Weinstein HD DVDs have playback problems

Users report problems even after firmware upgrades

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/5/2007

JAN. 5 | Reasons are unclear, but a number of consumers are reporting playback difficulties with The Weinstein Co. HD DVD releases.

In late December, a survey by technology site AVSForum.com reported that about 50% of respondents were experiencing glitches with Weinstein HD DVDs, which are distributed by Genius Products. Affected titles include The Matador, Derailed and Wolf Creek.

Weinstein releases HD DVD versions of Clerks II, Pulse and Lucky Number Slevin on Jan. 16, but early discs of Clerks II received by VB had the same problems.

Users have reported faulty playback using both Toshiba HD DVD players and the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive. Problems include overly slow load times, picture freezes and unreadable discs.

Player firmware upgrades have helped, but some users experienced problems even after the upgrade.

Genius executives are researching the matter and hope to have customer complaints resolved soon.

“We take every precaution in testing our HD DVD titles and strive to provide our customers with the highest standard of products in the business,” said Michael Radiloff, executive VP of marketing at Genius. “We are aware that unforeseen issues involving the variability of players and the occasional need to upgrade firmware can be frustrating to a handful of users. With that in mind, we are closely monitoring these issues to make sure we provide the best viewing experience possible.”

VB has not experienced problems with discs from other studios.