Bond Blu-ray discs not playing in some Blu-ray players

Aww, you post news now too, congrats! Is it known why this is happening? As if they don't know the cause, it might affect more movies I'd say!

Duke and BluRay = true love

@ Grrrrl

I've been posting news for awhile now. Mostly stuff that presents Blu-ray in a positive light. Funny how my news posts usually take a few days longer than everyone else's posts to get approved. I think it's because DoMiN8ToR wants to personally read them over to make sure I've dotted all my Is and crossed all my Ts. He sure likes to look out for me, and I can't thank him enough.

Does the Blu-ray camp know why this is happening? Well, they have all the kinks worked out of the technology now, so I'm sure that this is just a fluke.

Blu-ray sucks

"Blu-ray sucks"

Did your boyfriend come up with that?

I have a theory...in the form of a haiku...why you hate blu ray.

D V D is Red
High Definition is Blu
Bond works Sony; Crab too

You work (or more likely you use to work) for Sony, sweeping up after blu ray engineers. You hate them because they look down on you and now you spend all your time name calling. Good luck at your new job, Mr. BurgerKing.

Wow, what a personal indictment of someone, based upon that person's posting of an opinion about a technology.

Stay classy, Mr. discman009.

@discman009 (guest) Nice poem. But aside from that, what do you base your theory upon? Please elaborate. My theory "Blu-ray Sucks" is based upon a "superior tech to DVD" that wont play. Even after the customer busts ass and updates the firmware on their player. What happens if during that update...the freakin power goes out? Why in the heck should I need to "update" my player anyway that I just paid hundreds of dollars for, to simply play a damn movie disc/

Dude face it Blu-ray is a pain in the ass and over the top DRM will help kill it. KEEP THE STORIES COMIN DUKE! We need to know how bad this format sucks!!!

"KEEP THE STORIES COMIN DUKE!"

You read my posts? I was just doing it to vent my Sony hatred. I didn't think anyone was actually reading them. Nice to know.

*runs off to find more of Sony's dirty laundry*

crabby,

What do I base my theory on? Are you ready...absolutely nothing! Much like Duke's baseless, nonsensical articles.

Okay, how about you have no other choice. Assuming you like HD video, name one source that adheres to the following:

1. compact and easily portable
2. Not Erasable (no flash memory, no hdd)
3. hold at least 50 GB (no CD, DVD)
4. physical (no internet)
5. not theoretical--in actual production in North America

name it and I'll consider it.

And so your response to people who's opinions don't match your own is name calling? My articles have no shred of truth or make sense... to anyone? I find that very difficult to believe. Your choice is to kiss Sony's bum, and that's okay by me. Enjoy your root kits and exploding batteries. Meanwhile, I'll spread the dangers of apathy.

Yes, you'd have to 'assume that people like HD video' - because at the moment... people just don't give a damn about HD (and are ignoring it). It's nice, but it isn't worth the extra layout. HD will come to the masses, of course, over time. In some ways the industry is it's own worst enemy... most people who have paid for flat panel screens have 720p... so this doesn't look as good as 1080p - therefore people who have 'seen' HD have only seen 720p... which isn't that much better than upscaled DVD. Also, it's becoming clear that people will only buy 'certain' Movies in HD - which again dilutes the market.

Duke,

I recall just a few posts ago you referred to the Japanese as "little people"....so please be a hypocrite somewhere else.

Sony is a brand name, not a bum. Perhaps you need a medical textbook to illustrate the difference...oh wait, why don't you just look in a mirror. By the way, I'm calling you a bum...don't infer that I meant "as_s", though if you did that's okay by me.

Well, if you had bothered to research what I said then you would know I said "smallish", not "little". Technically that was correct. It wasn't said as a slight against the Japanese people. They are generally shorter in height than North Americans. And again with the name calling. I'm glad to see you're showing us your true colours and not hiding behind good manners and social niceties.

@discman009:

With all due respect, your arguement does not hold water though. Just because something is the only circus in town, does not make it a good product.

This is not the first time that we have seen playback problems with these Blu-ray discs. It is also not the first time people had to risk flashing firmware for a "fix".

I am just upset because HD would be great, but they have made an inferior protection scheme for it that is restrictive and violates my Fair Use Rights. It is aso interfering with customers purcheses and you can't get your money back on crap like this once you open the darn thing.

In addition, SOME of the problems are due to how they are "trickling out" these "enhancements" Like PIP and Directors comments. WTF! I'm tired of all this crap. Just sell me one of these discs you are describing with the content on it and thats all I want. I should not have to pay for a processor and various royalties to "decrypt" what I just bought!!! I DAMN SURE should not have to risk turning an expensive BR player into a fancy doorstop by flashing the damn firmware to watch a movie that I just paid out the ass for.

Right now BR is struggling to get a customer base. Can you imagine the crap they will pull if they can phase out DVD? I don't even want to think about it!

DVD ruled because "It just worked" And it will continue to rule for that same reason. BR is a pain in the freakin ass and you have to pay for too much DRM infested hardware to make it work, so I say SCREW IT!

This is why I say :

BLU-RAY SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vic_M first off. 720p looks great. it is what ABC, FOX, and Espn broadcast in. 1080p is awsome. But the only thing in that format is a crazy oppo dvd player wich is as much as a Blu ray player or a blu ray player or HD DVD player. The problem with blu ray is they keep updating the key that is needed to play the disc. that is what the firmware update are. new security keys so the movies cannot be hacked.

