My Blu Ray Player HATES Star Trek TOS

[sentrydogman]

I have a set of Star Trek TOS on Blu Ray which played fine for the longest time and THEN, out of the Blu sky, began
refusing to play the discs with errors like "Unable to operate on this disc" or simply "Unknown", while continuing to
play all my other DVD and Blu Ray discs perfectly. These Star Trek TOS Blu Rays will play on my Computer and on
OTHER people's Blu Ray players. I've tried making copies of the discs but to no avail - the copies ALSO fail to play
giving same type of error. I am at my wits end.

Any ideas out there ?

The player is a Sony S360

[jman98]

I'm not aware of anything unusual in how these were made. I've got them and they don't have Cinavia on them, but what you see isn't indicative of a Cinavia problem anyway. I have to ask - did you buy these off some place like Ebay where you can't be 100% sure that they aren't bootlegs? If you bought them off an Ebay seller who wanted like half what it would cost to buy these at a place like Amazon, you may have bootleg discs. Assuming you are reasonably sure that they're legit, then I'd guess this points to the possibility of your Sony BluRay player going bad.

[sentrydogman]

I actually have (2) sets. 1 I got off Amazon and 1 off Ebay. Since my player handles everything else I have
it just thickens the plot. Oh, yeah. BOTH sets exhibit the same frustrating problem. Not ALL the discs but
most. Yes, I have considered the Bootleg issue and these days it seems as if no matter WHERE you get
them the BOOTLEG problem may arise . I've had to revert to watching the regular DVD versions. I've
already been thru a couple of Blu Ray players for one problem or another SUCKS

I even went to the expense of a Blu Ray Burner & 50GB Blu Ray blanks to try copying the damn things but to
no good end. And you know how COSTLY that was !

[hech54]

I actually have (2) sets. 1 I got off Amazon and 1 off Ebay.

I don't see how that makes any difference?

[jman98]

I don't agree with you that you have to worry about bootlegs no matter where you buy. I buy stuff from Amazon all the time and I don't think I've ever unwittingly bought a bootleg. But when some Ebay dude in China wants $30 plus shipping for something that costs $60 here, it's probably a bootleg.

I don't think much of Sony players for various reasons, but more to the point of trying to help, by any chance is this player stored in one of those ubiquitous wooden "media cabinet" things that so many Americans insist on having? You should be aware that today's BluRay and DVD players are deliberately designed to be thin because consumers want this. This means that they must air cool and they need a lot of empty space around them to do so. I've got a glass and metal TV stand that I use with a few open sided shelves on it where I put my various players. I've seen what heat damage can do to players kept in wooden media cabinets with closed sides and I simply refuse to buy such a media cabinet. Players are also built with fairly cheap components and they're meant to be thrown out when they get defective. They're not really designed to last forever. When they break down, you have to buy a new one and throw the old one away. Also, if you or someone in your house smokes, this can have a negative effect on electronic longevity too. Or it could be simply that nobody smokes where you live and you do keep your players in places with tons of open air around them but you are just very unlucky and you happen to get the lemons that roll off the production line.

[Noahtuck]

You can just as easily get bootlegged movies off Amazon as anywhere else.
Everything on Amazon is NOT from Amazon.
Even within this past summer I have seen moves and concerts that were for sale on Amazon that were absolutely on burned media and it's eve easier to slip in pressed bootlegs that people would think are legit for that fact alone.

[sentrydogman]

Well, I'm not quite stupid enough to buy Star Trek from China, rest assured. And I believe that even a reputable dealer could get hoodwinked into
purchasing Counterfeit Merchandise. And unless Amazon ITSELF is the seller, you are dealing with independent dealers who may or may not be
trustworthy or who may themselves have been snookered.

[sentrydogman]

And so far NOBODY has addressed the issue of why this player of mine will play EVERY OTHER DISC I HAVE BOTH DVD & BLU RAY yet
will NOT PLAY Star Trek TOS Blu Ray when it will play on other Blu Ray capable devices.

Is Murphy responsible ?

[El Heggunte]

Is your Sony connected to the Internet, so that it can receive those dubious "firmware updates"

[sentrydogman]

Nopers, altho I thimk I once tried the route of d/l on my PC and burning to CD. Player gave me msg that
it was already up to date I believe.

[fritzi93]

I have a Sony BDP-S360 and if memory serves, it's 5-6 years old. If your problem discs play on other standalones, then my guess is your player is either dying or the lens is dirty. You didn't answer jman's question as to are there any smokers in the house. That would do it, but the lens on an oldish player could certainly get dirty over time regardless.

BTW, I am a smoker and I have cleaned the lens on my S360.

[wulf109]

I would suggest flashing with the latest firmware. It will be cinavia free as the 360 predates cinavia,I have a 360. My regular player is a 380 and it would not play Defiance series BR until I flashed the firmware. Be advised not to flash a 380 with a firmware higher than "600". Any higher and you'll have cinavia in the firmware.
Also backing up the TOS BR disks will be a problem because they use seamless branching. I did back them up on BR50's and they play normally. The seamless branching causes a noticeable "bump" in the video when it encounters a branching point.

[sentrydogman]

No smokers and I've used one of those lens cleaning discs numerous times to no avail .

