DVP630/642 New Problems?

[paddyb]

I've just bought a DVP630/5 (Uk version of DVP642)for £50. It has firmware 0531, so must have been kicking around the shop (Argos) for a while. I'm wondering if i should update to 1109, i've heard that 0531 is better? Or is there a hacked firmware that can be recomended?

The machine seems very buggy and has a few problems I haven't seen documented before, so wondering if its actually faulty. Here goes:

1. When playing some downloaded movies, they don't quite reach the edges in my widescreen tv and sort of curl up at the top a little. Not much but annoying.

2. On a disk with several films, if i press menu to exit a film it sometimes starts playing the next film rather than displaying the menu.

3. FF/RW only works on some films. On these ones you can't jump using the timer either. Surley a firmware update can correct this?

4. Zoom is annoying, only does 2x (too much) and disables my TV's zoom, unlike my last player.Being able to slightly enlarge ultra widescreen would be good and may help with problem 1 above.

5. Picture quality on a shop bought DVD isn't that great. Seems a bit grainy, colours wrong. Better than VHS but worse than my last player (Toshiba SD340) bought 18 months ago. Havn't got a pro scan TV, but most reviews say the picture is really good so suspect a fault.

6. Machine often crash when playing films, sometimes have to unplug it to reset it.

7. Because of the 11 character file name, some films in two parts both show on screen as having the same file name. the machine doesn't seem to be able to tell between them and just plays the first one on the list - even if i click on part 2, it will play part 1 again. I know i can rename them and reburn, but annoying to have to do this.

8. Seem to take ages to locate and start playing divx files, display menues etc. Lots of clicking & whiring while doing so.

Most of my movies are downloaded divx and xvids. Has played most ok apart from problems above. Some stutter then crash, a few have sound problems or simply won't play at all.

Any help/feedback on any of the above would be apreciated. Machine is under guarantee for one more week, may consider exchanging or getting another model!

[giannid]

The only differences between 0531 and 1109 is that the 1109 negatively added macrovision which means you might have trouble copying part or all of a dvd. On the positive side, it also shortened the time you have to press the STOP button to open the loading tray of the dvd player. That's all it did. There are a few modified firmwares out there, but these are just for subtitle support.
HuffyK's modified firmware
Burn files according to Philips Firmware Update specifications.


As to your questions:

1. I'm not familiar with widescreen, but there is in the system menu a choice for 16x9, letterbox, 4:3. You might try to experiment with those settings.

2. The Disc Menu button on the remote control will let you choose wether you want to see a menu first or wether you want your films to load automatically. If a film starts automatically, press STOP, and then click on DISC MENU. This will have the menu appear when you load a disc. To return to the menu while watching a film, press STOP.

3. I believe the FF and Time Jump, doesn't work on .mpeg (vcd, svcd) files. You might convert mpeg files to .avi files using AutoGk although that might take a couple of hours depending on size of file and your computer. Depends if it's worth it to you.

4. Yes the zoom function is not great. It would be a definite improvement to have some different ranges. Personally I would like to be able to zoom out as well as zoom in. Zooming to ½ the size would make smaller dimension files (e.g. 320x240) less stretched and more viewable.

5. DVD's should display fine. Perhaps you might try to adjust the system code (NTSC PAL AUTO) in the SYSTEM MENU. I had problems with a french DVD (played b&w) with the settings on automatic. I changed the setting to NTSC which is what the TV is, and now it plays fine.

6. If it crashes, it probably gets too hot. Don't put it over or under a cable/sat box or vcr. Give it lots of breathing room.

7. Burn your discs with file system 2 that allows for reading 32 characters (DVP630/642 will still only show 10 or 11 characters). And before you burn them, rename files to something like this for example:

1Everythingyouwanted.avi
2Everythingyouwanted.avi

instead of

everythingyouwantedtoknowaboutsexbutwereafraidtoas k_part_1.avi
everythingyouwantedtoknowaboutsexbutwereafraidtoas k_part_2.avi

8. I've heard that a few of these players make a bit of noise and some don't. You've got a noisy one. Mine makes a little bit of expected noise starting up a disc and changing from one subfolder to another.

I just tested my 642/37 - it powered on, loaded the disc and showed the menu in about 13 seconds which seems average for me. The disc had 6 subfolders most with a film and subtitle file, and one short video. If yours is taking 30 seconds or longer to start up, you might want to replace it.

