US Blu-ray players and 50hz compatibility

[DJTommy]

Originally Posted by 4K2K

Thanks.

Could you give a bit more detail please? Is this with full HD high def content or standard def content? On Blu-ray or a "PAL" DVD? What aspect ratio was the content and does it cut off any of the picture or just not scale it/position it properly (not centred?)?

Also does it output 50hz discs at 50Hz or 60Hz - or either depending on the TV?

it doesnt scale it or center it. Standard def content like on Spaghetti western trilogy blu. But the PS3 did scale and center it.

[4K2K]

Originally Posted by DJTommy

it doesnt scale it or center it. Standard def content like on Spaghetti western trilogy blu. But the PS3 did scale and center it.

Thanks.

[kubrick2899]

Here's what I have:

Sony BDP-S470

Toshiba 32" LED TV

Standard A/V cables

What do I need to do/buy to get Sherlock Series 2 to play?

[4K2K]

Originally Posted by kubrick2899

Here's what I have:

Sony BDP-S470

Toshiba 32" LED TV

Standard A/V cables

What do I need to do/buy to get Sherlock Series 2 to play?

A different Blu-ray player than the Sony one. If you are unsure whether the TV can accept & display 50Hz signals, get a player that can convert 50i content to 60i/p (eg. some of the Samsung/Oppo ones).

eg. one of the Blu-ray players from the "compatible" list in the first post of the thread, that say "Outputs 50Hz content at 60Hz". I think more of the Samsung players than say that will too, but ask someone who has the Blu-ray player you want for confirmation first (ie. that it plays 50i discs, and that the TV receives it at 60i/p).

Also, if you have a PC with a Blu-ray drive it might be worth trying to play it on that.

[Iain1974]

Originally Posted by kubrick2899

Here's what I have:

Sony BDP-S470

Toshiba 32" LED TV

Standard A/V cables

What do I need to do/buy to get Sherlock Series 2 to play?

I wouldn't recommend Samsung. I've had 2 flakey 6500's before getting one to work at all. PQ is great but I'm not at all impressed with the build quality. It's a shame because Sammy always had a great reputation for quality workmanship.

[Isabella17]

Does anyone know if the Samsung BD-D5100 blu ray player will play blu ray disks from the UK? I have ordered the Sherlock Series 2 on blu ray and we are hoping we can find a simple blu ray player that will work. It seems that quality control issues are big with almost all the listed blu ray players and we were hoping to purchase one locally in case we needed to return it. There are unfortunately very few we can find locally.

ETA: I do not believe our tv will play 50hz. It is a lower end Sony Bravia. So we need something to converts 50hz to 60hz.


TIA!

[kubrick2899]

I bought the LG BD-630, and SHERLOCK Series Two plays perfectly. Thanks!

[Rond]

We also were prompted to buy a new player for Sherlock series 2...

Picked up the LG-670, and it works perfectly with the UK disk.

To my surprise, our trusty old JVC XV-BP1 also plays it!
(I realize a lot of people have had XV-BP1s die on them, but ours has been a champ for nearly 3 years now)

I do not know if our TV accepts 50Hz, or if both players are up-converting - the TV is a Panasonic TC-L42U22.

[Sneazer]

Originally Posted by Rond

We also were prompted to buy a new player for Sherlock series 2...

Picked up the LG-670, and it works perfectly with the UK disk.

To my surprise, our trusty old JVC XV-BP1 also plays it!
(I realize a lot of people have had XV-BP1s die on them, but ours has been a champ for nearly 3 years now)

I do not know if our TV accepts 50Hz, or if both players are up-converting - the TV is a Panasonic TC-L42U22.

Originally Posted by kubrick2899

I bought the LG BD-630, and SHERLOCK Series Two plays perfectly. Thanks!

sorry to ask, are any of these two players also region free?

[dobyblue]

The Panasonic sets to the best of my knowledge do NOT accept 1080i50 or 1080p25 inputs unless you're buying one of the PRO series models.

I have the F1 2011 Blu-ray. After backing it up to make it region free, it now plays on my BD-P2550 which converts 1080i50 > 1080i60 on the fly. Unfortunately there are some artifacts due to the conversion, the F1 logo constantly flickers in the corner like it's a waving flag, and all the graphics have flicker at the bottom. I brought it to my father-in-laws this week-end as he as a BD-P1500 and found out that he had just added a new set in the basement with a new Samsung player. So I tried the F1 disc on the new Samsung BD-D5700 and MAGIC! No artifacting.

It is hooked up to an LG 50PV400. When I press the info button it says (1080p60) so perhaps the difference is that the BD-D5700 is converting 1080i50 > 1080p60 on the fly.

This may cause some temporal resolution to be lost, but it still would retain all 1920 horizontal pixels. Of course all plasma and LCD sets (except some Hitachi ALiS sets and professional models) convert interlaced to progressive anyway, but my experience with the BD-D5700 on my 1080i50 F1 disc was MUCH more pleasant than the BD-P2550.

I'm going to see what happens when I plug the BD-P2550 directly into the TC-P42S2 I have at home as currently it goes through the Onkyo TX-SR805 but it should be straight pass through so I don't anticipate that making any difference. Then next time I'm coming out here I will bring the BD-P2550 and hook it up to the LG 50PV400 to see which part is the weak link of the chain and will update...could be a few weeks.

