New firmware is coming soon for Philips DVP642

[DJ Alik]

I noticed on the Philips website

http://www.p4c.philips.com/files/d/dvp642_17/


that they updated the Firmware update instructions and it says in them version 1109 is the latest. But they have not updated the firmware update file. So let's all wait till it comes out. Should be pretty soon.

[MrBunny]

Nice find DJ Alik.

The firmware seems to be up now too. There doesn't seem to be any details on what it actually does though. I Haven't tried it myself, but probably will this weekend. Anyone want to be a guinea pig?

[DJ Alik]

It's up

http://www.p4c.philips.com/files/d/dvp642_17/dvp642_17_fus_eng.zip

dated 11/25/2004

haven't tried yet.

[DJ Alik]

Just updated.

I don't see any changes at all. Whatever was not working, still doesn't work. I really hate that Philips doesn't disclose what exactly was changed in the firmware.

Problems that still haven't been touched:

1) Terrible overscanning
2) Cyrillic subtitles are not read correctly. (SRT using standard windows encoding)
3) SRT flags are not read correctly such as <i> /<i> (very annoying)
4) DivX 5.00 still doesn't work. (Says that there is QPEL codec, but GSpot shows that QPEL was not used).
5) Red-blue inversion on some encodes.

that's all i have tested for now. Maybe there is more.

So imho, to release a firmware update in 6 month since previous release without much changes is just rediculous.

[naut]

I have some MP3's in many folders on DVDR's that used to trip up the 0531 player, even lock it up sometimes. After flashing 1109, the navigation through the folders seems to be better, but I'm not sure. I haven't noticed any other changes.

[Rebos]

Seeing I have this player figured someone may be able to help me out with this. I have an avi file I am having trouble playing in my player. It says Codec Not Supported. The orginal file used to be a mkv file so I have multibles of these files, but comparing it to Gspot it seems that this one file not working has a bitrate of 1192 and the others are all below this usually 1182 and lower. Does the Phillips 642 bitrate cap near this?

Its weird because it starts to play it like a second then skipps to the next one on the disc. Then I tried burning it to a disc by itself and it just played for like 1sec then said Codec Not Supported. Any suggestions? Sorry also I don't mean to hi-jack this thread.


Rebos

[MrBunny]

Yes, please don't hijack this thread.

There is still a pretty recent thread talking about DVP642 max bitrates and I'm quite sure that it's not the problem. If it was just a bitrate issue, it might not work in parts, but not in it's entirety. We'd need more details about the exact specs of the clip that isn't working for you. You didn't even mention what codecs the audio and video are encoded in. Avicheck and MPEG4Modifier (my favorite :)) should provide sufficient details.

But hey, maybe upgrade the firmware and it'll work. Not that'd I'd bet on it. Then that would be relevant to this thread ;)

[bond]

i assume this might fix some bugs with .mp4 files, the old firmware had, maybe it even supports aac streams now?

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally posted by bond
i assume this might fix some bugs with .mp4 files, the old firmware had, maybe it even supports aac streams now? This is my hope also :D


Ceers

[Kyn]

This update didn't add WMA support. :(

[LordRPI]

DJ Alik,

Hey thanks for pointing this out (I'm sorry I didn't get back to your IMs - I was back in New York for the holiday.

I'll update mine as soon as I can.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally posted by DJ Alik
...So imho, to release a firmware update in 6 month since previous release without much changes is just rediculous. Have you tried testing to see if: -

AAC in MP4 works
PAR signalling detection works
Encodes with DAR signalling still "b0rk" the player
1warp-point GMC (as used by DivX) works
3warp-point GMC (as used by XviD and NeroDigital) works


Cheers

[lazyn00b]

I recently upgraded to 1109 firmware so I tried a number of mp4 files to see what would happen. I found that if you created an xvid mp4 (using mp4ui, optimized, ISMA) with aac as the first audio track and mp3 as the second track, then the video will play with the mp3 audio no problem. If, however, the mp3 is the first audio track and aac is the second, you will hear only silence. This is actually OK because the player on my PC (VideoLan Client) will default to the first track of 5.1 aac while my DVP642 will default to the second track stereo mp3.

