samsung BD-P1590 - Page 7

I also purchased one of these at Sam's Club yesterday for $179. They had a $20 price drop yesterday so I figured I'd pull the trigger.

Got it home and hooked it up. Mine also came with an HDMI cable. New firmware was found immediately and downloaded started. I cancelled that and installed from USB. That finished in about 2 minutes.

Netflix streams are working great. Pandora had one or two audio cutouts, one froze the UI and I had to power off. YouTube streams worked very well.

This is hooked up to a 61" LED DLP Samsung TV. Anynet works great. TV supports 24Hz so that is on (though I can confirm this gets turned back to the default of off after a firmware upgrade). So far watched Cars, The Matrix and Pirates of the Carribean. All ran flawlessly with no audio or video problems at all.

Final thought...Unbelievable picture. My DLP set is 9 months old and it never looked so good. Thanks to all those that posted here with reviews of this model. While it seems there were problems early on with this model the impression was that the firmware updates were continually improving the quality of the device. I feel pretty confident that the pandora issue will be resolved as well and for the moment I am very happy with the purchase.

I'm going to start a list of trouble and OK Blu-ray titles with this player. I'll keep it updated and forwarded to Samsung. Playing Mutant Chronicles right now and will see where it lands.

Problem Blu-rays:

12 Rounds: Extreme Cut [0-24543-58901-3] Fox | DTS-HD MA | Multi-Branching
- Audio/Video pauses/stops/glitches

Alien Quadtrilogy [0-24543-09847-8] (Aliens DVD) Fox | DD | Multi-Branching
- Pixelation

AVP Requeim [0-24543-50764-2] Fox | DTS-HD MA | Multi-Branching
- Audio/Video pauses/stops/glitches

Beowulf: Director's Cut [0-97361-38624-9] Paramount | D TrueHD
- Audio/Video pauses/stops/glitches
- Horizontal lines along right side of picture

Bikini Desination: Triple Fantasy [8-76964-00049-9] Magnolia | DTS
- Menu item selections (Play, Audio, Scenes, etc.) do not appear

Black Hawk Down [0-43396-15023-2] Columbia Pictures | LPCM
- Will not load (fixed)
- Menu item selections (Play, Audio, Scenes, etc.) do not appear

Race to Witch Mountain [7-86936-78725-2] Disney | DTS-HD MA
- Audio/Video pauses/stops/glitches

T2: Judgement Day: Skynet Ed. [0-12236-10364-6] Lionsgate | DTS-HD MA | Multi-Branching
- Audio/Video pauses/stops/glitches

Watchmen: Director's Cut [8-83929-05805-1] Warner Bros. | DTS-HD MA | Multi-Branching
- Skipping; skip from chapter 5 back to chapter 2 (status?)
- special director's version will not start playing (fixed)



OK Blu-rays:

12 Monkeys* [0-25192-03214-1] Universal | DTS-HD MA
- Will not load (fixed)

Adventureland [7-86936-76928-9] Miramax | DTS-HD MA

The Fall* [0-43396-26563-9] Sony Pictures | D TrueHD

Fighting* [0-25195-05074-6] Universal | HDS-HD MA | Multi-Branching

The Last House on the Left*: Unrated [0-25192-03283-7] Universal | DTS-HD MA

Punisher: War Zone [0-31398-10712-5] Lionsgate | DTS-HD MA

Sahara [0-97361-18284-1] Paramount | DTS

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow [0-97361-18294-0] Paramount | DTS

The Last Starfighter [0-25192-01997-5] Universal | DTS-HD MA

The Thing* [0-25195-04610-7] Universal | DTS-HD MA

Starman [0-43396-29631-2] Columbia Pictures | D TrueHD

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic [8-83929-06301-7] Warner Bros. | D TrueHD




*Titles not played from start to finish without interuption, i.e. skipping chapters, fast forwarding, etc. by me, YMMV

I use the PLII also. Not nearly as cool as DTS.
I'm disappointed by that. The Netflix streaming movies are stereo, and many of them are in 4:3 aspect ratio, when I know there are high-def versions available. I've only seen one streaming Netflix that said it was high-def.
I can't figure out whether I want to see the first Matrix movie Blu-Ray and the rest streaming, or see them one at a time (my plan) in the Blu-Ray versions.
I like having the streaming movies available and am generally satisfied with the service, but I wish the PQ and sound were better. Wish there were more titles too.
Maybe they'll improve it as more people buy Blu-Ray devices that are Netflix enabled. I hope so.

Are you compiling this list with a specific firmware version?

Did I read somewhere that Watchmen worked better with 2.02?

I watched BattleStar Galactic Season 4.5 and Harry Potter Order of the Pheonix, both on blu-ray with this machine and they worked fine. I have Race to Witch mountain coming from NetFlix and I'll let you know how it works on 2.02.

Brokk...

I'm using firmware 2.02 now. Haven't re-watched Watchmen yet except to see of the director's edition (where the director is talking during the film on-screen and info pops up) would run.
With Race to Witch Mountain and many others on my list, several of the audio and/or video pauses/stops/etc. were random at best and sometime repeatable and other times (rewinding and playing the scene over again) not. I'm talking about the issues above happening one or more times during a movie from start to finish at some point in the film unlike say watching the same movie in a PS3 or Sony S360 without any issues from start to finish.

