Anyone here have a Sharp BD-HP21?? - Page 5 - Blu-ray Forum

pacificvibes · 02-16-2009, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by topgeardan

pacificvibes wrote:

"And what does the price of movies going down have anything to do with the technology of Blu-ray??? "

You misquoted me. I did not mention the price of movies (which are in fact absurdly priced). Go back and read my post again. I said:

"I wouldn't have even bought a Blu-ray player for a long time until I was sure the technology was solid (and until the prices stopped coming down)"

As far as the technology being solid, one of the hottest videos on The Onion right now is the parody of a news report announcing "Sony introduces new Stupid Piece of s#!t that doesn't f&^%ing work!"

It wouldn't be funny if there weren't some truth to it.

I tried resetting the player as per Sharp's instructions. No difference, over half of Hellboy II still unwatchable.

Yes I did misquote you, my mistake. Not all movies are absurdly price, have you checked Amazon? Even Best Buy has very reasonably priced Blu-rays. As far as what The Onion said, now I do not want to misquote you again so, are you saying that Sony's Blu-ray discs are a "Stupid Piece of s#!t that doesn't f&^%ing work!"...in that case I find it funny that the person who posted below you has not had a problem with the disc. So you cant really blame Sony until you have either A) tried another copy of Hellboy 2 or B) tried another Blu-ray player.
Maybe you should do a little more research before going on a tirade.

topgeardan · 02-18-2009, 07:37 AM

For anyone interested: I rented a copy of Hellboy II from Blockbuster store. I saw that it had fingerprints but put it in the player anyway. It started glitching about 1/2 hour into the film. I removed it, cleaned it with eyeglasses cleaner, and from then on it played flawlessly.

I have had this experience several times already; my HP21U is very sensitive to dirt.

However, I have now learned that many Netflix customers are having similar problems with their Blu-ray subscriptions and in fact some have canceled their Blu-ray and gone back to regular DVDs. Some suggest the discs are being damaged somewhere in shipping or processing. I haven't seen anything I could identify as damage on any of the Netflix discs I've received. Others assert that Netflix discs are different from others and something in their discs makes them more prone to playback problems.

I still say that if the technology were not being beta-tested on consumers we wouldn't be having these problems. The fact that consumers are required to update the player's fimrware in order to resolve playability issues is proof positive that this is what's happening.

It is true that some people are not having any problems at all, but that is completely irrelevant, since many people ARE having problems. It's the ones having problems that I care about, and I don't care about those with no problems, since they can't help me with info about playback problems.

My suspicion is that some players are overly sensitive to disc problems, and some discs are being shipped to renters with damage or flaws. In my case I believe I've been the victim of both.

P.S. :We rented Madagascar 2 from BB and after cleaning some fingerprints it played fine. This gives my local Blockbuster store a 100% successful playback rate on the three B-R discs I've played. Also my player came with a copy of The HULK which plays flawlessly. So Netflix is at least highly suspect.

ftenorio · 02-19-2009, 04:56 AM

I have exact problem with NARNIA disk as I am not able to get to the Menu without the player freezing. Any help would be appreciated but it sounds like it is not the disk but the player. Thanks for any response.

GMPowertrain · 02-21-2009, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ftenorio

I have exact problem with NARNIA disk as I am not able to get to the Menu without the player freezing. Any help would be appreciated but it sounds like it is not the disk but the player. Thanks for any response.

Have you upgraded to the latest firmware? This was a known issue on the previous firmwares. With the latest firmware I am able to play CoN: Price Caspian.

