Official Panasonic DMP-BD35/55 Owners Thread - Page 485

This subject has been discussed MANY times in MANY thread throughout these boards.

You are correct. There is no law against an individual consumer purchasing and using one of those devices, as long as they are not using it to copy copyrighted materials. Many stateside businesses no longer sell devices like the HD Fury for simple liability reasons, but there are no such concerns for vendors selling from overseas, nor is there an issue with an individual importing one for personal, copyright-abiding uses.

As long as you have one, and you're not making illegal copies with it, you're fine, no matter where you purchased it. So if you an individual (check) and want to use one to simply watch TV on your RPTV TV via component instead of HDMI (check), then there is no reason why you aren't perfectly well within your right to purchase one of the several devices (such as the HD Fury) to enable you to do this. Nothing "sketchy" about it, in this scenario.

Once you have one, you no longer need to worry about firmware updates for your various devices causing issues with respect to HD over component, as an added bonus. And future devices that are HDMI-only will be just as useful for you (as long as you can set the output to 1080i, or have a scaler/AVR-with-scaler to change it).

Why do they want to keep it at 480P?

Guess you should tell it to Amazon.

I just tried to install the new update several times and it wouldn't work. It basically starts downloading it but it freezes at 5 or 10% and never goes through. Never had that problem with previous updates - any suggestions?

Put it on a CD.

Hello everyone!

I am having a very strange audio issue with my BD55 and was wondering if anyone else experienced it. Yesterday I realized the unit is not outputting 5.1 sound in any of the formats, be that multich PCM, DTS, DD, etc.

The BD55 is connected via HDMI to a Denon 1910 receiver. The problem must lie in the BD55 since other HDMI connected players output multichannel sound fine.

I have reviewed all setttings I could think of on the BD player, but I didn't change anything before I noticed this started happening anyway.

I tried unplugging, passing audio via optical with the HDMI audio set to off, still stereo output.

Thanks for any input guys!

You might try a full reset of the player.

Thanks BIslander, never done it before, how do you do it?

When you said you "tried unplugging," were you referring to unplugging the HDMI cable? If so, try unplugging the power cord from the player. Maybe that will help the player reset itself.

When I get issues like these on my BD35, a simple turning off and then back on of the unit resolves the problem. But maybe you need to go a step further and completely unplug the player.

I'm sure BIslander will post a more thorough solution, but until then, give my suggestion a shot (if you haven't already).

When trying this, bear in mind that some players have a limited amount of on-board power, so leave it unplugged for at least 15 minutes, if not overnight, to be sure you're getting the full effect.

p38 of the manual. Turn the player off. Press and hold three buttons (pause, power, open/close) for more than 5 seconds until Hello appears on the display.

Thanks guys, I meant I had unplugged the power, but this time left it unplugged for 15 minutes, following NovaKane and Kalani's advice. BIslander, I tried those reset instructions, but if I press those three buttons simultaneously for more than 5 seconds, nothing happens. Only when I release them I get the HELLO and the tray opens. Also tried Restore Default Settings via Setup. Played a 5.1 bluray, still get stereo output. This is pretty frustrating, I wonder if something went bad on the player, unusual. By the way, I also did the speaker test found on the Analog Audio menu, and center and surround speakers were mute, consistent with the symptoms. That can't be good, right?

I did try that too but it didnt work either - it takes the CD, says "BYE" and restarts, but then when it comes up it just says E DISK and ejects the CD out ...

rand512, are you having the same issue as I with the stereo only sound?

The analog speaker settings should not have anything to do with output over HDMI. But, yes, it is curious that the center and surrounds seem to be disabled.

If this stereo problem happens when the player is set to bitstream for DTS and Dolby and secondary audio is set to Off, that would suggest a problem with the receiver since the player isn't doing any audio processing.

You mentioned that setting HDMI Audio to Off in the AVR did not help. Have you tried disconnecting the HDMI cable from the AVR to the TV? That guarantees the TV can't instruct the player to decode and downmix to stereo. TVs are two channel devices and the HDMI handshake is a common cause of unexpected stereo downmixing.

I agree with you in that those settings make the receiver handle the decoding and therefore would indicate a problem on the AVR, but I have a Sony DVD player and Popcorn Hour media player both via HDMI to the AVR, both output multichannel sound without an issue. I set the HDMI Audio to Off on the BD55 when I tested audio via optical, just in case the HDMI set to on had priority over optical, still got stereo.

I have not tried disconnecting the TV from the HDMI Out on the AVR, will try it when i get home this evening. I suppose you mean disconnecting and then back in? Sorry if the question is dumb, just that cable is the bridge for all HDMI inputs plugged on the AVR.

