*** The LG BH100 HD Super Multi Blue Player *** official owner's thread - Page 16

Today I received THE CROW and GANGS OF NEW YORK from Amazon UK. They are marked Region B and would not play in Pioneer or Sony Blu-Ray players. Surprise...they loaded and played fine in my "Region A" LG BH100. Is the BD region code switch not activated in the LG?

Region coding could be activated next time you update the firmware.

Thanks for the info that LG is already working the issue. I guess I need to make sure I register before expecting an update....I've been depending on the dealer for "stuff" but he's as lazy with downloads/disc burning as I am.

So whats the verdict on this unit? My friend who works at a big box store offered one to me for a really good price. I plan on using it with a projector (Don't know which one yet). So any major bugs that I should be aware of? Or should I just pass and wait on the new gen dual players?

If I'm looking for a new player, I'd be looking for one which will decode DTS HD MA, True HD 5.1, and give me 5.1/7.1 analog outputs (since my system is HDMI-challenged). But I'm big on lossless audio and have a sound system I feel will take full advantage of it.

As it is, I'm hoping to milk another year or so out of the BH100 before I think about taking the plunge again. Hopefully by then, all the bugs/firmware fixes etc have been worked out, a format winner declared, and someone can build a player with really good DACs and audio processing.

Other than the audio (no DTS HD MA support and only 2 channel TrueHD for HD DVD (but 5.1 TrueHD for Blu-ray; go figure)) and half-baked HD DVD menu/frills support, the video may be as good as it gets (at least for Blu-ray, not sure about HD DVD). YMMV. I suspect the PQ could be even better if I had a projector which supported 1080p/24.

I just opened mine and watched my first Blu-Ray disk last night. The player is great. It does seem to share a remote code with my Geffen switcher but this is a known issue with that device. The IQ is fantastic on my 720p DLP projector. I went through ordered 80 films from netflix in BOTH formats. Awesome!
How do you check the firmware?
Sam

You need to be your own judge and jury to render a verdict.

In any case, the way I see it, this player has served me well and I don't regret the purchase. I bought it soon after it was released and it allowed me to be indifferent to BR or HD when choosing discs. It has a few quirks on the video side (1. apparently a few of the newer BR discs don't play although a FW update will likely fix that soon; and 2. no menus in HD). It also is limited on the audio side as you cannot play all of the new "HD" audio formats via digital and in some cases not even via analog and some people have experiened lip sync problems via analog.

The thing is, if I were in the market now I would certainly be considering waiting for the next generation players including the upcoming LG. They will have more functionality and might be better in terms of PQ and SQ. You will have to pay more for them if you get them when they first come out and I'm sure that when they do the BH 100 price will plummet.

So in the end you have to decide for yourself.

Well, thanks for the insight on the unit. It sounds liek a solid machine but the new combos with more features are coming out sooner then I had thought. I guess I will just try to hold out...

Thanks though...

My BH100 connected to a VP-30 by HDMI only.

I am running the latest firmware on the BH100.

The only audio configuration on the BH100 I can find is to set the SPDIF to Bitstream or PCM, so based on the manual, I set it to Bitstream.

Playing a Dolby Digital EX or 5.1 track (on a SD DVD), the VP-30 shows "unknown" on the audio type.

However, my Denon AV receiver detects it as DDEX and seems (mind you, it's sort of hard to tease out if it's working properly) 5.1. I definitely caught some LFE, so something's happening.

The question is: Move to optical or coax out, or continue to use HDMI? Analog is possible, but I'd rather have my receiver do the decoding on the audio than than the DVD player. As long as I get a digital 5.1 track, I could care less about the new HD formats for now...sounds like things are a bit goofy with them anyway.

Thanks to all...I look forward to that firmware upgrade.

has anyone received the firmware update for the bd+ issue yet?

There is still no new FW posted on LG's service site. The latest is still 7-11-07

Just took the plung because I wanted a single unit to play both. Will most likely upgrade late next year....

How do I check for the software version and how do I upgrade the software - on this? And what will the upgrade actually do for me>

Thanks,

John

Tried to watch Silver Surfer with the family on Saturday night and was DENIED by lg. A little disappointing. Was really wishing I'd bought the sony just then.
Cheers,
Sam

I use the anolg outs to my Adcom Processor and think it sounds better than coax out to it. just try it and see, i think you'll like it much better.