Here's a question. What happens if I buy one of these new Blu-Ray machines, but I don't have an Internet connection. Say for the cottage, or if I lived in the outside a city, or maybe if I just chose not to have the internet, how would I get these firmware updates? are you guys telling me I'd have to unhook my machine and drag it back to the manufacture for the update then bring it home and hook it up again? If that's the case it'll be a looooong time before this guy buys one.....That's just plain dumb ass!

Cheers all..carry on

LOL, Duke you did it again my man!!! OMG and the funny thing about this is Sony's own Bluray players are also having the issue. I agree with Crabby, why should I have to update my firmware in the first place? If you know anything about updating firmware, it can be a risky process. Several things can happen that can render your machine a useless pile of junk. I don't ever recall DVD players needing a firmware update. The only thing I can remember that DVD had trouble with was reading some discs back during the first few years of DVD. Also, what about the average consumer that isn't tech savy as some are? How would they know to update their firmware to get it to work? Is there a message that pops up saying so or is it cryptic and the disc simply won't play?

Instead of me saying "Blu-ray Sucks!" Id rather say:

Blu-ray Blows!

Don't forget in the early days of DVD, particularly when the first cheapo players came out there were playback problems as well. Although perhaps less critical we used to see lipsynching issues and the like. So Blu-ray may well suck, and personally I'd rather wait untill I can pay a fixed fee per month and stream the video straight to my TV - like a BlockbusterLovefilm Rental servive without the post or the discs - but for now I have decided to have a play with Blu-ray. I still mostly buy DVDs though since they are upscaled - no point in paying more for the same movie on Blu-ray I reckon. So yep there are many hurdles to go Blu-ray - will it be successful? Well I guess that all depends on the marketing job that's done on less well informed Joe Public.

@discman009

Stop acting childish and have some manners in this area, if people don't like DRM infested players thats their choice to make I for one hate the damn players not just based on DRM but the price tag and other issues such as changing to more expensive equipment.

This is the face of CDFreaks - The first impression of the entire site - keep it Civil.

And yes, DRM blows, but bluray doesn't.
DRM is optional on Bluray althoug to date always seems to be implemented - hence the issues.
Downloaded content is also DRM'd.

DVD's were CSS encrypted & region coded, which are still a problem to this day.

Bluray protection has been overcome, and it will be rendered next to useless similar to CSS & region coding were rendered useless.

The only problem with bluray is that the step from crappy analogue video tapes to digital Video was a huge step forward, a difference that even the clinically blind, over 40's, market could see.

The difference between SD Digital and HD Digital just isn't enough to convince people to fork out the $$$ for players & movies at current prices. In severaly years, it will be commonplace, and once PC based BD readers & burners drop in price, it will in the basket as DVD's - regardless of whether it sucks or not.

duke,

smallish? technically correct? are you kidding? The KKK think they're technically correct too....don't defend racism, it's ugly.

Debro-Blu-ray DRM is not optional for a player in which the primary function is to play back paid content like movies. Also, the only place where it has been "defeated" as you say is on computer and only after purchasing expensive software. (God Bless AnyDVDHD and the folks that left their homeland to fight for our Fair Use Rights. Who would pick up the burden if they were not around!?! Please support them through software purchases) The thing we have to remember is there is a difference now, in that Sony et tal are attempting to trade in a much weaker DRM system for one that is much more sophisticated. The vast majority of DVD players currently cannot be messed with much or the discs wont play period paragraph. This is not true with Blu-ray. I will always fight a paradigm that creates an end run around my legal rights and this Blu-ray attempt is a big one that we cannot lose!

I do agree that Blu-ray *might* have a place on someones PC as a storage medium for backups etc. So, I see what you are saying. For me, I can just use a NAS with autobackup like WHS. I already have the DVD anyway so I am ok there. Really, the only thing I am paranoid about is digital images from our camera. It is crazy how big the files are getting due to cheap megapixel sensors. I think we have an 8 megapixal right now and soon will go to 10 or more.

Also, I think you are right that we all are the "face" of CD Freaks and we are blessed with an international community. We always need to do whatever we can to represent ourselves in a way that is not likely to offend another culture. Without the great ethnic diversity that CDFreaks is blessed with, it would only be a mere shell of what it is today. I think no one tried to intentionally hurt someone but, it is easy to do with such a mix around here.

The KKK? You're comparing my comments to something the KKK might say? I'm white and the guy that lives across the street from me is black. In your book, I guess my comment is racist. I went to college with a Japanese guy who was a good friend of mine, but he was much shorter than me. I'm tall and he's short. There, another racist comment. Look, man, racism is how you *treat* people based on differences. If I don't buy from a store because the owner is Japanese, that's racism. I think you should go back to school.

"The difference between SD Digital and HD Digital just isn't enough to convince people to fork out the $$$ for players & movies at current prices."

Add ridiculous amounts of DRM and privacy issues and hence my opinion on why it blows..

I have internet connections and whatnot but I can assure you that my parents would not have a clue what do to. I'd get a phone call straight away: "help us, this stupid thing doesn't work!".

FW update is ridiculous. Unless they make it easy enough for a 2 year old to figure out, it's going to hurt sales big time. What's next, FW updates for cars!? I wouldn't be too surprised actually!

I sure wish there was someplace a guy could go to see a compatibility matrix of what player with what firmware will play the bond series. Does anyone know of a website that would have a list like that?

@ thunderdr

Yes, I believe it's www.Blu-ray.Plug.and.Pray.com.

I just bought a blu ray player 6 months ago, now I'm expecting to flash the firmware which is risky in itself to play blu ray movies. I'm deeply dissapointed.

Flashing firmware is risky, if the power turns off then you have to mail the player back to the manufacturer at your own expense for them to fix it.. on their own schedule.

I'm recommending to my friends that they don't go blu ray, it's just not worth it.