Best Buy Blu-Ray "Problem" sheet...

[Patranus]

I was buying some Blu-Ray movies in Best Buy yesterday. They had a sheet listing players and suggested firmware upgrades for various "problem" movies.

Why don't they have these for HD-DVD? I hear a lot of people what a lot of problems with combo discs yet no signs.

I have this bad feeling about Best Buy these days. No Blu-Ray players except the s300 and 1400 at 4 different stores in my area and very poor Blu-Ray selection. It also seems as if the HD-DVD end cap is creeping closer to the "best" one.

ARRR I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE.

[bhampton]

They couldn't do that.

There is no real fix for the HD DVD problems.

Boiling works sometimes but the HD DVD crowd like to hide that because it embarasses them.

I think they should have this info. I know people that returned PotC twice because it wouldn't play and then I upgraded thier FW for them. The best thing would be if the samsung players had good FW available already.


-Brian

[The Big Blue]

The HD DVD sheet is posted in the breakroom next to the stove.

[vw mofo]

Originally Posted by bhampton

They couldn't do that.

There is no real fix for the HD DVD problems.

Boiling works sometimes but the HD DVD crowd like to hide that because it embarasses them.

I think they should have this info. I know people that returned PotC twice because it wouldn't play and then I upgraded thier FW for them. The best thing would be if the samsung players had good FW available already.


-Brian

The difference here with the boiling disc issue was a faulty discs just like there are occasionally faulty BD's pressed. A simple call to the studio for a replacement fixed this, same for BD. All of the other problems with combo HD DVD's were fixed via firmware update but in these cases the movie still played but had some small playback issues. Unlike Fantastic Four and The Day After Tomorrow which no matter how many copies Fox sends you, if you bake it in your kids ez bake oven, boil it, or take it to a voodoo priest, it's NOT going to play on certain Blu-ray players until the manufacturer gets off their lazy arse and fixes the firmware..

[WickyWoo]

are occasionally faulty BD's pressed. A simple call to the studio for a replacement fixed this, same for BD. All of the other problems with combo HD DVD's were fixed via firmware update

Actually a huge number of the discs were not fixed via firmware update. Combos simply have manufacturing issues and major ones. Misaligned layers or too much glue or whatever the excuse is this week. Basically their firmware updates work like this

Let's say we're writing program that's messing up and telling us 2+2=5. Instead of fixing the bug that makes it do that they write an additional subroutine that says something like WHEN 2+2=5 THEN 2+2=4.

Or in this case WHEN TITLE=ChildrenofMen THEN Focus parameters x,y,z.

If you had more than one hardware manufacturer making HD DVD players, and if Samsung and LG spent that extra money for a good design firm we wouldn't have these issues.

The whole boiling thing I think is bull anyway. It's like audiophiles putting quarters on their speakers, or drawing on the edge with a marker because some doofus thought it was a good idea and got others to go along with it

[vw mofo]

@WickyWoo: Are you 100% sure about that? I could swear that all of the combo issues that were related to playability issues not related to a manufacturing defects have been resolved...

[WickyWoo]

I'm talking about how they "fixed" the combos using firmware updates.

Basically they had so many defective discs that they found ways in software to make more of them work. It didn't fix the problem, just went around it.

But they've had to do that for every single title. Most HD users don't even notice because they're auto-updating on their firmware

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

It's like audiophiles putting quarters on their speakers, or drawing on the edge with a marker because some doofus thought it was a good idea and got others to go along with it

Or "spiking" the CD player as though it were a turntable. That one always kills me.

