Official Panasonic DMP-BDT 220/320/500 Owners Thread - Page 110

Yeah - no error codes. No sound lapses (except when in freezes). Nothing like that. It just freezes every couple of minutes for about 10 seconds or so. And, it always freezes in the same spots - so it's not random. However, when I play it on my computer there are no issues whatsoever.

Could it be the actual disc I'm using? It's an older disc...maybe I need new ones to run this newer Blu Ray player?
Edited by NateDoggg - 3/2/13 at 4:24pm

I see the DMP-BDT230 finally has a page at Amazon. Although it shows shipping in 3 to 5 weeks and the price they list is $20 over the retail price of $129.99. I was hoping this would have been available by this week. But apparently not. I saw no sign of it at BestBuy yesterday.

Don't expect too much from these new 2013 players...

According to one of my contacts, Panasonic decided to drop the Uniphier chipset for cost reasons and is now using Mediatek chipsets also for the new 2013 3D stand alone 3D Blu-ray players.

This is the same chipset which has also been used for the low cost 2D players DMP-BD75 and DMP-BD77 in the past, but was never used for Panasonic 3D players.

While recorders and home theater systems are still using the Panasonic's own Uniphier platform, all the new stand-alone Panasonic players are now using the cheaper Mediatek platform.

I was asked to bring this here, so here it is. I'm having a bizarre problem, and I've run out of ideas. I'd love to hear yours.

PROJECTOR: Panasonic PT-AE8000U
BLU-RAY PLAYER: Panasonic DMP-BDT 220
RECEIVER: Pioneer VSX-1020

ISSUE: Any time I play a disc (DVD, 2D or 3D Blu-ray), after about five minutes the projector seems to get a garbled video signal. Sometimes it shows flickering gray and black, followed a few seconds later by the signal returning to normal; sometimes gray snow, which persists until I toggle the input on the receiver (next > previous). Sound continues to play through the receiver while the video fails.

I have some more testing that I need to do to narrow this down, but here are some things I have done:

* I tried a small LCD flat-screen in place of the projector and was not able to reproduce the problem. However, I realize now that when I did this test, the BD player was not cold, so I need to try that again.
* I turned off Viera link, but that didn't help. It was a shot in the dark, but I've had some weird issues with various other settings with this PJ.

I'm thinking the BD player is the culprit, since this doesn't happen with any other sources and only happens with the PJ when I play a disc (Netflix or video files appear to work fine). Has anybody else run into a problem like this? Any ideas?

Thanks.

I've skimmed 100+ pages of this thread and seen some mention of problems like this, but didn't find anything that quite addressed the issue I'm having.

I'm trying to stream some DVD-quality MP4 files to a BDT220 across a network file share and am getting what appears to be dropped frames - there's no stutter in the audio and it doesn't go out of sync, but the screen freezes momentarily every few seconds and then jumps ahead a couple of frames. This goes away if I use DLNA so it's not that big of a deal, though I'd like to not have to worry about running a DLNA service at all.

The real problem is that I've also got some big 1080p MKVs, and those freeze up every few seconds while streaming. DLNA is not a solution because the 220 won't recognize MKVs through that method, and setting my NAS up for transcoding them to some lower quality format kind of defeats the purpose of having the 1080p files in the first place.

The player is hard-wired into gigabit ethernet. I can seamlessly stream two of these MKVs to 2 PCs on the same network without any problems, so the NAS and the network are both up to the task.

Is there some inherent problem with the 220 network file sharing? Is there some setting I can try tweaking to fix this? Failing that, is there another not-too-expensive player that would be up to the task? (Yeah, I've seen rave reviews of players like the Oppo and mention of something called Dune, but I'd rather avoid $500ish upgrades and I actually haven't seen anybody specifically say they're streaming 1080p to them from a file share...)

Next step is to bypass the Pioneer receiver. Run directly from the BD player to the projector. I had a 1020 for a while and had nothing but HDMI handshake problems.

S~

Will it provide the same quality as the 2012 models? That is all I would expect. I'll still get one and if the image quality is sub par I'll need to return it and pick up a BDT220. Although I was also hoping that the apps are updated for the 2013 models.

Doesn't OPPO use Mediatek chipsets?

I guess that might also explain the increase in power consumption for the 2013 models. They draw almost 50% more power than the 2012 models according to the specs listed on the Panasonic website.
Edited by aaronwt - 3/3/13 at 2:41pm

Oh' no! Don't tell me Panasonic's 2013 players are using the same cheap Mediatek chipsets that the Oppo players use! Can you confirm this?

