Should I be worried about HD-A1 freeze-ups? (1 Viewer)

My Toshiba HD-A1 is updated to the newest firmware, 1.4

I get an occasional freeze-up on my player. It doesn't happen
often, and when it does, the picture freezes for just a second.

Though I'm sort of pawning it off at the moment, there is an
underlying concern that perhaps I should contact Toshiba about
this.

Anyone else having a similar problem?

It would not hurt to contact their tech support at the toll-free number--might be a good data point for the next firmware update.

I've seen one stopple (as we used to call it on TiVo) since the last update. It was on one of the Paramount titles--don't remember which.

- Steve

I had a similar issue early on. Mine would freeze or more acurately "stutter" (video only) the audio would keep going, then the video would "fast forward" to catch-up, this all happened in less than 2 or three seconds.

It happened on the same spots on the same movies, so it was repeatable. Ususally, a good cleaning of the disc would fix or lessen the occurance, even on brand new discs.

I haven't had the problem since the first firmware upgrade (1.2) and it has not reoccured with 1.4.

If you are having the problem with 1.4, I would check the disc, if that does not correct the problem, I would contact Toshiba, their customer service has been great since my purchase.

I've taken to blasting my discs with canned air to clear off any kind of dirt or debris before putting them in my player - even new discs. I've noticed that these kinds of stutters are related to particles of dirt than a flaw in the player (at least since the the firmware upgrade).

This sounds very similar to my first HD DVD experience with Serenity. I am using firmware 1.3. I had a video freeze-up and an audio drop-out both in the same chapter. I was able to reproduce the former 2 out of 3 times, the later 2 out of 2. I then noticed that there was a tiny sliver of a finger-print on the edge of the HD DVD. Once I cleaned that, I played the same portions again, and I had no issues. Does that mean I'm convinced its fixed? Hardly. I just haven't had the luxury of watching Serenity twice yet.

Enter the Dragon, Goodfellas, and Unforgiven all played without freeze-ups. I recently received another Warner Bros. HD DVD, Lethal Weapon, and my first Paramount, Sleepy Hollow. I plan to watch them this weekend and report back.

I'm sorry, it's version 1.4. I am at work so I had to post
my thoughts from memory.

In any event, it has happened just recently with Legend Of
Sleepy Hollow and on Chronicles of Riddick and Enter
The Dragon.

A slight freeze, only once per title, and when I try to scan backwards
to duplicate the incident it does not reoccur. This tells me that the
problem is not with any disc(s) but the player itself.

Anyone have a number handy to report problems?

Here's the CS #1 800-319-6684 - (back of my manual)

Phil

I replaced the feet on my A1 with vibrapods and haven't experienced any hiccups since. Firmware 1.4 on my unit.

I had my first freeze on the second viewing of Sky Captain. Up to now, my HD-A1 has been glitch-free ( I have Firmware update 1.4 on disc but I am still operating on 1.3). I just stepped it back and hit play and it did not happen again. What is a vibrapod? I assume it is a shock absorber of some type? I wonder if this issue comes up on Toshiba's higher end unit that has a more stable chasis?

I watched The Rundown last night and it was not only a helluva lot of fun but it looked awesome. Once again a very 3-D looking presentation.

Does everyone reccommend updating to 1.4?

After reading the www.avsforum.com it seems that numerous complaints involve skipping, freezing, and audio drop-outs from HD-DVD discs, and this comes from customers who have never had problems before. I think this is a problem that should be concerned, because this happens to me at random with HD discs (never with ST DVDs), though I did experience CD skipping very briefly from time to time, but not often.

Aaron, read the topic "Skipping, after the 1.4 Firmware Update" at the AVS Forum before you decide.

1.4 seems to have some skipping issues that 1.2 and 1.3 didn't have.

That being said, though, even 1.2 and 1.3 have subpar error correction compared to today's standard DVD players meaning that even small hairs or pieces of dust on the disc surface can cause brief skips on HD DVDs. Using compressed air to clean the disc surface as one recommended above would be optimal if you get a skip. Hopefully 2.x will contain more robust error correction as it is something that can be easily addressed in software.

I experienced my first playback issues two nights ago with a copy of Tomb Raider from Netflix. The picture would stutter and sometime freeze or just continue to stutter play and while this was happening the audio went out.

It happened about 3 times, the last time required a hard shut down at which time I ejected the disc to clean it off and noticed some very fine particles on it...almost like dandruff , I wiped those off with the broad side of my finger and played it to the end without issue after that. Watched Sahara the next night and had no problems with that one. I'm still on the firmware that the player had at launch (I bought mine end of April).

I wouldn't be too quick to blame the player and would follow Pete's suggestion- in fact, that's a good idea to keep a can of compressed air handy- think I'll buy an extra one tomorrow and keep it in the HT.

Here'sthe link to the product. Very cheap and easy to replace the A1's feet with these.

http://www.vibrapod.com/vibrapod.htm

Kevin. W,

Which model vibrapod did you purchase for your Toshiba HD-A1? Model 1 or 2? Where did you purchase them from? Lastly, do they have problems leaving sticky residue on the surfaces they touch?

I watched "Four Brothers" last night and it was glitch-free and is one of the best looking HD DVD titles I have watched so far. If there was a vibration problem, I would think it would manifest itself much more often. I bought a can of compressed air and gave the disc a quick shot before playing thye movie last night. This may be the solution but it should be an unnecessary one.

Today, I watched both, Tomb Raider and Sky Captain in their entirety without any freezeups.




Crawdaddy

Mine froze then sped up thru Bourne Supremacy plus it won't play all of my dual layer DVDs, so it might go back it Toshiba can't convince me otherwise. The dual layer is important to me.

That's a first with the DL DVD's. What firmware version are you using?

how is Toshiba expected to gain mass acceptance by J6p if a movie can't play from start to finish without stuttering or freezing?

Hd-DVD produces phenomenal picture and sound but it's a real pisser if I have to spray a disc every time I watch it.

Does the Sammy Blu ray player have this prob with stuttering/ freezing video? The encoding of data on Blu-ray has a more exacting tolerance than HD-DVD. I'd be curious to know.

I'm glad vibrapod has worked for some yet others at avs say playing u-571 causes no video skipping.