Panasonic DMP BDT500 - Page 27

Odd to me that you of all people in this thread would ask this.

Just from your own recent posts in this thread, you're pretty knowledgeable on hardware, and appear to have a recent Sony 790 and OPPO 93.

FWIW I agree with others in this thread who've said something like: "the Panasonic 500 manual sucks BIGTIME!"

For the moment I'm actually enjoying USB HDD redbook stereo (in the background) on this player. Give me a few hours and I'll post my main settings, audio and otherwise.

Likely something so obvious that it'll bite you when you finally find it!

The Panasonic 500 player requires the USB HDD to have a NTFS partition.

Any chance that your 2 USB HDD units are set up with FAT32?

Got what looks and smells like a new BDT500 from Panasonic today.

I'm having to upgrade from the original firmware. New unit also has an April 2012 manu date.

Was quite happy with the 9 day turnaround until....

Panasonic had the nerve to send a bill in the mail for $15 for a refurb unit. Keep in mind my original player was only weeks old when it crapped out.

Screw'em, I'm not paying

This Panasonic player may be up to Oppo standards in some peoples minds but their customer service is definitely not.

I am not too proud to ask for assistance when needed. Playing an external HDD should be plug and play.


I wish it was something as simple as reformatting to the proper partition, but both drives are NTFS. This unit is in my bedroom, but part of the appeal of this player was having another in the house that could play .FLAC files if needed.

Agreed!

Odds are it is some setting you've changed in the Panasonic 500 player's setup menu, which IMO is a nightmare.

To start with I have: Quick Start (under System, set to off) and BD Live (under Network, set to prohibit).

I also only use the main HDMI rear connector for video to the TV.

For sound I use the rear 5.1 analog RCA outs.

Under Setup/Audio:
Sound Effects - Off
Dialog Enhance - Off
Dynamic Compressor - Off
Digital Audio Output
-DolbyD/D+/etc - Bitstream
-DTS/DTS - Bitstream
-BD-Video Secondary Audio - Off
-HDMI Audio Output - Off
PCM Down Conversion - Off
Downmix - Surround Encoded
7.1ch Audio Reformatting - Off
High Clarity Sound - Disable
Audio Delay - 0 ms
Analog Audio Output - 7.1ch

Kindly let us know if a change to a setup setting fixes the problem.

If not, grit your teeth and try calling Panasonic support on the telephone. Perhaps there's a problem with your specific player?

Good luck.

FWIW I have 2 different 500GB external USB HDD units both very new, one by Hitachi and newest one by WD, both USB3 capable but also compatible with USB2, and both work with my new Panasonic 500 player for playback of .flac music files.

The slightly older Hitachi has an odd partition setup (done by me), with half of it FAT32 and half of it NTFS. The player sees the NTFS partition without any problem.

When you turn the player on (with the USB HDD already plugged in), you do press the right arrow button to get into the "play music" option?

Thanks for whomever posted the information on the 244 price at Amazon. I took that information to local Fry's Electronics and they priced matched.

Setting it up now.

Nice unit.

So far very impressed. PQ seems a bit better then the Pana 310 it replaced. Only problematic thing I've come across so far is loading video files off NAS servers. Panasonic has some work to do with that code/firmware.

2d to 3d kinda cool.

Kinda disappointed in the MKV playback performance. A backed up version of a bluray I have here, about 15GB , DTS encoded, works perfect on everything else in the house (popcorn hour, VLC from the HTPC running on a slow i3 with integrated graphics)

All are being fed directly from a very fast ReadyNas Ultra Plus, everything is hard wired cat 6, running all enterprise drives, and sustained transfer OVER 90MBPS

I have the player setup in wired mode (tried wireless also).

To eliminate any guess about wiring, I put the NAS on the same exact switch as the Panasonic BDT500, 6 feet away.

It will skip every minute . . . . . very mad.

I went specifically with this player over the 220, for the better cpu, to handle these MKVs (thats what panasonic told me).

Any suggestions?
Edited by kamiraa - 8/4/12 at 1:11am

I think Panasonic has some work to do on the NAS feeding the player video files code.

I too have several media players that play files that are stored on several NAS drives. All play flawlessly except the 500. I'm not returning it as everything else is outstanding. I don't plan to use it as my NAS video files playback device. But I still want it to work properly. Something isn't right.

My 60 dollar PIVOS AIOS can playback files off my NAS drives just fine. Bluray ISO's, AVI, MKV, MP4, etc. Can't do 3D as its an 1185 chipset. But everything else.

If a 60 dollar Realtek based device can handle mkv's, etc., over a network there is no reason the 500 can't.

Hopefully the network playback stuff will move up the priority list as other things get ironed out in its firmware.

My Netflix worked great. VUDU, etc., bluray playback is outstanding. DVD tremendous. Even did 2d to 3d "trick" with The Office streaming with Netflix. Looked great. Only secret with Netflix stuff is to load the tv show then turn on the 2d to 3d option. The Netflix front menu loses its mind on the 2d to 3d option.

Some of the English in the menus/sub menus isn't correct. Expect the unit to get dialed in over next months and a couple of more firmware releases.
Edited by jsmiddleton4 - 8/3/12 at 11:30pm

Please bombard them with suggestions to fix this. It's HIGHLY Disappointing for a FLAGSHIP product.

http://shop.panasonic.com/panasonic/support/contact-us?t=email

I love the 3d performance, disc performance, look, styling, but 1/2 the reason I got this over the 220 or even other brands was for the MKV playback. I have all the discs 20 feet away, but what a pain to go back and forth when the feature is highly advertised . .

