BD-UP5000 Universal Player Samsung [OFFICIAL OWNERS THREAD] & FAQ

[SpenceJT]

Originally Posted by seggers

My, aren't we the grown up one?

I lashed out $800 for a player to play HD DVD and BR discs. So far it has failed in that simple job. I didn't spend money on my car, only for it not to work and then hope that the manufacturer would swing past and fix it. Which, having read lots of posts here, doesn't seem to be the case for Samsung. They say silence is golden. It's not when you're waiting for something to work.

I'm a new member, I don't care how many posts you've made, I have a player, and firmware update or not, if it doesn't do what it says on the box (that would be the 'player' bit), then the POS goes back.

Now, I haven't been past the Samsung site yet to see if there's one out there.

I also chose this player over the LG unit and hope not to have to send it back. But if it doesn't work and I can get my $$$$ back, then back it goes.

I hope it goes well for you.

Want to quote something, don't quote it out of context making it slanted in any way other than the way that it was intended, please grab the entire quote.

My prior post was not to sing the 5000's praises. I acknowledge the machine's problems. I also acknowledge that the PS3 used for comparison has had a number of firmware updates to both fix problems as well as enable features.

Sorry, but I'm entitled to my opinion and here it is. It is my impression that... and it might only be 'me' seeing it... that there are entirely too many people willing to join in with the mob mentality against this player, when in fact no player (to the best of my recollection) previously brought to market has been without problems requiring firmware updates with which to fix. The thread has gone even further away from it's intended "owners - helping - owners", and toward the "Panasonic/PS3/insert brand name here" owners bashing on a multi-format player.

Like the Panasonic? Sing its wonderful praises in a thread for Panasonic owners, and don't perform a "drive by" posting slamming something that you never really had the intention of keeping in the first place.

Those without the $800 to 'gamble', go for what suits your ability to pay and makes you happy. Hell, I've got until the end of January to return, and have considered doing just that, but for what? For the hope that Samsung fixes it and for the hope that I can find it to 're-purchase' it. I paid under $500 for mine thanks to a 10% discount, some handy Gift Cards, Awards and reward Zone $$ and doubt I'd be able to do so again even if I could find one.

They are currently selling on eBay for over $800 anyway. Why would I return it when I could make a profit, should I wish to get rid of it?

I am sure I am not alone in that I have ultimately decided to take my chances with the player, and wish those of you who have decided otherwise with your choice to do otherwise.

In a month or two, depending on how Samsung works things for this player, I will either be very happy, or look very foolish and I'm good with that choice come what may.

For now, there are a handful of titles that I cannot play, however I've got the potential of playing over 400 titles from either camp (along with my modest library of SD titles) that I can play on a single unit, and that is something the Panasonic BD30 or Sony Playstation 3 will never be able to do.

...of course I can't play cool games on my Samsung, so there's that.

Cheers,

Spence

P.S. peterrudy - I realize that I was harsh in my reply to your posting. I apologize if I have offended you or anyone else. Should anyone want to do a fair comparison, try comparing it to the LG out of fairness, because the dual players are far more complex than any single player.

[dougmcbride]

Originally Posted by peterrudy

I am going to return mine in Circuit city before the month is over because whenever I hit STOP on the remote for both format movies, the disc resumes from the beginning just like the 1st generation players.

Peter

Did you try the "Resume Play" button as opposed to the regular "Play" (>) button? Seems weird to me but that seems to overcome the problem (at least on the discs I've tried it on).

Doug

[seggers]

Originally Posted by SpenceJT

Want to quote something, don't quote it out of context making it slanted in any way other than the way that it was intended, please grab the entire quote.
(Other bits removed for lack of space...)

Spence

Spence, ditto.

Alhough not specificially mentioned, I own the 5K, and not the BD30. I've also gambled on products in the past and been burnt.

And to correct you, your post that I replied to did come off like a drive by. The guy paid his money, didn't get what he thought he was and took it back.

