Bad First Blu Ray Experience - Advice Needed

[Matt4511]

Hi, all.

I bought a Samsung BD-UP5000 today, hooked it up to my Toshiba DLP via HDMI. All seems to be going well. It upconverted an SD DVD nicely, and I tested an HD DVD. Played normally and with full functionality. No problems.

My Blu Ray test, however, failed. I rented Resident Evil Extinction from Blockbuster. It loads in about 25-30 seconds, main screen works. All previews play, standard FBI disclaimers, etc, also display just fine. All the extra features on the disk work.

The movie won't play.

When I select play movie, what I get is the movie's audio, no visual for about 40 seconds. Then it cuts to a dude talking into the camera, but the movie's audio remains. What it is, I realized after some tweaking, is the image of a commentary track but the audio of the movie. When I press stop, it will VERY BRIEFLY display the appropriate imagery, then stop and return to the main menu.

This also happens if I access any part of the movie through the chapter selection menu: normal audio, no image, then a picture of a dude sitting in a chair speaking into the camera.

Ladies and gentlemen, I dropped a thousand bucks on this player tonight. Is it faulty, or did I rent a bad disc?

Any help will be appreciated.

[owa]

I'd check to see if your player has any firmware updates. The blu-ray you're trying is one of the first to use profile 1.1 PiP so you'll probably need everything up-to-date for things to work properly. You might want to try an older blu-ray also (if you can) just to make sure it's not the blu-ray capability in general that's messed up.

[blitz6speed]

There is a known issue with RE Extinction and the Samsung combo player. Try something else.

[mystiksuicide]

Why in the world would you buy a combo when the end of the war is in sight. Your better of buying a good blu-ray player and some crappy Toshiba.

[bryaaaant]

Honestly, I would just return the player and get a PS3 instead - the HD-DVD format will definitely be dead soon due to the fact that only one major studio will be left supporting them in the very near future. Warner has dropped support for the HD-DVD format and it turns out that Paramount (possibly including Dreamworks), one of the only 2 major studios left exclusively supporting them, had a contract get-out clause in which they're allowed to drop HD-DVD and support Blu-Ray instead if Warner drops HD-DVD - which Warner just announced a few days ago. According to Financial Times, this will likely result in Paramount supporting Blu-Ray, ultimately effectively ending HD-DVD.

Do the smart thing and save yourself a few hundred bucks in the process.

NOTE: Also, If I'm not mistaken, I believe PS3 is widely accepted to be the best Blu-Ray player currently out in the market.

[Marcusarilius]

Its called Samsung...

[Matt4511]

Originally Posted by blitz6speed

There is a known issue with RE Extinction and the Samsung combo player. Try something else.

This means that others have experienced the same thing, right, and not that my player is faulty?

Even if others disagree with the choice of player?

Like I said, total newb.

[gvortex7]

Actually, there's been a known issue with every Blu-ray player Samsung made so far. Those issues are the players themselves. I'd suggest avoiding them and picking up PS3, DMP-BD30 or one of the upcoming full profile stand alones.

[doctorD]

Originally Posted by Matt4511

This means that others have experienced the same thing, right, and not that my player is faulty?

Even if others disagree with the choice of player?

Like I said, total newb.

Try the firmware upgrade first...if that doesn't work then you may want to exchange the player. If the same happens, then I would probably get a different brand player.

[Blu As Hell]

Originally Posted by doctorD

Try the firmware upgrade first...if that doesn't work then you may want to exchange the player. If the same happens, then I would probably get a different brand player.

I agree with the good doctor. I would personally suggest not to get a samsung player, they are known not to play movies.

[Matt4511]

I'm almost embarrassed to ask, but what exactly is firmware, and where could I find these updates?

I had never seen anything about issues with Samsung. My research was cursory, I'll admit, but I'm starting to get the feeling I'm totally in over my head here.

[owa]

It's just a way to update your player with bug-fixes, improvements, etc. Go to the samsung website, search for your player and there is probably an area where you can download the firmware. You'll probably have to put it on a CD/DVD or whatever to load it in the player. They should provide instructions. Although, since yours is combo player you might be able to download updates over the network directly.

