USA Today has just released an article about the problems Warner Home Video’s The Matrix causes in many DVD players. It has always been clear that most compatibility issues on DVD players are a result of incompatible hardware and not the software itself. Usually the software even triggers erratic behaviour inside the players by executing documented code features. A number of circumstances oftentimes exaggerate erroneous player behaviour and can then result in player lock-ups or other problems. What looks like a problem disc at first is in fact usually a problem player.

“USA Today” has now examined “The Matrix” and concluded that in that case, too, hardware problems are the source of the many problems. In their race to get new player models out the door, manufacturers often do not pay enough attention to the faithful implementation of their firmware. But sometimes the problem is even bigger, when the players need to contain firmware for features that don’t even exist. In the case of “The Matrix” this bleeding edge technology caused many a DVD owner headaches while manufacturers are scrambling to get fixes ready.

Please click here to take a look at USA Today’s full article on the subject.