Al

Download the firmware update for the DMP-BDT230/330 which has already been released from the following link:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/bd/download/bdt230/na/index.html

Unpack the archive and extract the "PANA_DVD.FRM" file, then do a binary search for "MT85" in the file and you will get your confirmation.

The same goes for the DMP-BDT75, DMP-BDT77/87, DMP-BDT79/89

As I said before, they have changed the platform only for the less expensice devices.

Panasonic Blu-ray recorders and home theater systems will continue to use the Uniphier platform.

Another funny thing is Panasonic doesn't replace the DMP-BDT500. It will continue to be sold in 2013...

Think about it...

Downloaded the user manual for the BDT-230 and couldn't find anything regarding a Web browser. I wonder how powerful it is (Flash ?) if it indeed exists.
The Mediatek chip is used by the Oppo 103 on the HDMI2 and the quality is very good. Some people even use it instead of the Marvell on HDMI1. I always tought Panasonic was the only user of the Uniphier processor.

I'm perfectly happy with my BDT500 and I'm glad they're not discontinued.

And by the way, although again I'm just guessing, I thought I read that the BDT330 was the only one with the browser. I don't have time to look into it tonight though.

Al

damn double post

I was just looking through the 230 manual. It's shows in the manual that you can only use USB for BD-Live storage. With the 220 you can use an SD card or USB. If this is actually true then I guess I won't be keeping the 230 after I get it. Otherwise the flip down door would need to stay down to use the USB input. With an SD card in the slot the flip down door could be closed on the 220.

The 230 does have a web browser, I was just trying to figure out how flexible it is. From the Panasonic web site:


Make Web Surfing More Fun


The Panasonic DMP-BDT230 Smart Network 3D Blu-Ray Disc™ Player comes equipped with an Internet browser. So all your favorite sites usually seen from your PC, smartphone or tablet can be displayed on your large-screen TV, from the comfort of your living room. It makes surfing the web more fun, more social and more sharable¿a great way to bring friends and family closer together.

Really...this is the first time I've had an issue with it.
Like I said, I wasn't able to repro the issue with a warm blu-ray player and a different TV still using the receiver, and I don't have this issue with any other source (PVR, X-box 360, PC).

It seems to me that HDMI handshake issues can be caused by nearly anything and sometimes it just doesn't make sense. So, performing the simple step that "teachsac" suggested makes perfect sense.

Al

Forgot to mention that my network is wired cat 6 if that makes any difference.

Thanks

Hi guys...
Having a problem with my 220.. Last night I put Super 8 bluray and it freezed at minute 1:20 aprox and 1:30 aprox. I then updated firmware but nothing. The problem its jist with that movie and in that player only, my other Lg player worked just fin.

Any clue there?

Thankyou guys

Why would anyone want a web broswer in a Blu-ray player?

To put some videos from the web on the big screen. There are many other ways to do it but I don't want to use a separate device or PC.

It's most likely the disc. Stopping in the same place is the clue. Some older Maxells are starting to deteriorate, specifically the gold color ones. Burning them at high speed also introduces authoring errors. Check to see if there is any white film or powder on it, but in general, the shelf life of most burned DVD media is a lot shorter than the manufacturers led us to believe. See if your friend can make you another copy with a newer disc, or try burning it at 8x or slower.

What is the difference between the 220 and the 320?

In terms of strictly blu ray playback- how does panasonic compare to the new Oppo 103?

There would be no difference in playback of blu ray.

Al

Hi my two cents. I had the same issue twice - Apple TV and Now with the Pani DMP-220. My fix was to purchase better grade HDMI cables.

You mean like You Tube videos? That's already in the player anyway.

So far no blu-ray player web browsers can play video. Maybe the new panasonics can, but I highly doubt it. Unfortunately a separate device is the only practical option. Besides, you'll be pulling your hair out within seconds of trying to use a browser with a remote. The PC option will start to look very good at that point.

I have a 210, bought and then returned an Oppo BDP-103. Not worth $500, IMHO.

People go crazy over the Oppo player; but if you read the owner's forum, the well-respected posters there do admit that you will see no significant difference in video quality versus a typical recent model player like the Panny.

Can you share the link please? I couldn't find it with an Amazon search nor a Google site search.