My daughter bought a 42 inch Samsung plasma panel and a Samsung BD-C5500 Blu-ray Player last night. Though I was not part of the product selection process as "Dad" I was part of the installation and setup process. Of course, she bought Avatar to try the system out. The player posted a message when the Avatar Blu-ray was inserted that a firmware update was required to play the disk.
While downloading the firmware update, I tried some of my personal video written as Blu-ray (BDMV format) on DVD-5 and DVD-9. They would not play. My BD-R disks would play, however. I didn't have much hope that the firmware update would fix the problem, but it did!
The informative thing about this experience is that trying the media in stores on display equipment may not be an accurate test of device capabilities with current firmware. Manufacturers tend not to stop the lines to cut in the latest firmware and devices sit in-transit and inventory before they are sold.
While downloading the firmware update, I tried some of my personal video written as Blu-ray (BDMV format) on DVD-5 and DVD-9. They would not play. My BD-R disks would play, however. I didn't have much hope that the firmware update would fix the problem, but it did!
The informative thing about this experience is that trying the media in stores on display equipment may not be an accurate test of device capabilities with current firmware. Manufacturers tend not to stop the lines to cut in the latest firmware and devices sit in-transit and inventory before they are sold.