I own this Sony blu ray player, connected to a 40" Sony Bravia HDTV. Is it normal for this player to play blu ray movies only in letterbox format with the two black spaces at top and bottom of the screen?
1277541
Some movies it is the only way. However you can go into your TV menu under TV aspect ratio and change to 4x3 mode, zoom 1, theater mode, even widescreen. Each time you choose one of these formats you will pay a price for the aberration that it will cause to your viewing screen. Should you watch BEN HUR on Blue Ray the picture is so small it's uncomfortable to watch. Most DVD'S will tell you on the back what format it is in. You can find all the formats on the web [somewhere] and their ratio relative to your TV. Enjoy
34891
A solution is available when viewing DVDs through Sony's upscaling DVD player, which permits you to set normal aspect ratio for a 1080 signal. But I hadn't thought about the problem with a cable company's set-top box. This set limits you to Wide mode and 3 settings: Zoom, wide zoom (less drastic), and full. An e-mail to Sony produced the generic response and reference to a general blurb about HD and aspect ratio. I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds it an apparent bummer.
1401910
I have only played original Bluray DVDs thru the BlueRay DVD player, not thing else, so it is unknown to me.
483081
Well I don't remember if the Blue ray player has Component conections on it or not, but if your flat screen dose have then ,and the Sony BD player has them that would be the next best thing , being that means you would get 1080 I at least, not as good as 1080 P but still pretty dame good, I hope that helps you out
2070207
I checked the manual for you to be sure. The Blu-Ray player has at least 3 settings affecting aspect ratio. TV Type lets you select 16:9 or 4:3 depending on the physical design of your TV. Screen Format is the one you are most interested in, which has Full and Normal options. Normal will adjust the output to the original format, while Full will stretch a 4:3 image to fill a 16:9 display. Then there is DVD Aspect Ratio which is similar to the Zoom function on many HDTVs (letter box vs. zoom in which will cut off the sides).
573609
is this random, or when you're using the remote, or a pass through device. You have to make sure your device is compatible with the pass through, which means checking the menu settings for both the receiver and the device (tv, blu ray, etc) I had this same issue with my tv - sony bravia - because it was trying to control the cable box, tv and receiver, and the settings were making it go nuts.
871716
Chris, I believe i have owned mine for a couple years now and I don't see it listed on Sony's website as a current model. It has most likely been replaced by a more current model. If you want just the blu-ray player (without speakers, etc.) I think your best bet is to search for used on Amazon, ebay, etc. Good luck.
20173
I'm not sure about Sony, but I just bought a Vizio myself. It's brand new and there is a dead pixel in the middle of the screen. Whenever the screen's black, the pixel's white, and vice versa. I called Vizio and they said they have a FOUR PIXEL MINIMUM before they will do anything about it. Hopefully Costco will replace the set. I paid a lot of money for a brand new flawed item...
1374524
Thats a long freeze. I've never had one like that but I had plenty when I was using this player. It would freeze for about 10 seconds in several Blu-ray movies I owned. I've only heard about it from a handful of people so I'm wondering if random players are leaving the factory bad. Can you get a decent Blu-ray player for under 200 bucks? I had a Samsung before this that had Audio sync problems. At this point I have like 15 Blu-ray discs and no player. I refuse to pay more than 200 for one as I could spend a little more than that and build a Home Theater PC.
315967
Unless you received a defective TV it sounds like a setting needs adjusting. Have you looked at the output settings on the BR player? Also, are you connecting it via HDMI? Other cables will give a lousier image. Also, you may need to adjust the color, contrast, etc., settings on the TV to make it look better.
1155604
I was wondering the same thing...on this product or an other Blu-Ray players. Someone told me it does but I haven't seen it listed as part of the specificationsfor any I've looked at.
472186
This player only has an HDMI output. Does your TV have component video inputs? These would be three RCA jacks that are blue, red and green. If so, you can get an HDMI to component video adapter. I've never used one and have no idea how well they work. If you just have a yellow RCA video input jack, then you'd be better off buying a non-blu ray player, as you can't get high definition video through the single yellow video input. Hope this helps!
1150197
I have a Panasonic Blue Ray dmp-br601 playera and a 40" BRAVIA Pro Display KDL40S5100/9 TV. I just purchased the Panasonic. The BR601 will play back a Blue Ray disc properly both video and audio wise. When I play a non Blue Ray disc the audio will drop out every 5 or 10 minutes throughout the entire program. It will then fade in about 30 to 45 seconds later. Very annoying. There seems to be a little bit of audio noise just before the audio drops out. The non Blue Ray disc video will continue to play with no noticable degradation. Hopefully it's just a simple paramater selection in setup? Anybody have any ideas. Thanks.
1586994
Dear Peter,Thanks for your inquiry. Since there are no 4K or UHD discs available, the Blu-ray player itself does not upscale. There are however, many audio receivers that do upscaling and perhaps that is what you are asking. Hope that makes things clearer for you.Regards,Eric CohenWorld Wide Stereo
1246487
I just downloaded the latest firmware update from the samsung website to a flash drive and went through the steps to update the BD player. Now, I'm having the same problems that everyone is reporting - it won't play a Blueray disc. It get's stuck in the "load" mode. It will, however, play a DVD without a problem. So, like many others before me, I will be taking it back to the store. Samsung wanted me to send it to them, but I don't think I'm going down that nightmare road.
1451042
I solved this. There is no upscaling of HDMI, thats they way it should be. I solved this for older SD DVDS that I play on my blue ray like this, I hooked up a second set of connections and when its old DVDs I switch the receiver to DVD instead of blueray and the upscaler makes them look very much better than just normal DVDs. When I say switch I mean just like you switch the receiver from one component to another its that simple. I am really liking my investment with this receiver.
670279
Yes, the lack of resume function for BD-J discs (unfortunately, there are quite a few released under this format) is the most annoying problem of Blu-ray format. Can't imagine how the original developers come up with such format, lacking basic user friendliness training (let alone breaking a feature that exists since analog tapes). I really hope there can be a fix to either the format or players in the near future.