Mob rule or not, if it doesn't work, then people are entitled to take it back and say so. Just as you are entitled to keep it and say so. And who knows, maybe the mob knows something that the 'keepers' don't?

There would be no stronger message sent to Samsung if 50% or more of their players were returned, because they just didn't do what it said on the box.

I may well be in the 'mob' position shortly. I dearly want to have the unit work. I dearly want to have HD and BR and not worry about this stupid format war. I dearly want to replace SD DVDs with the HD version, regardless of type. The Reon is nice, but my current Sony SD, with component cables, does a very nice job on my KDF-60XS955. Probably no where near the up convert, but pretty damn good.

But so far I am 2 for 2 on HD-DVDs. Life is just too short for this, and I spent a lot of money on something that doesn't even do its basic function (I don't, yet, have a HDMI receiver etc).

I really do wish you good luck with holding out. Unfortunately, I think you will end up looking foolish in the end. So far I haven't seen a whiff of the fabled FW update. In PC terms, this is known as Vapourware....

Dave M.

[SpenceJT]

Originally Posted by seggers

Spence, ditto.

Alhough not specificially mentioned, I own the 5K, and not the BD30. I've also gambled on products in the past and been burnt.

And to correct you, your post that I replied to did come off like a drive by. The guy paid his money, didn't get what he thought he was and took it back.

Mob rule or not, if it doesn't work, then people are entitled to take it back and say so. Just as you are entitled to keep it and say so. And who knows, maybe the mob knows something that the 'keepers' don't?

There would be no stronger message sent to Samsung if 50% or more of their players were returned, because they just didn't do what it said on the box.

I may well be in the 'mob' position shortly. I dearly want to have the unit work. I dearly want to have HD and BR and not worry about this stupid format war. I dearly want to replace SD DVDs with the HD version, regardless of type. The Reon is nice, but my current Sony SD, with component cables, does a very nice job on my KDF-60XS955. Probably no where near the up convert, but pretty damn good.

But so far I am 2 for 2 on HD-DVDs. Life is just too short for this, and I spent a lot of money that doesn't even do its basic function (I don't have a HDMI receiver etc).

I really do wish you good luck with holding out. Unfortunately, I think you will end up looking foolish in the end. So far I haven't seen a whiff of the fabled FW update. In PC terms, this is known as Vapourware....

Dave M.

Agreed. There would be a strong message to Samsung, by returning them to Best Buy only so long as these units are flagged as "defective", something I'm not sure all of those returning have or will do. If not flagged as defective, Best Buy can and will return the unit to the shelves for sale and given the short supply and demand for combo players, they will sell.

It's a 'fine line' - Do we as consumers purchase product, letting the corporate machine roll over us and continue to sell equipment before it is proven to be fully functional, or choose not to purchase said product and leave it up to the corporate suits, who may come to the conclusion that low initial sales indicate that there is no market for such a product and halt all development. Early adopters drive this industry. Unfortunately, the products have become ever more complex, with ever short model lifespan.

Keep in mind that corporations are the only parties with which to place blame. The companies have an ever shorter development window, due to the competition and the race to be "first to market". There will have to be some sort of paradigm shift away from this path, for this is a slippery slope where very few can win, and the customer almost always comes up having lost.

I hope I'm lucky and that Samsung makes good. In the event that they do not, I'm okay with that, and will choose to never give them another dime of my earnings.

Have a great weekend! Time to shovel more snow before the Packers play!

Cheers!

Spence

P.S. GO PACKERS!

[TiVoHD]

I just got done watching Ratatouille. As expected, there were serveral audio drop outs with the PCM track. I think someone said earlier that the audio drops when the angle icon pops up. I have screen messages turned off, so I didn't see the icon pop up, but I did notice the frequent audio drop outs. Other than that, the audio and video were flawless.

[haggisbingo]

Originally Posted by unbiased

Thanks for the status update on your RMA with BBFB. I just tried to call them at that support number listed (on your emails) and as expected, it says they are closed for business and to call back during business hours. This is in conflict with their sales ads that they have 24/7 help support. What a crock they are!

