I go out to my office this morning, planning to finish off my combo review of the two new Panasonic Blu-ray players, the DMP-BD60 and the DMP-BD80. I switch on the system. The BD60 is plugged in at the moment. As soon as the TV comes to life, a message pops up informing me that a new firmware upgrade — 1.9 — is available. I had previously upgraded from the firmware installed when the players were delivered — 0.3 — to 1.7. All my tests were performed with version 1.7.
I can’t run with a review of a unit with obsolete firmware. The criticisms I’ve been making may well have been addressed with the new firmware. All I can find about what the firmware does is: ‘This firmware improves the BD-V playability.’
So, time to unleash the stopwatch again, pull out the test discs, and start all over.