Panasonic DMP BDT500 - Page 29

thanks for the info!

oh well, I guess you do need to shell out $500 for a good bd player these days.

I've seen no reason to think that current Panasonic blu-ray players are somehow more finicky about playing discs than other current blu-ray players.

More likely that you got a player that happens to be slightly off in reading discs. Return it if you still can.

I've done that (return it) with one of the expensive high-end DVD players during the big closeout of DVD players that happened during the aftermath of the '08/'09 financial meltdown.

Agree somewhat. However, one thing is having issues reading a disc, which is indeed more about the drive mechanics than anything else. There is another, whcih is the one I experienced with the bdt220, is that it consistently got completely stuck at where it failed reading the disc. Even attempting to skip that scene was finicky to say the least.

Everyone will just about agree that the 500's remote is a real PITA. However, this issue has been beaten to a pulp here. I got a big yawn out of reading your post. One should do his/her homework before buying a product. Thus having done that myself, I knew what I was getting before I bought the 500. The solution is very simple. Just use an older Panny remote if you have one and enter that remote's 5 digit code into the 500's. I didn't have a old panny remote. So, I used my Directv's HR 24 receiver's remote, the RC65RX which is a universal type that can control up to 4 devices. I used the code for an older panny remote, 20490. Wah la problem solved. Have a nice day.

I haven't rented from NetFlix, however I have from RedBox. The BDs I got from them were in real sad shape being no where near pristine. Frequently, I would find several scratches on each of them not to mention goo spots from people handling them after eating popcorn or whatever. I could get rid of the goo but not the scratches. Amazingly my 500 played those disks effortlessly without any problems whatsoever.

It's good to report the problems you had though. It's starting to look as though some 500s suffer from poor workmanship or faulty components. There are some lemons out there. I suppose I am among the lucky ones who got a perfect one without any flaws.

Hey guys,
Panasonic Australia told me today that they have NO plans to release the DMP-BDT500 in AUSTRALIA.
Therefore I'll need to import one if possible. Now I think my only concern is the Power Specifications of the BDT500.
Australia uses 230v (10% tolerance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country)
Could someone please inform me if ALL BDT500's use 100-240v Worldwide Mains Power or whatever the official term is?
It might just state it on the rear of the unit near the power socket? But I'm obviously not sure.
If they ALL use 100-240V then I have flexibility in where I import from to find the lowest price.
Of course I would like to avoid having to use a voltage converter.
Appreciate any help you guys can provide.

How's well does this player do 24p rate on regular DVD? Can it detect the rate automatically like the Sony players?

It does fine. Keep in mind it must be set each time when viewing a DVD.

S~

Ive had the BDT500 since release, excellent PQ and the touchpad is really not hard to use at all once you get used to it. Little bit of drama queenery when folks complain about such a small and simple feature.

I agree with you 100% on the 500's excellent PQ and AQ. However, I differ on the remote. I do agree that using the remote isn't hard at all. In fact, it's actually too easy to use even to the point of being too sensitive to the touch when one never intends to use it. Please note that I think Panasonic meant well. However, they didn't follow through very well in implementing that feature. Panasonic's engineers could have at least provided an additional function to enable or disable the remote's touchpad. It need not always be active, if one doesn't have any desire or need to use it.

So, I simply ignored it. At least, that's what I attempted to do. It's true that the 500's remote can operate everything just fine without ever using the touchpad at all. That's just how I used it for a while. Unfortunately, I found that it's somewhat like having a loaded gun with the safety lock off. Any random touch or accidental sweep across the pad's surface did on occasion trigger an undesirable action even terminating a program or movie that I was watching. That's when I made the switch to a universal remote. Problem solved.

I got a big yawn reading your post about redbox DVDs being , not in pristine condition.That subject has been beaten to death. If you had acted on what you have read you would not have made the mistake of renting dvds from rebox. Problem solved. Wa la. Have an awesome day.

that might be the only choice if there is no video store nearby. take that into consideration.

Jacob

Re the remote. I got a new Panny 210 remote for $8 shipped on eBay. Works perfectly. Of course you can always use a universal remote. Or use the iPhone or android app, which works better than any remote.

So the player doesn't detect it automatically? That sux if I have to set it every time I want watch a DVD.

Sorry peeps but can no one help me here? I might have found the answer myself. But wouldn't mind some clarification.

The BDT500 is in the middle, and it looks like it states 120v.
So might anyone know what model I should get for use in Australia?
DMP-BDT500EB/EG/P/PC?
Edited by tricky83 - 8/28/12 at 6:20pm

I'm glad you got a big yawn because that's all you got. Just to correct you though. I made no such mistake renting from Redbox because I have long known that their disks aren't always in such great shape. However, that's of no consequence because my DMP BDT500 played them flawlessly anyway. I have gotten a great deal of enjoyment out of them at a lower price. Also, I don't have much choice. It's either them or Blockbuster kiosk. There you go then. You've proven yourself dead wrong. Happy yawns to you.

Picked up a BDT500 and I am impressed with its build quality.

