Samsung forum: BD-C5500 firmware update breaks Netflix aspect ratio

Look...you want to call me names, go for it. It just underlines your mentality.

The bottom line here is that a problem was found. It was corrected with the release of a single firmware release as indicated by Samsung.

The issue here is the time to release. You expect instant. I don't. I work in software and I understand the business realities at work. Did you ever stop to think for a second how the timing of this release coincided with Christmas? Did you also stop to consider for a second that many blu-ray disks also released at Christmas? Maybe...just maybe...Samsung wanted to bundle as many disc and other fixes into a single post-Christmas firmware release?

Maybe that way, they could get as many fixes delivered at the same time, and people who were setting up new players could do a single update? Reduced supports costs, and better customer satisfaction for the vast majority of users purchasing the player for the holidays? Maybe the problem with Netflix was judged to be small enough in scope that waiting a few weeks for the fix was an acceptable tradeoff.

Businesses make these tradeoffs all the time. Problem is that some people expect the best and assume worst about every situation. When they don't get things as they expect, they jump up and down and throw childish fits.

I was slightly inconvenienced by the issue for about 6 weeks. Maybe it affected 6 programs I might have watched. Not a life changing experience. Now it's fixed and I can melt my brain with as much 4:3 content as I desire with the proper aspect ratio. No wasted money or energy. Too many people sweat the small stuff. The stress isn't worth it.

It appears to be fixed only for the specific case of 4:3 material on a 16:9 screen. See my response to kate287 below.

Bitstream: Audiophile is now completely broken for Netflix with the 1020 update (as reported by a member at AVS forum).

Can anyone else confirm this?

We received a 6500 for xmas and just plugged it in today. We did the 1020.1 upgrade. We're watching on an SD tv and have the player set to the 4:3 AR. We just watched our 1st Netflix movie (sorry guys...chick flick - The Ugly Truth). It displays by filling the entire tv screen, but the picture seems vertically stretched. I looked up the movie on IMDB to check the aspect ratio and it is 2.35:1. Does anyone know if the upgrade should have fixed this?

Hey, thanks for the reply. Did your 4:3 ratio tv display correctly before the 1018 upgrade? (ie. did the upgrade cause that to screw up or had it always been that way for the older TV's?)

I'm chatting with Samsung about the 4:3 problem and he's asking if we 'reset' the player after the upgrade. We didn't do that, did you?

We finally did the reset, but still no luck with the AR. We had avoided doing the reset because our older tv doesn't display the default setup menu(or something), so we have to take it upstairs to the HD tv, do the reset, do the setup, then bring it back down and hook it up to the downstairs tv. Ugh, looks like I'll have to go back to Samsung.

The player shuts down and restarts after an upgrade on its own. I don't know of a reset procedure. If they are talking about resetting to factory defaults and redoing the Wifi settings and app installs, then, no I did not do that. The users who had the problem fixed for their 16:9 screens viewing 4:3 material make no mention of having to do any special reset procedure.

my imagination or does the download/firmware update page now have descriptions of what the update does? Did it before?
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/BD-C5500/XAA

< BD-C5500 Firmware >
This Firmware update provides the following benefits:

Ver.1020.1 Dec.27.2010
- Improve specific disc''s playback capability.
- Improve 4:3 display in the Netflix movie

Please do not bother contacting Samsung, as their untrained phone support will tell you what they have been told.... and I am not going to reiterate all the negative stuff from others, although I share their frustration. The 1020 FW has not fixed the aspect ratio. I also still do not have sound...do you experience this? In addition, since I did the 1020 FW update, I can no longer access the Internet Main Menu. I can still play a DVD or music, but cannot access the Internet menu, and thus Netflix.

i gave up and bought the LG BD570 on Amazon. Netflix works perfectly now.

I just purchased the BC-C5500C and I'm having similar aspect ratio issues. All 4:3 material plays fine, but all the wide screen material is stretched vertically with black bars on both sides of the screen! I haven't tried Netflix yet, but I am using Playon TV. I tried various combinations of settings without success. This has worked perfectly from my computer which has an HDMI out to the TV. Maybe there is a setting I have missed somewhere, but it's frustrating that I can't get a correct aspect ratio!

Hi everyone,

I can also confirm that the BDC6500 I bought for parents yesterday still has the aspect ratio stretching issue for widescreen content on a 4:3 SDTV after updating to the latest firmware. I have emailed Samsung and called Netflix. Samsung blamed Netflix and the Netflix guy said he would escalate to the technicians. I'll update if hear anything further from either of them. I also agree with the person above who criticized the lack of proper testing from the responsible parties.

...And they stated that they are working with Netflix on this problem and they hope the fix will be out with the next firmware upgrade, which should be released "shortly." In case you were wondering if calling samsung support would help, it doesn't. However, it was comforting to hear that they are aware of the problem.

OK, I think I have about 3 weeks left so I'll give em that long. The more I read on LG and Panasonic it appears that no matter what you buy they all have some kind of various issues. Any further updates on this issue Samsung?? Projected release of firmware upgrade?