Route 66 "Producers Picks" discs will not play on Blu-Ray players (1 Viewer)

[Classic44]

Just an FYI for those hoping to play this set on their Blu-Ray player. It won't work. I haven't been able to figure out exactly why yet. It might have something to do with the enormous amount of memory on the audio segment of the disc, but my Sony Blu-Ray will play exactly 23 seconds of both discs and then it stops. It never gets to the menu, just a brief animated graphic of the Infinity logo WITHOUT sound, then it sticks. My player is brand new so the problem isn't with the player. When I put the discs in my regular DVD players they did fine, but there is compatibility problem on Blu-Ray players.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I have that DVD and it plays fine on my Blu-ray. I have a slightly older Panasonic stand alone Blu-ray player. Perhaps your Blu-ray hasn't been updated yet (even though it's new). Newer Blu-rays update online via your ethernet connection to your PC. Even if you get one right out of the box, chances are it has some patches and updates it needs to download - maybe even ones that facilitate playing DVDs such as this. We also have a Sony PS3 with Blu-ray that had to go through long updates right out of the box, once it was connected online via wi-fi.

My Blu-ray has to be updated by going to the Panasonic website and burning a DVD of the updates from the site, then playing them in my Blu-ray (a pain, yes). I do believe that some of the updates relate to back compatability with DVDs and upconversion of those DVDs if you've connected with an HDMI cable.

If that doesn't work, you may want to go on the technical HT Hardware forum for more expert advice. But I have no issues with the DVD on my Blu-ray player, so it does work.

 

[Gary OS]

Ugh. I'll say this right now. I don't want to be hassled with having to plug in my dvd player (Blu-ray or otherwise) into my computer or what have you to download updates. If that's the way the technology is going I'm not going to be a happy camper. I've bought many a dvd player over the last 10 years and I've yet to have to download any updates into any of them to make them play anything. That better not be the wave of the future. If and when I buy my first Blu-ray player it better come out of the box ready to play any standard or Blu-ray disc I throw into it.

Gary "when I read the first post last night about this problem my heart sunk a bit - I thought every Blu-ray player was backwards compatible regardless and would play any standard dvd" O.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Clearly, buying a new player every couple years is a better and more cost-effective system than occasionally downloading a bit of new software.

 

[Gary OS]

Uh, I've never bought a new player because an old one stopped working because of a software issue. I've bought different players for different reasons, so maybe you could stop trying to play mindreader in the future. :rolleyes

Gary "sarcasm sure comes easy for some people around here - but it's not very becoming" O.

 

[smithb]

Early on some DVD players had problems with certain material so this isn't completely a new concept. However, I would say BR players are a bit different then standard DVD players in that they are basically running a computer operating system and Java runtime (from what I recall).

I see two main issues right now. First, the spec for BR disks and players is much more complicated then the old SD DVD, which requires much more computing power and memory. Just look at how many players are still trying to just implement all the HD audio formats. Second, downloadable firmware updates is becoming more accepted and allowing the release of devices not quite ready for prime time. Just look how often you get pushes from Microsoft. I believe the approach they are looking for, regarding BR players, is the ability to push updates seamlessly down to the players via an external connection.

While the older SD players did have firmware updates from time to time I would say rarely did the average users need or even know about them. While with BR players it is becoming standard operating procedure.

This is probably just a glitch with this particular BR player and should be reported to them so it could be included in a patch somewhere down the road. Even though I have yet to purchase a BR player, I will personally be keeping a trust worthy SD player around for quite some time so play my SD material and reserve a BR player to just BR disks (SD material is just not the focus of these players right now)

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

The wave of the future does seem to be merging your TV and theater system with your PC. Ironically, per Jason's comment, the connectivity of your DVD player online helps you AVOID having to purchase a new player every couple years, and yet still have the latest bells and whistles. But the process should be seamless, just like Microsoft automatically updating your computer with new security updates or patches when you turn it off.

In a thread in the hardware section, a poster asks if firmware updates on Blu-rays will ever go away; and the consensus response seems to be, 'no.' (They're still sending out updates for HD-DVD players!).

I'm no techie, but the process of downloading an update, burning it to a DVD and playing it in my Blu-ray was less complicated than I feared. And you just play that DVD and your player's updated. My Blu-ray never had any issues not playing a disc, DVD or otherwise, so my decision to do the updates was strictly voluntary, and when I want.