HOWEVER, sadly I must report that with the latest firmware update the movie "Appaloosa" will not play. About 2 minutes into the movie the video will lock up, and movietime for the family is officially over. Way to go Sharp, you've got another real 'winning' product on your hands!

supersix4 · 02-21-2009, 10:16 PM

we got this player yesterday and I did the updates and movies still wouldn't play lol... im shocked at this (not really since I've read complaints here) its worth the extra 100-200 to get one thats always going to work.

proxpilot · 02-22-2009, 01:02 PM

mine glitched for a second on Wall-E and 1 of the Band of Brothers discs. other that that it has worked fine

Ashamed Pegasus · 03-06-2009, 05:19 PM

http://www.sharpusa.com/products/Typ...86,229,00.html

Bumping the thread because a new firmware update was just released, dated 3/5/09...

dogbert0228 · 03-09-2009, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by topgeardan

For anyone interested: I rented a copy of Hellboy II from Blockbuster store. I saw that it had fingerprints but put it in the player anyway. It started glitching about 1/2 hour into the film. I removed it, cleaned it with eyeglasses cleaner, and from then on it played flawlessly.

I have had this experience several times already; my HP21U is very sensitive to dirt.

However, I have now learned that many Netflix customers are having similar problems with their Blu-ray subscriptions and in fact some have canceled their Blu-ray and gone back to regular DVDs. Some suggest the discs are being damaged somewhere in shipping or processing. I haven't seen anything I could identify as damage on any of the Netflix discs I've received. Others assert that Netflix discs are different from others and something in their discs makes them more prone to playback problems.

I still say that if the technology were not being beta-tested on consumers we wouldn't be having these problems. The fact that consumers are required to update the player's fimrware in order to resolve playability issues is proof positive that this is what's happening.

It is true that some people are not having any problems at all, but that is completely irrelevant, since many people ARE having problems. It's the ones having problems that I care about, and I don't care about those with no problems, since they can't help me with info about playback problems.

My suspicion is that some players are overly sensitive to disc problems, and some discs are being shipped to renters with damage or flaws. In my case I believe I've been the victim of both.

P.S. :We rented Madagascar 2 from BB and after cleaning some fingerprints it played fine. This gives my local Blockbuster store a 100% successful playback rate on the three B-R discs I've played. Also my player came with a copy of The HULK which plays flawlessly. So Netflix is at least highly suspect.

I am one of those Netflix customers that has had about a 50% success rate with BluRays on my Sharp-HP21. The player overall is great, and all the firmware updates have been fine, and I'm happy to see a recent one on 3/5 that I'll upload when I get home.

Thanks for your advice about the glasses cleaner. What type of cleaner is it? I've heard different things about alchol/non-alcohol cleaners and I'm curious to see if this same stuff will help my Netflix discs, which never appear damaged, either, but perhaps would benefit from a good wipe.

topgeardan · 03-11-2009, 05:06 PM

dogbert0228 Thanks for the tip on the NEW update - the second such update in a month! I wonder what this one is going to "fix"? Previous to Feb 4th, the last update was November. Everyone with problems was going nuts trying to figure out what was wrong, and it was too long to wait. after the Feb 4th update I still had problems with Netflix Blu-Rays, so I switched them back to regular DVDs and now if I want to see something on Blu-Ray I rent it from my local Blockbuster.

I have now watched about 10 Blu-Ray movies from BB and have a 100% success rate. I found that I MUST clean them, but they work fine after that.
The latest was SPEED RACER - not an award winning script, but hey, it's from a cartoon show! I watched it because it's the most amazing looking film I've ever seen. And the Wachowski Brothers put in a lot of tongue in cheek stuff for laughs. It played glitch free.

Good luck!

derylykt · 05-23-2009, 01:05 AM

Interesting reading the comments about the faulty Narnia disc. I bought the disc at Walmart and tried to play it that night to no avail. The 4:55 error. I examined the disc and noticed that it didn't seem to be burned properly, or only burned a small amount from the center ring. I took the disc back and made them play it but had trouble as well. I got a new disc and made them check it before taking it home, and the new disc worked at the store and at home. I've had some problems with Netflix discs, as well - ie Slumdog millionaire. However, the majority of BD and DVD play exceptionally well. I think Disney sent out a large batch of faulty discs.

Sharp BD-HP21 w/o any firmware upgrades.

