Import PS3 from Germany to US?

[katharsis]

I was contemplating to import a PS3 from Germany and use it in the US in order to play Region B movies. I recently bought a region free Blu-ray player but am actually not very happy with it.

My question is, will the PS3 work over here? Is it ok to switch out the main power cable or is there anything else I have to worry about?

I am looking at he slim 120GB version.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by katharsis

I was contemplating to import a PS3 from Germany and use it in the US in order to play Region B movies. I recently bought a region free Blu-ray player but am actually not very happy with it.

My question is, will the PS3 work over here? Is it ok to switch out the main power cable or is there anything else I have to worry about?

I am looking at he slim 120GB version.

Good morning,

You don't have to worry about anything -- replace the power cord and you are set. Keep in mind, however, that a native Region-B player, or PS3, will not convert 1080/50i to 1080/60i. Therefore, you will not be able to access discs that are encoded in 1080/50i because very few US TV sets can handle 1080/50i.

Pro-B

[katharsis]

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.

That's a good point about the 1080/50i - I will just have to make sure they are properly encoded before purchasing.

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Good morning,

You don't have to worry about anything -- replace the power cord and you are set. Keep in mind, however, that a native Region-B player, or PS3, will not convert 1080/50i to 1080/60i. Therefore, you will not be able to access discs that are encoded in 1080/50i because very few US TV sets can handle 1080/50i.

Pro-B

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by katharsis

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.

Hopefully, everything works out fine.

Pro-B

[dfms23]

Originally Posted by katharsis

I was contemplating to import a PS3 from Germany and use it in the US in order to play Region B movies. I recently bought a region free Blu-ray player but am actually not very happy with it.

My question is, will the PS3 work over here? Is it ok to switch out the main power cable or is there anything else I have to worry about?

I am looking at he slim 120GB version.

How did this end up working out for you? Just curious because I may be in the market for a Region B player as well.

[katharsis]

So I finally got my German PS3 in the mail yesterday. It has taken this long due to a big move I recently made...

I do have some trouble setting it up though via HDMI

There are no problems (other than black and white "jumpy" picture) when using the included Composite cable (probably because its PAL?). But when I try to connect it via HDMI I do not get any picture (sound works as I can hear the clicking when I go through the XMB). My TV (Sony KDL-46W4100) only shows "unsupported signal".

I tried some settings on the TV and reset the PS3, but no luck.

Any ideas ?

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by katharsis

So I finally got my German PS3 in the mail yesterday. It has taken this long due to a big move I recently made...

I do have some trouble setting it up though via HDMI

There are no problems (other than black and white "jumpy" picture) when using the included Composite cable (probably because its PAL?). But when I try to connect it via HDMI I do not get any picture (sound works as I can hear the clicking when I go through the XMB). My TV (Sony KDL-46W4100) only shows "unsupported signal".

I tried some settings on the TV and reset the PS3, but no luck.

Any ideas ?

With a HDMI connection, the menu & background picture on the PS3 is being transmitted at 576 PAL resolution that your Sony TV doesn't support. With the composite cables it's outputting 480 res. at 50Hz, which your TV can deal with, but the 50 hz is why you have a 'jumpy' picture. Use the composite to make all the setting you want on the PS3 (and be sure to select 24 fps output), then switch to HDMI. Put in a blu-ray, and when the PS3 output switches to 1080 24 fps res. from the blu-ray, you should have a picture.

[katharsis]

Thanks for the help The Duke
This unfortunately did not work though.

Not sure what's happening or if I am doing something wrong.

It's currently connected via Composite.
I did change the 24 to "YES"
Then went into the menu and set to HDMI output, but still no picture.

Hmm....

[Arkadin]

how many blu-rays have you tried to play?
which exact region B title is it?
and have you tried a dvd to see if that yields a picture of any kind?
are you sure the display can support 24p?
Do you watch your region A bds in 1080p/24?

[katharsis]

I didnt even get to play a Blu-ray disc yet, as I don't have picture though HDMI.

Actually I just tried 2 Region B discs and both do work on Composite but still nothing on HDMI. I have sound, just no video.

Yes - the TV supports 24p and when I watch Region A movies they are displayed in 1080p/24

[Arkadin]

yeah the sound no pic I think is because they are PAL.
it's important to know which region b blu-ray you are going to try because it might be 1080i and then it won't work.
I mean you got this PS3 for one specific purpose--to play locked region b blu-rays correct?
Because your tv can't support anything else since it can't play native PAL, that's the only discs that will work I'm assuming.
I mean region 2 dvds aren't going to play because the display doesn't support 50hz.
so you need to have your locked b disc right there to put in the player and see if it will play.
that is step one.

[richieb1971]

I think the best thing to do is go into the Video settings, select HDMI, Manual and see what options the system gives you.

If composite is showing a stable image in black and white it means it can handle 50hz with no color. He should be able to change settings no problem.

Apart from 50hz support the systems are identical to US models. I would imagine if your TV can't handle 1080p its going down to 1080i/50. I would deselect 1080i on the HDMI video settings list. It might be that 720p is the highest resolution your TV can handle.

But if you had a USA PS3, you would already know that.

If your TV can handle 1080p, I don't know what the problem is since thats the resolution the system boots up in.

Apart from that, change the cable. If that don't work you HDMI port on the PS3 might be broken. Is the system new?

