Taken for a ride by Sony?

[lgcebr]

I recently got Sony to agree to refund my 2016 TV because the v3.885 update blocked playback through USB.  This was an advertsied feature which worked well until the update.  So now I was free to choose another TV.  

I had already bought the UBP-X800 4K Blu-Ray player and assumed I could play my 4K holiday videos back through the USB socket on this to my telelvision.  After all page 14 of the Blu-Ray player manual says you can play video back from USB and lists the file types on page 31.

So now that the Sony TV USB Playback had been disabled by a buggy update all was not lost.... right?  

Wrong.  Using the right USB formatting and .mp4 or ,mov files the Blu-Ray player simply refuses to play them.  (My retailer couldn't get this to work either!)

I don't want to get all formal but the UK Advertising Standards Authority expects product descriptions to be accurate and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 expects them to be "as described" and "fit for purpose".

So how does Sony get away with this?  I don't want to go for a reufnd for my 4K Bl;u-Ray player as it's fantastic but I do feel taken for a ride by Sony.

[Anonymous]

Hi @lgcebr

In your other thread there was a discussion on changing the USB from MBR to GPT.  Did you do this for that USB Drive?  If so, revert it back to MBR. 

Also, try running the movie file via a program called "Media Info" and see if the codecs actually match the ones supported on the UBP-X800. MP4 and MOV files are simply 'containers'  inside the containers have the video, audio codecs used and other metadata - all packaged together.

It can be downloaded:

https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download

Cheers

[lgcebr]

Thanks as always Quinnicus for your suggestions.

After maybe three weeks of trying I managed to get video playing from USB via the Sony Blu-Ray player.

I didn't do anything different just formatted the drive ex-FAT and loaded .mp4 and .mov files onto it.

Suddenly I could play them.

I'm not sure how reliable it is going to be as this must be one out of more than 30 attempts with the returend Tv and BluRay player.

This isn't only my experience as the retailers I visited couldn't get it to work either and one said "I have always found the USB playback very hit and miss".

At least this proves that I have been using the right formatting and file types all along and it was the Sony equipment that is temperamental.

I'm afraid that I don't have too much faith that Sony will work on improving reliability of advertised features and I will steer well clear of updates for the BluRay player as too often they are not fit for purpose.

I will see how long this new found success lasts - maybe it will disappear if I remove the USB stick to put another holiday video on.  

Thanks again Quinnicus