posted by admin on Jan 17
Am I the only one who’s bothered by having to connect bluray players to the internet?
I think the answer to your question has two parts. One, yes the blu-ray specification is evolving, and there are players being released with bugs that need patching. The other side of the coin is that the internet is also evolving, and networked devices are popping up everywhere. When DVD was first released in 1995-97, the internet was in its infancy as far as consumer adoption was concerned, and most people would have had no way of updating firmware over the internet. Once a product was released, that was it. To do an update of anything, say adding a new audio format like Dolby Digital or DTS you had to send it to a certified repair shop or buy a new player. There were companies like Meridian that offered upgrades of both software and hardware for their equipment, but you had to ship it back and forth from their headquarters.
Personally, although I agree it can be a hassle, I like to have my gear hooked up as much as possible, because it keeps my player as up to date and bug free as possible. Down the road it can also give it added functionality. Take my Panasonic plasma TV for example. When I bought it, all I could do was watch TV over cable and YouTube videos. Now I can stream Amazon video on demand, because Panasonic and Amazon reached a deal a few months later. Without that internet connection on my TV, I couldn’t have gotten that feature.
In all likelihood, you can also update your blu-ray player by downloading the file to a usb key, and then plugging it in to the usb slot of your player. I know I can do that on mine.
Sorry for the long answer, but I hope it answered your question.
January 18th, 2010 at 5:08 am
Why indeed.
Because manufacturers are releasing products full of bugs and because the BD spec is ever evolving!!
References :
January 18th, 2010 at 5:25 am
I think the answer to your question has two parts. One, yes the blu-ray specification is evolving, and there are players being released with bugs that need patching. The other side of the coin is that the internet is also evolving, and networked devices are popping up everywhere. When DVD was first released in 1995-97, the internet was in its infancy as far as consumer adoption was concerned, and most people would have had no way of updating firmware over the internet. Once a product was released, that was it. To do an update of anything, say adding a new audio format like Dolby Digital or DTS you had to send it to a certified repair shop or buy a new player. There were companies like Meridian that offered upgrades of both software and hardware for their equipment, but you had to ship it back and forth from their headquarters.
Personally, although I agree it can be a hassle, I like to have my gear hooked up as much as possible, because it keeps my player as up to date and bug free as possible. Down the road it can also give it added functionality. Take my Panasonic plasma TV for example. When I bought it, all I could do was watch TV over cable and YouTube videos. Now I can stream Amazon video on demand, because Panasonic and Amazon reached a deal a few months later. Without that internet connection on my TV, I couldn’t have gotten that feature.
In all likelihood, you can also update your blu-ray player by downloading the file to a usb key, and then plugging it in to the usb slot of your player. I know I can do that on mine.
Sorry for the long answer, but I hope it answered your question.
References :
Lifelong technophile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD