Official Panasonic DMP-BD60/80 Owners Thread - Page 268

Blacklion, I received Source Code today from BlockBuster and no trouble playing in my 70V. Sounds like your blue laser my be dying.

Hello, new to the forum and I was wondering if anyone could help. I own the Panasonic BD60 Blu-ray player and I just did a firmware update to version 2.5. So far everything is great, and I can even play the star wars bluray set with no issues. Last night I purchased the Nirvana bluray concert and during the show I am having audio sync problems. I`ve never had these issues before and it was suggested that I play with the av settings regarding audio authoring in my set up. Now, I am no teckie and really don`t know what this is. I`m trying to figure out if the issues is with the actual disc, or if it can be fixed in my set up? Other people who purchased the disc did not have audio sync issues.

Is there anyone here that is good with this sort of thing? Would appreciate the help.

If all other Blu-Ray discs play ok, then I would say it's an issue with the Nirvana disc. Exchange it and see if the new one plays. If not, it might be a mastering problem with all Nirvana discs (maybe a small production co., that didn't get it quite get the re-mastering right ... that's old footage, right?).

As a side note ... I often use concerts to test for lip-sync. Watch the drummer close-ups. However, that is extreme sync... normal movie dialog might pass if just a few ms off.

Thank you. I will exchange the disc and see what happens. It is an old show, shot in 1991 on 16mm film, it looks and sounds beautiful, just out of sync in places, but for some reason it is only when the drummer is playing, any other shot of the stage or singer is fine.

So you dont' think I should have the settings changed then? I was wondering, most of the settings for the player, I'm not sure what's best to have selected. Is there a general rule for this kind of stuff? Is there a chart somewhere of suggestions on the settings I should have?

I found this info regarding my player and I'm wondering if this could be causing the issues with my audio sync?

"The DMP-BD60 has a strong feature set; the only limitations are on the analog side of the house. To get the most out of the DMP-BD60's advanced audio capabilities, you'll need an HDMI-equipped A/V receiver or surround processor, since the analog audio outputs are limited to two-channel. The HDMI output is version 1.3a, with Deep Color compatibility and onboard decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio (to PCM). It has the ability to transmit both lossless formats as native bitstreams. The DMP-BD60 includes component video, S-video, and composite video connections, along with a TosLink digital audio connection"

I'm using a 10 year old technics receiver with no HDMI hookup, just straight stereo output from two cerwin vega speakers. Good enough for me and I've never had an issue with sound, but now I'm wondering if this could be my problem with this nirvana bluray?

"it is only when the drummer is playing, any other shot of the stage or singer is fine."

Makes me think it is how the disc was mastered not your hardware.

One of the advantages of HDMI, is that if you run audio and video over it ... it syncs it perfectly ... I've never had lip-sync issues with HDMI.

The only time it's an issue is when you are forced to marry SPDIF audio with a "video only" signal (ie ... RGB, DVI, Component). That sounds like what your problem is and not the disc. Newer amps usually have a setting to introduce a ms delay or advance to compensate.

I also didn't think I needed a HDMI capable AVR at first either ... but once you try it ... well, I'll never go back.

Am I right in thinking that there is nothing to set in the BD-80 for Closed Captioning, and it's all done in the TV? I see nothing in the manual about it.
I've got one connected to a Samsung LN52A850 using both an HDMI cable and component cables.
If there are no subtitles, I use the component input to the TV for CC.
The TV is set Caption On and Caption Mode is Default.
This setup has worked before when there have been no subtitles, but it's been quite a while since I've had to use the component cables.
I've got a DVD from Netflix that won't show CC. It's Aces 'N Eights, a western from 2008. There are no subtitles.
The Netflix website says the DVD has CC. It could be wrong. Doing a search, some say it has CC, others don't mention it. I don't have any other DVDs to check.

Lots of good info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_captioning

I guess I never really thought about it. On DVDs, I just use SubTitles.

Looks like you DO have to use a signal (analog ?) other than HD/HDMI. CC is a sub-stream-signal inserted into the MPEG that gets decoded. If it hasn't been added, it can't be decoded and displayed.

