why do blu-ray players need firmware updates they did not need it on dvd players?

[paulcarbajo]

why are a lot of blu-ray players need firmware updates,that sucks,we did not need to do that on our old dvd players.

[ryoohki]

Because blu-ray players are more like computers than dvd player. DVD player have a simple list of command it can do. Blu-ray have BD-J witch is a version of Java for Blu-ray. Java is a full fledge programming language..

[CAB]

Get to market faster, make it cheaper and create a mechanism to provide for future functionality. Imagine if Blu-ray had to wait until everything was implementable in ASICs. Do you remember two years after DVD was in the marketplace when a basic DVD player still ran $800? Already we're seeing $50 - $150 basic players.

[paulcarbajo]

thank you dudes that helps out a lot.

[tigger5]

Originally Posted by paulcarbajo

why are a lot of blu-ray players need firmware updates,that sucks,we did not need to do that on our old dvd players.

This is not quite true...MANY dvd players had/have updates also.....check individual manufacturers sites...I myself have a DVD player that had updates....

[Jeff Kleist]

Many DVD players had updates to fix bugs in them

The biggest difference is that you had to take them to a service center or send them off to have the ROM flashed, and often times they wouldn't be fixed at all

[kefrank]

Originally Posted by CAB

Do you remember two years after DVD was in the marketplace when a basic DVD player still ran $800?

Hm, no not really. DVD launched in '97. In '99, I bought my mostly full-featured Pioneer DVD player for less than $300.

[E55 KEV]

Originally Posted by kefrank

Hm, no not really. DVD launched in '97. In '99, I bought my mostly full-featured Pioneer DVD player for less than $300.

Hmmm, I bet the MSRP was a lot more around $799. Sony DVD from 1999:

DVP-S7000 $999 MSRP
DVP-S7700 $1299 MSRP - http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews/dvps7700.html

[tigger5]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Many DVD players had updates to fix bugs in them

The biggest difference is that you had to take them to a service center or send them off to have the ROM flashed, and often times they wouldn't be fixed at all

I don't think this is the case with all dvd players...I just dl'ed mydvd's firmware, burned to disc and ran it...Read were others did the same on various makes/models...
In my case, was an improvement, with no problems encountered.....

[kefrank]

Originally Posted by E55 KEV

Hmmm, I bet the MSRP was a lot more around $799. Sony DVD from 1999:

DVP-S7000 $999 MSRP
DVP-S7700 $1299 MSRP - http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews/dvps7700.html

Nope. MSRP was $599 and it streeted for $400 or less most places (link). By the end of '99, when I bought it, it was streeting for less than $300. Additionally, your phrasing ("ran $800") suggested street pricing to me and not MSRP.

None of this is very pertinent to this thread though. I think a reasonable explanation for why BD players get firmware updates has already been provided.

[ryoohki]

Btw if you have DTV with a Digital Receiver, it also gets several FW update. You just don't notice it because generally the providers push them at night, but they do get them. HDD DTV Receiver get them ever more frenquently.

Cel phone have them too. It's not a question of finising the products. It,s that the device is evolving..

[sirhc55]

Another reason for firmware updates is the implementation of advanced codecs that seem to change by months rather than years. Serious case of Alvin Tofler’s Future shock where advances are based on an exponential algorithm rather than a linear one.

My stock standard Oppo 980 has received firmware updates.

[Hammie]

I had a first gen Oppo DVD player that had firmware updates.

I think as technology has evolved, the realization that new/different features/functions/etc can be made by firmware updates versus scrapping the whole model and releasing a v2, v3, etc. of the same model.

As ryoohki stated, there are tons of devices that get updates, some you may never even realize.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by paulcarbajo

why are a lot of blu-ray players need firmware updates,that sucks,we did not need to do that on our old dvd players.

Why does it suck? It's not hard to update, and the updates are not rampant.

[valentinian]

Originally Posted by ryoohki

Because blu-ray players are more like computers than dvd player. DVD player have a simple list of command it can do. Blu-ray have BD-J witch is a version of Java for Blu-ray. Java is a full fledge programming language..

Do what. Say that again, only this time slowly and in English.