[The Driver]

((( know nothing about PS3 mode )))

I assume people mean component and not composite? Big difference.

Make sure you try a disc by Universal or Warner as they don't faff about with PAL. And use a disc you are familiar with (ie a USA region-free released disc). DOn't worry about anything else at the moment.

Also, make sure you try another TV and of course plug it into a PC monitor too for testing.

Then if all that fails ask in a PS3 forum. Those guys will know everything I assume about PS3.

[Arkadin]

well the more I think about this it seems to me that it's first a foremost a handshaking issue.
He says it's saying "unsupported signal" so is that referring to the hdmi as a whole or just 50hz perhaps?
If it's hdmi as a whole then it seems
it may be that the PS3 is saying "hey I'm from Germany and I know you've hooked me up to a US tv and they won't let me play games or movies for you".
It could be more of an issue with game rights than movie rights, I have no idea.
what is "unsupported signal" referring to, that is the first question that needs to be answered.

[Exist2Inspire]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

well the more I think about this it seems to me that it's first a foremost a handshaking issue.
He says it's saying "unsupported signal" so is that referring to the hdmi as a whole or just 50hz perhaps?
If it's hdmi as a whole then it seems
it may be that the PS3 is saying "hey I'm from Germany and I know you've hooked me up to a US tv and they won't let me play games or movies for you".
It could be more of an issue with game rights than movie rights, I have no idea.
what is "unsupported signal" referring to, that is the first question that needs to be answered.

Normally you get that signal if your TV is getting a signal that it can't decode, such at 576i/576p, or 1080i/50hz.

Your best bet would be, if this is at all possible, is to manually set the HDMI resolution. I start at 480p (can't remember if PAL allows this), then go to all intermediate steps.

Other than that, make sure that the PS3 has the latest firmware.

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by katharsis

I didnt even get to play a Blu-ray disc yet, as I don't have picture though HDMI.

Actually I just tried 2 Region B discs and both do work on Composite but still nothing on HDMI. I have sound, just no video.

Yes - the TV supports 24p and when I watch Region A movies they are displayed in 1080p/24

Well, that's what I was trying to say - you're not getting a picture because most likely the PS3 menu & background is 576 PAL resolution. Once you put in a blu-ray disc the output should change to 1080p and you should see a picture. You don't necessarily need to try a region B blu-ray, any region free US release will work - any Warner blu-ray and most Sony.

I had a LG BH200 player for several years set to region B/PAL. My old TV wouldn't accept PAL input and I'd always see a blank screen when I started the player up. Once I put in a blu-ray I'd get a perfect 1080p picture.

[Arkadin]

I was wondering if he had even tried a bd yet.
maybe he stopped when he saw the "unsupported signal" error.
sounds like that is probably the problem more than what I was saying.
I don't get why he didn't "like" the region free player he had.
Getting a region B PS3 doesn't seem like the easiest solution by a long stretch because of the 50hz issue.

[katharsis]

Thanks for all the answers and help so far, much appreciated!

It's getting quite frustrating that I cannot get this work though.

Here a few information just to make sure we are on the same page...

I got the Sony Bravia KDL-46W4100 which is full HD and I have a US PS3 hooked up which plays Blu-rays at 1080p/24 so no problem with that.

Now I have the German PS3 currently hooked up through Composite (the yellow, red and white plugs). I get picture (only black and white and its somewhat jumpy) and sound... I can play Blu-rays and it will be in color and stops jumping... however it only uses a small portion of the 46" tv in this mode.

Now in the PS3 menu I have set it to 24p "YES" and then when I go to change the output settings to HDMI, the screen goes black for about 30 seconds and just comes back on via Composite.
During those 30 seconds I change my TV channel to the proper HDMI input that the PS3 is hooked up to... the screen is black and I get an error message in the bottom right that reads " unsupported signal. please check your device settings ".
At this point I am not able to play a Blu-ray disc because I cannot access the XMB to get to Video > Play.

If I just use the HDMI (with the composite completely unplugged) I get the same error and I am not sure how to start to play the movie as well...

Already tried another cable (that of the US PS3, which I know works)
and another port on the TV which also works...

Should I try and just buy Component Cables ? Not sure if the TV really is not able to properly "read" the output of the PS3.


Any more ideas ?

[Arkadin]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by katharsis

At this point I am not able to play a Blu-ray disc because I cannot access the XMB to get to Video > Play.

ok I'm following everything until this sentence.
I don't have a PS3 so I don't understand this.
what is XMB?
do you have dedicated PS3 remote for bd playback like some people have purchased?
also: do you have a friend with a different brand tv that you can go over and hook the German PS3 into their hdmi port and try to play a blu-ray?
it would be helpful to see if you get the same error message on a different display.
if so I would try that asap.

[The Duke]

[QUOTE=Arkadin;4372859]

ok I'm following everything until this sentence.
I don't have a PS3 so I don't understand this.
what is XMB?
do you have dedicated PS3 remote for bd playback like some people have purchased?
also: do you have a friend with a different brand tv that you can go over and hook the German PS3 into their hdmi port and try to play a blu-ray?
it would be helpful to see if you get the same error message on a different display.
if so I would try that asap.

XMB is the menu system. I had a PS3 for a few months shortly after they came out, not a gamer and didn't care for it. But as I recall the blu-ray disc started playing when you you put in the . . . slot and it took it in?