Panasonic DMP-BD65 - Page 61

Looks like what i need except wifi (have a hard wired ethernet port behind stand) and really do not care about 3D. Newer model Panasonic DMP-BDT220 appears to be considerably less expensive. Anyone had any experience with this one and captions/subtitles?

Captions, when available, work fine.

S~

I've had the 220 about a month and I love it. Subtitles work fine, 5.1 sound is very nice, and 1080p Netflix streaming looks great.

I am getting interested about the BDT 220: I really need to have NF sub titles which our BD65 doesn't do.
does the BDT 220 still have those 2-3 German news channels on Viera cast? that's something that's important for us. Would be great if some of you guys who have the BDT220 can comment on this...

Thanks a lot.

How does "1080p" streaming compare to bluray video quality?

It's not a simple answer. Some of the 1080p streaming movies look as good or better than some Blu-rays, and some not as good. Some people think ALL Blu-rays look great, but that's not true. I've seen some Blu-rays that look no better than the average DVD.

I recently installed a new Denon AVR 1912. During setup I increased the volumes minimum level. Now when I use my BD65 the volume is lower than with my previous Denon AVR 987. Could all this be related or is there some other reason for the lower BD65 volume?

I've had this player for a little over a year and for the most part works seamlessly each and everytime I play a BD disc. However about a month ago I was able to trade some coverslips for a copy of World Trade Center which ofcourse is out of print. Much to my surprise, disc 1 will not play as it says "this disc is not compatible. disc 2 works fine, but that's just special features. I updated my firmware thinking that would do it, but no I get the same message. So no big deal as I figured well, maybe it's a defective disc and since I got it for free oh well. Last week I found another used copy on ebay. I got the movie last night and well same message for disc 1. So my question is, could it be the fact that it used, there are no psychical damage to the disc, firmware is current. Not sure if I would luck out by ordering the UK import which is brand new or perhaps paramount will eventually re-issue this title since it is OOP. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thx

Is Disc 2 a second BD, or did they just use a DVD for the special features? Can you play other BDs?

yes, the 2nd disc of special features is a blu and I do not have issues with any other title. I just find it odd that 2 different copies of the same movie would do the exact same thing. I've researched the net to see if the title had been recalled, but haven't found anything about it. Of course this title is currently OOP but I can get the UK import new as opposed to used, but IDK if I should attempt to buy this title a 3rd time.

Is it from the UK and possibly 50Hz?

no they are the US releases, not sure if it 50hz.......

I seem to be having an odd issue... I was about ready to blame my TV(Samsung that I already had to do the capacitor fix on a few years ago), but the sound is affected as well, which goes through a stereo receiver via optical cable. Seems to happen a few times a day, seems pretty random and I haven't been able to pick out any kind of pattern - happens both during DVD/bluray playback as well as Netflix streaming.

The issue is that there is a glitch where the screen will flicker to black once and comes back quickly and the sound drops out for a second or two. When it all comes back the video is continuing as if nothing happened. Video goes to the Samsun TV via HDMI, sound to Yamaha receiver by optical cable. This has been happening for quite a while now, and I have no idea where to start looking for the cause at this point. I have had no other major problems with this unit, aside from the annoyances of the firmware updates "fixing" something that wasn't broken(preview skipping and the like) and the Netflix app being absolutely horrid.

So has anyone else had a similar experience, or know where to start troubleshooting this? Fortunately it doesn't happen TOO often, but when it does it can be very annoying. Thanks.

When I view a photo on an SD card in the Panny, does it convert from 0-255 to 16-235 color space? IOW is the black level different than when viewing the same photo on my PC monitor?

Wondering which player is the best to buy to replace my BD65. Would it be the BD87 or the BDT220?

Thanks for your advice.

It depends on what features you need. I went from the BD65 to the 220, and it's a great player. I upgraded mainly for the 1080p with Netflix, 5.1 surround sound with Netflix, and subtitles with netflix. Being able to search with the interface is nice also.

Thank you! That sounds like the player for me, though I no longer subscribe to Netflix streaming.

I am assuming the 220 up-converts as the BD65 does.

Yes, they all upconvert

As far as quality of the upconversion, you will get the benefit of a new generation of the Unipher processor, possibly two generatios.

I feel like i want to upgrade to a 220, BUT what holds me off is the fact that I want to upgrade my TV in the near future and a Panny Smart Viera is most likely the choice..
SO those Smart Viera TVs have Netflix built-in, right? How different is the NF interface and features on a Smart TV like that from the NF we get in a dedicated player like the Panny 220? does the Smart TV NF interface have subtitles?

Does it really pay to have a dedicated player if you have a TV that has NF on it?
(of course for Blu Ray i must have a player and the BD65 is good enough for that...but upgrading to the 220 for the SOLE reason of sub titles and a better NF interface seems pointless IF the Smart Viera NF app comes with sub titles...)

The 220 will play 3D, as will your new TV. The 65 will not play 3D. So if 3D capability is of interest to you, then the 220 makes sense, and you can compare which device you prefer for watching Netflix. Otherwise, you'd hold onto the 65.

I've got an odd problem with VieraCast. I can watch YouTube just fine and other channels all work. But when I go to Pandora, it gives me the connecting screen, then sends random color patterns to video. I can still log on (blindly), and can listen to audio. But it won't display the page. It's quite annoying since I can't see what channels I want to listen to and I can't add new ones.

Anyone experience anything like this? I have the latest 1.60 firmware and it worked after I upgraded to it. Just one day it stopped displaying the video.

I think this is a bogus response considering Panasonic could create a download with new firmware that could provide the protocol for Netflix in Canada. They probably looked into the amount of DB65 units sold in Canada and found that it wasn't worth their $$ to pay Netflix for the rights. I was told by future shop that Netflix would work on this when I bought this Jan 2011... I will never buy another Panasonic product again. Canadians, stand strong against Panasonic who won't support Canadians.

I just updated my firmware today and can no longer connect to the internet. I had hoped in updating, there would be additional offerings for services available, possibly Hulu, but since I can no longer access Pandora or Netflix or anything, I don't know if there is anything new. I am not happy.

Glad to see there's a lot of members here that still using the BD65.

Mine has been in storage for about 8-months.

I been shopping around for a upgrade BR player, but it seems that the BD65 is still a wonderful unit (being as old as it is) which is reliable & loads quick.

How's the PQ (non-3d / I don't care for it) compared to todays BR players that are out there?

Anything much better to be woopie about or worth to upgrade from the BD65??

Thanks,

The Panny Unipher processer has gone thru at least two more revisions since the BD65 and appears to handle mixed cadences better, ie no more jaggies on mixed cadences or bad flag materials. This would only affect DVD upscaling. There are more tweaks available for Blu-ray discs and from what I see they are only incorporated on the 3D players.

I upgraded from the BD65 to the Pan. 220, mainly for the Netflix improvements(1080p, 5.1 sound, subtitles, search with interface).

I know this is an old player, but I do have it and have a question that hopefully an owner can assist with.

I'm finally getting a new projector that has HDMI instead of component so I'll finally be using Blu Ray at 1080p. But my receiver doesntt have HDMI inputs so I still need to use digital audio out until I upgrade that a few months later. Does the DMP-BD65 let you choose HDMI video out with digital audio out?

Thanks!!

Yes it does.

Thanks for the quick response, Bill!