# Sony BDP-S590 Netflix issues



## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

I have this player, and have been throught the mill with it trying to get high resolution Netflix viewing out of it. Much time spent on the phone with Sony, Netflix, Time Warner and running speedtest after speedtest (per Sony's instruction). I have increased my internet upload and download speed twice, with the same results.

The player starts out in low resolution, then works its way up. It varies between 240 SD-1080 HD as the show goes on, usually settling on 480 SD, but sometimes getting up to 1080 HD and staying there. If I back up the show, it goes to low resolution again.

Sony insists that my internet/Netflix/TV is at fault and refused to acknowledge their player could be at fault. Sony told me to increase my internet speed and I have. My laptop streams Netflix just fine, even with standard Time Warner speeds. My current speed after running the signal through my wireless router is greater than 24 mbps download/5 mbps upload. This should be more than enough.

Any ideas how to fix this?


----------



## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

If you are connecting the player wirelessly to your network, that is most likely the problem regardless of how good your internet speed is. HD via wireless is a problem for most players. Try connecting hard wired and see if the problem goes away. If you cannot run a hard wired permanent connection, I have heard that powerline network works better than wireless for HD.

Other than that, have you checked to see if Sony has released a firmware fix for the player?


----------



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Just a thought, do you have an SD card installed in the player? It may buffer to the SD card?


----------



## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

hjones4841 said:


> If you are connecting the player wirelessly to your network, that is most likely the problem regardless of how good your internet speed is. HD via wireless is a problem for most players. Try connecting hard wired and see if the problem goes away. If you cannot run a hard wired permanent connection, I have heard that powerline network works better than wireless for HD.
> 
> Other than that, have you checked to see if Sony has released a firmware fix for the player?


Sony did recommend direct connection, but also said my upload speed needed to exceed 3 mbps. My router is a Netgear N600, so up to the speeds required, and the Sony is showing 75% signal strength. Time Warner sent out a tech, everything is good on their end.

I hate to relocate my router from the spare bedroom to the living room, then I would have to get a wifi antenna for the desktop it is now hard wired to. But I'll try it as a last ditch effort, then check out the powerline if the problem goes away.

Updates are the latest, no firmware fix was mentioned by Sony.


----------



## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Just a thought, do you have an SD card installed in the player? It may buffer to the SD card?


No SD card, I'm not seeing an input for one, either. USB memory is it.


----------



## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

Netflix does this on my Roku as well as my Sony BD player. I am not sure it is the Sony as much as it is Netflix or Amazon for that matter. To the other side of this, my AppleTv plays great and almost never looses its prime not to mention that watching movies through Itunes via the AppleTv is so much better than via any other server.

I do not know why, I just know that is the way.


----------



## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

I have that particular Sony player but I'm not a fan of streaming anything. Can I stream Amazon with it? If I can I'll look into it this and get back to you in a bit Harry.

My speed test results are here:


----------



## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

I just watched about an hour of Flight without any hiccups. This was via Amazon and the wireless connection. I checked the connection speed several times and the lowest I was getting was 14.3Mbps. I was getting 5 bars on the signal as well. My router is a Netgear N300. I'd guess the problem may be with Netflix. :dontknow:


----------



## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

I watched a few movies last night, and it was mostly a great experience. It started off at low rez but climbed to high rez within 5 minutes for each show, and stayed there.

I don't understand why some nights are better than others. Is bandwidth really that restricted? If that is the problem, it appears to be on Netflix's end.


----------



## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Or it could be internet providers would rather you sourced entertainment (cable TV) from them and are squeezing out the competition...

http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...netflix-verizon-denies-charge.html#post680937


----------



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I also see a little bit of this. It usually only last for about 10 seconds and then it goes HD and stays there. I see it a lot more out of my Panasonic DMP-BDT210 than I do on my PS3. Had a BDP-S580 but can't recall if it had much of an issue.


----------



## ckevin (Mar 9, 2014)

I have a Sony BDP-S590, and it will not stream Netflix at higher than 480p. 

I'm connected via wireless (I've used a FIOS 802.11g router, and a Netgear Nighthawk AC1900), and my internet connection is FIOS 50/25. I've never had issues with the FIOS connection, or with wireless signal strength to any devices.

The issue appears to be with the specific combination of S590 and Netflix. Evidence:
- Netflix streams play at HD resolution on other devices (PC laptop, MBP), over the same wireless connection. Tested at 802.11g on the PC, 802.11ac on the Mac.
- Amazon streams *always* play at HD resolution on the S590, so it's not a fundamental hardware issue (networking, cpu performance, etc.)