And when I tried flashing with the lastest firmware from the Sony website I got, as expected,
the message "Already Updated" So there.

And again I ask, why does this bloody player only pick on Star Trek TOS discs ( which play on other devices ) ????????????
Does it have something against anything less than Next Gen ?

[wulf109]

Buy a new SA player.

[Arnold_Layne]

I've had a Sony BD player that would not play the ST TOS BD's properly either. It has to do with the way they discs are authored. They are done as multi-angle and seamless branching.

[sentrydogman]

I've thought about another player, but I do NOT get a Warm Fuzzy Feeling And it irks me to buy a new player just for THIS problem

And where do you guys get this arcane knowledge of such things a multi-angle & seamless branching whatever the hey
that means ?

[jman98]

You can just as easily get bootlegged movies off Amazon as anywhere else.
Everything on Amazon is NOT from Amazon.
Even within this past summer I have seen moves and concerts that were for sale on Amazon that were absolutely on burned media and it's eve easier to slip in pressed bootlegs that people would think are legit for that fact alone.

Are you seriously arguing that if I buy something like Star Trek The Original Series season 1 on BluRay from Amazon - not a reseller but from them - that I have a very real chance of getting bootlegged crap? You're on your own if you want to argue that one. For God's sake man, I sure didn't mean to suggest it's impossible to buy bootlegged stuff, but it's one thing to order some random foreign film not officially released in the USA and something else entirely to order stuff that should be straight from the studio.

The OP has yet to answer whether his player is stored in such a way that it could get heat damage. And any Sony player that can't play the TOS discs is defective. Multi-angle and seamless branching (I think BD uses a different term but I don't remember what they call it) is required to be supported. It's not optional. Sony is such a POS company that maybe they do make players that can't follow the standards, which they helped to define, but they aren't supposed to.

[sentrydogman]

The way counterfeit merchandise has inveigled its way into the supply chain, yes, I think it possible that even Amazon could be victimized. They are not all-seeing or all-knowing.

And "the OP" is saying that there is plenty of air circulation around the unit and is STILL ASKING -

Why is it that the player will play EVERY other disc I have, both DVD & Blu Ray, yet balk at Star Trek TOS Blu Ray discs ( which
play on Computer & other Blu Ray capable devices )

[wulf109]

Have you tried playing a different disk that also uses seemless branching-i.e. The Alien Anthology?

[sentrydogman]

Yessiree Bob. Like I said, EVERYTHING PLAYS ***except*** these sick puppies. Well, I gave in and ordered -

Samsung BD-E5300 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) for $50 It is an "Open Box" item and comes with Full Warranty which is why
I took my chances. $50( free shipping ) won't break the bank and I will let you guys know the outcome ! Care to place any BETS ?

Wells

Still no comments on my TOUGH QUESTION. I wonder why ?

[sentrydogman]

Have you tried playing a different disk that also uses seemless branching-i.e. The Alien Anthology?

Just what the heck is "Seemless Branching" ?? I'm no Video Guru

[usually_quiet]

Have you tried playing a different disk that also uses seemless branching-i.e. The Alien Anthology?

Just what the heck is "Seemless Branching" ?? I'm no Video Guru

Wikipedia has a good explanation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamless_branching. It is called "seamless" because you aren't supposed to see any jumps when the video "branches".

[sentrydogman]

Praytell, what meaneth "branches" ? Does it sprout little twigs on the screen ?

Wells

[usually_quiet]

Praytell, what meaneth "branches" ? Does it sprout little twigs on the screen ?

Wells

I suspected I was wasting my time giving you an answer before. Now I'm sure I did. I'm not wasting any more of it.

[sentrydogman]

Another smug 'expert' spouts off. Can't even take a joke. Herbert, you are STIFF !

Anyway, a Samsung player to the rescue. Only $50 cuz it was an "open box", otherwise Brand New w/Warranty.

[sentrydogman]

I don't think that I ever emphasized the fact that this Sony player DID PLAY these Star Trel TOS Blu Rays for a few months before suddenly becoming cranky. That's when I tried all the OBVIOUS remedies of cleaning the Laser Lens and the Discs themselves as my first attempt to solve the problem, But to no avail.

[usually_quiet]

Someone else gave you an answer that fits the symptoms, and it hasn't been eliminated as a possible reason, but you were apparently too busy thinking up one of your smart-ass replies to notice. No I'm not telling what it is or why it is likely the answer. As you may have noticed, I don't respond well to sarcasm.

[sentrydogman]

You are most certainly Herbert. Anyway it's all moot now. And the fact that the player handles everything else I have w/o
complaint kinda shoots holes in any theories which were posited. It just doesn't like THESE DISCS ( now ). It would indeed
be interesting if I had Next Generation on BluRay but I don't.

[El Heggunte]

You are most certainly Herbert. Anyway it's all moot now.

In other words, you finally admit jman98 was right , I presume.

...........

then I'd guess this points to the possibility of your Sony BluRay player going bad.

[classfour]

Sony BD players are bad out of the box.

I have one, wish that I'd bought a Pioneer, and miss the upconverting Pioneer DVD player the dang Sony replace.