The LG BD370 & Region Coding

[Eastcoaster]

Hi gang,

I've been googling and can't find any info on this: is it possible to change the region coding from Region A to Region B on this new LG player, like it was on the BH200? Best Buy has them for $299, but I think it might be TOO new for there to be any region-change info out there.

Anyone found anything?

Kirby

[Clark Kent]

I think LG corrected the region coding backdoor after the BH200.

[gekke henkie]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

I think LG corrected the region coding backdoor after the BH200.

Maybe LG was 'encouraged' to do so?

[fredreed]

I was wondering about the features on this player, I haven't been able to get a real accurate list of features on this blu-ray player yet from LG. The feature that I am most interested in is does this unit have USB capabilities, I heard two different things on this one review said it does and another review said it doesn't but the LG BD390 will have this feature but for extra $100 more in may, who is telling the truth on the LG BD370?

I was looking at the USB feature in terms of going wireless and connecting to the internet without having to hookup a long cable to the back of my router because I would have to have a very long cable.

[stefanjos]

hey,the usb is only for the bd-live temporary storage and to view photos and listen to music. unfortunently you will have to connect with the wire to the internet. i bought this player 5 days ago and i love it. and it even supports youtube. a great feature since its loading time is preety much faster than my PC. great player from my perspective

[Dymag]

Hello, Does this player have the "zoom" feature like the BD300 ?

Thanks, - Ray -

Originally Posted by stefanjos

hey,the usb is only for the bd-live temporary storage and to view photos and listen to music. unfortunently you will have to connect with the wire to the internet. i bought this player 5 days ago and i love it. and it even supports youtube. a great feature since its loading time is preety much faster than my PC. great player from my perspective

[alextrela]

Hello.Does LG BD 370 support SRT subtitles.If no does somebody now a blu-ray player that support or will support on futures.Thanks.

[hweerman]

I have an LG BD370 blu ray player. After i updated the firmware via the internet connection, it stopped playing ordinary DVD's, displaying: "region code error".
Blu ray discs were played correctly.
I returned to the shop to get a player with non-updated software, and this one played DVD's and blu rays'correctly.
So be aware, do not update your players software!

[house007]

I purchased a LG bd370 blu ray at best buy in Missouri. They said it is not region free and will not play pal format. When I got home I tried to play some dvd's with pal format anyway and they all played and worked great. I now have a minor problem with the player and need to exchange it. I'm just wondering if it was a fluke or whether best buy is just wrong and all of these play pal and ntsc dvd's.

[gekke henkie]

There is a big difference (although related) between 'regions' and video 'formats'. The LG plays PAL as well as NTSC 'formats', but the machine is region-locked to the regions(DVD/BD) where you bought the player.

In other words, the disc you want to play needs to be from the region where you bought the player, or the disc needs to be region-free. So, I guess you played region-free PAL DVD's, which is possible, but if you tried a region-2 (PAL) DVD on your region-1 locked player, it will refuse to play, I presume.

[house007]

Ok, I have a little more info. First, I spoke with LG and they tell me it is not region free and on the back of the player it states that it is region 1. Here is the crazy part. It will play all region 5 dvd's. LG says they don't know how. I have now tried about 10 dvd's from Russia that all state they are region 5 without any problems. I do have to take it back for a couple minor malfunctions, I just hope the next will also play region 5.

[gekke henkie]

Hmmm, never heard that before; very nice though.

Does the store where you bought it from has one on display, maybe? Or, any other store in your neighborhood? Or, could you ask for a 'demo' of it when they do not have it on display, but have it in stock nonentheless? Of course, bring one or two of your own region-5 DVD's with you to test the 'upconversion' capabilities .

[gonk]

I would be stunned if LG were shipping region-free players. It's more likely that the discs you are playing are labeled Region 5 but actually mastered without a region code, allowing them to play in any DVD player. Here's a simple test: take one of those discs to a store and put it in several different players. If it plays on them, there's no region code set.

[house007]

I don't know if this player is region free, I only know that it will play region 5 pal dvd's from Russia and region 1 ntsc for sure. These region 5 dvd's will not play in any of my dvd players except this new blu-ray. I did end up exchanging it for another because of minor issues but this one is still playing region 5.

[ghell]

Does anyone know if the LG BD370 can be coaxed into streaming things other than youtube/netflix? In particular, I am thinking of media that already exists on my LAN.

For example, at the moment I am burning mp4s to dvds and playing them on there but I have quite a large gigabit Ethernet network in my house so streaming from there would be good. I'm open to any way of doing this but the ones I can think of off the top of my head are samba shares, NAS and streaming media servers (RTCP/RTP servers, VLC streaming servers, etc).

If there are any resources on foing this for the BD390, they should be just as good. The only difference as far as I can see is that the 390 has wifi (but is also only sold in the US I think).

[stefanjos]

theres a zoom button on the remote. so i guess it got the function.

[Ellen]

All,
Just to unlock the mystery of house007 - the reason why you can play most Russian disks is because they are region free, and region 5 is painted on the case for decoration. This is 100% true about all old movies/cartoons, even "remastered". The quality can vary but it's never stellar and they are all in 4:3 ratio - you get the idea. New movies with good quality and widescreen will not play. I have lots Russian DVDs too, and all play on my LG BD390 but the "Day Watch" - the only one that's actually written as region 5. But there is always a back door when your player at least plays PAL - rip with DVD decrypter and re-record with no region code.
Ellen

[srithma]

My LG BD370V Ver8, unable to make region free,Please let me know how to?

[Clark Kent]

Here is all that is known about making this player region-free for dvd only:

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks/lg-bd370/10016

I have seen no hacks to make it region-free for Blu-rays. It does make a good region-free dvd player, as it converts PAL to NTSC with no problems, for Americans and other countries with NTSC displays. It also will play the PAL extras on region-free Blu-rays, a nice little bonus that many other BD players do not have.

[Clark Kent]

Great news and confirmation of what several users here had already told me. The American version of the LG BD370 will convert 1080i / 50 Hz material from region-free Blu-rays and play them at 1080p on any American display! There is no noticeable loss or decline in quality when performing this conversion. I have personally tested this with a region-free European BD I imported. It also handles and converts PAL video well, so extra features can also be played.

Very few American Blu-ray players can perform these feats. The PS3 can not do these things.