The drive mechanism is very silent, though I still have to watch full movies (BD and DVD) to be sure. The drive isn't as fast as the one in the bdp-s790 (had it for a week or so), but then again, not nearly as loud either. And you cannot really compare the build quality between the two players IMO (though I think the Sony is also a good option if priced lower than the BDT500).

So far so good... hope it reads most BDs and DVDs from netflix, otherwise I will have to go with the oppo or the Sony (despite the noisy drive it does play everything).

tricky83,

I bought the EB version in the UK.
It takes 220-240V AC via a common figure 8 mains cable connector.
I hope this helps.

julk

Noticed the following problem on the BDT500 while using the 7.1 analog o/p to the receiver ...

DTS-HD plays fine with all speakers firing.
Dolby HD & Dolby 5.1 will only play on 2 channels - front left & right. Center, subwoofer and rear channels not firing.

However if you use the digital out on the player all channels fire all right for DTS & Dolby. I don't have HDMI input on my old receiver to test HDMI but I presume that should be fine.

Pansonic tech support advised that I ship the player for repairs. However the unit was new and I simply returned it for a replacement. And I notice the same problem on the replacement player. Does anyone else notice the same problem or did I end up with a bad coincidence of receiving 2 units with the same problem?

Try setting the following as indicated, if you haven't already done so:

1. Set Analog Audio Output to 7.1 even if you don't have a 7.1 setup.

2. Set 7.1 ch Audio Reformatting to Auto.

3. Set HDMI Audio Output to OFF.

Thanks a heap Julk.
Looks like the EB version is the goer. With the latest firmware it looks like you can switch BluRay regions in order to play other region Blu Rays.
Now to justify the extra cost over the locally available 320

I've seen this a few times over the years. If checking your settings doesn't work, do a factory reset of the player and redo your settings. It usually works.

S~

Star Hawk,

Thx a ton for the inputs. I got this fixed. I tried the settings suggested by you and it worked.

Then I started undoing each settings to see what really made a difference and this is what I found. All things remaining the same the one single setting that breaks the multi channel o/p on the 7.1 analog o/p is the "HDMI Audio". If you set this to off Dolby Digital & Dolby HD works fine. If you set "HDMI Audio" to "on", Dolby Digital & Dolby HD plays in stereo mode (L & R channel only) on the 7.1 Analog o/p. Interestingly this setting does not impact DTS HD encoded signals. So it does look like a bug in the firmware.

This is a good player and I am glad I got this working. Apparently Panasonic tech support is clueless about this. They asked me to return the player for repairs. I will call them tomorrow and let them know about this. Hopefully it will help other folks struggling with the same problem and save them the bother of ordering a replacement like I did.

Thank you.
Edited by SB77 - 8/29/12 at 10:30pm

Thank you teachSac.

The "HDMI Audio" settings was the problem. When this is on, it plays Dolby Digital & Dolby HD in Stereo on the 7.1 analog o/p. Set HDMI Audio to off and it works fine. This looks like a bug that will hopefully be fixed in future firmware upgrades. For now we have to set HDMI Audio to off to make the 7.1 analog o/p to function normally for Dolby signals.

Calling Panasonic support to report that they need to improve is a hopeless waste of your time.

At least that's my conclusion from reading the posts that continue to show up in this thread on that subject.

Absolutely. When using analogs, HDMI audio must be disabled. That is the way it is designed to work. The player will detect the TVs capabilities during the initial handshake upon startup. The table will report 2 channel capabilities, so that is what it will send. That's why I said check the settings first to make sure that everything was set the way Star Hawk posted. I have seen these settings correct in the past, but the player still sends 2 channel. A reset has fixed it. Glad it's working right now.

S~

That's great news SB77! Very happy for you.

Also, teachsac gave us a good description for why HDMI Audio Output needs to be off. It is strange to me, though, that DTS HD seems to be ignored whereas Dolby Digital and TrueHD aren't. Teachsac, can you think of any reason why that is so?

Thx for clarifying this teachsac. I did not realize this was so by design. I thought it was a bug in the firmware. The fact that this affected only Dolby encoded audio threw me off as DTS-HD functioned normally irrespective of the HDMI Audio settings. I am glad this fixed the problem for me because I was in two minds about returning this. I liked this player and was thinking of keeping it either way. :-)
Edited by SB77 - 8/30/12 at 10:58am

:-) I did speak to Panasonic regarding this earlier today.

I am afraid you may be right. I was on an online chat session and even as I was explaining the problem the support person cut me off short with a thank you for contacting Panasonic message and ended the session. :-) I am not sure what aborted the session abruptly so I called their helpline and finally spoke to a person after being misdirected to different departments.

Hopefully some good comes out of it! This is a good machine and it would be unfortunate if people struggle to use it as intended simply because the parameter settings on the device is not right. If the folks at Panasonic tech support had addressed this it would have saved me and perhaps several others hours of debugging and testing time. I also ended up returning one player and getting a replacement. What a waste of time and money for everyone involved!

I'm not holding my breath on getting even decent support (let alone good or better) from Panasonic.

Agreed!

If you want great support for your new blu-ray player, choose OPPO.

And maybe also Cambridge Audio?

But I've no real clue on CA's support, nor support from Yamaha nor LG nor Denon, etc. etc.