Official LG BD550/BD560/BD570/BD590 Owners Thread - Page 13

I am confused regarding page 86 of the manual that walks through the video output resolution. I have my bd570 hooked up through component video as my LCD only has one HDMI input that is taken up by my DirecTV receiver.

What does it mean when it says copy protected media only plays back 480i or 480p with component video output? My assumption is that component video outputs at all the same resolutions as HDMI (720p, 1080i, 1080p, etc).

Can't follow how they set this page up with component video out, and then HDMI connected or not connected?? Can anyone explain?

It's true that component video can output in all of those resolutions you listed, however, due to the copy protection implemented on this (and almost all other blu-ray players), the player will refuse to play your blu-ray discs at anything higher than 480p, and it will also refuse to upscale your DVDs to anything higher than 480p, if you're using component video (regardless of what resolution you configure the player to use). Their reasoning is, they don't want such a high-quality image to be available through an analog output like component video, because none of the copy protection schemes that they can employ over component video are as "strong" as HDMI's HDCP, and they don't want anyone to easily be able to make a high-quality copy.

So what you are telling me based on the above is that when I watch a blu ray movie over component that I am not seeing high definition? It sure looks like it is high def.

That's correct; your player will not (in almost all cases) be sending a high-definition picture to the TV. However, depending upon how fancy your TV is, it might be doing some interpolation/upscaling/smoothing of the image on its own, to improve the overall appearance.

Wow...everything I had read on the internet led me to believe that I could still get high def all the way up through 1080i through component and that HDMI was only needed for 1080p. I also thought the issue with component was that you couldn't upscale regular DVD's past 480 and not an issue with watching blu ray discs in high def.

I have a 5 year old JVC LCD and was watching The Hangover with the 570 last night using component and it sure looked high def to me.

Hmm, sorry, it seems you're right; at some point in the past I must have lumped together lack of DVD upscaling over component (which still holds true), and ability to play Blu-ray content in HD resolutions over component (which, based on what most people are reporting, seems to work up to 1080i as you said).

New driver update notice popped up when I turned on the player today. Anyone else get this?

Perhaps it's a fix to the disc problems (fingers crossed)

On another note, is it me or is the Starz Play streaming off of Netflix terrible with lots of video stuttering? I assume it is not my connection because the HD content (whether on Netflix or Vudu) is pretty much flawless - I just want to be sure this is a Netflix issue and not something I did wrong with the wireless setup . . .

I hope this new firmware fixes the BR playback issues.

I can't find anywher on LG's website that tells you this information...I posted previously that I was getting the update notice when I turned it on but everytime I clicked OK I kept getting the error that it couldn't find it, call customer service, etc.

If anyone has had this issue before and was able to rectify, let me know. I rebooted machine a number of times and finally I just had it "Hide". But I still see the blue "update" button on the main GUI which I thought the manual said means there is an update available.

I returned my BD590. Every FRIENDS dvd I played on it would pixelate, skip, and get stuck around the 1 hour to 1 and a half hour mark. The fourth episode was unwatchable no matter what disc I had in. Brand new discs too, so that made no sense.

I also couldn't figure out how to make my MKVs and AVIs not stretched from corner to corner on the TV.

Lastly, whenever I watched movies, the disc drive was very noisy. Every few seconds I would hear it make a sound.

I went with the Sony S570, and so far, so good.

Just realize that the Sony will not playback AVI files. I have only been successful with MKV's. To make the Sony not stretch 4:3 content you have to pic aspect ratio as fixed not 16:9. Not sure if it is the same on the lg.

Any word if the update fixed the LG Blu Ray/DVD playback issues?

