Samsung 4K UHD Blu-ray Player UBD-K8500

[PaulGo]

It shouldn't be greyed out. The only time it should be greyed out is while the player is establishing an internet connection. After the internet connection is established it should be active.

[stargazeruk]

Originally Posted by mikesncc1701

I wonder if 1015 is going to be the last update for this player. I just installed it and now the software upgrade button in the menu is grayed out and says function not available. Even still I've had this player since launch day and it's still going strong as ever.

That happens all the time and its just a delay in the software not talking properly. I expect a couple more updates before they finally pull the plug.

I had this at launch as well and was close to replacing it with a Dolby vision LG player but that player well was crap and so I kept the UBD-K8500 and sent the LG player back.

Since the Philips player in the US got upgraded to Dolby Vision I have since imported it to run side by side as a region A blu-ray player for those region A titles I got and will play the dolby vision titles on that. The Samsung since its running so well can handle the rest.

[reaperx187]

Originally Posted by stargazeruk

New Firmware 1015 I found on my update yesterday. Not sure what it fixes but I found one disk it fixed that been annoying me.

The Martian Extended cut at one of the Hermes space shot about an hour in (forgotten the time frame) it froze and it had to rewind and now with the new firmware it would now play all through without any freezing or rewinding at any point.


Would be nice if Samsung actually list what it fixes for once but that will never happen it seems.

I have yet to get this update checked the other day and it wasn't available the only update i got was for my KS8000 4K TV instead.

[stargazeruk]

Originally Posted by reaperx187

I have yet to get this update checked the other day and it wasn't available the only update i got was for my KS8000 4K TV instead.

The UK has OTA but Samsung US (searching for Newark, DE reveals the US) the link below is for the US UBD-K8500

https://www.samsung.com/us/support/o...ayer-ubd-k8500

That has a USB download of 1015 on the website at the moment. Taken from site: "Firmware APR 25,2018 | ver 1015.0 | 556.86 MB" or wait for the OTA download.

For UK users if you not got the OTA and want to USB update to 1015:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/model/UBD-K8500/XU/

[reaperx187]

Originally Posted by stargazeruk

The UK has OTA but Samsung US (searching for Newark, DE reveals the US) the link below is for the US UBD-K8500

https://www.samsung.com/us/support/o...ayer-ubd-k8500

That has a USB download of 1015 on the website at the moment. Taken from site: "Firmware APR 25,2018 | ver 1015.0 | 556.86 MB" or wait for the OTA download.

For UK users if you not got the OTA and want to USB update to 1015:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/model/UBD-K8500/XU/

I'm just going to wait for the OTA update instead i'm in no hurry either way.

[Joel79]

Would the M8500/M9500 remote controller work with K8500? I just hate the original remote controller so much.

[PaulGo]

Most Samsung Blu-ray players use the same code so almost any Samsung Blu-ray remote should work.

[Joel79]

I guess menus, options etc. are pretty much the same with those models anyway?

[stargazeruk]

Originally Posted by Joel79

Would the M8500/M9500 remote controller work with K8500? I just hate the original remote controller so much.

I imported a blu-ray player from the US which was a Samsung and the remote worked with my BD-K8500 model and the US model was Samsung BD-J5100 and both remotes worked with both devices.

Lead me to unplug the Samsung BD-J5100 when I was not using it cause hitting the eject and both ejecting at the same time was getting annoying.

Anyway the Samsung BD-J5100 is being replaced with the Philips BDP-7502/F7 so no messing about with unplugging and plugging in and this has Dolby Vision so my balance out my use on both the UBD-K8500 and BDP-7502/F7 player.

[Alister_M]

Anyone know if there's a way to get 7.1 PCM output from the secondary (audio only) HDMI? Currently it only seems to be outputting a 5.1 signal to my receiver, which then splits the rear surrounds so it's probably not far off being the correct surround (and it still sounds great) but I'd still prefer discreet 7.1.

[Schwartzy]

No more updates for this player? Its dead support wise?

[Zoland2020]

Originally Posted by Schwartzy

No more updates for this player? Its dead support wise?

Pretty much.

[red_5ive]

Can anyone recommend a current model out there - preferably NOT Samsung - that has solid playback? I've had it with this PoS and Samsung in general. Sad thing is, I bought two and they both are having similar issues after 3 years.

[zen007]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

Can anyone recommend a current model out there - preferably NOT Samsung - that has solid playback? I've had it with this PoS and Samsung in general. Sad thing is, I bought two and they both are having similar issues after 3 years.