Edit: Just a quick check but I didn't see anything but a manual that you could download. They might not have any firmware updates yet so you might want to call them and let them know about the disc that didn't work so they can work on a fix. I didn't check thoroughly on their website though so please take a closer look than I did.

[tru_to_blu]

I would rather have the PS3 for now untill later on this year a lot of nice standalones are on their way. Welcome to Blu-ray and hope you good luck.

[blitz6speed]

Firmware upgrades are software that upgrade the entire operating system of the player, fix bugs and add new features at times. Your samsung combo player has a known problem for resident evil 3, and they are working on a new firmware to correct it, which is not out yet. Try another blu-ray movie =)

[pizat]

Originally Posted by Matt4511

I'm almost embarrassed to ask, but what exactly is firmware, and where could I find these updates?

I had never seen anything about issues with Samsung. My research was cursory, I'll admit, but I'm starting to get the feeling I'm totally in over my head here.

That was funny...BUT...

just stick it out... YOU'LL BE HAPPY THAT YOU DID!! but...i would get a PS3 Or the BD30....much better...

[clyon]

Originally Posted by Matt4511

This means that others have experienced the same thing, right, and not that my player is faulty?

Even if others disagree with the choice of player?

Like I said, total newb.

sounds like that needs an update, all 3 of the RE movies work on my 1200

[Matt4511]

Thanks everyone. I've really dug around and apparently, the player is having difficulty with very, very recent disc releases, and it's being addressed by a firmware update due out in a few weeks. Seemingly some other players from LG and a few others are choking on the new discs, too.

I should have spent tonight working on my thesis, but instead did a crash course in Blu Ray and HD DVD terminology. It was fun.

Thanks for all your help!

[quetzalcoatl]

Donot count on FW updates from Samsung. I would list what receiver you have so we can all try to direct you to a better more stable player. Where I must say when the specs came out for that player they looked very nice. But man is that thing in trouble.

[Azumi]

hi Matt,

Originally Posted by Matt4511

Thanks everyone. I've really dug around and apparently, the player is having difficulty with very, very recent disc releases, and it's being addressed by a firmware update due out in a few weeks. Seemingly some other players from LG and a few others are choking on the new discs, too.

I should have spent tonight working on my thesis, but instead did a crash course in Blu Ray and HD DVD terminology. It was fun.

Thanks for all your help!

What the other posters also implied, is that with multiformat players you're never quite sure if they excel in both formats -- it's like having two players in one single box, and hence twice as many complications and possible issues.

Consider the context. When Samsung announced this combo player early last summer, it was almost billed as the dark horse that would bring HD DVD to many homes. For weeks and weeks, people would say that this was a huge blow for Blu-ray and that hybrid players were the future.

But then, months came and went, and Samsung was very quiet on their Samsung BD-UP5000. HD DVD fans assumed that it would be the hot item of the past holiday season. But come early December, it became clear that this player wouldn't arrive in droves for Xmas. Samsung never made an effort to make its cost attractive, and it eventually hit the stores in very small quantities.

In the meantime, 2007 has taught us that no one among the BDA, the HD DVD PRG and the manufacturers really cared a lot for hybrid players. Their market share should be more or less 1%. And at the CES, I think that Samsung is the only one who announced a hybrid player so far -- and then again, it won't come out before the end of the year.

If you really want to support both formats, you'd better off by buying two separate players for Blu-ray and HD DVD. Their combined cost would be far less expensive than the BD-UP5000, and based on what people wrote on the web, the separate players would be more reliable.

Also, since the Warner announcement, quite a lot of people either returned or put on eBay their HD DVD players. If you're really interested in HD DVD, it should be easy to find it for cheap. Just consider that movie studios and people are literally running away from HD DVD, and the value of these machines will decrease.

[Li'l Nicky]

The combo players are also a bit dodgy aren't they?

I'm not sure about this particular model, but I think it's cheaper buying a separate box for each format. Heard those combos were pricey.