Multi-regional?

[Genesistt]

Hi

I'm busy researching Blu-Ray so that I know what to look for when I buy one and I have a question now.

I read that Blu-Ray will be able to play my old DVD's, which is a huge relief, but my DVD player is a multi-regional player, and I have DVD's from different regions.

Will the Blu-Ray be able to play them too? Or will it only be able to play DVD's from 1 region?

And will they make multi-regional Blu-Ray players for the Blu-Ray discs as well?

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by Genesistt

Will the Blu-Ray be able to play them too? Or will it only be able to play DVD's from 1 region?

Most BD players can only play DVDs of the same region of the country of issue; meaning if you bought one in the US, you can only play Region 1 DVDs and Region A BDs.

And will they make multi-regional Blu-Ray players for the Blu-Ray discs as well?

"Will" is not something that anybody can answer about BD regions. So far all you need to worry about is Region A and Region B BDs. You need to only do more research on which BDs from Europe (Region B) will play in Region A players and which BDs are region all. There are sites that lists all of this info.


fuad

[Genesistt]

Do you perhaps have a few of these sites' addresses?

[HDJK]

link

Select the region you want the disc to import from.

[WriteSimply]

Thanks HDJK.


fuad

[Genesistt]

Thanks, but not exactly the information I needed.

Right now all I need to know is on which Blu-Ray players can I play both Region 1 and Region 2 DVD's.

And if you can point me to a website with lists of players that can do that, that would be helpful.

But thanks, anyway.

[Kilian]

For now, you'll have to get specially modded players from third party vendors (and use at your own risk).

For example:
here

[Genesistt]

Ah yes, that is what I was looking for. Thanks very much. That link was very helpful.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by Genesistt

Ah yes, that is what I was looking for. Thanks very much. That link was very helpful.

I have to disagree; that link wasn't helpful, it was a revelation
I didn't know there were any codefree machines around. Can anyone confirm that they actually work?

[Genesistt]

I don't know how well they work, but if Sony or Panasonic makes something they do a good job. So I think they should work. I believe in Panasonic and Sony.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by Genesistt

I don't know how well they work, but if Sony or Panasonic makes something they do a good job. So I think they should work. I believe in Panasonic and Sony.

I agree with what you said about Sony and Pioneer, but I highly doubt that the modification board they use is from either brand.

[Genesistt]

Personally, I'll wait a year or 2 before buying a Blu-Ray player anyway. Give them time to come down in price and to work out all the bugs and sort out multi-regionalities and whatnot to do with both playing DVD's and Blu-Rays.

It took the DVD players a while to bring in those functions too, when they first came out. So I'm patient. I have 2 DVD players at home to keep me going until all the issues are sorted out with Blu-Ray.

[Kilian]

Strictly speaking the modded players so far available are dual-region (A/B, R1/2), not multi-region. I need one that will be multi-region, R1-3 at least for DVDs. For the time being, my RA/1 player will suffice for Blu-ray needs and my other region-free DVD players for DVDs. In two or three years' time when prices have gone down more and given that a modded player costs more, it may be better getting two players from different regions.

Note that the Panny models cannot so far be made dual region for Blu-ray, only multi-region for DVDs. It can be unlocked using a special remote or PDA using IR codes.

I hear talks about a region-free firmware disc from Pioneer in the UK and Australia available to dealers so this looks promising.

Other sites that sell modded dual-region players:
bluraymods.com (some of the below sites are distributors)
dvddirect.net
stegen.com
cine4home.de


These all offer the Sony and Pioneer so I suspect it's not that hard to do. There are people who will do the mod on site (bluray-upgrades.com) and kits are sold for DIYs (bluraymods.com).

Region modification is only part of the whole picture: you need your BD player to support 576i/50 ("PAL") as well as 480i/60 ("NTSC") for DVDs, and 1080p/50 and 1080p/60 for Blu-ray discs (and upscaling for DVDs) and your display to support 50 and 60Hz inputs. European, Asian and Australian players already support PAL and NTSC DVDs so I suspect it would be easier to mod these than US ones.

Don't forget you can also go the route of HTPC.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by Kilian

...

Other sites that sell modded dual-region players:
bluraymods.com (some of the below sites are distributors)
dvddirect.net
stegen.com
cine4home.de

...

Thanks for the info

[scragham]

i don't think you'll see respectable companies (i.e. non-bargain basement chinese companies) produce BD players with multi-region DVD capability. it's a requirement of the DVD forum, and i have a hard time believing that the companies that actually sit on the forum will buck it.

ergo, i would not hold my breath waiting for a machine that is openly able to do multi-region DVD.

however, if some anonymous employee were to "accidentally" leak codes to unlock regions...

[syncguy]

It appears that this type of hardware modification would void manufacture’s warranty. In case of a warranty repair, you will need to ship the player to the company that modified the player.

Has anyone done the economics of this? Quick Google search showed that Sony BDP-S300 is available from $400. The modified player is $850. Isn't it better to have two players with manufacture's warranty rather than a single modified player. However, if you do it this way, you will need to import the second player.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by syncguy

It appears that this type of hardware modification would void manufacture’s warranty. In case of a warranty repair, you will need to ship the player to the company that modified the player.

Has anyone done the economics of this? Quick Google search showed that Sony BDP-S300 is available from $400. The modified player is $850. Isn't it better to have two players with manufacture's warranty rather than a single modified player. However, if you do it this way, you will need to import the second player.

True. But there is always the issue of limited HDMI inputs on your receiver or your TV. Personally my Denon only has 2 HDMI inputs. I need to keep my 2930 for SACD/DVDA playback so 2 BD players are out of the question (if I don't want to go the route of unplugging every time or a switcher). So a dual zone player would be perfect.

They are the first now, prices will come down eventually.

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by HDJK

True. But there is always the issue of limited HDMI inputs on your receiver or your TV. Personally my Denon only has 2 HDMI inputs. I need to keep my 2930 for SACD/DVDA playback so 2 BD players are out of the question (if I don't want to go the route of unplugging every time or a switcher). So a dual zone player would be perfect.

They are the first now, prices will come down eventually.

Okay. Good point. It is not a good idea to frequently plug/unplug HDMI as HDMI has the potential to damage your equipment if plugged/unplugged while they are working. However, I would go for a switcher if I have limited inputs.