Region free questions

[painted_klown]

Hello,

I have a couple of quick questions regarding regions.


If you have a region free BD player, can you play ANY region BDs on the player into an American (U.S.A.) player without any issues?

I ask this because I (believe) I have read somewhere that while you may be able to play the movie its self, the menu screen and all bonus features will not show up due to compatibility issues.

Are there any BD players that come region free from the factory? Are these BD players able to overcome the limitation stated above? (If indeed this is true)

And finally...can a "fat" PS3 be made region free?

Thanks for any/all help regarding this.

[The Doc]

I'll try to answer your question one at a time:

If you have a region free BD player, can you play ANY region BDs on the player into an American (U.S.A.) player without any issues?

It all depends on the player, and more importantly on your television.

I ask this because I (believe) I have read somewhere that while you may be able to play the movie its self, the menu screen and all bonus features will not show up due to compatibility issues.

Most US televisions are unable to handle content mastered at 50hz, which is the European standard. In order to get this content to display on a US television, you need to convert the 50hz content prior to sending the signal to the television. Some players do this automatically, other players will need a separate converter box to convert the signal.

This thread has a list of US Blu-Ray players that are compatible with 50hz content:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-pl...atibility.html

Be aware that most of the players listed are not region-free, but are able to play back 50hz content. Some can even convert the 50hz content.

Are there any BD players that come region free from the factory? Are these BD players able to overcome the limitation stated above? (If indeed this is true)

The simple answer is no. Some players can be made region-free via a remote code, others have been hardware-modified to make the player region free.

Currently, there is an Insignia model that can be changed via a remote code, you can find out more about that particular model here:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-pl...er-budget.html

It's not very expensive, but I will add one caveat: with this model there is a real possibility that when you update one's firmware the region-free ability could be lost. An early Momitsu model (BDP-899) was able to be changed to region-free, but subsequent firmware upgrades took away the region free capability.

Hardware modified models are available, though of course these don't come directly from the factory. Many won't convert 50hz content but there are those that do.

The Oppo BDP-80 and 83, the Pioneer 330 and the Sharp HP24 and HP70 all have built-in converters allowing one to play back 50hz content and have an advantage over models like the Momitsu and (possibly) the Insignia in that one can update the firmware without worrying about losing the region free ability.

And finally...can a "fat" PS3 be made region free?

As far as I know, I'm not aware of any way to make any PS3 (either the fat or the slim) region free.