Same status here. No emails yet though. I'm hoping to have RMA by wednesday.

The one problem that i have is - no box. I wanted to love this player so much I was sure I wouldn't need the box so I threw it out.

Well if bbforb gets tough with me, I guess I'll take it to the CC company level....

[TiVoHD]

Originally Posted by haggisbingo

Same status here. No emails yet though. I'm hoping to have RMA by wednesday.

The one problem that i have is - no box. I wanted to love this player so much I was sure I wouldn't need the box so I threw it out.

Well if bbforb gets tough with me, I guess I'll take it to the CC company level....

Why would CC care what you bought at BBfB? If you really want to get your money back, just save yourself all this hassle and sell it on ebay.

[haggisbingo]

Originally Posted by TiVoHD

Why would CC care what you bought at BBfB? If you really want to get your money back, just save yourself all this hassle and sell it on ebay.

Well you can bring up the issue with CC company and they will dispute it with BBfB, if necessary. That's the best thing about buying with a credit card, or so my wife tells me - the added protection it affords..

Are they selling well on e-bay??

[TiVoHD]

Originally Posted by haggisbingo

Well you can bring up the issue with CC company and they will dispute it with BBfB, if necessary.

Are they selling well on e-bay??

Okay, I just figured out that you were talking about your Credit Card company and not Circuit City. Too many acronyms.

Yes, they're selling well on ebay. I wouldn't count on being able to return it if you don't have the box.

[Rightonbeat]

I tried the DVE HD DVD at it wouldnt do anything but the stereo channels.... hooked up with HDMI to the denon 4308ci.
So I couldnt run the 7.1 setup.

I assume thats because of the dolby true hd non support.
when i hit the audio button it reads true hd 7.1 but isnt sending it.

[Rightonbeat]

Originally Posted by brigont

Has anyone tried to calibrate this unit using the new DVE HD-DVD. If so, can you give impressions of how the unit handled the various calibrations?

BG

I tried the DVE HD DVD at it wouldnt do anything but the stereo channels.... hooked up with HDMI to the denon 4308ci.
So I couldnt run the 7.1 setup.

I assume thats because of the dolby true hd non support.
when i hit the audio button it reads true hd 7.1 but isnt sending it.

[HD Theater is it]

Originally Posted by SpenceJT

Want to quote something, don't quote it out of context making it slanted in any way other than the way that it was intended, please grab the entire quote.

My prior post was not to sing the 5000's praises. I acknowledge the machine's problems. I also acknowledge that the PS3 used for comparison has had a number of firmware updates to both fix problems as well as enable features.

Sorry, but I'm entitled to my opinion and here it is. It is my impression that... and it might only be 'me' seeing it... that there are entirely too many people willing to join in with the mob mentality against this player, when in fact no player (to the best of my recollection) previously brought to market has been without problems requiring firmware updates with which to fix. The thread has gone even further away from it's intended "owners - helping - owners", and toward the "Panasonic/PS3/insert brand name here" owners bashing on a multi-format player.

Like the Panasonic? Sing its wonderful praises in a thread for Panasonic owners, and don't perform a "drive by" posting slamming something that you never really had the intention of keeping in the first place.

Those without the $800 to 'gamble', go for what suits your ability to pay and makes you happy. Hell, I've got until the end of January to return, and have considered doing just that, but for what? For the hope that Samsung fixes it and for the hope that I can find it to 're-purchase' it. I paid under $500 for mine thanks to a 10% discount, some handy Gift Cards, Awards and reward Zone $$ and doubt I'd be able to do so again even if I could find one.

They are currently selling on eBay for over $800 anyway. Why would I return it when I could make a profit, should I wish to get rid of it?

I am sure I am not alone in that I have ultimately decided to take my chances with the player, and wish those of you who have decided otherwise with your choice to do otherwise.