I've had positive experience with Panasonic support. The only thing that really matters to Panasonic is if they can reproduce the issue. In general the volume of complaints does not make them do anything faster or sooner.

Sending them an email with the right kind of information that allows Panasonic to duplicate the problem is what folks need to do. If they can duplicate it, Panasonic will put it on their "to do list". How fast they get to items on that list is up to them.

I've looked in the manual, imagine that, and do not see what the image size needs to be for the image file if we want to use a user photograph to customize the background.

Anyone know?


Found it by experimenting. 1920x1080 works great.
Edited by jsmiddleton4 - 8/5/12 at 5:36pm

Well, I spent about 20 minutes Saturday with a Panasonic rep and he couldn't figure out the problem. He stated that it is not a setup problem, so the issue has been escalated and I am waiting for a call back from the next level of support.

The reason the the HDMI SUB setting seems confusing at first is because the way Panasonic sees it, you are either turning the video On or OFF. Therefore the 500's manual has it under video settings. You want the video off if your AVR isn't 3D ready. However, you don't need audio coming out of your out other HDMI AV OUT (MAIN) connected to your TV, do you? I sure don't. So, you set HDMI AUDIO to OFF. Even if it is set to ON, you still may not hear audio from your TV speakers. Why not? Sony Bravia TVs, for instance, have a setting that allows you to switch between your AVR or receiver, and your TV speakers. If it's set to AVR you block the audio right there from ever being sent to your TV speakers.
Your HDMI (SUB) setting is correct. Your HDMI AUDIO needs to be OFF unless of course you want to hear the audio through your TV speakers. I don't about you, but I paid dearly for my HT audio system. I sure don't want to degrade that sound with sound coming from my TV's speakers. IOW, when you set HDMI AUDIO to off it doesn't turn off the audio from your HDMI SUB terminal. So just remember both these setting, though confusing at first do two entirely different things. One turns off the video going to your AVR (HDMI AV OUT SUB) and the other turns off the audio going to your TV (HDMI AV OUT MAIN).

Hey, believe me, I was confused at first. But, after thinking about a bit more, it makes perfectly good sense.

1st thanks for the feedback.

"not a setup problem" seemed likely to me.

Bummer, but odds are you'll have to return your unit to Panasonic.

Meaning I'll be surprised if the "next level" support person solves it over the telephone.

its going to be a long wait,. I had dealing with panasonic. they are very slow on responding. if you have not heard from them in a week. I would call again and see if anything is going on.
most likey you will get the run around.

Jacob

Sorry if this has been asked but will this play mp4 hd files off a USB like the Sony players? Thanks

Hi all. I'm still on the fence about which player to buy, Sony s790 or the Panasonic bdt500. What I would like to know is there any specific reason to buy one over the other? BTW for anyone out there like me who is ready to make a perches right now Amazon has the Sony S790 for $228 with free Hulu Plus for thee months you have to go to the Sony website for all the info. The Panasonic BDT500 is listed at $244. Any help will do so I can just go a head a press the damn add to cart icon all ready rolleyes.gif

TIA: Menace

PS: Also wanted to add I will be upgrading if you can call it that, from a PS3 first gen 60gig, will there be a visual difference as I know there will be a audio one. My display is a Panasonic 65VT30 with a Onkyo tx-nr3007 providing the sound.

Again thank in advance: Menace

They have their own strengths.

Pana 500: better streaming quality, better wifi, faster load time
Sony 790: 4K upscaling, better 2D to 3D conversion

500 has better 3D

David,

I would have to respectfully disagree on a few things. My experience is the Panasonic has better 3D and converts 2D better, also. The Sony by far is a better streamer both over the home network and via the apps. Just check the Panasonic threads about streaming and wifi. For BD/BD3D and DVD I prefer Panasonic. For streaming I prefer the Sony. Although the Sony has great PQ.

S~

100% AGREEMENT

Better streaming in what way? Better PQ and SQ? Or less interruptions?

Thanks all for the input:D So would it be fair to say that you can't go wrong choosing either of these players?

TIA; Menace

Pretty much. I have been satisifed with both the Panasonics and the Sony, with my impressions and experiences a few posts above.

S~

Can you please comment on how the Sony is far better at streaming? Is it in regards to PQ and SQ? User Interface to Netflix, Amazon.com apps? Less stutter? etc.

I would really appreciate it..

PQ/AQ for the streaming Apps. is pretty much the same. Sony offers DD5.1 with Amazon. The Panasonics have had issues with network connections, wifi, and Netflix. Hands down the Sony has it over the Panasonics with DLNA.

S~

Hey, I'm looking to upgrade from my PS3 and use something else for BDs instead, I want to see if I can get a better picture and be able to watch the 3D titles i own with TrueHD because the PS3 can't decode that on 3D titles.. My first choice was the BDT500, but is the picture quality that much better or is it a marginal upgrade? Would I be better with the Sony S790 or Panasonic BDT-01? (Which doesn't get talked about much around here)

I own the S790 and friends - JOEROD - owns both the S790 and BDT500.

My two cent recommendation is the S790 for the best available PQ and
Streaming Support.
Edited by drhankz - 8/10/12 at 4:42am