Playback Problems Reported on 'Silver Surfer,' 'Day After Tomorrow' Blu-ray Discs

Two of the most eagerly anticipated next-gen releases in recent memory have hit a series of playback snags on select Blu-ray players, but a fix is said to be on the way.

As we've previously reported, 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' and 'Day After Tomorrow' (both released this past Tuesday) mark the first Blu-ray releases from Fox Home Entertainment following a six month sabbatical.

But while the discs have generally been well-received (our own Peter Bracke raved about the audio/video quality in his review of 'Silver Surfer'), what was initially a cause for celebration has become an exercise in frustration for some Blu-ray fans as incompatibility issues with some players have hindered playback of the discs.

The most severe problems have been reported on Samsung's BDP-1200 and LG's BH100, which are both said to be incapable of playing back the discs at all. Less catastophic issues (error messages and playback stutter) have been reported for Samsung's BDP-1000. The discs appear to play back fine on all other Blu-ray players (including the PlayStation 3), although users have reported lengthy load times of up to two minutes.

It has been widely speculated that these issues stem from the use of BD+ copy protection on the two discs. We contacted Fox for comment, but so far there's no official word from the studio.

Calls placed to both Samsung and LG customer support revealed that both manufacturers are aware of the issue, and that both are working on firmware updates to correct it. Samsung promised a firmware update within "a couple" weeks, while LG said an update is expected in 3-4 days.

-- Highdefdigest.com

Quoting pplchamp:

Quote:
Buena Vista Home Entertainment have announced the US Region A Blu-ray Disc release of Underdog on 18th December 2007 priced at $34.99 SRP. Jason Lee, Jim Belushi, Amy Adams and Patrick Warburton star in the story of Shoeshine, an unassuming beagle (voiced by Lee) who flunks out of K-9 training and falls into the clutches of the unscrupulous Dr. Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage).

Through a secret experiment gone awry, Shoeshine acquires incredible superpowers, including the ability to fly and speak. After escaping from the megalomaniacal doctor and his henchman Cad (Warburton), Shoeshine is adopted by an ex-cop (Belushi). Armed with a fetching superhero costume, Underdog vows to protect the beleaguered citizens of Capitol City and, in particular, one beautiful spaniel name Polly Purebred. When a diabolical plot by Barsinister and Cad threatens to destroy the city, only Underdog can save the day!

Directed by Frederik Du Chau (Racing Stripes), Underdog is based on the 1960s cartoon canine of the same name.

Arriving day-and-date, the Blu-ray Disc features all of the bonus features from the DVD release plus a couple of exclusives.

Features include:

1080P Widescreen

English PCM 5.1 (Uncompressed)

English, French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround

English, French and Spanish subtitles

Never-before-seen Bloopers

Deleted Scenes

“Underdog Raps”—A music video featuring Kyle Massey, star of Disney Channels hit show “Cory on the House.”

Sit, Stay, Act: Diary of a Dog Actor—Shoeshine gives fans a peek at the making of the movie from his point of view. In an entertaining feature, Underdog “digs up” the real behind-the-scenes dirt.

Underdog Original Cartoon Episode—“Safe Waif,” the very first cartoon episode featuring the caped canine.

Simon Barsinister’s First Television Appearance—An additional original cartoon episode featuring the first appearance of Underdog’s underhanded nemesis. (BD Exclusive)

Additional Deleted Scenes (BD Exclusive)

-- DVD Times

Not judging, just posting the "facts" 

Rotten Tomatoes Rating for Underdog:  13%
"Consensus: Mostly Forgettable"

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/underdog/

Quoting twojayz:

Quote:
I'm excited about Underdog...Wait, no I'm not.

In the interest of fairness, Pan's Labyrinth is being released on BOTH formats, not just BD...

Exclusive to the high-def versions will be an enhanced picture-in-picture video commentary with cast & crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, while the HD DVD will also enjoy web-enabled content (to be announced at a future date).

Tech specs are equally impressive, with 1080p video (codec TBA) and a DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio track in 7.1 Surround -- so far the studio's first high-def title to be confirmed with high-resolution audio.

I'm not even going to go through the other pages I missed while I was away. 

So, on the topic of Underdog, I think very few people will be interested in that title.  I think Disney ruined Underdog by making it live action.

As far as Pan's Labyrinth is concerned, I'm worried about the PQ.  I hope the dark details won't be lost via low bitrates.  A 7.1 DTS-HD Master Lossless Audio track pretty much means that the encode can't even spike above 28 or 29Mbps at ANY time (I'm sure New Line will only use HD DVD's maximum encode rate for both formats).  I hope there are no fast action scenes in this movie.  I don't want to be distracted by artifacts or macroblocking during the film.

Another thing is why didn't they add the web content for the Blu-ray version?  Fox has titles announced with web content.  If New Line is going to stick the BD version with the HD DVD's encode, they could at least put the web content on there as well (not that most care about web content anyway).  These neutral studios excuses are getting tiresome.  The tools are available for them to do what HD DVD is doing with web content on Blu-ray (obviously, because Fox has announced these things).  The neutral studios wouldn't dream of putting Java games (like on POTC, Chicken Little, FF2, etc.) on BD releases and leaving them off of the HD DVD version because they can't do it.  I just find that interesting.  Oh well, like I said before, they use to be HD DVD exclusive.  I hope they stop that crap after they see the software sales numbers from the 4th quarter. /rant

With as good as the standard DVD looks (and sounds), a HD version will be stunning. There shouldn't be any need to worry about PQ, it will be fine. Asc, no offense but your post is why people "antagonize" you. You always have to throw in a shot about something, anti-HD DVD. Even I don't take every one I could at BD...

Quoting twojayz:

Quote:
With as good as the standard DVD looks (and sounds), a HD version will be stunning. There shouldn't be any need to worry about PQ, it will be fine. Asc, no offense but your post is why people "antagonize" you. You always have to throw in a shot about something, anti-HD DVD. Even I don't take every one I could at BD...

I gather The Giant ASC has returned to darken (aka spam) our forum....sigh...it was nice while it lasted.

Asc...Here's one route you could take in the future to avoid getting hate mail when you log on... Instead of blaming HD DVD, blame the studios for not showcasing the BD version in all its glory. It is ultimately their decision to limit the BD release, not the HD DVD camp.

Or...Simply pretend to be happy that you're getting a 1080p/DTS-Master transfer. You know as well as everyone else here that it's going to look and sound superb.

Compared to what we could have with new technology it ALL looks like crap.

With your Q4 rant, you don't know how that is going to play out and you state it as fact that BD will continue a lead (relatively small all things considered) and that HD has no chance. Let it happen first. Wishful thinking is one thing but you take it a step further than most...

I just read on highdefdigest and dvdtown that Spielberg titles (in Japan) are coming to High Def... and HD DVD that is

In that list were titles as Caspar, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Jaws and E.T.

I still haven't decided. There are some great titles available on Blu-ray... but also on HD DVD...