Sammy BD-P1200 Firmware Upgrade

[flbeachlf]

I scanned the threads and didn't see any mention of this. I noticed today that a new Sammy firmware was pushed on 5/23 and I have installed it and am testing it now. I was having problems with Deja Vu locking during playback. I'll be testing that this weekend.

So far so good, downloaded via ethernet cleanly, installed and rebooted and works.

[RUR]

Surprised there isn't a thread here as there certainly was over on AVMS. This is the FW rev which fixed POTC compatibility issues on the 1200.

It did not fix my Deja Vu freeze issues, however.....

[jas1612]

I had the same problem with Dejavu I just downloaded the new firmware 5-19-2007. Btw I read on a post somewhere that if you press 7669 while playing a db you access a hidden THX optimizer. I tried that several times. MY BD-p1200 would not play sony bds after that til I reset it.

[RUR]

Not sure what the issue is, but there are a few folks still having Deja Vu/1200 issues. The disc plays fine on my PS3, but freezes on the 1200. Eventually, I'll get 'round to replacing it if future firmware doesn't resolve the issue.

If this is the worst problem I have with my 1200, I'm a happy man.

[krisjan]

The 1200 firmware update did not solve the freezing issues with my copy of Deja Vu either. POTC BD's work fine after the update. I believe there is some specific incompatability issue with the 1200 and the encoding of the Deja Vu BD. It would be nice for Samsung to fix this as its only a matter of time before another release exhibits a similar problem.

Now, while I'm typing away, I can get something else off my chest. The recent news item about a BD-P1400 player as "an upgrade for the 1200" has got me riled up. The 1400 will allegedly retail for $500 ($200 less than the 1200). If it is really an upgrade, then this is truly poor practice by Samsung. I spent good bucks on the 1200 player (which is a second gen player) and already they've announced its successor which is due around the holidays (less than 9 months after the 1200's release). I'm waiting to see just exactly what the 1400 will offer. If it is superior to the 1200, I will be very mad
Mark

[RUR]

Originally Posted by krisjan

If it is superior to the 1200, I will be very mad
Mark

Mark,

You shouldn't be mad! That's how it is in this early adopter phase of the technology. New products every few months with (generally) better features at (generally) better prices. The alternative is to wait a couple of years until the whole thing matures, but then you'd miss out on all that gorgeous hi-def video.

The only two significant things I can think are likely to appear in the 1400 are BD-J 1.1 and DTS HD MA and we all knew those weren't baked into the 1200 when we made our purchase.

Relax and enjoy the great performance from your 1200!

[coloradoraider]

Originally Posted by KenB

Mark,

You shouldn't be mad! That's how it is in this early adopter phase of the technology. New products every few months with (generally) better features at (generally) better prices. The alternative is to wait a couple of years until the whole thing matures, but then you'd miss out on all that gorgeous hi-def video.

The only two significant things I can think are likely to appear in the 1400 are BD-J 1.1 and DTS HD MA and we all knew those weren't baked into the 1200 when we made our purchase.

Relax and enjoy the great performance from your 1200!

Isn't it reasonable to expect that the BDP1200 will have these same features via a firmware upgrade as well?

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by KenB

Mark,

You shouldn't be mad! That's how it is in this early adopter phase of the technology. New products every few months with (generally) better features at (generally) better prices. The alternative is to wait a couple of years until the whole thing matures, but then you'd miss out on all that gorgeous hi-def video.

The only two significant things I can think are likely to appear in the 1400 are BD-J 1.1 and DTS HD MA and we all knew those weren't baked into the 1200 when we made our purchase.

Relax and enjoy the great performance from your 1200!

I get the whole early-adopter thing. I was an early adopter of SACD when it came out and that was a very positive experience for me. In this case, the 1200 is a 2nd gen. player and I would have expected it to be in the market for much longer than 9 months before being superceded. That's the main point I am making. It just seems that Samsung was too hasty in getting the 1200 to market and should have kept with the 1000 for a bit longer and avoided the 1200 in favor of the 1400 later this year.

As to whether the 1200 will do BD spec 1.1, I sent an email to Samsung tech support asking if the 1200 will support 1.1 and their reply was simply "yes". They did not say if a firmware upgrade would be needed to enable this (but I assume that to be the case). Over on AVS, there is a discussion about the 1200 and the specific Broadcom chip that is used in it. When Samsung announced the 1200 at CES in January, they said it would use the latest Broadcom chip (7440) that enables BD spec 1.1. However, an owner of the player opened his up and verified that it uses the earlier Broadcom 7411 chip which is not BD spec 1.1 compliant. So it looks like the 7440 chip was not available to meet Samsung's release plans and they opted for the 7411. This likely menas that their tech support answer to my question was incorrect - i.e. the player will not be able to support BD spec 1.1. Another thing that makes me angry.
Mark

[RUR]

Originally Posted by coloradoraider

Isn't it reasonable to expect that the BDP1200 will have these same features via a firmware upgrade as well?

Well, we're pretty sure that the chipset supports TrueHD, requiring only that firmware update to enable it. We also know that it will not support DTS HD MA, regardless of firmware.

As for BD-J 1.1, we just settled that yesterday by confirming that the 1200 has the Broadcom BMC7411 chipset, which will not support the type of PiP required for 1.1. As an owner, I wish firmware would provide all the upgrades we want, but I'm afraid that's not in the cards.

Ken

[RUR]

Originally Posted by krisjan

Over on AVS, there is a discussion about the 1200 and the specific Broadcom chip that is used in it. When Samsung announced the 1200 at CES in January, they said it would use the latest Broadcom chip (7440) that enables BD spec 1.1. However, an owner of the player opened his up and verified that it uses the earlier Broadcom 7411 chip which is not BD spec 1.1 compliant. So it looks like the 7440 chip was not available to meet Samsung's release plans and they opted for the 7411. This likely menas that their tech support answer to my question was incorrect - i.e. the player will not be able to support BD spec 1.1. Another thing that makes me angry.
Mark

Yep, that's me over on AVS opening my 1200 up and confirming the Broadcom chip type.

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by KenB

Yep, that's me over on AVS opening my 1200 up and confirming the Broadcom chip type.

Yes, thanks Ken. Should have acknowledged you over here!
Mark