why firmware updates?

[Kikelin52]

Sony BDP-S301. Thats one of my 3 BD Players. For this one I have needed 2 firware updates so I can play the latest movies outthere. Do every BD available on the market today will ever need any kind of software update to keep playing all the latest movies?
This is something I never had on my DVD players, some af them as old as the format itself.
Do any one here have any coment to this situation,? Thanks

[plee]

Originally Posted by Kikelin52

Sony BDP-S301. Thats one of my 3 BD Players. For this one I have needed 2 firware updates so I can play the latest movies outthere. Do every BD available on the market today will ever need any kind of software update to keep playing all the latest movies?
This is something I never had on my DVD players, some af them as old as the format itself.
Do any one here have any coment to this situation,? Thanks

You have to remember, a DVD player basically only had to worry about MEPG2 with a BD player you have VC-1, AVC/MEPG4, and MPEG2 so your getting a bit more complex.

And I would bet there has been some BD+ protection updates

[neos_peace]

BD's don' all use the same format to play video, or audio so there for thats why. In the basic sence of the word anyway.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Kikelin52

Sony BDP-S301. Thats one of my 3 BD Players. For this one I have needed 2 firware updates so I can play the latest movies outthere. Do every BD available on the market today will ever need any kind of software update to keep playing all the latest movies?
This is something I never had on my DVD players, some af them as old as the format itself.
Do any one here have any coment to this situation,? Thanks

Comments?--Yep:
From a PS3 owner, we got firmware updates every month, looked forward to them like Christmas, and were the first kids on the block with BD-Live.

It's always the Sony BD300's that do the complaining, but as for the rest of us...

[dadkins]

"Firmware" for a set top box is more than what firmware for a computer drive is.
The firmware for a STB includes software updates as well as possible drive updates.

For computer playback, people usually just get a software update - Drive firmware updates are fewer if at all(this machine has not yet had to have a drive firmware update).

[jmkoch]

Has anyone noticed firmware updates for BD players that disable their ability to play BD-RE discs or even BD-R discs? The objective may be to combat use of pirated commercial BDs, but the effect also makes it impossible for legitimate videographers to share BDs they author with people that have such players.

[plee]

Originally Posted by jmkoch

Has anyone noticed firmware updates for BD players that disable their ability to play BD-RE discs or even BD-R discs? The objective may be to combat use of pirated commercial BDs, but the effect also makes it impossible for legitimate videographers to share BDs they author with people that have such players.

So far the PS3 is still OK. What player are you referring to?

[ryoohki]

Well comparing DVD and Blu-ray in software is like comparing a Commodore 64 to a PC.

DVD use predefined commands that are unmofiable. They sealed it on the standard and you can't do anything more than what was said

Blu-ray use 2 type. The 'DVD' type command witch Warner Use on many title. This limit the used of menu at 256 colors with transparency. You can see that easily on catalog title that warner realease since menu are full of dithering.

Then there's the Java. Java is a full fledge programmation language with mostly endless possibilities in the environnement that Blu-ray permits.

The major problems is that nodoby use the same 'OS' to run the software. Theorically Java work on everything. But since you have Samsung, Sony, Panasonic etc all using completely different OS, There's problems.

Add to that, that fox use BD+ withc is a JAVA Based anti-hacking system witch seems to give problems to old Blu-ray Players because they are not updated.

So you see, Blu-ray is way more complex. It have it's + and negative. On dvd it's pretty much the same on all title. A MPEG2 file is playing in the background showing all the movie good part and overlay menu boutton encode in it. It,s really easy to do..

[E55 KEV]

Originally Posted by Kikelin52

Sony BDP-S301. Thats one of my 3 BD Players. For this one I have needed 2 firware updates so I can play the latest movies outthere. Do every BD available on the market today will ever need any kind of software update to keep playing all the latest movies?
This is something I never had on my DVD players, some af them as old as the format itself.
Do any one here have any coment to this situation,? Thanks

A BD player is more complex compared to a DVD player A BD player has a motherboard, memory, a chip, Ethernet, LAN and many have a cooling fan just like a PC.