Yes. Disconnect it as a test.

Just tested it. TV/AVR HDMI cable disconnected, audio still outputs as stereo
Any other ideas?

Let me see if I understand this: you bitstream a DVD with a DD 5.1 track to your receiver over optical and you get surround sound. But, when you bitstream the same track from the same DVD over the same optical cable to the same input on your receiver, you get stereo?

Thanks for your response. I only have this issue with the BD55 bluray player. The BD55, a Sony DVD player and a media player are connected to the receiver in three different inputs, all via HDMI. Then there is an HDMI out to the TV from the receiver for switching. The other two HDMI connected devices output 5.1 fine. This "stereo only" issue is exclusive to the BD55. One of the troubleshooting steps I took was bitstreaming 5.1 to the receiver over optical, still got stereo (I also tried disabling HDMI Audio on the BD55 menu before testing with optical, in case it has priority if set to ON).

I guess I wasn't clear.

I suggest you attach the DVD player, setting it to bitstream and using optical to a specific input on the AVR. Play a DVD with a DD 5.1 track. Does the AVR display show Dolby Digital with the 5.1 speakers lit up?

Then, move the optical cable from the DVD player to the BD55 (also set to bitstream) without changing anything else. Play the same track on the DVD.

With this approach, the only thing that changes is the player. You'll be using the same playback source, the same cable, and the same input on your AVR. If you troubleshoot by changing more than one variable, it's not possible to isolate the cause of the problem. I recommend starting with the optical connection because there's no handshaking involved. Also, you should disconnect the HDMI cables from the AVR to the other devices to make sure they aren't playing a part in this troubleshooting test.

ops, that was supposed to be a response for bweissman...

Sorry to get back late, issue is all solved, my Denon receiver somehow got set to output stereo no matter what signal it received.

Thanks for your feedback!

Hi guys. I have a question I also asked in the Onkyo 609 thread but haven't gotten responses. I just picked the AVR up this weekend and hooked everything up. My problem is the AVR says no signal when playing something from the bd55(or WDTV live media player either) when connected via HDMI. When I either turn on the BD player or switch from one input to the BD one, the TV screen flickers a bit and then nothing..just blue, and the AVR reads no signal. I tried absolutely everything I can think of, to no avail.

The HDMI OUT on receiver works to my tv because I was able to try out the ARC feature perfectly, as well as see all the on-screen menus from the AVR on the TV. I tried only connecting the BD55 by itself at various HDMI inputs(re-assigning them each time). I tried changing the hdmi output options on the BD55 from bitstream to pcm, etc...the resolution, etc. I did resets on the AVR.

The BD55 I believe is NOT the culprit seeing as how when connected to my TV directly it works fine(same goes for the WD media player). However, I ask here just to be sure. What do you guys think? I wish I had another BDplayer to test with AVR...but I don't, so I'm waiting to exchange the AVR for another one and see. Thanks guys.

Do you have any other device w/an HDMI output? That would quickly answer if it's the AVR.

Hi. Well, besides the blu-ray player I have a Western Digital Media player(WD TV live http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330) that has hdmi output. That signal wasn't detected either. I'm leaning towards the AVR since two different hdmi signals weren't detected. That and the fact that ARC worked, but HDMI through didn't. I turned the AVR off and the signal did not go through to the tv. I'm replacing an old(2003 pioneer vsx-812) which has worked flawlessly all these years, and now I'm concerned (after reading bad reviews) about getting this Onkyo receiver. Should I just get the Pioneer equiavent?(vsx-1021) I would hate to have long-term issues with whatever AVR I choose.

In the end, I hope it's not my Panny bluray that's to blame.

I have a Yamaha Aventage A-2000 and love it. Works well with my BD55, Directv, Roku, Samsung A750 series TV and home network. Dirt cheap if you can find one as the A-X010 series just hit the market.

I suddenly had the `function disabled' box pop-up on the blu -ray startup blue screen tonight and it is doing it for every single blu-ray I have (4 rentals). Nothing will get me past this screen. It will play sd dvds. ANy ideads guys??

Explain further please. What are you trying to do? If it is skipping through previews, then some studios lock that function, particularly Warner.


S~

It is playing dvds fine but not blu rays. I pop in any disc. The `blu-ray' blue screensaver looking page appears like it is about to load but it either the `function' disabled' or `cannot play disc' box pops up on all my BRs. No scratches or anything on the discs...I've had the player for nearly 3 years so its not a firmware issue.