Athanasios

I wouldn't say you were denied by LG, the software and hardware manufacturers need to be working together before DVD's are released to the public. You are going to be experiencing this with new releases especially the bluray movies. It is in Sony's best interest that new releases are unstable on non Sony players.

Okay, I'm back from Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF), a 2-channel ear candy feast of mostly hideously overpriced audio equipment. I did actually find a couple of rooms with high def video/lossless audio demos going on (A Denver-based custom HT installer, I would guess). They had an LG BH100 on static display because they couldn't figure out how to get 5.1 lossless audio out of it. Grrrrrhhhhh. Instead they resorted to a new $500 Sony "cheapie".

Now back to the unfinished business: playing FFSS. Any status on the alleged, imminent Firmware fix for the Fox titles ?

thx

If sony think it's in their best interest to make other brand players fail reading their software then blu-ray will be as successful as minidisc, betamax, UMD, memory stick, and sacd. Will they ever learn? It's the main thing preventing me from buying one of their projectors. It's sad to watch a great company go to the dogs for arrogance.
Sam

No Firmware update yet.

Glad to see you made it back Oscar. We got out at 9:40am on Standby.

I heard I missed out on an impromptu Halcro/movie demo after the shot marathon closing down the bar. Shucks. Great ending to RMAF otherwise. I'd like to get my hands on pictures of the RMAF show (hint).

Called up the LG 1-800 number, the guy I talked to seemed unsure about the firmware fix, put me on hold while he tried to find out what was going on, then suggested I try to download from the lgserver.com as before. My internet access crash before I got around to it.

Guess I have time. I stopped by Best Buy and picked up 10 disks (6 with BOGO, 3 more priced at $14.99 and AC/DC.

Soooo...

I bought Transformers today and tried watching it in my BH100. This is the first HD disk I've tried since I bought the player last week. Regular DVD's have been fine. Anyway, when I start it up, I get the loading screen for 30 seconds and then the disk stops and goes to the LG main stop menu. Anyone else experience this or have any ideas what the issue could be?

can you elaborate in what version of firmware they wanted you to download?
i haven't even gotten that much out of the 1-800 people...

I already have a CD of those picture for you. Yeah, I didn't go into the Halcro 'movie' room at all.

I was just on LG's web site, and it's still the same update that we already have. But I will keep checking. I hope that LG isn't going to blow off the BH100, now that the BH200 is out.

I thought I saw a different ISO file in addition to the one we have. Whether it's an earlier or later version I don't know. I think I need a specific piece of software I don't currently have to burn it to disc. Still working on it.

I was hoping they'd offer to mail me the disc but the guy never said an update was available; he simply pointed me to the lgservice.com/device driver link. I don't think he was sure the update was available. Maybe someone needs to call during the day when people "in the know" are more likely to be around the help lines (maybe).

i have received two firmware updates on dvd media from lg.
i just specify with the person i want the media.

this is starting to irk me. i am was going to by a bh200 for my other
viewing room, but now i think i'll go with the other multi-format (samsung?).

I had the same thing happen to me. But, when I hit the play button again, the movie started to play immediately. Woohoo ! I was starting to worry. Did you try to hit the play button again ?

I also have the latest (pre-FFSS) firmware.

No update yet for Fantastic 4.
Hmmm.
Sam

This player sounds like a disaster.

Give it time, a firmware fix could still be "imminent". I'll be surprised if they don't have a fix before the end of the month.

I'd still buy it over the BH200 simply for the 5.1 analog outputs. My next player absolutely has to have 5.1 analog outputs and DTS HD MA internal decoding (for the analog outputs) and bitstream over HDMI.

I too had the problem with Transformers HD-DVD not playing on my LG BH100. After searching around I finally found a firmware update and to my surprise I'm watching my Transformers DVD right now.

Go to: us.lgservice.com/index_b2c.jsp and click on Device Driver.

Search for "Product DVD&Video" Choose Operating System "All". Type in "BH100" under Subject

Download the two files found under "Program Update for BH100-N (USA Only)" and follow the instructions on the PDF files.

If any of this doesn't make sense let me know and I can send you a link for a zip file I have uploaded. joeclubkid@gmail.com

As with any firmware, you are on your own, I took a chance and it worked for me.

Time perhaps will help it but what is LG's history of supporting older players? Who's to say they just won't stop updating this when the BH200 hits?