New firmware for 5990/37..Thanks to vb6rocod

[huykin]

Has anybody been able to use the "TV Display" options in the video setup of DVP5990/37 in a meaningful way at all, for example playing wide-screen video on a 4:3 TV and getting some difference when switching between "4:3 Pan Scan" and "4:3 Letter Box", under either original or mod firmware? As I mentioned above, switching between those "TV Display" options doesn't do anything for me at all (under the mod firmware), so I wonder if that part of setup is plainly not working for anybody, or there is still something I can try.

I did notice a discussion of the aspect ratio issues earlier in this thread, but it didn't help. Unfortunately, my TV doesn't have an aspect ratio switch in its menu, so that solution doesn't work for me, and so far I am stuck with vertically stretched display when playing 16:9 video on a 4:3 TV.

[jagabo]

Has anybody been able to use the "TV Display" options in the video setup of DVP5990/37 in a meaningful way at all

Yes. I'm have the 5990 set up to output 1080p to my HDTV. All the following settings are with my HDTV set up in 16:9 mode, except where noted. All observations were performed with one of the mod firmwares from about six months ago.

With 16:9 movie DVDs:

With the 5990 set to the 16:9 setting it outputs as 16:9. Both 4:3 settings output a 16:9 image both letterboxed and pillarboxed. (In my experience, only certain DVDs support 4:3 pan and scan. I don't have any.)

With 4:3 movies all three settings output a 4:3 image pillarboxed in a 16:9 frame.

The behavior is different with Divx/Xvid files:

With the 5990 set to 16:9, 16:9 videos play full screen. 4:3 videos play pillarboxed.

With the 5990 set to 4:3 (both settings), 16:9 videos are squished vertically. If I set the TV to 4:3 (so it squishes the picture horizontally) the video appears with the right aspect ratio, both pillarboxed and letterboxed. 4:3 videos play full screen (16:9). But again, if I set the TV to 4:3 it squishes the picture back down to 4:3 pillarboxed.

With MPEG/VOB files:

All settings on the 5990 result in a full 16;9 display, both with 16:9 and 4:3 flagged videos. I have to use the 4:3 setting on the TV to squish 4:3 videos down to the correct aspect ratio.

[jonqpublek]

Hi,

Is there any way to add the following options to the 5990/37 firmware that were done for the 3360/12 firmware:

Option to change color for subtitles. Change color for text, outline, background.

Option for transparent background, work when background is non-transparent.

Slideshow option. Now you can turn on/off, set transition speed and duration.

The slideshow options would be the most interesting to me.

Thanks,

Jon

[huykin]

Hi,

Is there any way to add the following options to the 5990/37 firmware that were done for the 3360/12 firmware:

Option to change color for subtitles. Change color for text, outline, background.

Option for transparent background, work when background is non-transparent.

Slideshow option. Now you can turn on/off, set transition speed and duration.

The slideshow options would be the most interesting to me.

Thanks,

Jon

You may know this already, but there are color/transparency options for subs on the first page of the setup menu with the modded 5990/37 firmware. The slideshow options you mentioned would be nice...

[jonqpublek]

Hi,

Is there any way to add the following options to the 5990/37 firmware that were done for the 3360/12 firmware:

Option to change color for subtitles. Change color for text, outline, background.

Option for transparent background, work when background is non-transparent.

Slideshow option. Now you can turn on/off, set transition speed and duration.

The slideshow options would be the most interesting to me.

Thanks,

Jon

You may know this already, but there are color/transparency options for subs on the first page of the setup menu with the modded 5990/37 firmware. The slideshow options you mentioned would be nice...

Thanks ... I'll double-check this when I get home.

- Jon

[Stealth3si]

I know F7 is same as 37 (https://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/philips-dvp5990-f7-turned-out-ot-be-t364505.html) and firmwares are compatible buuut is vb6rocod's latest firmware (DVP5990_37_vb6_v4_1.rar) compatible with DVP5990/F7 MFD IN AUG 2009?? I want to confirm and I am hesitant to do this because recently an attempted region code hack was unsuccessful at https://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks/philips-dvp-5990/9370#29964.

[Techflaws]

I suggest asking these kinda questions over a vb6rodod's forum.

[MidnightWatcher]

Anyone install the latest v4 firmware yet?

[Cris69]

I saw that trere is a new firmware for 5990/37(the 4.1 version).
I just want to know if is it for CP1250 subs(romanian),and if so please post it.
Thanks !!!

[Stealth3si]

Just thought I'd say that I applied the latest 4.1 firmware, along with a modified different skin, to my DVP5990/F7 (manufactured in Aug 2009) and it worked flawlessly! I even made a multisession CD with the CD-R I used to upgrade the firmware so I can reuse the same CD in the future should I want to update the firmware again.

