Giving up on bluray

I took my BR copy of Avatar to my local specialist AV dealer. We couldn't find a single player able to play it, getting the "update needed" screen every time.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
I took my BR copy of Avatar to my local specialist AV dealer. We couldn't find a single player able to play it, getting the "update needed" screen every time.

I can believe that....but it is shocking!!! Aren't there a lot of players that don't update? i.e non-profile 2.0 players?

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
I took my BR copy of Avatar to my local specialist AV dealer. We couldn't find a single player able to play it, getting the "update needed" screen every time.

I'm tempted to buy this Avatar bluray just to see if I can play it on my machine! Why would they make it so weird and hard to play? I'm baffled.

Could your dealer get other copies of Avatar to play?

No, nothing wrong with the disc, it's that the disc copy protection system is being released in advance of the BR machine manufacturers' firmware.

quote:

Originally posted by Occean:

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
I took my BR copy of Avatar to my local specialist AV dealer. We couldn't find a single player able to play it, getting the "update needed" screen every time.

I can believe that....but it is shocking!!! Aren't there a lot of players that don't update? i.e non-profile 2.0 players?

Every BD player can be updated. Pre 2.0 players require you either download and burn a cd, or contact the manufacturer for an update disc. For me it's no hassle whatsoever as it takes a few minutes to do this but I appreciate some people would object.

We're still at the early adopter stage of an advanced technology. No way it's ready for the mass market yet. When you see a favourite movie, in your own home, looking and sounding as good as, or even better than, it was when you saw it in the cinema, it's worth it though.
As far as I'm aware these hassles are caused by the movie companies being paranoid about bootlegging.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
No, nothing wrong with the disc, it's that the disc copy protection system is being released in advance of the BR machine manufacturers' firmware.

So no one can actually play it yet? This seems a bit odd.

I can play it, as can anybody else with an up to date player.

So the "local specialist AV dealer" mentioned above had no up-to-date players? I still call this odd.

He had the very latest, and we tried several players costing over 2000 GBP, one of which had arrived as a new model this week.

What is more, if you decide to update your own firmware to overcome the copy-protection, the manufacturer's small print will be along these lines;
"These updates are available for all customers who purchased a *****-product at an authorized retailer in Europe. Once you have registered with your serial number you can download the software free of charge and update your product at your own risk and responsibility. Please bear in mind that a failed software update might result in a partialy or completely malfunction of your unit. In such case a repair could be comprehensive and quite expensive.***** assumes no responsibility for and shall have no liability of any kind with respect to any problems encountered in conjunction with or arising out of the downloading of the Software, including, without limitation, problems resulting from any interruption that may have occurred while downloading the Software. ***** shall not be required to provide you with any technical support or services of any kind relating to the Software."

So, if your machine breaks while you try to make it play the Blu Ray discs it was intended for, it is your fault!

Even so, I have updated the firmware in my 6 month old Samsung BR player again last night, but it still can't play through the latest protection on Avatar.

The Avatar BluRay plays fine on my Oppo BD83 and loads quickly. Although the movie itself is a bit naff, the quality of the picture and sound is just breathtaking.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
Even so, I have updated the firmware in my 6 month old Samsung BR player again last night, but it still can't play through the latest protection on Avatar.

According to a link from this page it's now fixed.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
He had the very latest, and we tried several players costing over 2000 GBP, one of which had arrived as a new model this week.

"New model" does not necessarily imply "latest firmware". Who knows when the relevant electronics were actually manufactured. It's perfectly possible there have been some firmware updates since. I would be very surprised if dealers kept all their players up to date as most players will play most BDs without any problems whatsoever. There have been previous problem disks (Casino Royale for one) but as far as I know nothing's had the global impact of Avatar. This wasn't known about until Avatar hit the streets so I wouldn't be surprised if players being manufactured at this very moment won't play it straight out of the box.

Thanks. Looks like another hour of updating tonight.

