Asus O!Play BDS 700?? - Page 5

Been testing out the bds-700 all week. As mentioned in my previous posts the player was stuttering with some 3d ISO's via my usb portable 5400 drive. I purchased a seagate external powered 7200 drive, there was a slight improvement but the stuttering was clearly visible.
I decided to create more 3D ISO's and 5 out of the 7 player without issue. 2 3D ISO's stutter, one of those being Avatar, I may have extracted the ISO incorrectly from the disc as other members mentioned no issue.
I am going to keep the player as the picture quality is excellent and can't notice any visible difference between the pioneer bdp-lx55. The main problem with the lx55 was terribly slow menu and can only play one ISO (extracted) per USB drive, so you end up partitioning several drives.

Hi.
It's my first post on forum and English is not my mother language then apologize for my English
I'm interested this player and read all information’s I can found in network about it but still have questions
One of most important points in this player is capability to play mkv files and BR ISO disks from NAS but not using DLNA only connecting to NAS working as a file server.
Can anyone check it for me, I will be grateful.

Best regards.
Adam.

Hello, I bought the 500 version, I don't need the wifi so... I have several problems. The player starts up and plays correctly, but after a shut down, it won't start any more. You have to try several times before the player works again. (no signal, display freezes on Hello)

Another issue, I have a 5.1 system, connected trough an optical cable, good sound, but there is no emulator to get 5.1 sound at any 2.0 track. My PS3 did a perfect job doing that. Why can't a hitech state of the art BD player do this? I don't want to use the PS3 any more because it lacks subtitles support for mkv/mp4. (I watch non English series and movies so I need the subtitle support which was pretty easy to use with avi's)

Last thing: if I put the sound output on optical, it still plays sound trough HDMI. I always have to mute the sound on the TV. Why can't I mute the sound for HDMI in the setup menu?

Anyone has any good advice?
Edited by Slafes - 6/22/12 at 4:24am

The startup problem has never happened on mine. Do you have any other tv you can connect it to if there is some handshake issue or something? Does it boot up if you disconnect the HDMI cable?

As for the other two sounds like it should be features they should implement. The second should be possible through a firmware update I would believe but those things you can never count on of course. Your tv don´t allow you to choose if you want to use HDMI output or optical?

I'll try your tips for the start up problems and get back on it later.

As for the optical sound problems:
If you choose Stereo, you don't get any 5.1 sound when you play 5.1 media. When you switch it to DTS, you'll get the 5.1 sound.
If you have 2.0 media, it will play 2.0 trough the DTS setting. You have to change it in the settings menu in stereo.

That's the only way my amplifier can play the content as it should be played. I don't think this is normal. Why is there no auto switch when playing different audio formats? I'm gonna miss my PS3.

Version 1.06.02P is out


1. Added Portuguese,Polish,Turkish,Swedish and Finnish for OSD language support.
2. Changed default value of video/1080p24Hz from off to auto.
3. Fixed a bug for music playback mode setting.
4. Added a message for online upgrade notification.

File Size 176,02 (MBytes) 2012.07.23

I can confirm that the region hack is still available after the FW 1.06.02P upgrade

Been testing this player for a few days, have to say that it has been
quite pleasant. Maybe because I got just a few weeks ago (The test reviews mostly first impression)

I bought this player just 10 days ago and had already paid for it when I saw all the bad
comments about this player. Based on those I problably would have throwed it out of my window : )


This premature test is done from fw 1.06.02P


(USB Playback)

It has played all my MKV files very well and everything below avi, divx, and etc...
m2ts has big problems stutters every 4-5 seconds

(BLu Ray Playback)

Smooth and quick
But I have noticed that some people have talked about their problems that
the bds-700 have not been able to play all original blu ray discs.
I have tried 15 both pal and ntsc.

(Picture Quality)


Well from Qdeo 12bit 300mhz chip I did expect more!
Colors were Great, blacks brilliant but there is somthing about edges
and motion that is bothering me and how handles the grain
in badly mastered movies.
In comparison my Toshiba Hde-x1 hd-dvd (Toshiba flagship from 2007 and has
Qdeo 12bit 212mhz chip) has much more crispier image and finer edges and handles grain in image better.

and menus and navigating between usb hard disk is very very fast and from blu ray drive hard disk very fast.