D

topgeardan · 05-25-2009, 07:24 PM

To derylykt: the Narnia viewing problems were a known incompatibility with the BD HP21 player's early firmware. several other DVDs produced the same problems. Upon the issuance of the Feb 4th update, owners of the Narnia Blu-ray that previously wouldn't play were able to view it without problems.

To anyone interested:

Since the most recent (March) update, I have had virtually ZERO problems with anything I've viewed. NOTE: Before this update I stopped renting Blu-Rays from Netflix, and switched to DVDs.

But I have continued renting Blu-Rays from BB and I haven't cleaned any of them. They all played without problems.

I have now switched my Netflix preference to Blu-Ray but I haven't watched any yet. Will report if I have any problems.

GMPowertrain · 09-17-2009, 03:40 AM

Anyone notice that the Sharp website now completely doesn't mention any existence of a BD-HP21. No more firmware, no more manuals, nothing.

Ashamed Pegasus · 09-17-2009, 11:32 AM

According to AVSF Sharp changed around their website and mistakenly replaced the new FW version (22700) with the older one (21700)... When searching for the 21U it would bring up the old version but now the 21U does not show up at all... Give it a day or two and they should figure it out...

topgeardan · 09-17-2009, 04:43 PM

I agree, the website is now completely different than last time I visited a couple months ago. Sharp is probably just plagued by the same problems as I see with many other websites: stuff gets lost in the shuffle. They'll probably get aqround to fixing it soon.

In the meantime, if you need the 9022700 update it is available on this site's downloads at:
https://www.blu-ray.com/firmware/firmware.php?id=30

Since I discovered a couple months ago that Sharp had changed the firmware but had left the date of the update unchanged (March something?) I have had very little problems viewing anything. I just watched "The International" last nite and it looks spectacular. Last week I had some glitching with "The Soloist" but after cleaning the disc with eyeglasses cleaner/cloth it played fine. This player seems to be very sensitive to dirt and smudges, but I have not had a disc refuse to play or stop playing since the latest update.

Ashamed Pegasus · 09-17-2009, 05:28 PM

Only disc I've had problems with after the March update was Knowing... The disc was spotless but kpet skipping when Cage was entering the NY subway...

topgeardan · 09-18-2009, 01:02 PM

We watched KNOWING right after it was released: no problems.

Clay · 10-13-2009, 04:23 PM

I bought my Sharp BD-HP21 in January 2009. That's not quite true. I got it "free with purchase" of my Sharp Aquos TV. Free was too expensive.

I was able to search the Sharp web site last night and find the latest firmware update. It wasn't on the list, but it was in Search. I understand that Sharp is no longer supporting this player. This tells me that when I got my new player in January, it was probably already two years old. For future reference, "free with purchase" is not a good deal. Because of the lack of support, Sharp had no manual for the player on its site.

I couldn't find my manual, and I'd never upgraded firmware before, so I had to wing it. I turned it off, popped in my USB drive, turned it on, a menu opened, I went to settings and chose "Software Upgrade" I think and then followed the instructions. When it said it was finished, I could find no way off the screen so I turned it off. I relay this to you, in case you can't find your manual either.

The whole time I've had this player, at least half of the blu-ray disks and several of the DVD disks I got from Netflix have been unplayable. For the DVDs, we have a DVD player sitting on top of our Blu-Ray player that will play these unplayable DVDs. (Pathetic, isn't it?) I get the feeling that the Netflix shipping process, while good enough for most people's BD/DVD player, is not good enough for this one. This one is SO sensitive to dust and minor smudges and barely perceptible scratches that it will stutter and halt and pixelate and stop at the smallest provocation. I stopped my blu-ray upgrade at Netflix today. I don't blame Netflix, I blame this player for being too sensitive.

I haven't had a problem with any of the blu-ray disks I've bought. I guess they are clean and I'm careful with them. I've only bought about 5, because the price is so outrageous for the movies I'm interested in.

In all, my experience with the Sharp BD-HP21, and with Sharp in general (for ending support and removing the manual from their site) has been very negative. (I still love the tv, though.)

