Official Samsung BD-C5500 master owner's thread - Page 50

I tried these and had no luck. So, I gave-up and bought another player (after I had the people at BB play the BR disc to be sure it worked.) I will keep the BD-C5500 (as it make a nice upscaler for regular DVD's and can use it in another room) and periodically check for firmware updates to see if they send out one that helps this issue.

Sorry - a bit of duff info in my last post. The new dlnaclientprofiles.xml file needs to go in the C:\\Users\\User\\AppData\\Local\\Plex Media Server folder, leaving the original in the ..\\Resources one. This stops it getting overwritten.

Still prefer the Plex App interface for videos, but the DLNA server is a great way of getting music (including iTunes playlists) wirelessly from the PC to my surround sound system.

Andy

I just moved into a new house where I bought the equipment from the prior owner, including a Samsung BD-C5500/XAA Blue-Ray DVD player. He also left a Denon DVD player because he said he was having problems with the Samsung. The Denon doesn't have optical audio, isn't connected to the internet, and it just seems to be a waste to have the duplication of equipment. So, I'd like to fix what's wrong with the Samsung and get rid of the Denon.

Upon turning on the Samsung unit, it displays the main menu properly in 16:9 aspect ratio. When I put in a widescreen format DVD, it squashes it into a 4:3 format with black bars on the left and right side. After putting in the DVD and then going back to the menu, the menu is now in 4:3 ratio, not the 16:9 ratio that it showed prior to putting in the movie. When playing the same movie in the Denon DVD player, it shows with the proper 16:9 aspect ratio. It also does the same thing with a different widescreen format movie.

I updated the firmware and software (as well as a bunch of apps). I checked the manual and reviewed all of the settings. I also did a few extra things like flipping the resolution from 720p to 1080i. It still has the same problem. The only thing I haven't tried is hooking it up to a different TV, which is a little complicated because the Samsung DVD is also physically attached to the IR remote blasters.

Might anyone know the problem and the fix?

Techdude-

Welcome to AVS Forum.

That problem sounds like the standard behavior of a "letterboxed" DVD (as opposed to a "16:9/widescreen enhanced" DVD). A letterboxed DVD (such as the first release of Titanic) has hard-coded black bars in the video rather than filling the screen and setting the player for either a 4:3 display or a 16:9 display. Those letterboxed DVDs cannot be made to fill the screen by any Blu-ray player I have heard of, though your TV itself may have a "zoom" setting that will do this for such discs.

Look on the package for the disc and see if it is marked "widescreen enhanced" or "enhanced for 16"9 TVs". If not, it may be a letterboxed disc. Also, you could look up your disc online and find out if it is a letterboxed version. Send a reply here to tell us what you find out.

Chris,
Thanks for the reply! I don't think that's it. Keep in mind that when I watch the same movie on the Denon BlueRay player, it shows fine. Also, it's especially strange that the Samsung menu is 16:9 before playing the movie but even the menu gets squished into 4:3 after playing the movie. (And I'm referring to the Samsung menu that shows when there's no disc, not the movie's top menu.) It's like the movie changed a setting on the Samsung player. (And it happened for 2 movies, plus the guy who owned the home before me.)

To answer your questions, one of the movies is "Enhanced Widescreen". The other is "Anamorphic Widescreen". Neither says letterbox on the package or shows as letterbox in the Denon DVD player.

Any other thoughts?

Also make sure that input on the TV is set right (16:9). Might swap the two DVD player inputs at the TV and see if the problem reverses. /Dan

Techdude-

Well, you confirmed that the two discs are not "letterboxed", since Enhanced and Anamorphic are terms that refer to the widescreen (but not letterboxed) DVD format. So, the problem sounds like maybe the TV is changing its aspect ratio based on what comes from the player. What type of cables are used for video from the two players? If the Samsung is connected with component-video rather than HDMI, this could also cause the problem you see, because the player will change the output to 480p (or 480i) when a DVD is played (as opposed to a Blu-ray disc) even though you have the player's menu set to 720p or 1080i/1080p.