EDIT:

Found this in a forum ... Looks like a Windows PC would be a good test of CC on DVD.

if you ever want to watch DVDs on your computer WITH close captionings (that is, if the DVD has CC logo on it), Windows Media Player has the Closed Caption option, and WMP is usually standard on any PCs. WMP, DVDs and CC works great for me. My poor portable DVD player is in bad shape now, that I've had to resort to using my computer to watch my DVDs haha. At least computer has caption, the DVD player did not.

Thanks for the quick reply. I put the DVD in my PC and started it.
At the bottom of the screen, I clicked on DVD. One of the choices was Special Features. Clicked on that and an option was Captions.
Clicked on that and was given options of Off with a dot in front of it and Defaults.
Clicked on Defaults and set everything to English including "Lyrics, Captions and Subtitles" and clicked OK.
No CC. That dot in front of Off did not move down to Defaults.

ahh piece of junk, mine just died on me, its stopped reading dvd's/blu-ray's. It is up to date w/ the firmware. Did some research and it seems to happen quite often. Mine didnt last 2 years. I use it occasionaly. *Sigh*

I've just noticed that whenever I play any discs (either DVD or Blu-Ray) I never seem to get Dolby Digital (5.1) anymore I only ever get 2 channels. Moreover the number of channels available when you press the 'Audio' button on the remote only ever gives me the 2.1 options, despite there being a disc with 5.1 loaded. Currently the BD player is connected to the TV via HDMI and via Toslink to a Yamaha 7.1 receiver. I've tried the same discs through a Mac Mini (also through the same Toslink in on the receiver) and the Digital content plays perfectly.
I've had a good play with the audio settings and even returned them to defaults just in case...but to no avail. I have noticed something, however thats a bit strange. When the HDMI Audio Output is set to 'on' i get the 2 channel sound via the receiver, but when the HDMI Audio Output is set to 'off' (like i would expect it to be- in this case), i get no sound at all!
The firmware is up-to-date; i would appreciate any help...i'm baffled.

Ok maybe not horrible but defenately not satisfactory. I own a Panasonic bdp 60, denon avr 1911, and a 5.1 set of Fluance speakers (plus 2 pioneer for rear) and to tell you the truth when ever I hear anything aside from the blu ray player on my avr I am completey happy. Yet when I watch movies I am always left wanting something for example: clarity, punch, and control. Simply put, I am left underwhelmed. I know I cant be crazy because I am sure I have hear better... even from home theater in a box. I also know it cant be the content because I have very good sounding blurays. Many even given "5 stars" in audio and fit to pleace andy "audiophile." Some of my tittles include Lion King, Harry Potter (4-7), Slumdog Millionare, Star Trek...ect.

What am I missing? Is it possible for a bluray player to have amateur or simply poor audio reproduction capabilities? I can't possibly know because none of the reviews I find mention sound in their reviews (a big mistake in my opinion).

Do any of you have the same experience with the Panasonic I own or is it that my system is just plainly set up wrong. Again something I doubt becaue I listen to music on it all the time using my computer connecting it via hdmi to my avr and the results are more than satisfactory. I just don't know. Any insight into this is apreciated.

Thanks.

It's possible you set the player up incorrectly.
Connect the player to the Denon with a HDMI cable. On the Panny, go to setup, Audio, Digital Audio Output. Set Dolby D to Bitstream, set DTS/DTS HD to Bitstream, Set BD-Video Secondary Audio to Off.
Set Dymanic Range Compression to Off, Set PCM downconversion to Off.

When playing your Blu-ray discs the Denon should indicate that it is processing a Dolby TruHD or DTS HD Master signal, if not something is still screwed up.

Remember, if you are using HDMI and bitstreaming you are only sending bits to the AVR, the AVR is doing the heavy lifting. There should be no difference between a Panny, HK, or Oppo when all you send is bits.

Got the exact same problem as you. Hit or miss with BD's that all used to play. Latest firmware.

same problem with the 85k player just one year old,first it only happened once sometimes when i put the disc in and it said no disc or it would not read
two days ago it did not read any bluray disc
I bought this from BB with an black tie warranty,so I just sent it there and let them fix it but I also bought a oppo 93 to replace it

Well just bought the Panny BDT110. Comes with Avatar 3D BD after sending in the paper work. Will sell it to reduce the cost of the player.