Ashamed Pegasus · 10-13-2009, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clay

I was able to search the Sharp web site last night and find the latest firmware update. It wasn't on the list, but it was in Search. I understand that Sharp is no longer supporting this player. This tells me that when I got my new player in January, it was probably already two years old. For future reference, "free with purchase" is not a good deal. Because of the lack of support, Sharp had no manual for the player on its site.

Sharp is still supporting this unit because the latest firmware update is less then a month old... They've been doing upgrades with their website and that could explain why it doesn't show the 21U in the pull down menu...

As for it being already two years old when you received it in January, it was actually only 3 months old... The 21U did not come out until October 2008...

EDIT: For some reason I can not play Snow White disc 1 or 2 on this player... Anyone else having this issue?...

topgeardan · 10-13-2009, 05:12 PM

CLAY:

SHARP's website has been under re-construction and some things have been moved around. Sorry I can't point you to right place, but updates are still available and manual should be available, though ID for models may be a range of models rather than the 21U specifically.

OF NOTE: I have a friend with an expensive SONY player who bragged he never had updated and all discs (even from NETFLIX) played fine. Until last week: he BOUGHT a brand new Blu-Ray release of an older movie and it hung after a few scenes. Now he has to go buy a flash drive so he too can join the wonderful world of Blu-Ray firmware updates.

DJ_NachoMan · 10-13-2009, 07:04 PM

NEWEST FIRMWARE UPDATE FOR THE HP21U:

http://www.sharp-idncservice.com/Des...&From=SharpUSA

This is version PN9062300 which was released less than one week ago. You're welcome

Enjoy!

02-18-2009, 07:37 AM	#82
topgeardan Junior Member Member since:Feb 2009	New info re: Blu-ray playback problems For anyone interested: I rented a copy of Hellboy II from Blockbuster store. I saw that it had fingerprints but put it in the player anyway. It started glitching about 1/2 hour into the film. I removed it, cleaned it with eyeglasses cleaner, and from then on it played flawlessly. I have had this experience several times already; my HP21U is very sensitive to dirt. However, I have now learned that many Netflix customers are having similar problems with their Blu-ray subscriptions and in fact some have canceled their Blu-ray and gone back to regular DVDs. Some suggest the discs are being damaged somewhere in shipping or processing. I haven't seen anything I could identify as damage on any of the Netflix discs I've received. Others assert that Netflix discs are different from others and something in their discs makes them more prone to playback problems. I still say that if the technology were not being beta-tested on consumers we wouldn't be having these problems. The fact that consumers are required to update the player's fimrware in order to resolve playability issues is proof positive that this is what's happening. It is true that some people are not having any problems at all, but that is completely irrelevant, since many people ARE having problems. It's the ones having problems that I care about, and I don't care about those with no problems, since they can't help me with info about playback problems. My suspicion is that some players are overly sensitive to disc problems, and some discs are being shipped to renters with damage or flaws. In my case I believe I've been the victim of both. P.S. :We rented Madagascar 2 from BB and after cleaning some fingerprints it played fine. This gives my local Blockbuster store a 100% successful playback rate on the three B-R discs I've played. Also my player came with a copy of The HULK which plays flawlessly. So Netflix is at least highly suspect.

02-19-2009, 04:56 AM	#83
ftenorio New Member Member since:Feb 2009	BD-HP21US incompatible with NARNIA Blu-ray I have exact problem with NARNIA disk as I am not able to get to the Menu without the player freezing. Any help would be appreciated but it sounds like it is not the disk but the player. Thanks for any response.

