BluRay Player that allows menu disabling.

[Frank Angel]

I recall long ago on the legacy Film-Tech, many of us were on the hunt for a DVD player that allowed shutting off the menu text and symbol function display on the output stream. There was a good reason for that when using a BluRay player as a source for alternative content in a cinema setting. Preferably it could play all three optical disc formats - DVD, BD, and Ultra 4K BD, but I'd settle for a straight BluRay player, Ideally the audience should never be able to see the STOP, PAUSE, PLAY or any other function graphics on the screen. If memory serves me, there was possibly an Oppo and a Sony that were able to switch off the on-screen menus. If anyone has a player that can do this. it would be a big help if you could post the make and model information. Same old needs, just a new decade, Thanks

[Carsten Kurz]

Tascam BD-MP1
Tascam BD-MP4K
Denon DN-500BD MK2
Sony UBP-X1100ES ( a lot more expensive than the other three, with no adequate advantage)

These all are 19" mountable at no or little extra cost. They also offer network/RS232 remote control.


I always suggest to download the manual and check all options, also have a look at the remote control button set and display options.

If you use the forum search on these device names, you will find a few threads dealing with them.

In most occasions I still use our old trusty Sony BDP-S550 (very early Bluray Player). It has (nearly) all the features I need, and I hope it will live until I find a perfect replacement. Although the above mentioned devices come pretty close or even offer more in some areas (but less in others).

If it's just the on-screen-display disable, many, even very cheap, SONY players allow this (most share a common hard- and software platform). But I would look for more.



- Carsten

[Steve Guttag]

I have used ALL of the ones that Carsten mentions. It should be noted that the Sony was available BEFORE the Tascam units and is 4K. Cost wise, I've found the Sony to be similar to the other units. The only other 4K unit on that list is the Tascam BD-MP4K.

The Sony UBP-X1100ES has been very reliable (in the 1.5 years we've had them in service) and very good with its EDID to handle the punches. We've used them with QSC's DCIO-H that does not support Dolby TrueHD but DTS Master audio and the Sony correctly interpreted that and if a TrueHD disc is used it outputs the signal as LPCM while allowing DTS (and the low bit rate Dolby) to still come out in their respective formats. Sony does not like to share their API and the Ethernet API for this unit is strange beyond all compare. I'm sure one can get 2-way data from it (to know what time code you are on...that sort of thing) The rackmount for the Sony is also funky. It as these stiffeners put into it around the rack holes. They are about 1/8" for the rack ears and another 1/8" for the decorative front bezel so the bezel sticks out a bit.

Screen Shot 2021-12-31 at 10.45.34 AM.png

The Denon DN-500BD MK2 is my least favorite. Strange EDIDs will confuse it. The DCIO-H can cause to not support DTS-HD because Dolby True-HD isn't supported. If you switch to LPCM, it will not, correctly output 5.1 as 5.1...it outputs it as 6-channel 7.1 (omits the back channels, which is normal for consumer...but the metadata is for 7.1 so downstream things thinks there is stuff on the back channels). The other quirk I've run into on the Denon is its Ethernet port can, and has locked up the network switch it is plugged into.

The Tascam units (which look identical to the Denon), have been solid for us, thus far. They are pricey compared to cheapo consumer units of yore and Supply Chain issues has seen their prices rise. The API is decent and one can automate/integrate a bit with them. They are our go-to units now. If one is into Q-SYS, we've developed a component for them that add some theatre things, in addition to virtualizing the remote:

Screen Shot 2021-12-31 at 10.39.32 AM.png

Even if one doesn't have Q-SYS, the above example shows what can be done with the Tascam units (e.g. with Crestron or AMX or any other control system).

[Frank Angel]

As always, gentlemen, great info and thank you.

[Don Furr]

I'm still using the OPPO 103 which allows me to cue up the movie, pause it and restart when the curtain begins to travel however I've lost the ability to control the OPPO with my Iphone from my seat in the screening room. Someone suggested that since OPPO sorta went out of business they no longer support the OPPO app. Does anyone know if that is true?

[Carsten Kurz]

'lost the ability' means? Looks as if the 'Oppo Media Control for BDP-10x' is still listed in the app store. Which doesn't necessarily mean that you can install or use it on any given iPhone.

[Steve Guttag]

I'd run an Oppo 103 (if you don't need 4K) until it drops. It was my favorite. Dual HDMI outputs (preview monitor and program), front and rear HDMI inputs (mini switcher-scaler) and full analog audio outputs, all decoded. We've never used the app for it and when we were using them, we weren't using Q-SYS yet so I don't have any components for them though it wouldn't surprise me if there aren't some out there.

[Frank Angel]

Giving that it seems the design of the Oppo 103 is to allow cueing that is invisible to the audience, will it stay in PAUSE indefinitely or at least for a much longer period than the usual minute of two of most players? (Hello 2022)

[Steve Guttag]

The Oppos stay paused. We have people cuing them and not complaining about them coming out of pause.

[Carsten Kurz]

I never had trouble with (my) players staying in pause. However, quite a few discs now use software imposed pause functions/screen savers, often you can not even exit them with the pause/play function. You somehow have to work around that, and test the disc beforehand. I think all Universal titles show that behaviour. Some other discs show a software play bar shortly or during pause at the bottom (that will usually be invisible on properly set up masked flat or scope setups). So, a preview screen, HDMI splitter/switcher, etc. is still useful. For multiple screenings of the same optical disc, I usually convert to DCP. This is also the only reasonable way for discs that show necessary/forced subtitles in black bars. Yes, some discs actually switch subs between lower and upper letterbox bars, so even those players with adjustable subtitle position can't solve that.
DCP-o-matic solves that positioning issue automatically (unless they are already burnt-in on the disc, which is really rare). It always forces subs to the visible image area/container boundaries.

[Frank Angel]

Carsten, this is mainly going to be used for student produced thesis films, so no problem there.

[Don Furr]

The Oppos stay paused. We have people cuing them and not complaining about them coming out of pause.

My 103 won't come out of pause but after a period of time it does go to screen saver.

[Steve Guttag]

You can disable the screen save, as I recall.

[Scott Norwood]

Carsten, this is mainly going to be used for student produced thesis films, so no problem there.

I realize that Frank probably can't do anything about this, but I'll point it out, anyway: one of my issues with screenings of student "films" is that, with the exception of those making 16mm prints, the students never seem to learn how to deliver their work in a professional exhibition format (and, yes, I realize that even 16mm is borderline here). I wish that schools would teach them that Blu-Ray is not such a format, and also either how to make (and test!) DCPs or at least that DCP is now the standard format and that it can be made at any competent professional lab in 2022. This is part of the post-production process, and there is no point to making a movie that cannot be shown on industry-standard equipment.

Rant over.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Yeah, you'd expect them to learn about real industry delivery formats, like DCP, MXF and AS-11 files, then again, isn't school traditional the place where you learned about how stuff was done yesterday?

You can disable the screen save, as I recall.

Yes, you can; it's under:

Video Setup > Display Options

You need to specify Off and not the Energy Efficient mode. The latter one will disable the HDMI output instead of loading the screen saver.