Strange. I disconnected and boxed up my Sammy BDP about 3 months ago, and now I'm receiving frequent emails from Samsung about scheduled updates to the Netflix app in the player.
Had no problems with the Sammy; just needed a 3D player to match up with a new 3D TV. Anyone else receiving these emails about updates to the player?

Never had an email from them - did you register your layer with them?

Yes, getting them. Letting us know there will be updates coming. I did register unit when I got the machine. /Dan

Do they mention what kind of updates? HBOgo maybe?

All the notices (maybe 4) I've received have been over the past month and all have been about updating the Netflix app.

Great. I am worried about useability issues and they are concentrating on something that works just fine as-is!

The released Plex client is now in the official Samsung app store, but the capabilities are the same as the beta version, i.e., no support for Music, Photos, or Channels.

Hi

I recently bought WD Mybook Live 2TB. I have set it up and connected to my router. Now I have Samsung Bluray player BD C5500 which also connected to the same router. I have a Samsung LCD TV connected to it by HDMI. I have a computer running Windows 7 64bit. Now I have very basic knowledge of network video streaming. I can access the NAS from my computer via 'Network'. I have put in some videos also in it through my computer. Now I would like to play them from the NAS through the Bluray player menu.

Can someone please help as Im new with all this? The NAS has Twonky in it by default. I have read that people have been using TVmobili /Serviio instead of that. Can someone tell me how to access my NAS drive from my Bluray player.

Like it says on the C5500 main menu, you can press the blue D button to see a list of all the network servers available, such as Twonky on your NAS. Press the red A button to choose a server from the list. The Video, Photo and Music menu selections display content from the currently-selected source, whether it's a local disk or a network server.

thanx for the reply. but that is the problem. in the device list there is nothing but 'no disc'. twonky on my NAS is not detected. i installed in twonky in my computer even that is not displayed. i have updated the firmware of my bluray player too.what am i missing. does this player really have dlna?

I run an Iomega NAS with embedded Twonky, and the C5500 sees that just fine. It also sees all the other DLNA servers on my computers when they are turned on, although detailed settings tweaks are needed with some DLNA servers to play more video types correctly with the Samsung client.

Your problem is not likely the C5500 itself, so you need to do some standard network diagnostics. Make sure the DLNA server function is turned on in your WD NAS, and that you don't need to "approve" clients attempting to connect. Check if other computers/devices can see your DLNA server. Try connecting one of them to the same ethernet connection as the C5500 to see if parts of your network can't see each other.

yes im beginning to think the fault is not in the bluray. i think the problem is in the router settings probably. but i have no idea what i have to do in the settings. thanx fer the help neways.

I think UPnP needs to be enabled for the player to find its way through to the network.
Look in the C5500's network menu settings and see what, if any, ip address is assigned.

Does anyone have experience adjusting the 3 pots on the laser pickup on the 5500 (pickup common to several models)?

I got 3 "working" Samsung BD players on ebay for a steal of a price, a C6900, C6500, and the C5500. The first two work fine. The 5500 wouldnt play BD discs. A dust/polarization filter directly below the BD lens had developed a flaw that looked like a crack/separation of the polorization coating from the plastic (this piece is paper thin). Anyway, carefully removed this piece and lucky dog BDs play now. Im guessing its primary role is to catch dust and isn't absolutely necessary. Problem is, before I looked at the optics I tried pot tweaking. The pot closest to the ZIF connector is the BD LD output, and I believe I have that adjusted "close enough". The other two pots I suspect to be output power for the R and IR LDs. I cannot be sure: any DVD and CD media I try plays regardless of the positions of those two pots, which don't seem to affect BD playability either. Googled till my brain hurt, only intelligent info I can find regarding laser pot callibration is on an XBOX or PS3. I attached a pointer to my screwdriver after I got the BD to read (effectively lost their original positions). I do have a good digital multimeter, but not a scope.