In a month or two, depending on how Samsung works things for this player, I will either be very happy, or look very foolish and I'm good with that choice come what may.

For now, there are a handful of titles that I cannot play, however I've got the potential of playing over 400 titles from either camp (along with my modest library of SD titles) that I can play on a single unit, and that is something the Panasonic BD30 or Sony Playstation 3 will never be able to do.

...of course I can't play cool games on my Samsung, so there's that.

Cheers,

Spence

P.S. peterrudy - I realize that I was harsh in my reply to your posting. I apologize if I have offended you or anyone else. Should anyone want to do a fair comparison, try comparing it to the LG out of fairness, because the dual players are far more complex than any single player.

I agree, I bought my player just before Xmas and have been very happy ever since. I also have an Toshiba A2 up stairs in my master and my 5000 in the Media Room. Both players do what they were purchased for and as for my 5000, yes it does have issues, but who cares, a firm ware update will correct these issues. IMHO I think we need to be angry with the BR Group for not having a standard set alot earlier than now. If they did, I seriously doubt that we would have "issues" with certian movies as the hardware is just fine.

I enjoy my collection of HD/BR movies and would never return to regular DVD. In addition, as time moves forward and more dual format players come online you will see the value in your 5000 and not highlight the negatives and focus on helping each other with issues that arise.

Rgds,

[kwindrem]

Originally Posted by dougmcbride

Did you try the "Resume Play" button as opposed to the regular "Play" (>) button? Seems weird to me but that seems to overcome the problem (at least on the discs I've tried it on).

Doug

I've seen no difference in PLAY and RESUME PLAY buttons on the remote.

It appears that the DISC has control over whether or not resume play works. Pressing PLAY sometimes resumes from where you leave off -- sometimes not.

On some discs, you can generate a book mark easily by pressing the green B button. On other discs, you can press 1. That'll give you a place to go back to once you've hit PLAY and waited for all the legal and menu stuff and gotten back into the movie. Then you'll need to call up the scene selection in the disc menu and go to bookmarks. Not nearly as convenient as resume play but it's something.

It's all very inconsistent. Seems like the content provider has virtually total control over what a player can do and how it does it.

[kwindrem]

Originally Posted by Rightonbeat

I tried the DVE HD DVD at it wouldnt do anything but the stereo channels.... hooked up with HDMI to the denon 4308ci.
So I couldnt run the 7.1 setup.

I assume thats because of the dolby true hd non support.
when i hit the audio button it reads true hd 7.1 but isnt sending it.

For some reason, DVE has ONLY a DD TrueHD track in the audio section (but has a standard DD track in the video section). Go figure. A better choice would have been 7.1 PCM since all known players support it. Still better would be to offer multiple audio tracks so you can use the disc to test bitstream capabilities and decoders within your system. Very disappointing.

Fortunately, the flip side of the disc has a SD copy of the same information with different audio tracks that you can use for audio tests. Not as good as putting them on the HD side too but ...

[bdraw]

Hey guys, I'm writing a how to on Engadget about audio codecs and I'm sure the answer is some where in this 98 page thread, but I just want to be clear.

The BD-UP5000 can decode and bitstream all codecs except DTS-HD MA, right?
And the decoded audio can be outputed via analog outs?

Also I expect a BD-UP5000 in for review from Samsung any day now so if there are any grips you want to make sure get exposed, I'd love to hear about them and yes Samsung will read the review. I can also address any problems with them directly.

Thanks for your help.

[SpenceJT]

Originally Posted by bdraw

Hey guys, I'm writing a how to on Engadget about audio codecs and I'm sure the answer is some where in this 98 page thread, but I just want to be clear.

The BD-UP5000 can decode and bitstream all codecs except DTS-HD MA, right?
And the decoded audio can be outputed via analog outs?

Also I expect a BD-UP5000 in for review from Samsung any day now so if there are any grips you want to make sure get exposed, I'd love to hear about them and yes Samsung will read the review. I can also address any problems with them directly.