P.S. Punisher War Zone's menu items (play, setup, scenes, etc.) will not appear.

So you had issues with 2.02 and Race to Witch Mountain?

Brokk...

I picked one of these up Friday at Costco with the coupon... Firmware upgrade was easy and the PQ and AQ are great. When it turns on however, there is a loud mechanical noise that sounds like gears grinding or a belt working too hard. Anyone else heard this?

Yes, mine does it too, but it was really inexpensive for what it does so I didn't expect too much effort to be put into making it quiet.

Thanks for letting me know. You are right about the low price, but it is a lot more noisy than the Sony BDP-S360 (BX2 at Costco) which is only 30 bucks more...

I noticed it *a lot* when I first got mine. Now I don't notice it at all. I'm not sure if I just got used to it, or it was a particular DVD (Watchmen) or if it's just something that happens as the machine goes through it's break-in period. It's really not an issue.

I think this unit is much better from the Sony, simply for the Netflix support.

Brokk...

Ours chirps once or twice when you first start a disc, but it's silent after that.

So is it true for everybody that Pandora freezes and has problems with the latest firmware?

Is there anybody that has 2.02 and doesn't have problems with Pandora? I'm not sure I want to update the firmware if it's going to break Pandora.

Does anybody still have a copy of the 1.03 firmware that you can post if we want to go back to the previous firmware?

-Jason

I have downgraded

The next post will have some actual information and links. Sorry just had to get my post count past 3 so I could post links.

Yes you can roll back to a previous firmware version. I rolled back and Pandora seems to be working fine. A Samsung Rep posted the firmware for a variety of models over at this forum. The links are on page 8 post #111

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-13973_10...rum-w;forums06

This next link is to the Samsung support site. The instructions for usb update are here. That page is for the Bd-1590, put I suspect the procedure is much the same for other USB models.

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/detail/supportPrdD

The kids and I just watched BD Race to Witch Mountain using 2.02 firmware start to finish and we had no issues. I even watched the bloopers as well as the deleted scenes. No issues with audio or video.

Brokk...

1st off... Thanks everyone for the good info in the thread. Bought mine from Costco last Friday after reading all the comments.

2nd... Ditto here on the Pandora freezing with firmware 2.02. The player has been great so far, except for that. Has anyone placed a service call to Samsung yet regarding Pandora and received any good feedback? I plan to call later this week, when I get a chance.
Also, I hope there is a Samsung rep reviewing these posts... "We all need a fix for Pandora, pronto!!!!"

I'll have to re-watch it myself too. Originally watched it with the family when it was first released which was before the firmware update.

a buddy of mine has the BD-P1600 and has upgraded to fw 2.02 and says he does not have any issues with Pandora (and he uses it quite frequently).

I tried updating to the 2.02 firmware version and had the same freezing problem with Pandora. It would lock up either on the first or second song. I have already downgraded back to the previous 1.03 firmware.

I also noticed that Netflix playback quality was worse on the 2.02 firmware and it re-buffered often (and even froze once) which never happened using the 1.03 firmware. Has anybody noticed this? OK, I think the 1.03 stopped once due to internet issues, but that's the only time I can remember.

Youtube seemed to work great though, however I'd rather Netflix and Pandora work as they are supposed to than have youtube.

By the way, thank you Monkeyblu for the links to downgrade to the previous firmware!

Help us Samsung!

-Jason

I sent Samsung and email on their website regarding the Pandora issues. I think everybody on this thread who cares about it should send one in so they see that it is a problem for everybody.

-Jason

What's the procedure for going back to 1.03 from 2.02 using a flash drive in the USB port? If you've got 1.03 on the flash drive, do you just plug the flash drive in or what? Thanks

We watch a lot of Netflix (most is TV shows, not in HD), and I haven't noticed any change in quality or behavior with 2.02. When I was using 1.03 I had one evening with uber issues, but it was only the one time, so I chalked it up to network issues Netflix was having, rather than anything particular to my side. I haven't had any other issues before or since, regardless of the firmware version.

Brokk...

PS. I also watched Knowing in BD from start to finish and it ran fine.

It's a problem for me too. I thought it was my net connection at first but judging from what I see posted here, the problem is with the new update. I sent samsung support an email about how pandora keeps locking up. I also notice that netflix adjusts quality more often too.

That's what I believe I experienced last night. Tonight Netflix is playing fine.

I just sent them an email letting them know a bunch of us is having the same freezing issues with Pandora after updating to 2.02. You can send Product Support emails from here: http://www.samsung.com/us/info/contactus.html#

Email away!!!! The more folks we have sending emails, the faster we get a fix.

Did samsung pull the latest P1590 firmware from their support website? I could've sworn I saw 2.02 earlier this afternoon, but when I check now its nowhere to be found. Perhaps they decided to pull it due to the reported complaints?

It would seem they have removed 2.02 from the download page and replaced it with 1.04.

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/de..._name=BD-P1590

So at least we know someone is listening and they are aware of the problem.

So I'm wondering if Samsung messed up when they posted the 2.02 firmware? Maybe so since some people were getting units at the store with 1.04 on them. I'm updating my player to 1.04 now so I'll report what I find after I test it.

I tested the 1.04 firmware and Pandora works great! I play it for about an hour with no freezing or issues. I'm so glad it is fixed!