EDIT: For time being I opened the 6500 (same optical drive), measured resistance across the two pots in question. Between sweep (single trace lens side) and trace (edge of board closest to ZIF socket), on the 6500 both of these pots measured exactly 890 OHMS. Duplicated that on the 5500. Again no noticable difference in loading/tracking various disks, will treat that as "close enough" unless I come across more detailed info regarding the adjustment of these.
Edited by mrbrian200 - 9/19/12 at 1:17pm

I wonder if that's the explanation for the high number of apparent Blu-Ray laser failures of these models. The first one I had stopped playing Blu-Ray discs about an hour after I got it.

You're lucky you have 3 of them to compare. I would think that setting the pots to the same clock position would probably be close enough if it's only adjusting the laser output. You could also try to judge the laser output by looking at the brightness of the IR laser backscatter with a digital camera - most of them can see well into the infrared.

How are you measuring resistance across the pots without detaching them? Aren't the soldered to the board?

Measured them in circuit. There's exposed trace and/or solder at each pin that can be "prodded" with a steady hand. A magnifying glass was helpful! Because the measurement was taken with them attached to the board, the OHM reading I got would likely change if the pots were desoldered from the board, unless by chance the outside pins I happened to pick are ground. The player seems to work fine. Becuase my plan is to give it to a close relative I called it a day and put the cover back on. If I were putting it up for sale I'd worry about it more, but under the circumstance if there's a problem with it down the road I'll be around to look at it again.

Did some research, the part I removed on the samsung pickup is known as the "waveplate" (AKA polorization). It has a crystalline structure, thus explains the appearace of a flaw that looks like a "crack". I would suspect the crystalline structure makes it very susceptable to heat and physical shock. A dissected sony blu ray pickup I saw online had the waveplate more precisely sitting in a ring that mounts below the objective lens, as opposed to the samsung mounting which I would describe as comparitvely haphazard (just a square peice of "waveplate" directly hot glued to the optical block. Might be Sony "knows better" than to glue this in this manner. I theorize the direct glue mount doesnt allow enough for heat expansion, and its a stress failure.

References to the waveplate's exact function I could find all referred to patent filings (highly technical somewhat legal jargon). Best I could understand is that it improves playability with different types of media by filtering rogue photons and "junk" outside 405nm.

Rogue photons...mind you.

Thank you for your observations and comments, Brian. I work on electronic equipment but have not done anything on a Blu-ray player yet. Your notes may help in the future.

Any luck with #2, attempting the same. Plays mp4 files fine but when they include lossless audio i Get no sound.

i have some mp4 files which were m2ts rips that have the dts lossless track. i get no audio when playing these. i have these on and external hard drive hooked into the players usb. any ideas on this>?

Any idea if and when this player will get dolby digital for Netflix?

Hello
Been doing more with my BD-C5500 and am wanting a keyboard.
Is there any way to hookup a keyboard or are there any Android based apps to allow me to use my tablet as a keyboard?
THANKS
Lakedawgs

Unfortunately there's no keyboard option for the BD-C5500. While it runs Linux internally, and there is an active firmware hacking group (see http://www.samygo.tv/), it's way more trouble than it's worth.

Another option is to add one of the Android-on-a-stick devices, which you can plug into an HDMI port. These are really independent Linux computers built into a USB stick form factor with their own HDMI output and built-in WiFi connection. Some of them can use a USB port for power, but they need over 1000ma, which is a lot more than the standard limit of 500ma. They support some common 2.4 GHz wireless keyboard models, and a few of them also have Bluetooth. They sell for as little as $50, e.g., see: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-arrival-Rikomagic-MK802-III-Dual-Core-Mini-Android-4-1-PC-RK3066-1-6Ghz-Cortex/659391521.html.
Edited by amesdp - 12/4/12 at 7:51am