This is very consistent. I tried to watch Serenity via the S590 Netflix app, and it was stuck at 480p (max, it didn't even always go that high) -- it was an awful, grainy mess. Then I ran an HDMI cable from my MBP to the TV, and with a little trial and error (Netflix doesn't support 1080p streaming on two of the three browsers I tried), got 1080p streaming to the TV that way. My conclusion is that the S590 is useless for Netflix, unless you don't care about resolution -- it's fine for the cartoons my kids watch, but terrible for any live action movie or TV show I've ever tried.


----------



## ckevin (Mar 9, 2014)

Well this is a little embarrassing. I tinkered with my connection settings just now, setting my DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Then I let Serenity play again for a few minutes. It stayed at 480 SD for a while, but about 2 minutes into the show, it adjusted up to 1080 HD. I'm surprised at how long it took, but I guess that's better than nothing. The DNS change might have done it -- I did that based on the following links (which are not for the problem I was having, but I was willing to try anything):

https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answe.../47329,47564,70707/c/65,66/kw/netflix freezes
http://community.sony.com/t5/Blu-Ra...to-internet-video-services/td-p/204877/page/2


----------



## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Thanks for the info, Kevin. Glad you were able to see an improvement.

I've spent a lot of time on the phone with Sony, and they had me change my DNS settings, too. Didn't help me, so, I've stepped up my Time Warner service to Extreme, and that helped for the most part. There are some shows that just won't go past 480 SD for any length of time worth mentioning, and Firefly is one of them.


----------



## phazewolf (Feb 5, 2012)

For the monthly cost you will have to pay for that level of service you maybe better off with a different Blu-ray player. Oppo makes some great players if you have a friend that owns one try it out and see if it handles it better.

I have never cared for Sony players lots of little issues that they seem to blame everyone else for and your not the only person that has had that issue with the 590.

To me telling the customer yes we have a issue and we don't know how to fix it is better then pointing the finger at everyone else and for that I try to avoid there stuff anymore.

Maybe if people vote with these pocket books more they will fix things or at least admit it is there issue which to me is the right thing todo.


----------



## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Yeah, $20 extra a month adds up, but I wanted a quick fix. My next player will be an OPPO. As a two channel guy stepping into surround for the first time, needing to buy a lot of extra gear, Sony seemed to be the best deal...

I have seen all the complaints about Sony and Netflix streaming (perused a few threads before starting this one), particularly with this line of players. I had a friend ask me about a budget recommendation, I told him about these issues and reco'd Panasonic. He told me today that he bought a clearance Sony. :blink:

I'm not so sure the blame can be laid solely at Sony's feet, though.
http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...netflix-verizon-denies-charge.html#post680937


----------



## phazewolf (Feb 5, 2012)

Well maybe the blame can't be 100% on Sony however my friend Stacy has a Samsung and Comcast which does the same stuff as far as messing with things and she has no issues with it. The Sony that she had did however. 

Take it for what's it's worth.


----------



## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

When I was researching players for my parents, I came across a bunch of complaints about Sony and their streaming protocols. 
This is what I read:
Most devices will give you a direct stream between your device and the outside services (i.e. Netflix). But with Sony products, the stream goes through a Sony distributor/switchgear which is between you and the outside service. So the stream leaves Netflix, then goes to the Sony distributor, then goes to your device. Sony claimed it is to add an extra layer of protection to make sure you are an authorized user of the outside service.
Some believe this Sony distribution center can affect the stream negatively.

Mandatory re-distribution is not good for anything.


----------



## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

I absolutely love the Sony for audio discs, it bests my older $700 Marantz player, I feel.

But the problems I've had streaming Netflix, the finger pointing by Sony tech support and the hangups it's had with all internet content at times will make me think twice about buying another disc player from them.


----------



## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

gdstupak said:


> When I was researching players for my parents, I came across a bunch of complaints about Sony and their streaming protocols.
> This is what I read:
> Most devices will give you a direct stream between your device and the outside services (i.e. Netflix). But with Sony products, the stream goes through a Sony distributor/switchgear which is between you and the outside service. So the stream leaves Netflix, then goes to the Sony distributor, then goes to your device. Sony claimed it is to add an extra layer of protection to make sure you are an authorized user of the outside service.
> Some believe this Sony distribution center can affect the stream negatively.
> ...


I wish Sony would have told me this straight out. I wonder if this could be why upload speed is a factor?


----------

