Movies are freezing

[libbs]

I'm trying to troubleshoot a friends set-up and i am having problems that i have no idea how to fix.

1) I plug in a DVD and the movie will freeze but the audio will continue to go.
2) I put in a bluray disc and it will completely freeze.

Now only certain discs will totally freeze (The Incredible Hulk is the one that was freezing). Other Blurays play without problems (Dark Knight, Nightmare before Christmas, Casino Royale).

Any ideas? I'm totally stumped.

-Chris

[Rovic]

Originally Posted by libbs

I'm trying to troubleshoot a friends set-up and i am having problems that i have no idea how to fix.

1) I plug in a DVD and the movie will freeze but the audio will continue to go.
2) I put in a bluray disc and it will completely freeze.

Now only certain discs will totally freeze (The Incredible Hulk is the one that was freezing). Other Blurays play without problems (Dark Knight, Nightmare before Christmas, Casino Royale).

Any ideas? I'm totally stumped.

-Chris

Whats the set up?...what player are you using? do you have the latest firmwares?...

[H00D4M4N]

Incredible Hulk will freeze on certain players that aren't updated with the latest firmware. You can download it here: https://www.blu-ray.com/firmware/

[libbs]

OK. Heres more in-dept information on the situation:

He has a 60Gb PS3 with firmware 2.53 (completely updated).

He has a Sony TV (sorry buy cant recall the model) and a sony home theatre amplifier w/DVD player).

So here is how his set-up is connected:

- PS3 via HDMI to TV.
- Sony Reciever via HDMI to TV.

This set-up has me totally confused because I have no idea how the audio is being transferred to the speakers (wondering if the TV is acting as a HDMI switcher?)

So anyway, we pop in Polar Express (on DVD) with the sound going through the theatre speakers. The movie starts fine but probably 2 minutes in, ONLY the video freezes and the sound continues (the DVD is still playing as I can still fast-foreward, skip, rewind, etc).

So we turn off the reciever and have the sound go through the TV speakers. The movie runs fine and dont encounter any freezing.

So here is where I believe the problem lies in his set-up (more specifically the reciever).

So I took that idea and decided to try out The Incredible Hulk Bluray without the reciever on and with the sound just going through the TV... negative!

The movie froze again. I then try a whack of other movie:

Day After Tomorow
Hellboy 2
War
Wanted

EVERY ONE gave me the same result. Freezing after 2-3 minutes.

But it gets wierder... I was able to play (through the reciever producing the sound) with NO freezing:

Dark Knight
Casino Royale
Nightmare Before Christmas
Stealth
Pearl Harbor
Pursuit of Happyness

Now the only thing I can even think of is that of the movies that didnt work, ALL were encoded in the DTS:MA. Of the ones that DID work, they were either TrueHD or Uncompressed PCM.

So I bring my PS3 over tosee if I get the same results. If its the same, then its the set-up, if mine works fine, they his PS3 has to be fubared.

Hook mine up and put HULK in. There is NO freezing BUT I have ZERO sound coming from the centre channel. There is no dialogue but the SFX is coming from the front towers and surround coming from the rears.

This is frustrating...

I take both systems back to may house. I hook my PS3 back up and play HULK with no problems.

I hook my friends PS3 up and I cant even load the PS3 as no video comes up at all...only a bunch of scrambled colours. I still hear the sound when the PS3 loads but I dont see anything.

I am using a MONSTER HDMI cable. My friend is using the Playstation HDMI cord.

Hope this helps clears things up and someone knows what I'm experiencing.

[nycomet]

Could the PS3 HDMI cable be damaged? Have you tried playing your friends PS3 using your Monster HDMI cable?

[libbs]

Originally Posted by nycomet

Could the PS3 HDMI cable be damaged? Have you tried playing your friends PS3 using your Monster HDMI cable?

Yes I tried it:

I hook my friends PS3 up and I cant even load the PS3 as no video comes up at all...only a bunch of scrambled colours. I still hear the sound when the PS3 loads but I dont see anything.

[kevinbr100]

Originally Posted by nycomet

Could the PS3 HDMI cable be damaged? Have you tried playing your friends PS3 using your Monster HDMI cable?

i agree with nycomets idea

try hooking it up to another tv, without hdmi, if audio is playing its not the disc freezing, its gotta be the tv, hdmi cable, or some link in between, something is up with the video link. also look where u r routing the hdmi cable, could it be near some other cable or piece of electronics that is causing interference?

[libbs]

Originally Posted by kevinbr100

i agree with nycomets idea

try hooking it up to another tv, without hdmi, if audio is playing its not the disc freezing, its gotta be the tv, hdmi cable, or some link in between, something is up with the video link. also look where u r routing the hdmi cable, could it be near some other cable or piece of electronics that is causing interference?

I know in my environment, the PS3 is in an open area and all my cables are organized and my system works perfectly.

His environemt was also a open area and his cables are also organized. There is definately nothing wrong with MY HDMI cable as my system works flawlessly and I have yet to run into any of these problems. the fact that his PS3 DID NOT work on my HDMI cable has me thinking its the PS3.

The fact that my PS3 didn't work properly on his set-up and the only problem being is that there was no center channel sound. No freezing. That spells a problem with a cable (more than likely his PS3 HDMI cable).

But his PS3 with his HDMI cable results in the freezing of some movies, but perfect playback from others...