[paddyb]

Thanks for your help. Larger subtitles would be useful to me but a bit worried about using a third party software. Would Huffy'k s work with 0531 or do i have to install 1109 first?

I've tried all the TV size options, they don't make any difference to most files.

Are you saying that my disk menu button is configured wrongly and that theres some way to set it to go to the menu rather than just play the next item? In the meantime i'll try using the stop button instead, thanks for the tip.

My machine is on top of the stack, should be pretty well ventelated, but i'll try proping some empty dvd cases underneigh to give it a bit more air.

I'll burn files with 11 char title from now on. Surely philips or some third party firmware hacker can recify this though?!!!!!And the fast forward thing as well!

Thanks for you help.

[giannid]

Huffy's firmware works fine. It is the same thing as the Philips except has been modified for better more readable subtitles. If you want 1109 (with macrovision) just update using his 1109 or you can keep your 0531 (no macrovision) and install his 0531.

You probably want on of these Latin 1 subtitle character firmwares (english, spanish, german, french, etc.) for the DVP630 (these will also work for the DVP642).

630/00 v2.1a - modified fw 1109
630/00 v2.1a - modified fw 0531

With the 1109 you get stuck with macrovision anti-copying technology, which probably isn't an issue for most people. With 1109 the loading tray opens faster - I think ½ second in 1109 vs. 2 seconds in the 0531.

Latin 2 is for central european slavic languages, and Cyrillic is for Russian, Ukranian, and Belarus.


About the disc menu button. No I didn't mean that it was configured wrongly, and I'm not sure if I answered you correctly. I just meant that you can set the DISC MENU button so that the dvd player will start playing the first file automatically or it will display a menu first. I think even if you have it set for the menu to appear, it will still automatically play the next file until it reaches the last file. I'm not sure if there is a setting where it will return to the menu after playing each file.

[paddyb]

Thanks for your help, if all 1109 does is enable macrovision i'll try the 0531 version. I've got no problem waiting an extra 1 1/2 second for the tray to open!

I'm happy with the menu now i know that the stop button will take me back to it.

Have an idea the display problem might be not "picture not reaching the edge of the screen" problem thats been mentioned before, just on my TV the sides seem to slope in a little at the top. Will se if i can find a foum for my TV now! (Thompson Black Diva (actually silver!).

Thanks.

[paddyb]

One more question: If I upgrade to Huuy'k's firmware, will i be able to upgrade again to a new philips firnware should they ever release one?

Thanks

[giannid]

Yes, you should be able to. I started with the 0531 installed on my 642/37.

I then put in the philips 1109

then one of Huffyk's earlier versions
then put back the 0531 philips
then the 1109 philips
then put back HuffyK's
Then put Alec999's (another modified)
Then huffyK's again
Then Bruno's (modified)
Then a different HuffyK for the 642k/78
Then Bruno's revised 1.1 yellow

And that's what I have now. I have read that newer models won't allow downgrading to the 0531 to rid the macrovision. This might be players which come with the 1109 installed.

Overall, I think you should be able to upgrade to another philips if they ever come out with another software upgrade.

There are other things to worry about:
1. If the power goes out while you are firmware upgrading, your dvd player will become useless.

2. Putting in a modified firmware will void the warranty.

For a DVD player that costs under US$70 those are risks I am willing to take in order to get the player to display subtitles adequately. You may wish to get a "no break" power source device that provides electricity if the power goes out to use while upgrading.

[paddyb]

Thanks. Is still under guarantee from the shop for a few of days so may have a go before it runs out, then at least if something goes wrong i can take it back!

Out of huffy's, Alecs & Brunos, which firmware do you prefer?

Thanks

[giannid]

Alec's font was okay, but he had individual semi-transparent backgrounds for each word with gaps in between. I found this a bit annoying against bright backgrounds. Alec999 also put something like, "Alec999's modified firmware" on the welcome page that appears when you start the player. This probably wouldn't be a good thing if a philips rep or repairman saw this.

HuffyK's and Bruno's firmwares are quite similar. Bruno is from Brazil and initially came up (with the help of HuffyK) a firmware which had all brazilian characters. Because the wife and me use portuguese subtitles most often, Bruno's appealed to me most. HuffyK has fixed his charsets and offered different versions for specific language groups. I think both HuffyK and Bruno use the same character fonts so there is very little between them. Personally I prefer Bruno's Yellow font.

[paddyb]

thanks