03-11-2009, 05:06 PM	#89
topgeardan Junior Member Member since:Feb 2009	Here's my latest update dogbert0228 Thanks for the tip on the NEW update - the second such update in a month! I wonder what this one is going to "fix"? Previous to Feb 4th, the last update was November. Everyone with problems was going nuts trying to figure out what was wrong, and it was too long to wait. after the Feb 4th update I still had problems with Netflix Blu-Rays, so I switched them back to regular DVDs and now if I want to see something on Blu-Ray I rent it from my local Blockbuster. I have now watched about 10 Blu-Ray movies from BB and have a 100% success rate. I found that I MUST clean them, but they work fine after that. The latest was SPEED RACER - not an award winning script, but hey, it's from a cartoon show! I watched it because it's the most *amazing looking* film I've ever seen. And the Wachowski Brothers put in a lot of tongue in cheek stuff for laughs. It played glitch free. Good luck!

05-23-2009, 01:05 AM	#90
derylykt New Member Member since:May 2009	Problems with Narnia as well - but was a disc issue Interesting reading the comments about the faulty Narnia disc. I bought the disc at Walmart and tried to play it that night to no avail. The 4:55 error. I examined the disc and noticed that it didn't seem to be burned properly, or only burned a small amount from the center ring. I took the disc back and made them play it but had trouble as well. I got a new disc and made them check it before taking it home, and the new disc worked at the store and at home. I've had some problems with Netflix discs, as well - ie Slumdog millionaire. However, the majority of BD and DVD play exceptionally well. I think Disney sent out a large batch of faulty discs. Sharp BD-HP21 w/o any firmware upgrades. D

05-25-2009, 07:24 PM	#91
topgeardan Junior Member Member since:Feb 2009	No problems since last software update To derylykt: the Narnia viewing problems were a known incompatibility with the BD HP21 player's early firmware. several other DVDs produced the same problems. Upon the issuance of the Feb 4th update, owners of the Narnia Blu-ray that previously wouldn't play were able to view it without problems. To anyone interested: Since the most recent (March) update, I have had virtually ZERO problems with anything I've viewed. NOTE: Before this update I stopped renting Blu-Rays from Netflix, and switched to DVDs. But I have continued renting Blu-Rays from BB and I haven't cleaned any of them. They all played without problems. I have now switched my Netflix preference to Blu-Ray but I haven't watched any yet. Will report if I have any problems.

02-21-2009, 10:16 PM	#85
supersix4 Blu-ray Archduke Top contributor Member since:Mar 2007 Blu-ray collection:572 Blu-ray reviews: 53 Trading Score:3	we got this player yesterday and I did the updates and movies still wouldn't play lol... im shocked at this (not really since I've read complaints here) its worth the extra 100-200 to get one thats always going to work.

02-22-2009, 01:02 PM	#86
proxpilot Special Member Member since:Jan 2009 Location:High Point, North Carolina Home Theater Gallery:2 Blu-ray collection:108 Trading Score:1	mine glitched for a second on Wall-E and 1 of the Band of Brothers discs. other that that it has worked fine

03-06-2009, 05:19 PM	#87
Ashamed Pegasus Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Baltimore, MD 4K collection:8 Blu-ray collection:472 Digital collection:305 Blu-ray reviews: 5 Trading Score:192	http://www.sharpusa.com/products/Typ...86,229,00.html Bumping the thread because a new firmware update was just released, dated 3/5/09...

09-17-2009, 03:40 AM	#92
GMPowertrain Junior Member Member since:Dec 2008	Anyone notice that the Sharp website now completely doesn't mention any existence of a BD-HP21. No more firmware, no more manuals, nothing.

09-17-2009, 11:32 AM	#93
Ashamed Pegasus Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Baltimore, MD 4K collection:8 Blu-ray collection:472 Digital collection:305 Blu-ray reviews: 5 Trading Score:192	According to AVSF Sharp changed around their website and mistakenly replaced the new FW version (22700) with the older one (21700)... When searching for the 21U it would bring up the old version but now the 21U does not show up at all... Give it a day or two and they should figure it out...

