BD-P3600 audio delay on blu-ray discs and Netflix streaming

My player P3600 is fine, however I am playing it through an amp via the optical out.

Playing sound through my tv (also a Samsung Unit) via the HDMI cable and there is a slight delay between the image and the sound with the sound been late.

I suspect it is to do with the audio path through the system via HDMI been at fault, or perhaps there is some buffering going on with the image and so the sound is been delayed but by to much?

How this passed quality control is a good question as it's not a bit but an obvious out of sync issue.

disc was Kill Bill Vol1 (blu ray)

I have also found this problem on my BD4600 connected to Samsung 55A950 via HDMI. However if connected through optical to reciever no delay at all. In fact both signals are output simultaneously so you can have the TV volume up and hear the repeat/echo from the out of phase speakers on the receiver.

Will have to look at the bitstream settings for the HDMI to see if that helps.

Another problem I am having with BD4600 is on the new StarTrek series 1 Bluray that it keeps skipping back within chapters and is almost unwatchable. This occurs on all disks and chapters. it is basicaly unwatchable. I have read this on other threads and wondering id BD3600 has same problem.

Robmarj

Robmarj,

Well, if you're running it through the television speakers and the receiver, you're going to receive a delay. The television speakers require a ditial to analog conversion, which causes the delay. So it's not that the player is doing that, but the television is doing that. Neither one should be producing a sync issue, but that's what's happening there.

When you say skipping within chapters, I'm not sure I understand. I've seen one issue where Seamless Branching on Star Trek isn't working correctly, but I haven't heard of skipping. Could you go into a little more detail?

--HDTech

SamsungTech, thanks for the response. My comment re going through the TV was that sound via HDMI is clearly way out of sync, whereas the sound via optical to receiver is clearly in sync.

As for skipping within chapters, the Star trek series 1 BD will almost inevitably hit the end of a chapter (branch?) and go back to what seems a random point somewhere within the chapter. I have let it run and it is never consistent as to where in the chapter it will go back to. It will sometimes recycle 3 times within one chapter and then finally correctly go to the next. The problem happens on almost every chapter on every disc on both the "enhanced" track or the original track. It makes the whole set basically unwatchable. I hope a firware update will be available to fix these problems

Robmarj

Robmarj,

I've included both the BD-P3600 and BD-P4600 in my reports regarding this issue.

If the optical audio is in sync, but the television speakers aren't, that presents an issue I hadn't thought of. I'll look more into this, but this is really good feedback.

--HDTech

I have the BP1600 and on the Star Trek Season 1 disk 1, I get this skipping problem at the end of each act - it will skip back to the beginning of the chapter. It is very annoying. I have not had a problem with a different disc, but I only have the Star Trek and a movie discs to try. Has anyone else found a solution??

I'm having the same problem with my Samsung 2550, audio output to onkyo receiver via optical, video output to BenQ 1080p projector. Happens on BR only, watching Weeds, Season 4. Very bad on bitstream audiophile, marginally less on pcm.

Bitstream re-encode, PCM downsampling off, Dynamic compression off seems to be almost perfect...

By "almost" I mean it's still noticeable. Odd that it doesn't happen on upconverted DVD titles. Those are perfect.

Samsung,
I also had severe delay in the audio that was unfixable no mater what setting or combination of equipment and interfaces or discs/netflix streaming I tried, per your tech support. My region code was USA. The title I used to highlight the delay in the store (Best Buy) was "Paul McCartney The Space Within US". The section in the song "Penny Lane" shows two seconds of the drummer where it is painfully obvious of the delay although you can see it during the whole song and disc. I estimate that the delay is 250-300 ms, (over 1/4 second). I returned it to BB awaiting a fix, whether hardware (redesign) or firmware. Thank you for reporting to your engineers. I stand by for hopefully good news!

What would you guys think of a running spreadsheet that you could add info to?

I put this together quickly tonight based on the things that people want to report, and what we would like to know on this issue.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AlNw2O7FtwhHdGxBRmNrRG5vcHRLNlhtbkJUeW9OcWc&hl=en

Let me know your thoughts on if this would be helpful, or if I have forgotten something. If this is something that might be helpful, we may sticky it at the top of the forums.

While we do expect to have the audio issue resolved, there have been other reports of either Blu-Ray features not working, and when these issues arise, I'd like to know so we can quickly address it.

Feel free to enter information, and I'll see if this is something that we can use to help identify issues with any specific titles.

--HDTech

I think that's a great idea, but it should certainly be stickied so it doesn't get lost in the mess of all the other posts. If you think it's relevant, you might add a column for the connection type. I think some people had mentioned only having the problem over HDMI, and not component, so this would be a good opportunity to verify if that is true for everyone.

I agree that the connection type is a critical thing to track - we need to know not only the complete audio connection path but also the video connection path.

There are at least four ways to get the audio - HDMI, Optical, multi-channel and 2-channel analog. For Netflix streaming (my main problem at the moment), I do not pay any qualitative price by not using HDMI since the stream is only 2.0 anyway.

We also need to know the source; it appears that the spreadsheet presumes only BD content, when many people are also reporting problems with Netflix or other, PC-based content. I haven't heard any problems with Pandora, but that could obviously only be a stutter/hang issue, not a lip sync issue.

Likewise, I do think that ethernet connection method matters; I am using a hardwired connection so can eliminate any speed or protocol issues that might be raised by using the wireless dongle.

I guess I'm willing to provide data points to help solve the issues, but I'd have more confidence in this process if Samsung looked a little more responsive. I mean, this is the CNET forum, not even the Samsung site. Wouldn't a "Support Ticket Tracking System" be a more elegant way for them to approach this problem?

Movies (different format/container) played from a USB HDD connected to BD Player (tried both ports), or via DLNA.

Delay in video (audio appears to be ahead of the picture). Blu-ray discs are OK.

Friend with same setup (BD-C5900, LED C8000 TV, non-HDMI A/V amp) does not have this issue.

I have updated the spreadsheet.

I?m experiencing the same audio delay as others have mentioned when watching a NetFlix streaming movie. I have a Samsung BD-C6900 Blu-Ray player and a Samsung PN63C8000 TV. Both installed on October 16, 2010. The Blu-ray is connected to the TV via HDMI. The sound through the TV speakers seems to be in-sync. However the sound going through the amp-receiver is out of sync. I connect the Blu-ray to the amp-receiver via a digital optical audio cable. I also tried RCA cables for audio between the Blu-Ray and the amp. The audio delay when watching NetFlix streaming movies is present when using either audio setup. For your lab case, try watching ?Three Days of the Condor? via NetFlix streaming video ? not the best movie ever made but a really good example of the delay. I?ve watched the same movie on my Sharp system using a Roku unit with the sound going through a amp-receiver and there is no delay.

I hope this helps as I too really don?t want to have to return the Samsung Blu-ray player.

kazwerd
I gave up and exchanged it for the panasonic dmp-bd60. Pity. Really liked the samsung.
I tried all possible combinations w/o success. Updated the firmware from 1.00 to 1.02 (asia) and it improved the lip sync a bit but that locked my multi region dvd player to 3!!

Still monkeying with the settings. Setting surround on on TV and downmixing mode as surround compatible seems to work as well, maybe a little better. But no setting feels perfect.

Hal_10000,

I will continue to monitor this issue, and I have already sent some information upwards. I'll add your comments and see if we can't expidite this a little quicker - if it's possible to change.

(I'm not an engineer, so I'm not sure what the limitations are, but it's worth exploring!)

--HDTech

We just received our bd p3600 and experienced audio delay only with netflix so far. It's connected via HDMI to Samsung LNT4065F. Restarting the player seemed to work only temporarily. However, we haven't seen this phenomenon crop up while playing dvd's. For troubleshooting purposes, it's on our wireless network. I hope this gets fixed soon. We're contemplating returning the unit in favor of a PS3.

conker88,

What is the quality of the streaming signal? I was wondering for those of you having delays with the audio if the signal speed/strength is a factor.

--HDTech

I almost wonder if there is more than one issue here. In my case, I I think I have a very minor delay when watching blu-ray and\or DVD, but it's so minor I'm just not sure (and I only started thinking I had this issue when I turned on the surround option on the LCD, and I could have sworn I saw a delay over cable too, so I'll shut that off and see if it goes away). However, I have HUGE problems with audio on netflix.

Some shows do play through no problem. Then in other cases I've had a total loss of audio halfway through the show, and in a couple other cases I had audio out of sync by a minimum of 5 seconds (as in the audio was so far off that the voice didn't even match the person currently speaking). In the case of the total loss of audio, I was able to rewind a minute or so and get it back, but the audio sync issue required cycling the power of the box.

According to the meter, I'm getting very high signal strength, so no idea what is causing this.

BTW, I'm running the BD-P3600 straight into a LN52B750 over HDMI.

mc959,

Noted, and thanks for the response.

Our team is looking into this issue as we speak. I don't have ETA or any cause to "officially respond", but it is being reviewed and we acknowledge that this issue is affecting people.

--HDTech

You probably won't see it with DVDs. Only BR titles.

I have a Panasonic PC-P42G10 hooked to my BD-P3600 via an expensive HDMI cable, and I get the variable audio sync problem on Netflix, DVD, and blu-ray sources. This is with the firmware upgrade from a few days ago.

Hey gang, glad to find that I'm not alone with this issue but disappointed to not find resolution. I hope that Samsung runs this problem to ground and delivers a firmware update that takes care of BD3600 owners. In the meantime, I'm returning mine to BestBuy and going another route.

You're not alone with sync problems, it seems there are thousands of complaints, not all Samsung, but the problem seems to be focused more on Blu Ray.

Thanks!
Ex.

Hi Folks, I sure appreciate all posts on this issue. My plan had been to buy a BDP3600 for connection to my KDL46XBR2 Sony for Blu-Ray playback & NetFlix. After viewing posts I have decided to save my time & money and find another solution. I can't imagine that Samsung did not encounter these problems before product release. I'm reasonably sure someone decided to "ship-it" regardless. Nasty.