Unwanted on-screen icons when playing some Blu-rays (1 Viewer)

[Brent Reid]

On playing several US 2.40:1 aspect ratio Blu-rays, a couple of icons appear by default in the top left of the screen, in the letterbox bar. They're the symbols for a speaker and the PIP (Picture In Picture) function. The only disc I can recall at the moment is the 2005 King Kong, though I've seen it on others. If there's a way to remove them via the remote I've been unable to find it and would appreciate any tips. It's really annoying to have them there; why do they appear unbidden?!

 

[Dick]

I've never heard of this. There may or may not be software that allows you to remove this. Personally, I have never run into it. You probably have a bootleg.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

There should be an On/Off setting in the setup menu for "PIP Indicator" as well as for discs that have multiple camera angles.

 

[TravisR]

I just watched the 2005 version of King Kong a few weeks ago and it definitely didn't have any forced PIP logos on my Region A copy.


About the only thing that I can think of that comes close this is the Star Wars Episodes I to VI Blu-rays that have an 'English' graphic pop up at the very end of the credits due to the subtitles for the alien languages.

 

[Brent Reid]

Thanks Jesse – I double (quadruple!) checked and there are no options in the BD set-up menu to remove these icons. Wish I could remember right now which other (mercifully few) BDs do it, but I somehow suspect it's only Universal discs. With those, the first thing I do on insertion is turn off the button sounds in the set-up menu. It's such an annoying, unnecessary feature and to have it by default – ugh. Same goes for their ugly, obtrusive 'time-elapsed' pop-up when pausing the film.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Can you name some titles?

 

[Everett S.]

Well , while never had this happen to me ever since the networks logos have creeped thier way to the center of the tv screen, i thought of putting a piece of black paper over it. Just an idea?!? Edit- not the whole screen just the logos.

 

[Brent Reid]

As I said above, right now I can't remember which other BDs do it. Should this thread die with no resolution in sight, I'll certainly resurrect it when I come across more!

I happen to have both the US and UK Kong 05 BDs* and have now checked the latter too. While they're not ports of each other, they both still show the icons.

Blanking off the logos isn't an option: I have no TV, only a projector and screen.


*And all the attendant DVDs for the extras. Hey, at least I don't plan to spring for the Ultimate Edition!

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

What model is your Blu-ray player? Could be a brand-specific issue- a friend of mine couldn't watch the Star Trek TOS Blu-rays on his Philips player as the multi-angle (or sonething) icon couldn't be turned off. They play perfectly on my Panasonic, Sony, and Oppo machines.

 

[Mark-P]

And since this is most likely a player issue, did you make sure your firmware is up to date? It's possible this issue was already found and has been fixed.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

What model is your Blu-ray player? Could be a brand-specific issue- a friend of mine couldn't watch the Star Trek TOS Blu-rays on his Philips player as the multi-angle (or sonething) icon couldn't be turned off. They play perfectly on my Panasonic, Sony, and Oppo machines.

I had a similar issue with those exact discs on an LG BD player, until I found the "on screen display" setting hidden in a menu somewhere and disabled it. That's what this issue sounds like to me.

The OP doesn't mention if he's watching these discs for the first time on a newly acquired player, or if he's re-watching them on his existing system and getting this behavior for the first time. More information along those lines might be helpful in further diagnosing the issue.

 

[RMajidi]

...You probably have a bootleg.

Was this deadpan humour, Rick?

If so, then nicely done! If not, then the irony's delicious... Brent being the HTF Bootleg-Avenger!

 

[Brent Reid]

I had a similar issue with those exact discs on an LG BD player, until I found the "on screen display" setting hidden in a menu somewhere and disabled it. That's what this issue sounds like to me.

The OP doesn't mention if he's watching these discs for the first time on a newly acquired player, or if he's re-watching them on his existing system and getting this behavior for the first time. More information along those lines might be helpful in further diagnosing the issue.

Josh, you inspired me to dig out the manual and have another go – and I've cracked it!

My player's a BD/DVD multi-region Toshiba BDX1200 that I've had for years and have had the problem on just a handful of discs from the start. Turns out the Secondary Audio and PIP logos were enabled by default. I disabled them via the Playback tab options in the Settings menu. Strange how the symbols only appeared for so few discs though, out of the hundreds I've got from all around the world. Must be a quirk in their authoring...

Thanks for the replies, everyone.