I will do further testing the next days, have to admit I haven't tested the streaming Dlna.

Equipment used tv Philips 55" 7606t, av receivermarantz sr8002, adcom gfaii power amp

(USB Playback)
m2ts has big problems stutters every 4-5 seconds
How from You get this m2ts ?

m2ts format you find in movies that are uncompressed for example "Batman - Dark Knight " and the size is 30-40gb
That movie I own in m2ts format and it it is un-viewable due to stuttering

40GB m2ts (AnyDVD/tsMuxer) - sourse is USB ex. HDD (NTFS) ?
How many audio tracks?

Try with very little file (m2ts) and one audio track only, please.
This may be a caching issue.

Hi.
m2ts is a format using BR disk and 40GB is nothing unusual.
This player should play this files without any problem especially if can play the same files from BR disk without problem.
I have the same problem, player plays BR iso from usb disk but have problem with m2ts which are copied from the same iso as a file.

I have done further testing regarding m2ts file format
and still stuttering in Batman -The Dark Knight m2ts this was played from usb
on western digital (model wd1500ears) green 64mb cache 7200rpm 1,5 tb.

The file (the dark knight) is 32gb and contains 4 audio layers - ac3, stereo, true hd and audio commentary.

Then in the same hard drive I tested Lionel riche live concert which is also
on the m2ts file format and is 40gb and has 3 audio layers - ac3, stero and hd-ma AND NO STUTTERING !!!!!!!!

Then I tried another m2ts file format Billy Idol Live 3 audio layers .... And no stuttering not once! That was tested on self powered usb drive "toshiba alu store usb 3"

So what might be the matter with dark knight : )

would like to hear from other owners regarding grainy image,
like in star wars - vi ( original blu ray disk) on the 9 minute from the start the image gets very grainy when r2 and 3po are walking in desert together.

compared to my Toshiba hd-ex1 "using qdeo 12bit 212mhz" it shows no grain nor noise in image when old movies are thrown in on hd def "hd dvd"
I should try my dvd of star wars - vi to test on the toshiba.

the asus has qdeo 12bit 300mhz video dac strange huh?

could it be due to poor mastering of the image from when transferring from original
master tape to blu ray ?

Most likely , the bitrate on The Dark Knight is higher than the other 2 disks. Bluray can be anything from 20 to 45 Mbps and I bet DN is on the higher side.

Maybe ASUS has a problem with m2ts 24 fps?
Concerts are usually 30 fps.
Check the file with mediaminfo !

the player plays mkv via dln. I am on firmware 1.06xxx.P
BUT after this update, my player has a lot of problems reading ORIGINAL blurays, also blurays that it was reading before (and they are ok, because i can watch them on my ps3 or another sony bd player).

Have you checked your bluray discs for dust particles. Sometimes when I put bluray discs in that appear to have no smudge or dust on them. I always check before putting them in even if they have been in the case all along they won´t start because there is like 1 corn or something... For the naked eye scratch free and clean so there is some compability crap going on also with newer blurays
There is also some 2012 bluray discs that I tried that won´t play on any of my four bluray players. This was a new problem for me. Just a year ago my PS3 and Sony BDP-S370 swallowed everything. Never had a single problem with bluray playback...

There is also specific compability issues. Alien and Aliens directors cut you can´t watch with the BDS-700. You only see a zoomed in picture of the top left part of the movies with a lot of grain. Maybe it´s just due to the zooming in but it does appear to be added. Theatrical cut no problems and Alien 3 is not affected

Other than that it does play cds and dvds without a hitch. However for bluray it´s sadly not to uncommon to get a hang about 1h+ in to the movies. Have to restart and then hopefully be able to continue. I recon I may just got a bad sample if I see this behaviour one more time it´s RMA. It does run really hot suspect overheat isse. Don´t know if any more BDS-700 experience this. From others I got the sense they don´t have this problem which is promising.

