Is PS3 region free blu-ray player?!?!!?

[krumlin]

I now I can play japanese blu-rays on my american PS3.
Can I play blu-rays from the U.K!??!

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by krumlin

I now I can play japanese blu-rays on my american PS3.
Can I play blu-rays from the U.K!??!

only if the blu-rays are region free, some don't have region coding on them (WB mostly and older titels).

[krumlin]

Wait I have another question, this bluray is region free but the special features are standard def PAL, can I play this on my sharp aquos? Can the PS3 play this? The blu-ray.com review says your tv needs to be able to hand PAL directly, but I have no idea.

[Sonny]

No unfortunately...

[krumlin]

Originally Posted by Sonny

No unfortunately...

Can you explain why? I can make PAL dvds, and I believe any computer can play it back, unfortunately I don't have a blu-ray player on my computer. So is it the PS3, or HDTVs that are incapable of PAL?

[gekke henkie]

Originally Posted by krumlin

Can you explain why? I can make PAL dvds, and I believe any computer can play it back, unfortunately I don't have a blu-ray player on my computer. So is it the PS3, or HDTVs that are incapable of PAL?

That very much depends on your PS3 and your model HDTV (or, in other words, where it was originally bought from). Look in your manual (or on the bottom/backside of your device) and look for words like NTSC/PAL/SECAM/Multiformat/etc. Many European models play both PAL and NTSC, while many North American models play NTSC only (same with Panasonic's BD-players). Besides Multiformat devices, there also exist some North American HDTV's that besides NTSC-60Hz can show a special 'NTSC-50Hz' format (being the NTSC equivalent of the PAL-50Hz signal). Good luck with working your way through your manuals!

[jw]

Originally Posted by krumlin

I now I can play japanese blu-rays on my american PS3.
Can I play blu-rays from the U.K!??!

US and Japan are the same region, thats why.

Uk is region B and if they are locked you are SOL, no hack or anything to help.

[gekke henkie]

Originally Posted by jwbbud

US and Japan are the same region, thats why.

Uk is region B and if they are locked you are SOL, no hack or anything to help.

Luckily, there are more region-free BD's compared to region-locked BD's, see:
http://bluray.liesinc.net/index.php?region=b

Still, both your BD-player and your display need to be PAL compatible, Multiformat, or include NTSC-50Hz, to be able to watch most extra's on Region-B BD's.

[krumlin]

Originally Posted by jwbbud

US and Japan are the same region, thats why.

Uk is region B and if they are locked you are SOL, no hack or anything to help.

But Japan is also PAL isn't it? I understand region locking, I just can't understand why in this day and age a North American digital player and digital HDTV can't play back PAL. I thought that any standard computer could playback either PAL or NTSC DVDs, so I don't see the point in other digital devices being incapable. It seems too primitive of a restriction for modern technology.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by krumlin

But Japan is also PAL isn't it?

Japan is NTSC like the U.S.

[gekke henkie]

Originally Posted by krumlin

I just can't understand why in this day and age a North American digital player and digital HDTV can't play back PAL. It seems too primitive of a restriction for modern technology.

I agree with you. The two reasons I can think of are protectionism and cost-cutting; with more weight put in the latter. Obviously, multiformat devices are more expensive, so when companies try to cut back on costs, they try to think what customers in a certain region like best (or, hope they will in the future), and what features most of them don't care enough about to make it a deal-breaker. If you are in the minority, you loose.

In this case, Europeans travel a lot and besides the more expensive models (like projectors and big displays) being multiformat, many smaller devices are multiformat as well (Europeans tend to like that). In N-America however, less than 7% of the people from the US used to have a passport, a study showed a few years ago. This means that more than 93% of them never leaves (or even, could leave) the continent! Also, most movies/discs are (also) recorded in NTSC format, so why should they care about multiformat? Most of them don't, so here is your cost-saver...

Just my $0.02 and speculation, of course.