Panasonic 420 (no DV) or 820 (DV + relatively better build quality).

[red_5ive]

Originally Posted by zen007

Panasonic 420 (no DV) or 820 (DV + relatively better build quality).

Thanks, I was looking at the Panasonic models. They seem to have always been rock solid. My first blu-ray player was Panasonic. I gave it to my sister some years ago and it's still going after 13 years.

[red_5ive]

So I'm leaning toward the Panasonic 420, but I just saw that the Sony X700 supports SACD (I guess Sony really doesn't want the format to die ) and also has DV, although DV doesn't matter too much to me at the moment. I still have a number of SACDs, and it's the only reason why I still have my Oppo in the rack, but still it's a selling point for me and I could free up space in the rack.

But I still would rather have better overall performance over the 8500 - which is driving me nuts - than necessarily have SACD support. So in that context, any reason not to get X700 over the Panasonic 420? Price isn't much a concern, although the Sony is on sale right now for $20 less.

Edit: I do want to keep the price as close to $200-$225 as possible for a player as I'll be picking up 2 players to replace both of my 8500s.

[mikesncc1701]

Am I still the only one using this model? The only problems I've had over the years was Prince Of Darkness (which was more widespread) and recently my Inception 4k. I am looking to upgrade though but my problem is I need dual HDMI ports. Are there any good ones outside of Sony? Unfortunately it seems that's the most widely available one.

[zen007]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

So I'm leaning toward the Panasonic 420, but I just saw that the Sony X700 supports SACD (I guess Sony really doesn't want the format to die ) and also has DV, although DV doesn't matter too much to me at the moment. I still have a number of SACDs, and it's the only reason why I still have my Oppo in the rack, but still it's a selling point for me and I could free up space in the rack.

But I still would rather have better overall performance over the 8500 - which is driving me nuts - than necessarily have SACD support. So in that context, any reason not to get X700 over the Panasonic 420? Price isn't much a concern, although the Sony is on sale right now for $20 less.

Edit: I do want to keep the price as close to $200-$225 as possible for a player as I'll be picking up 2 players to replace both of my 8500s.

There are people who prefer Sony esp. for the price/value but try to stick with Panasonic.

If you are picking up two players, may be get 1 each

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

So I'm leaning toward the Panasonic 420, but I just saw that the Sony X700 supports SACD (I guess Sony really doesn't want the format to die ) and also has DV, although DV doesn't matter too much to me at the moment. I still have a number of SACDs, and it's the only reason why I still have my Oppo in the rack, but still it's a selling point for me and I could free up space in the rack.

But I still would rather have better overall performance over the 8500 - which is driving me nuts - than necessarily have SACD support. So in that context, any reason not to get X700 over the Panasonic 420? Price isn't much a concern, although the Sony is on sale right now for $20 less.

Edit: I do want to keep the price as close to $200-$225 as possible for a player as I'll be picking up 2 players to replace both of my 8500s.

People have issues with the Sony x700.

The Panasonic 420 is a fairly cheaply built player with no Dolby Vision support. Go with the Panny 820 or if you want to spend the dough on an even more solid player, the Panny 9000.

Sadly, the Oppos are no more.

[red_5ive]

Originally Posted by mikesncc1701

Am I still the only one using this model? The only problems I've had over the years was Prince Of Darkness (which was more widespread) and recently my Inception 4k. I am looking to upgrade though but my problem is I need dual HDMI ports. Are there any good ones outside of Sony? Unfortunately it seems that's the most widely available one.

Apart from sometimes not being able to initially read a disc and I'd have to eject/re-close the tray and it would read fine (both players did that) throughout the time I've had the 8500's, I didn't really have any other issues until maybe the last 6 months. I now have random freezes and jittery/slow-mo type playback with no sound. The weirdest thing about it is, it'll play a title perfectly fine, then illicit the above behavior another time with the same title, then another time it'll play that same title perfectly fine. It only does it with UHD titles, and today it happened with the Batman Begins UHD. That can't happen again. Ever. I draw the line with Batman.

Originally Posted by zen007

There are people who prefer Sony esp. for the price/value but try to stick with Panasonic.

If you are picking up two players, may be get 1 each :shrug:

I go between rooms using the same Harmony remote, which is the only reason why I have the same players. But since I have fewer equipment these days than I used to, I have room for extra devices so there's no reason why I can't setup 2 separate devices. I think I'll go this route since I only listen to the SACDs in one room. Thanks!