Thanks all!

[Techflaws]

That begs the question why you wasted a CD-R instead of CD-RW you could use for other temporary data in the meantime. And of course: why not install firmware updates from USB?

[Ai Haibara]

Besides which, I'm not sure if the 5990 would like a multisession CD.

[Techflaws]

Since I use USB for firmware updates I don't know if a Multisession CD will do for that purpose (though I suspect it does) but otherwise the 5990 will certainly do, I use em all the time.

[Ai Haibara]

So, it doesn't seem to have problems with multisession CDs? I think it's supposed to have a problem with multisession DVDs, though. I'd have to admit I haven't tried either, though. (Especially not since I have USB drives to use with my 5990.)

Stealth3si: I'd have to agree - it's much easier to update with a USB pen drive.

[Techflaws]

Supposed by who? Multisession (Multiborder) DVDs are no problem either.

[Ai Haibara]

Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Kneejerk response.

We've been more or less (unofficially?) recommending people not use multisession when making DivX/Xvid discs for capable players, as there are some players out there that apparently don't like multisession discs, so I've apparently developed the habit of thinking they ALL don't.

I haven't tested whether or not the 5990 would accept the discs, as I've just been playing videos from USB, of course.

[jagabo]

as there are some players out there that apparently don't like multisession discs, so I've apparently developed the habit of thinking they ALL don't.

Same here. I never even make multisession DVDs because of older players that didn't support it. I suspect most players now won't play multisession DVDs that aren't finalized, but will once they are finalized (that's when the master table of contents is written).

[Techflaws]

My old Cyberhome 4620 e.g. can handle 5+ sessions on an unfinalized DVD+RW just fine.

[Purko]

Hello guys,

Question to vb6rocod:

Does your last firmware - vb6_v4 and v4_1 - (here and on your web site http://vb6rocod.euracks.com/dvp5990_37.php) support Cyrillic (CP1251)?

Thanks

[Stealth3si]

That begs the question why you wasted a CD-R instead of CD-RW you could use for other temporary data in the meantime. And of course: why not install firmware updates from USB?

I forgot I had a USB stick.

Thanks for reminding me. I will use it instead.

[Powel]

I need a little help with MP3 playback.The current MP3 file name listed at the top under the Bitrate contains
invalid characters, show in the attached image.I am using the 4.1 firmware.

20091008_999.jpg

[Ai Haibara]

Check whether or not those characters exist in any of the MP3's ID3 tag fields.

[jagabo]

My guess the file names are unicode, not ascii.

[Ai Haibara]

Based on what I saw from the picture, it looks like the filenames (in the browser) are okay, but the ID3 tag name (song title) is the one that's probably in Unicode (or at least a double-byte/extended ASCII language encoding).

(Haven't played many MP3s using my 5990, so I'll have to double-check whether or not the line at the top references the tag fields.)

[jagabo]

Based on what I saw from the picture, it looks like the filenames (in the browser) are okay, but the ID3 tag name (song title) is the one that's probably in Unicode

That's what I thought at first but when I played an MP3 file there was nothing there at all (I intentionally named a file different than it's tags to be sure I could tell which was being displayed). So I thought maybe it wasn't tags being displayed there. Of course, the name of the file didn't appear there either, so the logic of my assumption was flawed. I'm running a mod firmware so maybe that's the reason there's nothing displayed there.

[Ai Haibara]

Powel appears to be using the mod firmware, too.

It appears to have something to do with the ID3 tag versions being used. I had a directory with some random MP3s on one of my USB pen drives, so I tested it. Of the handful that actually had anything in the Title field, the only ones that showed up were either (according to MP3Tag) ID3v1, or ID3v1/ID3v2.3. Two of the ones that showed up as having ID3v1/ID3v2.3 also had their titles appear as in Powel's image, with the umlaut u between (before and after) each letter.

I guess the answer might be to make sure the tags are in ID3v1 format.

(Edit: fixed the MP3Tag link to point to the English homepage.)

[Powel]

Thanks for the input, I checked my tags which are both ID3v1&ID3v2 all tagged with Tag&rename 3.5.2
all my mp3 seem to do it.
Not really a big deal considering the great firmware...

[Ai Haibara]

I experimented with changing one of the MP3s with the "ü" problem to ID3v1 only (had to use Winamp, though ), and it didn't seem to have the problem. I'm not sure yet whether or not having both format tags present in an MP3 can 'confuse' the 5990, as it doesn't seem to happen with every dual-tag-format file.

Of course, it's not really THAT big an issue, as you mention.

[vb6rocod]

If you have a Hex Editor (UltraEdit is OK), see if tag is like in this pictures (at end of file).

[Powel]

Tags look fine in the Hex Editor