Thanks for your help.

If you can, please post the firmware revision on the hardware you receive for review. Many would be interested in this, and if the player is able to play Resident Evil Extinction, 3:10 to Yuma, and Sunshine (among others). It is reasonable to believe that Samsung is close to releasing it's first public firmware update for this player, and one would expect it to be pre-loaded on any official unit destined for review.

Thank you, and good luck!

Spence

[bdraw]

Originally Posted by SpenceJT

If you can, please post the firmware revision on the hardware you receive for review. Many would be interested in this, and if the player is able to play Resident Evil Extinction, 3:10 to Yuma, and Sunshine (among others). It is reasonable to believe that Samsung is close to releasing it's first public firmware update for this player, and one would expect it to be pre-loaded on any official unit destined for review.

Thank you, and good luck!

Spence

Thanks, I'll be sure to do that, what about the current firmware versions and its ability to handle TrueHD and DTS-HD MA?

[TiVoHD]

Originally Posted by bdraw

The BD-UP5000 can decode and bitstream all codecs except DTS-HD MA, right?
And the decoded audio can be outputed via analog outs?

Currently, it CANNOT bitstream anything but basic Dolby Digital and DTS. Even Dolbly Digital plus gets downmixed to Dolby Digital before it's bitstreamed. It can internally decode TrueHD, but only 2 channels so there's no real point in it. Uncompressed PCM is the only high-res audio that currently works properly.

[SpenceJT]

Originally Posted by bdraw

Thanks, I'll be sure to do that, what about the current firmware versions and its ability to handle TrueHD and DTS-HD MA?

Many of us are looking forward to your review. Perhaps, some official listing of the player's shortcomings, along with the many owners hoping for a 'cure' via firmware update will provide additional heat beneath the collective arses at Samsung's Consumer Video department.

Spence

[haggisbingo]

Originally Posted by SpenceJT

If you can, please post the firmware revision on the hardware you receive for review. Many would be interested in this, and if the player is able to play Resident Evil Extinction, 3:10 to Yuma, and Sunshine (among others). It is reasonable to believe that Samsung is close to releasing it's first public firmware update for this player, and one would expect it to be pre-loaded on any official unit destined for review.

Thank you, and good luck!

Spence

Ok, my wife actually called Samsung support too. They said a firmware was ready but that it caused too many problems. Now they say it will be available within 30 days, which pushes it into February.

[Murrayb]

Will be interested to read your review, Ben. If you have a few days to read through this thread, I think you'll find the main issues with the 5000 are:

1. It doesn't play any of the advance codecs in 5.1 or 7.1 mode. True HD can be heard in stereo, which is rather useless in a home theatre setup.

2. It doesn't seem to play a number of recent BR disks. Many reported problems with Fox discs. Sunshine, 3:10 to Yuma and Resident Evil also don't play.

3. Audio drop outs on quite a few SD disks. Seems to be a random problem.

4. It automatically forces 4:3 films to stretch to widescreen mode.

[bdraw]

Originally Posted by TiVoHD

Currently, it CANNOT bitstream anything but basic Dolby Digital and DTS. Even Dolbly Digital plus gets downmixed to Dolby Digital before it's bitstreamed. It can internally decode TrueHD, but only 2 channels so there's no real point in it. Uncompressed PCM is the only high-res audio that currently works properly.

Holly crap is that lame. I had no idea the player was so inept at next gen audio codecs.

[haggisbingo]

Originally Posted by bdraw

Thanks, I'll be sure to do that, what about the current firmware versions and its ability to handle TrueHD and DTS-HD MA?

Ok, here are the majors:

1.) Playback issues: cannot play certain discs like 3:10 to Yuma, probably because they are 1.1. I've heard some HD-DVDs like Star Trek don't play either. Weird things like "Day after Tomorrow" BD retail will play but 2 different versions I've received from Netflix do not.
2.) TrueHD IS ONLY 2 CHANNEL. I don't think anybody wants 2 channel TrueHD. We don't really know if this will be fixed or not
3.) DTS-MA is not available at all although it was promised to be in a February f/w. Now some from Samsung are saying it will be available in May. Others from Samsung have said the hardware has problems that make it impossible to ever work!!!
The good news is that the Reon seems to work very well..

