Blu-ray player to play "X-Men: Days of Future Past" blu-ray

[nekros111]

My Seiki BD660 has no problem playing any blu-ray we own until this one came along. I haven't found any information of a firmware for it. So I'm looking for a new blu-ray player, preferably one that doesn't require a firmware just to play one blu-ray. Any recommendations? Thank you.

[jman98]

It's being reported elsewhere on the internet (posts date from this very month, so they're current) that Fox (the studio that put out this BluRay) has mandated a firmware update to be able to play it. I think the most recent Wolverine movie was listed as having similar problems. Apparently this has something to do with a deliberate attempt to break compatibility with older players that allowed analog outputs, at least according to the posts I found. This seems to be a first as in the past there were rumors that maybe one day this would happen, but until now it never had.

I can't personally recommend Sony or Samsung players because both companies are fairly hostile towards their consumers with their players. I've had good luck with Philips players and a lot of people here like LG. I assume you don't need region free playback, but if you do, you'll have to buy from online sellers like
http://www.world-import.com
http://www.220-electronics.com

You might seriously consider whether it's a good idea to buy other Fox BluRays in the future since they're making you replace a fully functional BluRay player just to play this one disc.

[Noahtuck]

Man!!!
As if I was not already pissed off enough because they removed component and optical/coaxial outputs from bluray players,
now they are going to start $H!T like this!!!!!!!

[fritzi93]

Oh, the dirty bastards. Do they really think anyone's going to bother capturing from component in 1080i? That is, when those so inclined can rip it or even get it off a torrent site? Is it worth screwing who knows how many people with older players?

Yes, in the absence of a firmware update for this issue, you're stuck with buying a new player.

Unless, of course, you're willing to buy a Blu-Ray burner for your PC. Then you could rip the disc with, say, MakeMKV (free), and either play it from the PC, or re-encode it with BDRB to burn to a blank Blu-Ray disc.

[nekros111]

In response to your queries, I do not need a region-free player. I have a feeling the "X-Men" blu-ray will one of many that has compatibility issues. But I do need specific model #s (for instance, which LG, Phillips or Panasonic players)? It will help ensure that I don't buy a player only to find out it couldn't play the blu-ray.

But if a firmware is required, I need plenty of details on which version, where, how and all that info.

Thanks for your replies.

[Kerry56]

I don't think anyone can guarantee that a specific model will work with this disc unless they happen to own both a new player and this particular movie. The best you can do is buy a new player or take the disc with you when you test the players in the store.

I wouldn't waste money on a new Blu-ray player myself. I much prefer to rip every Blu-ray to my hard drives and play through my Western Digital TV Live and an external hard drive. All together it would not be a small investment, as you would need AnyDVD HD, a Blu-ray rom drive and the media player and hdd. However, I face no issues with incompatible firmware, and can remove the annoying trailers and menus as I see fit.

[nekros111]

I'm not going to dump my current blu-ray player. It's region-free and can play all the Disney blu-rays with no issues.

[mazinz]

Glad I saw this thread. I still need analog jacks (though I did pick up one of those hdmi2rca converters and it does work fine). I purchased a refurbished Panasonic dmp-dsb100 that still has the rca jacks. I ran into some mild issues trying to play the Godzilla 2014 blu. It would "stop" after playing each extra instead of going back to the main menu. I was considering doing/seeing about a firmware upgrade. However my bigger concern was that this deck being from Sept 2012 and wiith the newer "kill analog" crap, was worried about the firmware possibly disabling or preventing me from using the jacks afterwards

This thread confirms my fear so I will not bother with an upgrade

[mazinz]

I know this thread is old but if anyone else had the problem with the X-men days of future past listed in post# 1, I just picked up the new 2 disc Rogue cut version (theatrical and extended version for Days of Future Past). I played the extended version through the rca jacks on my older Panasonic DMP-DSB100 Blu deck with no issue and no pop up about needing to update any firmware (or HDMI only connection). Whether this means because my deck is older with older firmware that it is not getting this message or perhaps Fox took away that annoying feature I could not tell you. But if any of you are still using older RCA jacks and were hesitant about buying the new 2 disc set due to possible firmware lock out because of your players connection type to a tv, at least in my older Panny blu deck it played without problem