While I don't particularly consider myself a Trekkie, when I first got into, ahem, HD DVD, I was quite excited and impressed by Star Trek: The Original Series--Season 1. It looked and sounded fantastic, and the extra features were terrific. I was really looking forward to season 2 on HD DVD.
Three weeks later, HD DVD effectively dropped dead.
I eventually bought a Blu-ray player and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, just shy of two years since I bought that misbegotten HD DVD of Season 1, Season 2 finally arrives on Blu-ray. I stick disc one into my player and a Paramount teaser plugs all the wonderful Star Trek titles coming to Blu-ray.
Finally, the menu screen appears. Select episode. I press the first episode and then...nothing. The menu choices disappear while the animated menu animates away.
Sigh, firmware again, I assume. I go on-line. Download the latest firmware. Install it in my player. Reboot, stick the Star Trek disc back in again and...nothing. Same problem. It just won't play.
A quick check around the Net reveals myriad other customers with older Panasonic players are having the same problem -- even after installing the latest firmware.
So now what? Wait two months for enough angry customers demanding the problem be fixed that better firmware is offered?
For Panasonic and/or Paramount and/or CBS and/or Amazon to tell me I'm S.O.L.?
I waited nearly two years for this?
God, I hate this shit.
"Kha-a-a-a-a-a-a-an!"
darkside
09-25-09, 09:21 PM
This is the frustration of Blu-ray. I have three players and have run across several discs that wouldn't play in the Sharp or the LG, but played fine in the others two.
Most have been fixed by firmware, but not all and sometimes even the ones that get fixed take months for new firmware to hit. Sad that all this new tech can't get the most important feature right. Being able to actually play the disc you bought.
A friend of mine is looking to buy a second player and I suggested getting an entirely different brand for the second one just to have back up in cases like this.
S Galbraith IV
09-25-09, 09:57 PM
Even though I have zero interest in video games, I'm tempted to get a PS3 simply because they seem to be able to play just about everything.
Gdrlv
09-25-09, 11:10 PM
Even though I have zero interest in video games, I'm tempted to get a PS3 simply because they seem to be able to play just about everything.
I have owned a PS3 since early 2007 and have never had any issues with a BD.
JimRochester
09-26-09, 01:02 AM
Even though I have zero interest in video games, I'm tempted to get a PS3 simply because they seem to be able to play just about everything.
:up: I even saw a SONY Blu-ray player not be able to play a Sound Stage SD. It played fine in a 10 year old POS SD player but not in the latest and agreatest BD player. A freakin' SD of all things!
I may go PS3 at some point too
AmityBoatTours
09-26-09, 01:10 AM
have never had one firmware or non playable disc issue on my samsung bd-p 1500 or 1600 and i made it through all the discs on my star trek season 2 with no issues also
TheMovieman
09-26-09, 02:28 AM
Well, mine played fine but I got a "Network connection failed" so I can't access BD-Live features.
JACOB
09-27-09, 04:41 PM
I was able to play season 2 on my panasonic 80 player. I did have the network failed. but when I went to the bdlive connection then I was able to connect to it.
Jacob
JACOB
09-27-09, 04:43 PM
double post
Jacob
JimRochester
09-27-09, 07:27 PM
deja vu all over again
deja vu all over again
mzupeman2
09-27-09, 07:32 PM
I didn't really hear about issues with TOS Season 1, so I'm not sure what this deja vu is all about, and I've got no playback problems on my Oppo.
S Galbraith IV
09-27-09, 08:06 PM
Panasonic owners having problems with S2 seem not to have experienced any problems with S1. (I myself didn't buy S1 on Blu-ray as I was satisfied with my HD DVD.)
At this point it's not clear what the problem is, but hopefully Panasonic and/or CBS/Paramount will address it sometime this week.
JimRochester
09-27-09, 11:09 PM
deja vu all over again
deja vu all over again
I didn't really hear about issues with TOS Season 1, so I'm not sure what this deja vu is all about, and I've got no playback problems on my Oppo.
I said deja vu because of Jacob's double post
JACOB
09-28-09, 12:56 AM
please.. this is about the star trek season 2 problem.. not about my double post.
Jacob
JimRochester
09-28-09, 09:57 AM
please.. this is about the star trek season 2 problem.. not about my double post.
Jacob
Don't sweat it, just bustin your balls. No harm done. ;)
buckee1
09-28-09, 10:35 AM
I see what you did there
I see what you did there
slop101
09-28-09, 11:50 AM
Even though I have zero interest in video games, I'm tempted to get a PS3 simply because they seem to be able to play just about everything.Yep - FWIW, I've had zero problems with playing blu-rays on my PS3.
darkside
09-28-09, 11:54 AM
Yep - FWIW, I've had zero problems with playing blu-rays on my PS3.
Same here. It is still my main player and I've never had a disc not play correctly on it in nearly 3 years of use. Too bad the standalones can't be more reliable.
bunkaroo
09-28-09, 12:17 PM
So is the BD30 supposedly affected?