[Rond]

Originally Posted by Sneazer

sorry to ask, are any of these two players also region free?

Probably not. The BBC disks are region-free - the only issue with playing them in the US is the 50Hz frame rate.

[dobyblue]

By the way I tried both the BD-D5700 and BD-P1500 (my father-in-law has both) with the F1 disc and only the BD-D5700 avoided interlaced "pulsing" - so I can only presume it's converting to 1080p60 as the LG plasma indicated. I should have taken the BD-P1500 downstairs to see if indeed it indicates 1080i60 or 1080p60, but nevertheless the BD-D5700 does a MUCH better job of converting 1080i50 > 60p/i(?) on the fly.

[Doc Ostrow]

Yesterday, I received Lark Rise to Candleford seasons 1 and 2 Blu-rays (UK import) and discovered that it will play on all of my Blu-ray players and all of my HDTVs. I was puzzled, since the Return to Cranford Blu-ray, also a UK import, would not play on my Panasonic DMP BD605 Blu-ray player connected to my Panasonic TC-42LD24 HDTV. I then discovered that my Panasonic DMP BD605 would play Return to Cranford on my inexpensive Insignia NS-LCD 19-09 HDTV if the DMP BD605 was set to 1080i. I connected my DMP BD605 to the TC-42LD24 using this setting and got a black screen. Apparently, the Panasonic HDTV won't accept a 50Hz input but the Insignia will. The LG BD530 must convert 50Hz to 60Hz.

However, since the Lark Rise to Candleford has the following warning on the UK Amazon site: "Please note that this product will not play on US spec 60i Blu-ray players as the Blu-ray discs are authored to UK 50i specs", I suspect that there might be additional coding on the Blu-ray that somehow makes it compatible with some US Blu-ray players and HDTVs but not Sony, since US customers on UK Amazon complained it wouldn't work on their Sony players. Even though I am an electrical engineer, I am frustrated with the the software encoded on Blu-rays. It is so complex (meant to prevent copying) that firmware for Blu-ray players has to be continually upgraded, sometimes making them 50Hz incompatible.

[4K2K]

Originally Posted by Doc Ostrow

...However, since the Lark Rise to Candleford has the following warning on the UK Amazon site: "Please note that this product will not play on US spec 60i Blu-ray players as the Blu-ray discs are authored to UK 50i specs", I suspect that there might be additional coding on the Blu-ray that somehow makes it compatible with some US Blu-ray players and HDTVs but not Sony, since US customers on UK Amazon complained it wouldn't work on their Sony players. Even though I am an electrical engineer, I am frustrated with the the software encoded on Blu-rays. It is so complex (meant to prevent copying) that firmware for Blu-ray players has to be continually upgraded, sometimes making them 50Hz incompatible.

Thanks. I've added comments to the players you mentioned about output of 50Hz.

I think Amazon put that message on some UK Blu-ray titles even when they aren't authored at 50i, just to be safe, so they don't get lots of returns. I think the earliest UK Candleford series was released at 60i but that the later ones were released at (the correct) 50i.

"...since US customers on UK Amazon complained it wouldn't work on their Sony players".
I can't see any US customers on Amazon.co.uk complaining about the 1st Candleford Series (Lark Rise to Candleford: Series 1 [Blu-ray] [2008][Region Free]). One, in the comments, says "Yes - it plays here in the US (Region A)".

The only thing that will be stopping US Sony players from playing back certain UK discs will be the 50i content or the region. And I think the Candleford series and other ones from the BBC are usually set as all region.

So basically US Sony players are the ones that don't handle/playback 50i, while a lot of the others do.

[4K2K]

Thanks dobyblue too. Updated the list.

[idlebrain]

Panasonic DMP-BDT210 with Enhanced FW able to play 50hz..I just checked with Sherlock BBC Series UK BD.

[Myst]

Used Sherlock BluRay Region Free to test:
Played fine on Vizio 3D BluRay player model # VBR133
Shows at 1080p on Vizio 3D TV model #E3DB420VX

[Kolohe]

So far, my LG BD630 has been wonderful. Playing all of my UK discs beautifully. (Including my Top Gear Adventures #3 disc, that gave my Panasonic problems... And, yes! Sherlock [series 2] plays perfectly in it! Hooray!).

However, then I received my 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' disc... WHAM! Brick wall.

Right off the bat, it just says that I need a player that can play Region B discs. (Even my Panasonic refuses to play it, and it played the TG disc, too... However, it outputs the video at 50Hz--with a thick white line through it [there was a trick to get the whole picture, but I forgot what it was]).

Any suggestions, anyone? (Please). Or, do I need to find a new player... Again...

[dobyblue]

Sounds like the problem is, it's region locked.

[dobyblue]

BD-D5100 flawlessly outputs 1080i50 > 1080i60 on the fly.

Tested on an LED that actually lists its 1080i60, so the BD-D5100, BD-D5300 and BD-D5700 all output 50i at 60i.

I had thought maybe they were going to 60p as they don't have the strobing/pulsing that the BD-P1500, BD-P1600 and BD-P2550 have, but they're just doing a better conversion.