I have had the most peculiar thing happen. All of a sudden, my HD-DVD player will not recognize any remote controls. The player itself works fine when I use the play, pause, and chapter ahead buttons on the front, but no remote works with it, even with fresh batteries. I tried cleaning to front in case the sensor was blocked or smudged or something, but that didn't do any good at all. I really have no idea why it doesn't recognize either the remote that came with it or the universal remote that has the codes punched in for that model.