Actually it took 110 minutes to update, but was then able to watch "Dances with Smurfs" in all its glory.
I have also moved on to a Denon Cara BD player which is quite an improvement over the Samsung.
It also needed a firmware update to play "Smurf Gully".

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
Actually it took 110 minutes to update

Now I understand there was no irony in your precedent post!! Selling a player that takes 2 hours to upgrade and hoping people won't mind is beyond me.

I agree wholeheartedly. It's just bonkers. It takes me a minute or so to download the 90MB zip, 5 minutes to burn it, and 10 minutes for the install. Still enough to irritate a normal person but after 35 years in the IT business I've experienced loads of more irritating stuff than that. At least I can do it while getting the tea on. I think I've done it about six times in the eighteen months I've had the LX-71, and each time I confess there's been a bit of a thrill as known problems were fixed. The LX-71 was rushed to market as the "ultimate Blu Ray player" but sadly the firmware wasn't ready at the time.

My PS3 took about 5 minutes to update to 3.30 at the weekend. Usually it takes 20 minutes or more to update.

quote:

Originally posted by TomK:
after 35 years in the IT business I've experienced loads of more irritating stuff than that

This is quite scary as I feel the same after only 6 years as an IT profesionnal.

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Originally posted by TomK:
....about six times in the eighteen months I've had the LX-71.....

Exactly zero times in the 2 years I've had my Sony. I don't think Sony are anything special, but what is going on here? How was the firmware on my player able to see into the future?

Winky,
To my knowledge every blu ray player has had updates released for its firmware, often caused by a particular rogue release (Avatar in this case). Maybe you've just been lucky and avoided the problem disks. My first blu ray player was a Sony and there were at least three firmware updates before I upgraded to the Panasonic I now have as my second player. This has had about the same number of updates as the Pioneer. Even the bulletproof PS3 has had, and still has updates released. Have you actually gone looking for updates? If not I suggest you do because you may find other benefits to be had, such as faster load times.

quote:

Originally posted by winkyincanada:
Exactly zero times in the 2 years I've had my Sony. I don't think Sony are anything special, but what is going on here? How was the firmware on my player able to see into the future?

Sony can't see the future. But if you haven't bought Avatar, chances are you'll never need to perform a firware update on your player. I own an LX-71 as Tom does and did several updates too but only the Avatar related update was mandatory to be allowed to actually watch the movie. It's my guess that most people never performed a firmware update on their player until April the 21st

I have Pioneer BDP-51LX. Avatar would not play, but after reading this post tonight, now fixed.Download to disc 3 mins, update to player 5 mins.Sorted...

thanks

quote:

Originally posted by TomK:
Winky,
To my knowledge every blu ray player has had updates released for its firmware, often caused by a particular rogue release (Avatar in this case). Maybe you've just been lucky and avoided the problem disks. My first blu ray player was a Sony and there were at least three firmware updates before I upgraded to the Panasonic I now have as my second player. This has had about the same number of updates as the Pioneer. Even the bulletproof PS3 has had, and still has updates released. Have you actually gone looking for updates? If not I suggest you do because you may find other benefits to be had, such as faster load times.

Thanks, I have been meaning to check for updates, but nothing has ever made me think that they were needed. I have bought quite a lot of discs, and none have behaved badly. I'm not likely to buy "Dances With Smurfs" (tragically poor story and characters) any time soon, although I did sort-of enjoy the 3D experience at the theatre.

I am going to google around a bit to see if there are any risks to updating reported for my player. I'm a bit in the "if it ain't broke..." camp on this one.

Forgot to say, our PS3 played it straight off no problem.PS3 pic is good , but, pioneer pic slightly better but sound is so much better.

Well. I looked for updates. One thing is kind pants. The Sony site firmware updates are only available for download with Windoze. No Mac.

The only benefits I could glean from changelogs were some BD-live garbage, and freeze-frame worked better. With my tinfoil hat firmly in place, there is no way I am going to let the interwebs touch my player through BD-live; and I couldn't care less about freeze frame.

For now, until my player messes me up, I'm just going to leave it all alone.