DVD playback - 2004 W211 COMAND
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Joined: May 2007
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From: San Diego
2004 E55
DVD playback - 2004 W211 COMAND
The car is a 2004 E55 with original COMAND unit.
I know that to get DVD playback I have to get the Euro version of the COMAND, but I want to know why my stock COMAND cannot be reloaded to play DVD's. If the stock (2004) COMAND is capable of reading DVD data discs, then it has all the necessary hardware to play movies, all it is lacking is software. Has anyone out there heard of, or considered investigating this?? A simple flash or firmware update or what-have-you could turn all of our COMAND's into DVD playing units. I have been into the engineering menu for my COMAND and the settings are there to enable/disable driver distractions with regards to DVD play, so we can't be that far off from DVD play as it stands right now.
Any thoughts???
I know that to get DVD playback I have to get the Euro version of the COMAND, but I want to know why my stock COMAND cannot be reloaded to play DVD's. If the stock (2004) COMAND is capable of reading DVD data discs, then it has all the necessary hardware to play movies, all it is lacking is software. Has anyone out there heard of, or considered investigating this?? A simple flash or firmware update or what-have-you could turn all of our COMAND's into DVD playing units. I have been into the engineering menu for my COMAND and the settings are there to enable/disable driver distractions with regards to DVD play, so we can't be that far off from DVD play as it stands right now.
Any thoughts???
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From: Tampa, FL
2005 S500 4-Matic, 1978 450SL
Some pretty obvious ones. Your Nav DVD reader is entirely separate from the single slot in your COMAND unit. The Nav DVD reader has a laser frequency that is tuned to read DVDs, and its map data output, together with GPS data output, can be interpreted by the COMAND.
The single slot in your COMAND is a CD reader, with a laser frequency tuned for CDs. It cannot read DVDs - video or audio. The difference is exactly the same as in older home CD players that won't read DVDs.
It wasn't until the '05 model year that U.S. specification COMAND was equipped with lasers that could read both CDs and DVDs. Even when they were, U.S. specification COMANDs were not provided with the firmware (and some also say, even the DVD video decoder chip) to read DVD video. They could read DVD audio. The reason for omitting DVD video is that having such available to the driver violates many state laws; and in general, could subject the manufacturer to liability for the inevitable accidents, injuries, and deaths that would occur from drivers watching movies instead of the road.
The single slot in your COMAND is a CD reader, with a laser frequency tuned for CDs. It cannot read DVDs - video or audio. The difference is exactly the same as in older home CD players that won't read DVDs.
It wasn't until the '05 model year that U.S. specification COMAND was equipped with lasers that could read both CDs and DVDs. Even when they were, U.S. specification COMANDs were not provided with the firmware (and some also say, even the DVD video decoder chip) to read DVD video. They could read DVD audio. The reason for omitting DVD video is that having such available to the driver violates many state laws; and in general, could subject the manufacturer to liability for the inevitable accidents, injuries, and deaths that would occur from drivers watching movies instead of the road.
Last edited by Skylaw; Mar 25, 2009 at 08:54 PM.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,793
Likes: 44
From: San Diego
2004 E55
Some pretty obvious ones. Your Nav DVD reader is entirely separate from the single slot in your COMAND unit. The Nav DVD reader has a laser frequency that is tuned to read DVDs, and its map data output, together with GPS data output, can be interpreted by the COMAND.
The single slot in your COMAND is a CD reader, with a laser frequency tuned for CDs. It cannot read DVDs - video or audio. The difference is exactly the same as in older home CD players that won't read DVDs.
It wasn't until the '05 model year that U.S. specification COMAND was equipped with lasers that could read both CDs and DVDs. Even when they were, U.S. specification COMANDs were not provided with the firmware (and some also say, even the DVD video decoder chip) to read DVD video. They could read DVD audio. The reason for omitting DVD video is that having such available to the driver violates many state laws; and in general, could subject the manufacturer to liability for the inevitable accidents, injuries, and deaths that would occur from drivers watching movies instead of the road.
The single slot in your COMAND is a CD reader, with a laser frequency tuned for CDs. It cannot read DVDs - video or audio. The difference is exactly the same as in older home CD players that won't read DVDs.
It wasn't until the '05 model year that U.S. specification COMAND was equipped with lasers that could read both CDs and DVDs. Even when they were, U.S. specification COMANDs were not provided with the firmware (and some also say, even the DVD video decoder chip) to read DVD video. They could read DVD audio. The reason for omitting DVD video is that having such available to the driver violates many state laws; and in general, could subject the manufacturer to liability for the inevitable accidents, injuries, and deaths that would occur from drivers watching movies instead of the road.
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I understand why they wouldn't allow DVD playback here but I can assure you that my COMAND unit (the single disc slot) can read mp3 DVD's. Now I suppose the DVD video chip would be an issue, but I can't imagine that MBZ would build several variants of a COMAND unit - hardware wise - ($$ inefficient)... So it only seems natural to me that the guts in the COMAND units are universal and they use the firmware/software to control functionality.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: San Diego
2004 E55
Think that would affect the ability to use the latest Nav discs? I know the Nav drive in the trunk is a standalone unit, but when I wanted to use the newer discs (anything newer than the 2004 disc that came with the car) I had to use a "nav service disc" that I inserted in the COMAND slot to "update" the unit. Now that I think about it though, I didn't try the new Nav DVD in the trunk before hand so I'm not sure if the "update" was necessary or not.
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From: London, GB
RHD C200 Sport Coupe, RHD SLK-55, LHD SLK-350
NGT2 units built for North America don't have a MPEG2 decoder built in, so I'm not sure how you are going to get DVD video playback. I'd love to be proven wrong...
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MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: San Diego
2004 E55
Is there any reference material or documentation on this? Not that I'm saying it's wrong, but I'd love to read up on it.
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'14 E350 wagon; BMW G12 (2020) G01 (2019)
Some 04 models cand read audio DVD's. My 04 E320 Wagon (Jan 04 build) will read a DVD and play mp3's --- 4GB is pretty good, with folders and somgs all visible on screen. But no video. Firmware missing. I drive alone most of the time, so this is no issue for me; doesn't make good sense to watch video and the road at the same time.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,793
Likes: 44
From: San Diego
2004 E55
Some 04 models cand read audio DVD's. My 04 E320 Wagon (Jan 04 build) will read a DVD and play mp3's --- 4GB is pretty good, with folders and somgs all visible on screen. But no video. Firmware missing. I drive alone most of the time, so this is no issue for me; doesn't make good sense to watch video and the road at the same time.