Thanx

Updated the driver on the 590 and popped in the bane of everyone's existence, Up. While it played through the newsreel portion (mine hasn't done the chapter skipping to date), it still locked up twice during the enhanced version at the 12+ min mark. DLNA streaming of a 1080p source was not good either, stuttered through the first 30 seconds. Still hopeful. . . but have that return date programmed into my phone. . .

i wonder if the pixelation and freezes are heat related...both the 550 and the 570 i tested ran very hot with little room to ventilate (it's largely a bottom breather). if you look at winstonsreviews.com, i took a pic of its innards and the heat sink is over the chip, but it's top mounted. in other words, it has to dissipate downwards (or cool air draft upwards).

I'm reviewing the BD590 for an upcoming issue and am experiencing many (and more) of the same problems you guys are. I have some yet to be released Pixar titles that chapter skip and if someone owns Attack of the Clones, please see if you can advance to Chapter 28 (the asteroid field) where the layer change on the disc is. When I try to access that chapter, it jumps to chapter 29. If I try and play normally, the disc will freeze around the 55 minute mark as it approaches the layer change.

My theory is the laser pickup is having issues when the data is towards the inner ring of the disc. I should be speaking to an engineer at LG this week to try and figure out what the heck is going on.

As to the theory of heat....that isn't it. "Up" continues to skip around when the unit is just started.

I agree - its not heat. But laser pickup issues do not sound like the sort of thing that can be fixed via firmware . . .

When I had trouble with blu ray discs it was always between 55 minutes and an hour into the movie. During the skipping I could hear the disc spin much faster than normal playback. I agree with doodabides, laser pickup issues don't sound easy to fix. It will be interesting to hear what LG tells Home Theater Magazine.

i watched two movies on the 570 and three on the 550 and did not notice the skipping. that said, i did confirm the Up issues.

I have been through 5 discs on the 590 and only made it through one without issue. I guess you got lucky. I wish I had your machine and not mine.

i would imagine the 590 might have different innards. the 550 and 570 are largely identical in chassis save the wireless and dlna. the 590 seems to be a completely different unit.

We're also experiencing quite a few problems playing files off the internal hard drive, USB drive and via DLNA wireless. If the BD is laser pickup related, that's really bad as it doesn't explain the host of other playback issues. . .

At about 55 minutes into a movie is around the layer change, which is the inside ring of a disc...that would fit my theory.

Also, I've already noted in my rough draft how loud the disc drive is...it's one of the first things I noted when firing-up the player for the first time.

I don't stream any video files but I have done music and audio and both work fine for me.

Just upgraded to the latest firmware,

Before
main bd.8.31.186.c
servo h80426 (h08san)

After
main bd.8.31.186.c
servo h80582 (h08san)

Doesn't appear to have done anything. Up still skips at 1:03.

My 590 started to pixelate a DVD this evening. Half way through an episode of The Wire it starts hesitating and puts nothing up but pixels. I don't want to return this thing. I want to hit it with a hammer, take a dump on it, light it on fire, and then throw it through the window of something owned by LG.

Pretty much all of the Starz Play titles suck in the quality department. I do my best to avoid them whenever possible.

Not sure if anyone else was dealing with this, but every time I was turning on my 570 it said I had an update but could never get the update to work. Was doing some skimming on the Internet and found a site where folks had success with router port forwarding and assigning static DNS addresses worked.

Just wanted to post that this worked beautifully for me as well. Immediately updated to new firmware, didn't get the "network congestion" error on YouTube, etc. Google it and you will find it.

Is everyone experiencing the same blu-ray skipping issues regardless of the model? I played the Hangover the other night and didn't notice skipping...although that is one data point.

I have had some issues with streaming...especially with .mkv's. Some of them stream just fine and others I just get the "loading" icon and it never goes away. If I try to cancel out during this process, most of the time the player hangs and I have to restart it. Seems flaky. If anyone has had regular success with .mkv streaming, can you let us know the typical file specs? Is there a file size limitation to what will stream?

i don't play blu ray but i tried a dvd+r 3days of the condor that skipped in my old Toshiba and it ran flawlessly in the lg 570 also confirmed the component output will play as high as 1080i. also set up Pandora and watched a few net flix movies over the weekend and had no issues