I did not try yet a stereo aac, but I really doubt it will be decoded by the DVP642 as I do not think the chipset supports aac. Unpacked B-frames worked fine. QPEL did not work. PAR (NTSC 16:9) had no effect. Did not bother with GMC, sorry I never use it.

lazyn00b

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally posted by lazyn00b
... This is actually OK because the player on my PC (VideoLan Client) will default to the first track of 5.1 aac while my DVP642 will default to the second track stereo mp3. Even if the player could be upgraded to decode AAC streams, it would only support 2Ch. As there's no method of being able to output and decode more channels than this!

Originally posted by lazyn00b
... but I really doubt it will be decoded by the DVP642 as I do not think the chipset supports aac. The ESS Vibratto II chip-set might indeed be able to support AAC ;)


Cheers

[lazyn00b]

OK, I just tried an xvid mp4 with only a 96kbps stereo AAC track - sorry, but it won't play :(

I know that ESS announced support for AAC in the Vibrato II chipset at some point - but it seemed to me that they meant upcoming versions of the chip, not current versions. I wouldn't be surprised if we have to wait for HD-DVD/Blu-Ray players before we get 5.1 AAC support. I heard that even the new Sigma chip used by Avel LinkPlayer 2 only supports stereo AAC - is this right?

[bond]

what about .mp4 files with video and mp3?

[lazyn00b]

Originally posted by bond
what about .mp4 files with video and mp3?

They work fine for me, just as before the new firmware.

[LordRPI]

Originally posted by lazyn00b
OK, I just tried an xvid mp4 with only a 96kbps stereo AAC track - sorry, but it won't play :(

I know that ESS announced support for AAC in the Vibrato II chipset at some point - but it seemed to me that they meant upcoming versions of the chip, not current versions. I wouldn't be surprised if we have to wait for HD-DVD/Blu-Ray players before we get 5.1 AAC support. I heard that even the new Sigma chip used by Avel LinkPlayer 2 only supports stereo AAC - is this right?

As the vibratto II chipset will be Nero Certified according to a press release (:angry:), I would think it is safe to say that it would have some sort of AAC support (heck, even the iPod does). From what I know there aren't, or at least not many, A/V Receivers that support AAC 5.1, although sources tell me it can be re-packed to AC3 for compatibility.

Looking at the other threads, the LinkPlayer2 only supports stereo AAC.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally posted by LordRPI
As the vibratto II chipset will be Nero Certified according to a press release (:angry:), I would think it is safe to say that it would have some sort of AAC support (heck, even the iPod does). From what I know there aren't, or at least not many, A/V Receivers that support AAC 5.1, although sources tell me it can be re-packed to AC3 for compatibility.

Looking at the other threads, the LinkPlayer2 only supports stereo AAC. This is great news!

With regard to the I-O DATA AVLP2 players, Keith Jack (of Sigma) has explained that the "development kit" they designed "does" offer, 6 channel analogue outputs. However, it's up to the purchaser to request such a specified board.... I-O DATA did not - But lets hope Kiss did!

That said, the ESS Vibratto II method of converting 6Ch AAC to 6Ch AC3 "on-the-fly" seems like an excellent compromise solution.

What a shame you guys over at DXN, don't like AAC (or MP4) :eek:


Cheers

[LordRPI]

Hey, I'm a big AAC fan, but that doesn't speak for everybody. Although, I've only heard about the possibility of AAC-> AC3 conversion (in software), so I'd say it's doubtful at best, although it would be a smart move IMHO.

O/T, but back when I was doing my senior crapstone (due last year on this day) for microprosessor systems, I had a lot of trouble getting information off the guys at the Sigma office in Schenectady, NY (which was a 30 minute drive from my apartment). I think the guy was Yves something or other... It's good to see that the west coast guys are a little more open.

[bond]

there are many different possibilities of converting ac3 to aac (one is besweet for example)