[BStecke]

From The Digital Bits:

Finally today, I'd like to say a few words of appeal to the HD-DVD supporting studios. And no, this is not what some of you think. I've said many times that I like the HD-DVD format, despite the fact that I prefer Blu-ray. And believe it or not, it's true. Except for one thing: I absolutely HATE the DVD/HD-DVD Combo format. I hate it with a passion. Why? Well... let's put it this way. I've kept a bit of a running tally. In the last two months, I've checked out 23 Combo titles. You know how many actually worked, playing smoothly all the way through? Just 9. In the other 14 cases, I'd be watching the movie and about halfway through it just freezes, stutters a little bit and then flashes an error code. What's happening, it seems, is that in the replication stage, the bonding layer between the DVD and HD-DVD halves is being applied too thickly. So many HD-DVD players choke on the resulting Combo disc. This is the same problem a lot of people had with Universal's The Good Shepherd and Children of Men Combo discs a few months ago. Clearly, the problem STILL hasn't been resolved. I know it's not just my player, because not only have I updated the firmware and still had problems, the same discs crash on other players I've tried, as well as the HD-DVD drive on my new PC. And I get regular complaints from readers who are experiencing the same issue.

This is a HUGE problem, folks. Nearly every new film these studios are releasing is on a Combo disc. If less than half of them are working properly for me, just how big is this problem market-wide? The most recent problem I've had: Warner's We Are Marshall, just last night. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to be two-thirds of the way into a movie only to have it crash on you? Well... yeah, I suppose some of you do. How are the studios managing the customer service problem here? I've got so many non-working Combo discs I wouldn't even know where to start trying to exchange them all. So this is my appeal to the HD-DVD supporting studios: PLEASE... either fix this problem with the Combo discs, or abandon the Combo format altogether and just release your titles on regular HD-DVD discs. It might be a good idea for the HD-DVD Promotion Group to create a single phone number or e-mail address to act as a clearing house for this, where people with defective discs can get them easily exchanged. Let's have an end to this problem once and for all.

[J6P]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Or in this case WHEN TITLE=ChildrenofMen THEN Focus parameters x,y,z.

That's very interesting. Did not know that. So, conceivably, when an HD-DVD drive maker other than Toshiba surfaces, they will have to bake title-specific fixes for all of those discs into their launch firmware as well? In fact, aren't they locked into that, since fixing the discs at replication would then cause them to be out of sync with all of the "fixed" players?

Messy.

[slickkeng]

Originally Posted by Patranus

I was buying some Blu-Ray movies in Best Buy yesterday. They had a sheet listing players and suggested firmware upgrades for various "problem" movies.

Why don't they have these for HD-DVD? I hear a lot of people what a lot of problems with combo discs yet no signs.

I have this bad feeling about Best Buy these days. No Blu-Ray players except the s300 and 1400 at 4 different stores in my area and very poor Blu-Ray selection. It also seems as if the HD-DVD end cap is creeping closer to the "best" one.

ARRR I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE.

Was just in my local Best Buy, they revamped the whole HD section. Blu-ray had 6 full sections while HD-DVD only had 3 sections. This is in Pasadena, California. Looks like it all might be region based.

[BluCrusader]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

If you had more than one hardware manufacturer making HD DVD players, and if Samsung and LG spent that extra money for a good design firm we wouldn't have these issues.

I totally agree....too many cooks in the kitchen, and not following receipe!

at least kick Samsung out, and i think it would be better

[Vonscoot]

Originally Posted by Patranus

I was buying some Blu-Ray movies in Best Buy yesterday. They had a sheet listing players and suggested firmware upgrades for various "problem" movies.

Why don't they have these for HD-DVD? I hear a lot of people what a lot of problems with combo discs yet no signs.

I have this bad feeling about Best Buy these days. No Blu-Ray players except the s300 and 1400 at 4 different stores in my area and very poor Blu-Ray selection. It also seems as if the HD-DVD end cap is creeping closer to the "best" one.

ARRR I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE.

Wal-Mart has the same type of sheet available, came out when POTC 2 came out and most players were going to need firmware updates to run some of the special features like Liar's Dice. While not all stores have these displayed, they are available. As for HD-DVD not having a sheet, one could infer that retailers (as well as CE companies) are perhaps more concerned with satisfying the Blu-ray demographic?