M+E Daily

Samsung Working To Fix Blu-ray Players’ Firmware Glitch

Owners of Blu-ray Disc players that were marketed by Samsung Electronics last year are reporting playback problems with titles from two major studios, after installing a firmware update from the company earlier this month.

Reports from owners of Samsung’s BD-Px600 players first surfaced on CNET and AVSForum boards (via Engadget). According to the posts, the update caused Blu-ray discs from Warner Bros. and Universal Studios to freeze during playback.

Samsung confirmed the reports to M&E Daily today, and issued the following statement:

“Samsung is committed to delivering the best possible home entertainment experiences to its customers. We have been informed that some customers are experiencing issues viewing select Blu-ray titles following the installation of firmware v2.09 for the 2009 BD-Px600 Blu-ray players. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we are currently finalizing a new firmware upgrade to resolve this issue. We expect this new firmware to be released by early September.”

Following the consumer posts, the company removed the update in question from its support website. Some users say they restored their players’ functionality by re-installing the previous firmware; others, however, say they continue to experience problems.

The total number of players affected — as well as the specific number of Blu-ray titles rendered unplayable — remains unclear.

Blu-ray hardware brands often release firmware updates to maintain the integrity of disc copy protection — or as Samsung’s website puts it, to “improve a specific BD title’s playback capability.” The company’s forthcoming update will be the fifth such firmware release for its BD-P3600 player within a year.