Netflix, Playstation 3, and Error 80029940

As some might know I am a home theatre enthusiast that, at the end of last year, finally got into Blu-Ray partly due to the excellent writings by Roo. I was armed with a Playstation 3 and the Netflix disk service where I payed the extra $1/month charge to get Blu-Ray disks instead of DVDs. Only problem is that I kept getting disks that were slightly cracked or suffered from minuscule disk fractures which yielded the following Playstation 3 error code: 80029940.

Obviously, this was a terrible way to start enjoying the Blu-Ray experience. My only saving grace was that I had bought my own Blu-Ray disk, The Dark Knight, before renting the disks from Netflix and already knew that my player was not at fault.

After searching the various Playstation and home theatre forums and working with Netflix tech support, I discovered the following:

• Blu-Ray disks are more fragile than DVDs and therefor susceptible to cracking and disk fractures.
• Netflix has been working with the USPS to ensure that all mail is not processed by machine which causes the disks to crack. By reporting disk issues and even calling support, you can help Netflix work with the USPS to correct issues with your service.
• I read in some forums that you might need to turn the HDMI super white level off along with a few other custom display settings on your Playstation 3 to prevent the 80029940 code. Don’t believe the hype as I found none of this to be true. More often than not, it is a cracked disk (even if not noticeable by the naked eye).

In the end, after suffering through three Blu-Ray disks from Netflix, the issue was resolved and I’m happy to report that I’m experiencing movies in 1080p and True HD/DTS-HD perfection!

Tags: Netflix, PS3