I think I am done with Sony. (1 Viewer)

[Brian Husar]

This sounds like design flaw specific to that model, and possibly other models which used the same underlying mechanical + electronic design for reading 4Kbluray discs.

And no firmware update since last year.

 

[jcroy]

(More generally).

My understanding is that there does not appear to be a precise definitive spec for how exactly to read data from a cd, dvd, or bluray disc. Each manufacturer has a slightly different design/algorithm for reading data from optical discs.

This is very obvious if you rip a lot of cd, dvd, or bluray discs on the computer. You will see slightly different behavior between different drives with different designs, especially when dealing with discs which were not manufactured very well.

I assume this is also the case with standalone cd/dvd/bluray/4Kbluray players designed and manufactured by different companies.

 

[jcroy]

And no firmware update since last year.

In practice, firmware updates only work if the problems can be traced to something which is strictly software.

A mechanical and/or electronic hardware flaw can't be fixed as easily by firmware updates. (Excluding the case of the firmware just deliberately "bricking" something outright, due to incompetence or spite).

 

[jcroy]

Just a note, UHD discs are notorious for having playback problems. A lot of people clean new discs with a microfiber cloth, and that seems to help a lot. The theory is that the manufacturing process leaves a residue on the disc surface and since UHD discs have data so tightly packed it impedes reading the data.

I do that, and I know it seems to have helped. I still get discs that lock up, but after cleaning them again, they always seem to work.

If this is indeed the case, then it sounds like this residue layer on the disc surface is heavily affecting the laser's "refraction" pattern between the layers on the disc.

 

[Brian Husar]

If this is indeed the case, then it sounds like this residue layer on the disc surface is heavily affecting the laser's "refraction" pattern between the layers on the disc.

The issue I have now is I upgraded to the new 800M2 from Sony. Best Buy only had an open box one and they assured me it was inspected etc and nothing wrong with it. Well, it wouldn't do the firmware update. It failed 5 times, and the update, was not even the current one listed on Sony's site for that model.

 

[David Norman]

The issue I have now is I upgraded to the new 800M2 from Sony. Best Buy only had an open box one and they assured me it was inspected etc and nothing wrong with it. Well, it wouldn't do the firmware update. It failed 5 times, and the update, was not even the current one listed on Sony's site for that model.

I missed that part in the OP -- I didn;t realize you already had tried the 800v2,I thought you just got a different newer manufactured unit of the 700 Open Box. In that case -- try the Panasonic 420 since I'm not sure what the lesser unit is. Or if you're sold on DV, the 820 his only a little more. I think my next/last player change might be the 9000 since I never jumped on the 203/205. Visually wIth only a little squint I swear the Panasonic 9000 could easily pass for an Oppo with that brushes metal front panel

 

[Brian Husar]

I missed that part in the OP -- I didn;t realize you already had tried the 800v2,I thought you just got a different newer manufactured unit of the 700 Open Box. In that case -- try the Panasonic 420 since I'm not sure what the lesser unit is. Or if you're sold on DV, the 820 his only a little more. I think my next/last player change might be the 9000 since I never jumped on the 203/205. Visually wIth only a little squint I swear the Panasonic 9000 could easily pass for an Oppo with that brushes metal front panel

Thanks the Panasonic 420 they have in stock and that's the one I will go with.

 

[Brian Husar]

I missed that part in the OP -- I didn;t realize you already had tried the 800v2,I thought you just got a different newer manufactured unit of the 700 Open Box. In that case -- try the Panasonic 420 since I'm not sure what the lesser unit is. Or if you're sold on DV, the 820 his only a little more. I think my next/last player change might be the 9000 since I never jumped on the 203/205. Visually wIth only a little squint I swear the Panasonic 9000 could easily pass for an Oppo with that brushes metal front panel

Right now I don't care about DV anymore. I have it for streaming on my Vizio, so if I want to watch DV i'll stream it. I just want a player that works well

 

[Brian Husar]

I missed that part in the OP -- I didn;t realize you already had tried the 800v2,I thought you just got a different newer manufactured unit of the 700 Open Box. In that case -- try the Panasonic 420 since I'm not sure what the lesser unit is. Or if you're sold on DV, the 820 his only a little more. I think my next/last player change might be the 9000 since I never jumped on the 203/205. Visually wIth only a little squint I swear the Panasonic 9000 could easily pass for an Oppo with that brushes metal front panel

I think the lesser one is the DP-UB150-K. I don't think it has streaming apps.