Seeing some of my favorite films in Blu-ray was a minor revelation enough to go that direction for select releases. Also, how could you watch a TV series you originally saw in HD on anything less? So it's a good fit for any newer series you purchase. But I have to say that watching some of my old favorites like The Invaders upconverted, is a revelation unto itself; seeing these shows with a clarity and detail you never saw before to the point where they almost look 3-D.

When it comes to the best image possible, I'm afraid they'll get me marching to the Blu-ray beat. And, in a recession, it's still a cheaper way to travel or escape. (Check out the box office receipts during the depression).

 

[Jeff Willis]

I've held off on BR for now until the BR catalogs catch up with the format. The other reason is BR's Region-Free issues. They've come a long way since their inception but I'll get one when it's able to play all-region Std NTSC & PAL DVD's as well as all-region BR's. I still get conflicting information regarding an R-Free BR player's ability to playback 50 FPS PAL DVD's on HD TV's sold in the U.S. I don't want to spend the $'s on an inline PAL/NTSC Converter. I've had several PM's with Cees and others about the R-free subject and the info-gathering stage for me is getting better (clearer).

As for the R66 issue with the Std DVD not playing on a BR player, I admit that this is a concern to me when I hear about STD playback issues on the BR players.

For the forseeable future, I have a large enough Std DVD collection where I'm not yet interested in BR. That would change though, if certain TV/DVD's unreleased on Std DVD would start appearing as exclusive BR releases.

Wayne's right about the upconverted Std DVD's. What a difference when watching these old shows via HDMI. It's amazing. It's like seeing these shows for the first time.

 

[Gary OS]

My bad if that's the way you work the updates. I don't mind downloading updates to my computer and then throwing them on a dvd-r, which in turn is put into my dvd player and then "played". If that's all there is to it, I'm fine. I thought I was going to have to unhook my dvd player and all the cords, lug it into my computer room, then use my high speed internet to hook it up to in order to download updates right into the player. If I don't have to unhook it and move it around and can instead use a burned dvd-r then I'm cool.

Gary "but I'm not going to unhook and hook my player, and move it from room to room constantly, just for 'updates' - that was my main gripe" O.

 

[smithb]

I don't know that you will be seeing that anytime soon from what I have read. It appears the SD requirements regarding regions is contained within the BR spec. As an example, Oppo has traditionally created SD players that could easily be made region free. However, in their upcoming BR player it has been stated that this will not be supported for SD playback. Not that it couldn't but that it won't. The reasoning being that it would infringe upon the requirements of a BR player and they don't want to have their ability to produce BR plyers going forward to be removed. That at least is what has been reported but the player hasn't been released yet to know for sure.

The current reality is that standard BR players are not the best at SD upconversion/playback when compared to many rather inexpensive SD players. Top of the line BR players but not your $500 and below variety. This may change down the road but right now they are just focused on BR content, features, and cost. The SD side does not appear to be a high priority.

Like many, my ratio of SD to BR is going to be one sided for many many years to come. So the idea of using a single BR player that is slow and buggy to playback all material doesn't interest me. I'd rather have a standalone solid, quick, region free, NTSC/PAL SD player for its stated purpose and a separate BR player that just meets the needs of BR only content.

I understand that some may have a requirement to only have one player in their system. For those that don't I'd recommend having two players for their distinct purposes. Just my opinion of course.

 

[smithb]

Yes, it is a straight forward process and for the most part painless. However, there is one little wrinkle that can happen from time to time. When you playback the DVD with the updated firmware, it is essentially rewriting the software and could have problems if the draw is opened or there is a power outage during the process. Generally you can just try again or may have to reload the previous firmware first.

This is also the way many hacks are done to players to make them region free or PAL enabled when they didn't come that way or when there is no easier way to do it. Usually someone writes a hack to overcome these limitations. Many tiimes these work, sometimes there are side effects, and every once in a while you end up with a new door stop.

 

[TravisR]

Another option is that to call the company's customer service phone number. I think most (if not all) companies will send a disc with the firmware update if you don't want to or can't burn the disc.

 

[Gary OS]

Thanks Brad and Travis. I had no idea it would be that simple. I kept envisioning a very clunky and time consuming process.

Gary "still a long way off from buying any Blu-ray player since almost all the things I like are not on BR and will likely never be produced in that format" O.