09-17-2009, 04:43 PM	#94
topgeardan Junior Member Member since:Feb 2009	I agree, the website is now completely different than last time I visited a couple months ago. Sharp is probably just plagued by the same problems as I see with many other websites: stuff gets lost in the shuffle. They'll probably get aqround to fixing it soon. In the meantime, if you need the 9022700 update it is available on this site's downloads at: https://www.blu-ray.com/firmware/firmware.php?id=30 Since I discovered a couple months ago that Sharp had changed the firmware but had left the date of the update unchanged (March something?) I have had very little problems viewing anything. I just watched "The International" last nite and it looks spectacular. Last week I had some glitching with "The Soloist" but after cleaning the disc with eyeglasses cleaner/cloth it played fine. This player seems to be very sensitive to dirt and smudges, but I have not had a disc refuse to play or stop playing since the latest update.

09-17-2009, 05:28 PM	#95
Ashamed Pegasus Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Baltimore, MD 4K collection:8 Blu-ray collection:472 Digital collection:305 Blu-ray reviews: 5 Trading Score:192	Only disc I've had problems with after the March update was Knowing... The disc was spotless but kpet skipping when Cage was entering the NY subway...

09-18-2009, 01:02 PM	#96
topgeardan Junior Member Member since:Feb 2009	We watched KNOWING right after it was released: no problems.

10-13-2009, 04:23 PM	#97
Clay New Member Member since:Oct 2009	Conclusions about my Sharp BD-HP21 I bought my Sharp BD-HP21 in January 2009. That's not quite true. I got it "free with purchase" of my Sharp Aquos TV. Free was too expensive. I was able to search the Sharp web site last night and find the latest firmware update. It wasn't on the list, but it was in Search. I understand that Sharp is no longer supporting this player. This tells me that when I got my new player in January, it was probably already two years old. For future reference, "free with purchase" is not a good deal. Because of the lack of support, Sharp had no manual for the player on its site. I couldn't find my manual, and I'd never upgraded firmware before, so I had to wing it. I turned it off, popped in my USB drive, turned it on, a menu opened, I went to settings and chose "Software Upgrade" I think and then followed the instructions. When it said it was finished, I could find no way off the screen so I turned it off. I relay this to you, in case you can't find your manual either. The whole time I've had this player, at least half of the blu-ray disks and several of the DVD disks I got from Netflix have been unplayable. For the DVDs, we have a DVD player sitting on top of our Blu-Ray player that will play these unplayable DVDs. (Pathetic, isn't it?) I get the feeling that the Netflix shipping process, while good enough for most people's BD/DVD player, is not good enough for this one. This one is SO sensitive to dust and minor smudges and barely perceptible scratches that it will stutter and halt and pixelate and stop at the smallest provocation. I stopped my blu-ray upgrade at Netflix today. I don't blame Netflix, I blame this player for being too sensitive. I haven't had a problem with any of the blu-ray disks I've bought. I guess they are clean and I'm careful with them. I've only bought about 5, because the price is so outrageous for the movies I'm interested in. In all, my experience with the Sharp BD-HP21, and with Sharp in general (for ending support and removing the manual from their site) has been very negative. (I still love the tv, though.)

10-13-2009, 05:12 PM	#99
topgeardan Junior Member Member since:Feb 2009	I agree with Ashamed Pegasus CLAY: SHARP's website has been under re-construction and some things have been moved around. Sorry I can't point you to right place, but updates are still available and manual should be available, though ID for models may be a range of models rather than the 21U specifically. OF NOTE: I have a friend with an expensive SONY player who bragged he never had updated and all discs (even from NETFLIX) played fine. Until last week: he BOUGHT a brand new Blu-Ray release of an older movie and it hung after a few scenes. Now he has to go buy a flash drive so he too can join the wonderful world of Blu-Ray firmware updates.

10-13-2009, 07:04 PM	#100
DJ_NachoMan Active Member Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Dec 2008 Location:Brampton, Ontario Home Theater Gallery:13 Blu-ray collection:156 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:1	NEWEST FIRMWARE UPDATE FOR THE HP21U: http://www.sharp-idncservice.com/Des...&From=SharpUSA This is version PN9062300 which was released less than one week ago. You're welcome Enjoy!

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