Thanks to everyone for their input,
Robert

P.S. Hope your 60 last longer than mine did!

Wow, good to know this thread is still going.

I own the BD80 and found this past weekend that the regular blu-ray of Avatar wouldn't play. I found on page 255 that it seems some FW update made this possible so probably the reason why Avatar worked one time when I first bought it but won't know since I haven't played it since even though there was one time several months ago where it finally played after unloading / loading countless times. I tried this again with no success.

Am I out of luck on this? I found a lot on the web about Avatar not playing on various BDP's but not too much specifically on Panasonic BDP's except page 255. I just wondered if there was a work around even though I have no intention of ripping Avatar illegally. I actually found this as a suggestion while searching with even some procedure. I know when my Toshiba XA2 HD DVD was still having FW with some causing problems that folks were able to change the code so they could put the FW level back to an old one allowing a previous version to be loaded thus eliminating the problems with the latest version. I didn't find anything on this.

Thanks for any help on this. I haven't come across any other blu-rays not working besides Avatar.

Robert

Try erasing BD Live memory / format the SD memory card. I found that if a BD doesn't load yet it did play once that erasing the memory helps.

Okay, I'll give that a try. I did add one when I found out that Starship Troopers would only play if a memory card was added. Sure enough it worked after adding but don't use besides this one reason. I guess there is a way to format the SD card through the BD80's menu? I was thinking the one FW allowed Avatar to run okay but then didn't when I update the FW later. This is what page 255 seemed to indicate but will definitely try formatting the SD memory card and trying Avatar again, easy enough to try.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Robert

Has anyone experience problems with LPCM 1.0 soundtracks on this player?

I'm having a hard time to figure out whether it is my player (BD60) or receiver (a NAD T747) that has problems offering/handling a LPCM 1.0 soundtrack. The BD60 is set to bitstream any format, and the HD audio capable receiver has played any other audio format presented to it without any sort of problems. Anything from DTS HD MA 1.0 to Multi PCM 7.1 soundtracks plays perfectly.

But when I purchased two Criterion releases of The Killing and Paths of Glory, which both are equipped with LPCM 1.0 soundtracks (why they don't use a lossless audio codec instead, like everybody else, is beyond me), I suddenly found myself in a situation where the movie plays, but without any audio. The receiver displays "No audio input", hinting that the player may be the issue at hand. If I hit fast forward I suddenly get audio, but then in PCM 2.0 dual channel mono mode. Hit play again, and the audio disappears again.

I first thought it might me a faulty audio bit setting from Criterion's part, but as I've managed to reproduce the problem with other discs from other distributors, that's likely not the case anyway. You see, while investigating I tried to set the BD60's audio settings for Dolby and DTS from bitstream to PCM transcoding. Thus, when I popped in my Warner Bros. disc of Lolita, equipped with at DTS HD MA 1.0 soundtrack, it was transcoded to PCM 1.0, and once again; no audio in normal play mode, and PCM 2.0 speeded up sound in fast forwarding mode.

The situation is a bit frustrating. In essence it means that whenever I want to play a Criterion Blu-ray disc I must change the player's audio settings to secondary audio mode, and get the HD audio track compressed down to Dolby Digital, which works, and then change back after. It works, but it takes time, and it means I'm not getting the full audio quality of the movie I'm watching.

Has anyone else experienced this, or does anyone have the chance to check it out? Better yet; does anyone have a solution?

Thanks in advance for all input.

Not much more that you can do because the limiting factor is what is on that particular BR disc. When you hit 1.5X, that becomes PLII-X that results in sounds coming from your two fronts. So audio playback has to do with what your AVR is able to do, aside from a possible mono setting or possibly having all speakers in stereo multi-channel mode (which is just mono from all of the speakers, in this case), not much more that you can do about it and is a drawback of 1.0 in films. I would have thought that your center speaker would work in 1.0 with the fronts noticeably not producing anything - that's what happens in my home theater setup.