 

[jcroy]

Best Buy only had an open box one and they assured me it was inspected etc and nothing wrong with it.

At the places I've seen "open box" discounted items (including BestBuy), it was almost always something that was recently returned or a "display model" that still looks almost brand new by visual inspection.

If they had "inspected" it at all, it is likely they checked whether there was any major damage to the chasis and/or whether it still plays anything. The latter is usually inserting a random disc and checking whether the disc plays at all. (It does not even have to be a 4Kbluray disc). Also checking whether the remote control still works.

 

[jcroy]

The issue I have now is I upgraded to the new 800M2 from Sony.

If this newer 800M2 model still has the exact same cantankerous behavior as the older X700, then this suggests the underlying mechanical + electronic design algorithm for reading 4Kbluray discs might possibly be the same.


I encountered something similar with a really old Toshiba dvd player from the early 2000s, in comparison with a Toshiba bluray player I purchased back in 2011. I had a particular dvd disc which "choked" in a very specific manner on that old early y2k era Toshiba dvd player. (On a different players from different manufacturers, they would play through the same "chokepoint" in very different ways). When I played this exact same particular dvd on my 2011 era Toshiba bluray player, it "choked" in the exact same manner as my old early y2k era Toshiba dvd player. (On other bluray players I had from different manufacturers, this "chokepoint" was played through differently).

This was likely indicative that Toshiba used the exact same hardware reading algorithm to read dvd discs, for more than a decade.

 

[Brian Husar]

I love this website. I learn so much from everyone here.

 

[jcroy]

One might be better off trying a different manufacturer, such as panny or oppo.

 

[Brian Husar]

One might be better off trying a different manufacturer, such as panny or oppo.

Going with a Panny today. Taking it over to return and swap out.

 

[jcroy]

I learn so much from everyone here.

I've found it varies from topic to topic.

Some threads have a lot of good information, while other ones have very little to no responses. YMMV.

 

[Mark-P]

Hearing so many horror stories with 4K UHD disc players, I’m definitely not regretting my decision to opt for Apple TV 4K instead of a disc player.

 

[JohnRice]

Hearing so many horror stories with 4K UHD disc players, I’m definitely not regretting my decision to opt for Apple TV 4K instead of a disc player.

Cleaning new discs with a microfiber cloth has eliminated 95% of my problems. The other 5% seem to just need to be cleaned again. I've never had a problem playing a disc again later, once it was sufficiently cleaned.

 

[Brian Husar]

Cleaning new discs with a microfiber cloth has eliminated 95% of my problems. The other 5% seem to just need to be cleaned again. I've never had a problem playing a disc again later, once it was sufficiently cleaned.

I do clean my discs. Distill water and microfiber cloth. Didn’t help on the player. Like I said, I would try it in other players and it would be fine. But this was something different where the whole system froze no matter what I played.

 

[Bartman]

Thanks for letting us know about your problems with high density UHD discs. I have a Sony BDPS1700 Blu-ray player that has had four years of heavy use, that has always suffered from intermittant audio drop outs. The drop outs appear at random (with intervals of months or years) and are fixed by powering down the player and powering up. Sony customer service has been of little help.

Has anyone else experienced this problem with a BDPS1700/BDPS3700 etc?

Can anyone recommend a small format Blu-ray player (9" wide, 1.5" high) other than Sony or LG?

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Have the BDPS1100 all region for about 5 years and not one issue so i guess i am lucky.