pm
just got one for myself thinking of putting the torrents to work directly by online. But cant understand how to get it done.
Did any one tried? please let me know
Nasir
30. June 2010 at 5:49 pm
My new iomega screenplay Director is not recognised by pc, using windows vista.
Please I need help with instalation
24. July 2010 at 12:56 pm
my is also not supporting sound of mkv files. what can i do
2. August 2010 at 6:48 pm
To do with the optical cable i guess, will get a cable tomorrow to test…
3. August 2010 at 5:15 pm
I got the cable today and the sound is working with the optical audio on the .mkv files with dts audio, I connected it straight to my amp and it seems to be good.
7. August 2010 at 5:26 pm
I just got one of these, can't play flv files. Couldn't get PC to see the drive over USB to only via network. Turns out you have to just have USB connection to start with, then PC will recognise as hard drive. Plug in USB before powering drive on as well. I have taken some home DVD's to ISO format (using Roxio creator DE on my DELL) and got them to playback from internal hard drive, but it's really slow. Also can;t get YouTube to play anything and torrents…. will try firewall settings on my router to see if it's blocking the Iomega.
22. August 2010 at 8:00 am
Hi
I am having the same problems with YouTube and Torrents. YouTube does not work and Torrents never seem to start downloading anything.
Really frustrated with this! The biggest reason I bought this device is defeated. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!
1. September 2010 at 9:55 pm
can somebody help me, I can access the device via RCA but I cannot use it using my HDMI cable. I tried 3 cables already. My TV is 42" Full HD Phillips