I know about the limitations of 1.0 mono, that's not the problem. I've got several discs with Dolby Digital 1.0 and DTS HD Master Audio 1.0 - Warner Bros. are known for using 1.0 soundtracks on their older movies, as opposed to many other studios which release mono tracks as a 2.0 dual channel mono track. All of those discs render audio just fine, and the receiver correctly reports them as being 1.0 tracks, and audio is only present in the center channel, as it should. The problem is limited ONLY to PCM 1.0. Any other PCM audio track plays fine too. The receiver is reported to be compatible with any and all formats available on Blu-ray discs these days.

So what I need is not an explanation about the limitations of a 1.0 audio track. I'm trying to figure out if the lack of audio playback in the case of a PCM 1.0 audio track is the disc, the player or the receiver, and if there is a way to fix it.

It's interesting to know that the player defaults to PLII-X in 1.5FF mode, though. That explains why it works in that mode, but not why it doesn't in regular play mode.

LPCM is lossless. It's also uncompressed.

I know that, thank you for emphasizing my point! If they had used a lossless HD audio format they'd have more space available on the disc for video with higher bitrate, more extras, etc.

Hi all,

I got my BD-60 two years ago Christmas. About three weeks ago, it quit reading discs. BD, DVD, CD, nothing. I've tried the factory re-set, I took it apart and used my can duster on the inside, nothing helps. It still turns on, accesses the internet, firmware is up to date. Anyway, it sounds like it's played its last disc.

Needless to say, I'm a little hesitant to buy another Panasonic. I've been reading reviews on other blu-ray players, and am drawn to the Panny BDT-210, oddly enough. Opinions? I realize I might get some biased opinions by asking this in a Panasonic thread. I have been considering the PS3 as an all-around solution, but the wife doesn't want to spend quite that much. That and she thinks it will turn into a way to spend more money on games/accessories.

Any input is much appreciated. Thanks!

If you don't need the wireless internet connection consider the 110. I went from a 60 to the 85 and now have the 210 and still have my 70V for the occasional VHS tape. You will be paying a lot less for the 110 or 210 than you did for your 60 - at least I did. My expectations now are that they are throwaways and going to be replaced every couple of years. Speaking to that, you may want to stay with the 210 for the touchless tray opener. The player is so light weight that trying to open the tray using a button press the unit slides all over the place. The touchless sensor helps with that.

I agree the 210 is a good buy and may be at lower prices now or going into 2012 a month or two when new models will be arriving.

And, yes, BD players now are so light , next to nothing inside and not designed to last unless you install a micro fan or two. These things generate ehat and the makers no longer provide any serious vents or cooling fans like a few years ago. Ergo. . . failures after a couple of years at most.

I wanted to post in case it helps others. I was finally able to get Avatar (non-3D) to play on my BD80. I originally posted saying it played once when new but I couldn't get it to play even after loading it continually. Well for whatever reason, I got the redbox bluray of the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie and it did the same thing. I finally decided to unload and load it one last time after trying over a dozen times unsuccessfully. After loading it the last time, I changed my input to watch regular TV. When doing this, I then noticed after about 10 seconds or so that my BD80 actually read Play on the display. Sure enough when I went to the blu-ray input, the movies started playing without any problem.

After watching this movie, I decided to give Avatar a try. Sure enough, it played even though I had to try it a couple times. It seems if I went too quickly to the blu-ray input then it the player would make a bunch of clunking noises as usually until finally giving an error saying it couldn't read the disk. So I loaded it and waited 10-20 seconds or something before then going to the blu-ray input then it started up. Strange, I guess this is an HDMI thing? Anyway maybe it will help others that have had issues with certain blu-rays.

Robert

Add my BD-60 to the list of the fallen. Still plays regular DVDs, but now fails with every BD new and old I've fed it. Updated firmware, reformatted SD, even disabled BD-Live... still no dice. Purchased in Aug 2009 via Amazon. (and this player has been acting up for at least the past six months)

Not sure I buy the two-year life span theory. I went with Panny because I still have a DVD-A110 that still works, 10+ years. Failure at 2 years for *any* optical disc player is unacceptable to me.