As for the picture quality I have noticed that thing about edges. My Panasonic BDT-320 seems a bit better there with it´s upsampling. Qdeo is nothing special these days even my receiver use it and works similarly. The upsampling my PS51D7005 does is not bad either if I put out the native resolution. But good enough the upsampling on bluray players is quickly reaching the high levels you can get on your PC

Apart from the stability I really like the player or I wouldn´t have kept it so long of course. It give a great sense of build quality at least and I love the remote. Function and form over looks and interface. Relatively quick though of course things can always go faster coming from the PC side it´s still really slow of course.

I will check out Star Wars when I get the time and see what I get there.

I had the same issue several times.

I learned recently that there are lots of types for media servers. Currently my NAS is using TWONKY 7.0.X. Does anybody knows what type for mediaserver should be used for ASUS BDS 700?

This is not a "little" problem for me.
The player is hanging too much.
Same problem, after 1h or more, it's completely blocked.
About dust... the other day i received Mission Impossible 4 from amazon. Brand new.
unfolded, unboxed, put it in.... nothing. ejected after 30 seconds or more

I talked with asus support just yesterday and they said RMA
But how is it possible that i bought a "top level" product and after 2 months i have to give it back to support. Now it will be like an entire month (maybe more) without it.
If i could go back .. about time.. i wasn't buying this bd player.

I agree it´s not a "little problem" . I was hoping so much it was only mine

media servers as in DLNA? I tried Serviio and samsung all share. I don´t use DLNA I can´t tolerate any buffering ever but that part certainly works a LOT better then the Panasonic BDT320.

MI 4 work on other bluray players?. I got three bluray movies this year that play on none of my four bluray players which is just amazing... Not even PS3!
Wonder what is happening to this format.

I would not use DLNA also, but don't know any alternatrive for BDS700 streaming.

USB harddrive is an option. I am not all to familiar with this but something you could wirelessly stream material too and that is then hooked up with usb to the BDS-700 would maybe be a better solution. However it appears that the USB 2 interface incorporated here is not quite fast enough for all hd content particularly if 3D is involved. Certainly a lot better then DLNA though.

Would be fun to try out with some super expensive router or something. I do have a 100 mbit internet connection with acceptable performance wired at least but wireless is another story.

The truth is DLNA is not an option for Bluray as it doesn't publish all files or iso. It seems that currently network sharing (NFS, SAMBA, CIF) will not be implemented soon if ever. But it works OK for MKV (no external subtitle though, just embeded) and FLAC collection. However, I would like to see them properly arranged.

For USB connection I found that not all USB chipsets are properly recognised (I have 2 dual SATA to USB 3.0 adapters and BDS 700 is the only equipment that do not recognise both HDD if connected simultaneous).
So there might be external HDD/enclosures that work better than others. Asus has a list of "certified" USB HDD on their site. I don't think USB 2.0 is the real limiting factor here, but the incomplete implementation from ASUS of USB drivers.

Reading all these posts, looks like this player is a real POS. Glad I kept my Oppo with ISO support.

IF you own an Oppo I don't see why you will change it. BDS will not bring you anything except problems. The issue is Europe, were an Oppo is almost 1000 $.
What BDS 700 offers is well priced, but buggy. Many of the similar priced MP will not offer half the hardware, but for the rest the FW will be significantly better. However, I am using it more like a audio player for FLAC and it does a decent job there.
Edited by adrg - 9/4/12 at 12:22am

Yes Oppo is marketed as some kind of luxury player over here. Generally the chip makers believe we should pay twice for "region free". There is not many players that is region free from the start like the BDS-700 which oddly is about half the price over here as on shitbay. I went crazy and actually bought a BD85SE. I liked the picture and the audio but what am I paying 1400$ for. The casing felt cheaper then the casing on the BDS-700 even. It flexed considerably. It was not silent. The internal parts was not all that impressive either. However I do remember it worked. That is one thing in 2012 you can´t be sure that bluray discs will play on any of your bluray players even PS3 it appears.

2012.09.17 update
O!Play BDS-500/700 firmware 1.06.03N (for NTSC System)
Fixed bugs:

1. Fix A/V asynchronous problem caused by compatibility with certain AV receivers.
2. Add Windows 1250/1251/1252, iso8859-2 encoding support.
3. Modify German OSD on Splendid menu .

What is it ?: Windows 1250/1251/1252, iso8859-2 encoding support
Who knows ?

Something related to European fonts.