Headaches for Blu-ray Owners
Many of the latest Blu-ray releases, including 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' and 'The Day After Tomorrow,' are reportedly choking during playback. Many players are simply not playing the discs at all, while others crap out about 30 minutes into the movie. Even the PS3's Blu-ray player isn't free from problems, though many users have seen the playback issues resolved with the latest firmware update for the console.
Currently, Fox is suspected to be the source of the problems thanks to a couple of its new technologies for copy-protection and for adding extra interactive features. Fox has acknowledged the issue, but is blaming the hardware manufacturers, which, according to AVS Forum users, include LG and Samsung. For its part, Samsung has said it has no timetable for delivering a fix.
This has consumers asking, "Now that we've spent tons of money on these things and chosen our side in the war, is it too much to ask that they simply work?"
From BetaNews
Related Links:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Miguel Lescano @ Oct 8th 2007 3:58PM
This is no surprise to me.
The hardware is evolving, the same thing that happened with DVD. Recently I've heard about "Enhaced Region Coding" being added to new DVDs... which might mean your expensive DVD-based Home Theater setup can't play "Superbit" editions of some movies.
Another example: Remember when the first DVD players came out? They had only Composite video outputs; later, they included S-Video, then Component video, and in the last couple of years we’ve seen DVD Players with HDMI output, even to output good ole 480p. Something similar happened with audio: The first players supported only Dolby Digital; better player support DTS, too. Early (and not-so-early) adopters were left out of the party every time one of these perks became available.
We see history repeating itself with HD: Currently, reviewers complain that even in the crispest HD disc available today, “Happy Feet”, they see banding in gradients. HDMI 1.3 will take care of this problem with “Deep Color”, but it will take years before most devices support it. And let’s not talk about the fact that Sound systems supporting the uncompressed HDMI signal are almost non-existent. Current players load times are sluggish. And they still haven’t found a use for the network connectivity! To make things worse, triple-layer HD DVD discs are on the way, and first generation Blu-ray players did not have all the features enabled!
So… It would be foolish to invest a lot today in equipment that might be obsolete tomorrow. You better wait and see.
Scott Hettrick @ Oct 8th 2007 7:49PM
How about a little accuracy in your postings?
"suffering a series of setbacks due to widespread issues with new movies freezing up older players."
"A series of setbacks?" One issue over these two titles.
"Widespread issues?" Again, one issue over these two titles. And how "widespread" is two titles limited to two older models of players?
Things are dicey enough and volativel enough out there without you recklessly fanning the flames.
Everyone is pioneering new territory. There will be bugs. Earliest and cheaper models will have issues, as is always the case with the first iterations of software like Windows Vista, the earliest DVD players that didn't play the newest interactive games, etc.
Take it easy, dude.
JeffK @ Oct 9th 2007 8:19PM
I'm sorry, but saying that something being sold to the consumer not working is ok, is wrong.
If it doesn't work, return it. If my toaster doesn't toast, I bring it back. If someone makes toast that doesn't fit, I return that.
That is the way this game is played, and Fox messed up or the CEs messed up, or both messed up.
Miguel Lescano @ Oct 11th 2007 1:37PM
Now I think the war should not be between HD DVD and Blu-ray, but between Radiohead and both HD formats. At the same time that Radiohead put all their confidence in their fans, HD format makers treat all consumers like criminals, even if some innocent people have to pay the price.
MRBlue @ Oct 22nd 2007 5:25PM
I agree with Scott in that suggesting that two titles somehow means that the entire infrastructure of Blu-Ray is somehow on the brink of failure is a bit over the top.
Okay, so two movies in a swarm of hundreds should not send a panic to anyone unless, of course, there's a hidden agenda.
If this were happening with AAA titles like "Spider-Man 3" or "Die Hard 4" then maybe you'd have something but "The Day After Tomorrow" is a 2 year+ old film and I while "FF2" was good it wasn't a box office behemoth.
Also, since this involves two films and two DVD manufacturers it should in no way imply that it's the technology's fault. When Warner Bros., Disney, 20th Century Fox, MGM, and others start reporting errors across different players then maybe you'll have a story. While it's good news to know about it shouldn't be a strike against Blu-Ray. Just a few companies that are still learning the ropes of the technology and, unfortunately like the humans that made them, are bound to make mistakes.
Heck even baby car seats are recalled. At least the issue seems to be cleared up by a firmware update.