JACOB
09-28-09, 06:51 PM
I did not find the remark that funny to begin with. i was trying to help the other person about the problem on the star trek season 2 blurays.
be mindful that some are not able to read humor.
Jacob
Numanoid
09-28-09, 08:18 PM
Never had any problems playing any disc in my HTPC with my LG HD/Blu combo drive. :banana: It can rip and burn too. ;)
Numanoid
09-28-09, 08:18 PM
be mindful that some are not able to read humor.Especially the humorless.
namja
09-28-09, 10:53 PM
C'mon JACOB. That was kinda funny.
Anyway, I bought the PS3 as well because I didn't want to deal with any issues. It seems like the best thing to do in terms of preventing frustrations.
S Galbraith IV
10-01-09, 09:53 PM
Well, here we are more than a week post-release, and not a peep from Panasonic, Paramount, or CBS about this issue, and -- for shame! -- not a mention from any of the Blu-ray news sites, though readers on forums like this one are still looking for answers.
It's not clear exactly how many players/customers are being effected by this, but if we consumers as a whole don't start demanding the studios and manufacturers address these problems in a timely and public matter, they'll just keep doing it again-and-again. Don't know about you, but I don't want to have to buy a new player every two years because they're too lazy/greedy to be bothered with quality control.
Your player may be next.
rfduncan
10-02-09, 10:00 AM
Even though I have zero interest in video games, I'm tempted to get a PS3 simply because they seem to be able to play just about everything.I have owned a PS3 since early 2007 and have never had any issues with a BD.
+1 And the ability to wirelessly update the firmware certainly doesn't hurt. A lot of the time, an update will be triggered when a disc that requires the update is put in the player.
Doctorossi
10-02-09, 12:19 PM
Your player may be next.
"First they came for the Panasonics, and I did not speak up because I do not have a Panasonic..."
lamphorn
10-02-09, 11:24 PM
I watch Blu Ray's on my computer, and enjoy the hell out of it, but considering the tremendous difficulty it took for me to bypass the copy protection just so I could WATCH a blu ray (not copy), and stories about how you simply have to go in to the format expecting that getting new releases to play will be a crapshoot, I still contend that...
Only problem I've had with the Season 2 set is the packaging. Why the need to slap the CBS logo on the Star Trek symbol?
Breakfast with Girls
10-03-09, 06:22 PM
PS3
Multiwizard
10-05-09, 12:18 AM
Only problem I've had with the Season 2 set is the packaging. Why the need to slap the CBS logo on the Star Trek symbol?
That isn't the CBS symbol...although it kinda looks like it.
That is the insignia for Starfleet's "Science" Division along with the Blue color of that division's uniform top.
The symbol on the Season One set is the "Command" insignia with the corresponding Gold color, and if you look at the symbol for the upcoming Season 3 set, that has the "Engineering" insignia with the corresponding Red color.
S Galbraith IV
10-07-09, 10:52 AM
Well, here we are two weeks post-street date, and still no word from CBS/Paramount or Panasonic about Firmware updates, an acknowlegdment of the problem, or help of any kind to anybody.
Meanwhile we've had the major PS3 firmware screw-up, and issues like my fellow poster's complains about SNOW WHITE. This is really nuts, especially in their way of leaving it up to the consumer to do all their QC work and either force the consumer to do all the leg-work and fix the problem on their own, or todd their 1 1/2-year-old player in the dustbin and drop another couple hundred on a new one.
Panasonic / Paramount / CBS: I'm not giving up until you fix this problem you created.
Admiral7
10-07-09, 11:22 AM
Well, on October 5th a firmware upgrade was issued for Sharp players having the same problem with the Star Trek: Season 2 BDs. However, I couldn't even get the upgrade to download properly. *sigh* But at least they're aware of the issue, and supposedly have fixed it (for Sharp players that is).
MTRodaba2468
10-07-09, 07:44 PM
Even though I have zero interest in video games, I'm tempted to get a PS3 simply because they seem to be able to play just about everything.
I have owned a PS3 since early 2007 and have never had any issues with a BD.
Agreed. I got my PS3 October of last year (via a contest at work; go me!), and I've never had any issues with playing BDs.
tom10i
10-19-09, 04:49 PM
Over the weekend, Paramount/CBS started sending an "Update" that loads automatically on Panasonic PD machines.
The result for me was that my BD-35 started to pause often on Season Two blurays that it had played just fine prior to the update and are now unusable unless I disconnect my internet connection prior to playing them and keep them that way the entire time I play them.
Thanks Paramount/CBS. Thanks Panasonic. Nice fix!
Commander Dan
10-19-09, 06:53 PM
Meanwhile we've had the major PS3 firmware screw-up...
What PS3 firmware screw-up? (I have a PS3, and will eventually get Star Trek: Season 2 on Blu-ray. What is it that I need to be worried about?)
Buy: