DATELINE -- Thursday, 7 October 1999
Lost in the "Matrix": We've had a few readers send us letters in the past several days regarding problems with older DVD players that were seriously messing with Warner's new Matrix DVD, but Warner made it known last week that the disc itself was not defective -- instead, some DVD players are in need of firmware upgrades, primarily because of the extensive DVD-ROM content on the disc. Reuters yesterday posted a partial list of incompatible players, as follows:
- Sony 7000 series
- Samsung 709, 739 and 809 series
- Panasonic 110, 120 and 310 series
- Emerson DVD2000
- Zenith DVD2200 and 2100
- All GE DVD players
- Toshiba SD-3109
- Pioneer DV-500, DV-414, DVL-90 and DVL-700
- Yamaha C900
If you have one of these decks you should contact the manufacturer and see if a firmware upgrade is available or visit PCfriendly.com for additional information. In fact, even if you aren't having problems with your Matrix disc (or you're one of the 17 DVD owners in North America who haven't purchased it) but still own one of these players, you probably should contact your manufacturer anyway. With more and more DVD Video/DVD-ROM hybrid discs arriving every month, you'll probably run into a problem sooner or later.