The Descent giving fits to BD-Java-less Blu-ray players
by Darren Murph 
posted Jan 6th 2007 at 6:03PM
If you've just picked up the recently released The Descent on Blu-ray disc, hold back from tearing the plastic off just a minute. If you're using a first-generation Blu-ray player that doesn't yet support the "BD-Java environment," chances are you'll be graced with a depressing black screen instead of an action-packed thriller. Users across the web are complaining that the film isn't playing back on their particular Blu-ray player, and High-Def Digest has suggested that units that don't play nice with BD-Java extras are having a hard time swallowing (and playing) the featurette-packed disc. Sony's BDP-S1 and Pioneer's BDP-HD1 have been singled-out as the two most problematic players in this ordeal, and while Sony has promised a firmware update to add BD-J support "early this year," the Pioneer users are currently out of luck. Notably, Panasonic units, Samsung's BD-P1000, and Sony's own PlayStation 3 are having no troubles, although some Samsung devices may need the latest firmware installed to overcome any glitches. Hopefully more manufacturers will get on the ball and start supporting these newfangled extras that were supposed to make high definition discs worth more than the pretty resolution, and kudos to Lionsgate for pumping this one up with BD-J action -- even though some of us are still trying to make it spin.[Via High-Def Digest]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Darren Lepke @ Jan 15th 2007 12:03AM
I spoke with several informed people at CES and apparently the BD-J content is not the problem. Due to the different levels of performance in players, some DVD authors insert a variable onto the disc that checks which player the disc is in and adjusts the menu display accordingly. For example, on more powerful players, a circular menu design would smoothly turn from one option to the next which on less powerful menus the options would chunk from one to the next- so to speak. Apparently the problematic players in question do not have the ability to process the player variable and give the black screen of death. The good news is that it should be an easy firmware fix and should be remedied later this year.
Asa Andrews @ Jan 26th 2007 2:57PM
If one installs the larest version of the Firmware from Sony (Version 1.50), "The Descent" does ultimately play. Once upgraded, playing the movie produces a blank screen for a while, about 1-2 minutes. After this, a white screen is presented with a little black square in the upper left, then a "Loading Logo Screen" appears and a menu is then displayed and movie progresses normally from there. The whole process may take a few minutes, and hopefully Sony will make more improvements to increase the performance of these types of disks.