Category Archives: Firmware

Momentarily Spooky

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Stephen Dawson

Week before last Samsung did its 2013 TV launch. Included was its 85 inch 4K model, which it’s treating like a super custom install. They’re produced to order, you get free ‘Evolution’ upgrades for a few years and a tech … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Firmware, Fun | Leave a comment

Blu-ray firmware – time to be up-front

Posted on February 19, 2010 by Stephen Dawson

Recently I’ve looked at a couple of Blu-ray players where they appear to be sticking to the old consumer electronics model: put a finished product on the shelf and have nothing more to do with it until it breaks. That … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Equipment, Firmware | 2 Comments

If your Samsung BDP-1600 Blu-ray player is networked, upgrade it

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

I plugged in a Samsung BDP-1600 Blu-ray player this evening, whereupon it automatically asked if it could upgrade itself from version 1.0x firmware to 2.04. As is my practice, I told it to go ahead and went and did something … Continue reading →

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Finding Firmware Information

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

In my previous post I explained why it is important for me to report what firmware version is installed in some of the devices which I am reviewing. It occurs to me that consumer electronics manufacturers will need to come … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Firmware | Leave a comment

Firmware

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

My five-way Blu-ray player comparison review is out in the new issue (Feb/March 2009) of Sound and Image magazine. The review covers lower cost players: the LG BD300, the Panasonic DMP-BD35, the Samsung BD-P1500, the Sharp BD-HP21X and the Sony … Continue reading →

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Samsung delivers BD-Live

Posted on December 23, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

When Samsung released its BD-P1500 Blu-ray player a few months ago, it delivered a BonusView player with a promise of a future upgrade to BD-Live. Earlier this month it delivered on that promise with new firmware available from Samsung’s website. … Continue reading →

Posted in BD-Live, Blu-ray, Equipment, Firmware | Leave a comment

Toshiba continues to provide HD DVD support

Posted on September 8, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

I am impressed. This afternoon I turned on my Toshiba HD-XE1 HD DVD player for the first time in a month or so. Aside from playing my collection of fifty or so HD DVDs, I find it useful to check … Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment, Firmware, HD DVD | Leave a comment

Firmware – it has advantages, and disadvantages

Posted on February 8, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

One of the interesting side effects of digital home entertainment equipment is that products are no longer set in concrete. It used to be that you’d buy some gadget or other and what you purchased you were stuck with. If … Continue reading →

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Check, Recheck and Triple Check

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

One of the tasks involved in doing reviews on equipment is identifying faults with that equipment. That may seem easy, but it isn’t always. If you have a lousy picture while watching HDTV, is it the HDTV receiver that’s the … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV, Firmware, HD DVD, HDTV, Testing | Leave a comment

Blu-ray blows, or how to let the opposition win

Posted on November 21, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

I must confess that in the Blu-ray vs HD DVD stakes, I’ve been somewhat partial to Blu-ray. I think it has been because of the larger capacity of the disc than HD DVD, at least in their first incarnations (HD … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Firmware, HD DVD, Region Coding | Leave a comment