Thanks!

[BenDover]

Originally Posted by bdraw

Hey guys, I'm writing a how to on Engadget about audio codecs and I'm sure the answer is some where in this 98 page thread, but I just want to be clear.

The BD-UP5000 can decode and bitstream all codecs except DTS-HD MA, right?
And the decoded audio can be outputed via analog outs?

Also I expect a BD-UP5000 in for review from Samsung any day now so if there are any grips you want to make sure get exposed, I'd love to hear about them and yes Samsung will read the review. I can also address any problems with them directly.

Thanks for your help.

A few things to address:

1. Bitstream audio output of advanced codecs: currently CANNOT bitstream avanced audio codecs.
2. Internal decoding of advanced audio codecs: currently only decodes 2ch Dolby TrueHD, NOT multichannel DD-THD; currently CANNOT decode DTS-HD HR/MA.
3. Profile level: currently profile 1.0, version 1.0 (grace period); unclear whether this player will be upgraded to profile 1.0, version 1.10 (Bonus View).
4. There is a thread that has a listing of titles that one or more owners have had some difficulty in playing back.

I think that summarizes *my* thoughts/concerns/views...

Good Luck and we look forward to a review that puts pressure on Samsung to resolve the unanswered questions.

My unit is going back unless/until Samsung provides official position.

[Raptor007]

Originally Posted by jds12

Make sure that you have both the receiver and TV/projector on with the receiver either set to pass-through or auto. It states in the manual on page 42 - if the HDMI auto detection feature doesn't work you cannot select 1080p or movieframe (24fps).

I ran into this problem also and set my receiver to pass-through and always ensured projector was on first in the macro sequence of my remote.

It would be nice if Samsung allowed a fixed setting as well as per the PS3 set-up. Maybe this will come in the now legendary firmware fix in 2012.

Jds

Actually, the video is going straight from the 5000 to a Samsung LCD, audio connected by coax to the receiver. But perhaps it is an issue of whether I turn the TV on before the 5000? I'll investigate that later.

[George Kouzev]

Ben, there is an excellent Wiki page that has summary of what the player can and cannot do. The link is on the first post of this thread. Here is the link to a table that has a good capture on audio format support:

http://bd-up5000.wikidot.com/audio

I believe Samsung will make every effort to provide you with the new FW version.

[bdraw]

Originally Posted by George Kouzev

Ben, there us an excellent Wiki page that has summary of what the player can and cannot do. The link is on the first post of this thread. Here is the link to a table that has a good capture on audio format support:

http://bd-up5000.wikidot.com/audio

Thanks for the link, I actually read through it, but I just wanted to make sure it was up to date.

[bdraw]

I couldn't wait to report on this, it is ridiculous, so I wrote a post about the problems described above, while I wait for my review unit.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/12...ng-to-deliver/

Thanks again guys. I'm contacting Samsung too, we'll see what their PR department has to say.

[Hogweed75]

Originally Posted by bdraw

I couldn't wait to report on this, it is ridiculous, so I wrote a post about the problems described above, while I wait for my review unit.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/12...ng-to-deliver/

Thanks again guys. I'm contacting Samsung too, we'll see what their PR department has to say.

Awesome! This should get Samsung's attention.

[shawndover]

Superb! Thank you. Hopefully this will put pressure on Samsung to fix the shortcomings, and to acknowledge their plans to do so.

Originally Posted by bdraw

I couldn't wait to report on this, it is ridiculous, so I wrote a post about the problems described above, while I wait for my review unit.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/12...ng-to-deliver/

Thanks again guys. I'm contacting Samsung too, we'll see what their PR department has to say.