All that hardware is why I hate to hear people complain about slow load times for a BD when in fact it is performing boot up similar to a PC.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by E55 KEV

A BD player is more complex compared to a DVD player A BD player has a motherboard, memory, a chip, Ethernet, LAN and many have a cooling fan just like a PC.

All that hardware is why I hate to hear people complain about slow load times for a BD when in fact it is performing boot up similar to a PC.

Take off ethernet and LAN and you've described every electronics device around. Yes, BD players are more complex and do much more than a DVD player, but it's not just their base hardware that mkaes them so.

[jomari]

i own a bdp-s300 as a secondary unit, and as mentioned, its 'slower' loading time is a part of the first blu-ray players out there, i cant really complain.

firmware updates are essential to keep up with the newer features that blu-ray has to offer. dvds have had their 'upgrades' - with superbit probably being the most i remember of.

a dvd player just reads the media, while blu-ray media does have more than just the movie. it has the java features, the internet connectivity, and a lot of extras that can be 'downloaded' via the internet.

these firmware updates are built for the consumer. id rather have a great supportive company come up with updates now and then, instead of a company that doesnt do jack for their customers. my s300 is using a 3.9 firmware and im lucky enough to have wall-e, and other blu-rays play flawlessly on em.

sadly, consumers complain just about everything, even if what they're doing is for the consumers sake.

[NovaBomb]

Originally Posted by Kikelin52

Sony BDP-S301. Thats one of my 3 BD Players. For this one I have needed 2 firware updates so I can play the latest movies outthere. Do every BD available on the market today will ever need any kind of software update to keep playing all the latest movies?
This is something I never had on my DVD players, some af them as old as the format itself.
Do any one here have any coment to this situation,? Thanks

Its not just BD, I did a firmware upgrade on my receiver. If not able too, I would of had to buy a new receiver. Firmware upgrades are your friend.

[E55 KEV]

Originally Posted by aramis109

Take off ethernet and LAN and you've described every electronics device around. Yes, BD players are more complex and do much more than a DVD player, but it's not just their base hardware that mkaes them so.

We are discussing the difference in BD and DVD players. I got plenty of A/V electronics around my house and non have a mother board or memory. A mother board is not the same as a circuit board found in DVD players.

[thomasward00]

Originally Posted by Kikelin52

Sony BDP-S301. Thats one of my 3 BD Players. For this one I have needed 2 firware updates so I can play the latest movies outthere. Do every BD available on the market today will ever need any kind of software update to keep playing all the latest movies?
This is something I never had on my DVD players, some af them as old as the format itself.
Do any one here have any coment to this situation,? Thanks

I echo your feelings, I've just purchased a Blu Ray drive for my computer, I performed a firmware update on the install and everything went fine. I'm actually holding off on a standalone player purchase until next christmas. I understand that most enthusiasts here are techies as am I, but Blu Ray is still fairly new and was actually released half baked to compete with HD-DVD, I can appreciate the current firmware updates to bring older machines up to par, but there will have to be an agreement on standards at some point in the future for Blu Ray to eventually replace DVD's, I know that we live in a wired world, but Joe Six Pack and Grandma that receive those brand new blu ray players for christmas next year, because we'll see sub 100 dollar players by then. Grandma and Joe won't understand the concept of never ending firmware updates....

[jmkoch]

Originally Posted by plee

So far the PS3 is still OK. What player are you referring to?

Some people who create BD-RE works report the discs are not accepted by the BDP-S300 and the Samsung BDP-1500.

The basic question is whether some or perhaps several makers of BD players limit or exclude the ability to play unprotected but original videos burned to BD+R or BD+RE media, authored by hobbyists or small commercial videographers, restricting playback to store-bought movies in BD-ROM with protective encryption.