All region bluray players?

pops · Post by **pops** » 19 Jun 2008, 19:28

Do they exist?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 Jun 2008, 20:14

AFAIK there are no Region Free players, due to the way BD region coding works. However there are BD Players that you can switch between regions.

The choice is limited:

1. There is a company in Netherlands (www.stegen.com) who professionally add a chip to the Region B Players to enable you to switch between RA and RB using a remote. Not RC, not that it matters. Sadly their BD Players aren't cheap, still you get what you pay for.
2. The LG BH200 HD Combo player (HD-DVD and BD) can be switched between BD RA, RB or RC using the remote. Out of the box. It's not an Official Hack but definitely works. It's also possible to make this SD DVD Region Free too. See here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1009104

You can see what RA (Region A), RB (Region B) and RC (Region C) covers here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray#Region_codes

If you have no interest in HD-DVD but want BD Profile 2.0. My money would be on a Panasonic DMP-BD50 from Stegen.com, this will be pricey though!

You can see a list of Profile 2.0 BD Players here:

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=4381

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 19 Jun 2008, 20:23

Good post, Brad.
Welcome, Pops.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 Jun 2008, 20:39

These are better places to ask:

USA AVS Forum: http://www.avsforum.com/
UK AV Forum: http://www.avforums.com/

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 20 Jun 2008, 01:01

bradavon wrote:Thank you, and to think Salty reckons I'm clueless about HD

wasn't it only 2 weeks ago you told us all there were no full hd 32" tv's in existence until gasty put you in your place

bradavon wrote:Yes I'll keep saying that until I get a response 8).

my beef with you was when you were pontificating about hd when you couldn't even play the things but you were too clueless to see the irony. like i said weeks ago i'm tired taking the piss out of you,it got boring.i've currently got some problems of my own without having to take time out responding to your crap attempts at goading but i will. the facts are you rile people up. When Tom mentioned LD the other night you couldn't help but chime in with a sarcastic comment. members have left here because of you, others have had running battles with you, Tom had to perform the biggest overthrow since Iraq to get rid of you as a mod,you feel the need to respond to every fucking post even if it's to say "it doesn't interest me",set yourself up as HD guru at AVS before you had the equipment, got yourself banned from dvdforums for being a prick and resort to using an alias for you know where ! apart from that i'm sure you are a great guy and well done for coming off welfare at last

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Jun 2008, 12:24

saltysam wrote:Region A & B blu-ray sony player from a uk stockist

http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/product_i ... cts_id=793

Nice one, thanks Salty. It looks like it's only Profile 1.0:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showpost ... stcount=86
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthre ... 653&page=6

But it certainly bodes well. Multi-region Magic were a decent company back in the day. I suspect they still are. Hopefully if they can make this BD RA+RB then they'll be able to make future models RA+RB too.

I would buy a Profile 1.1 BD Player but not Profile 1.0. Bonus View/PIP Commentaries are an extra worth having (if you like commentaries it will interest you).

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 20 Jun 2008, 15:17

bradavon wrote:Just to bring this thread back on topic. These are better places to ask:

USA AV Forum: http://www.avsforum.com/
US AV Forum: http://www.avforums.com/

So, when was the United Kingdom annexed by the United States of America? I must've been at work at the time.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 20 Jun 2008, 15:23

avs is the where Brad runs some combo player threads. gives him a feeling of importance.been at a loose end since he was stripped of his powers here against his will.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 20 Jun 2008, 18:25

EvaUnit02 wrote:So, when was the United Kingdom annexed by the United States of America? I must've been at work at the time.

Yeah, Gordon Brown decided if he couldn't sell us down the river to Europe, might as well flog us to the Yanks. From September we're going to be known as Britainia, the 51st state.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Jun 2008, 18:39

Interesting:

http://www.bluraymods.com/

Also - Panasonic DMP-BD30 (Multiregion):

http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/product_i ... cts_id=949

This model is definitely Profile 1.1. For £70 difference I'd definitely take the Profile 1.1 model. The Panasonic can also be switched to the less important BD Region C too instead of RA+RB only.

They also sell the Panasonic DMP-BD50 (Profile 2.0) but so far it's not BD MR. As expected all these models are BD Switchable not BD Region Free. So far that's yet to be cracked!

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 21 Jun 2008, 05:44

Getting back on topic:- the simplest Multi-region BD solution is a HTPC. This is an indisputable fact.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 Aug 2008, 15:25

As well as the Panasonic DMP-BD30 (Profile 1.1) listed above. Multiregion Magic now also sell the Panasonic DMP-BD50 (Profile 2.0):

http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/product_i ... cts_id=951

It's pricey though and cheekily they're charging £130 to make it multiregion (they sell it without MR for £130 less).

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 03 Aug 2008, 14:06

if the above was £300 i'd buy it. half a grand is too much though and they add postage on top of that. as it is i can play region A & B anyway though only through using 2 ps3's.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 03 Aug 2008, 16:23

Panasonic usually charge a lot. Sony can make up the shortfall in game sales. Regardless I imagine prices will drop by Xmas or next year.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 03 Aug 2008, 16:50

bradavon wrote:Panasonic usually charge a lot.

not always.their plasmas are reasonably priced. £530 for a disc spinner is taking the piss nowadays with more players now available.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 03 Aug 2008, 16:56

Their HDD/DVD Recorders are reasonably priced too but they're still at the premium end of the recording market. I imagine their TVs are the same.

Besides, why spend a grand on a TV to then only spend a few hundred on a player to go with it? Personally I don't consider £500 for a top of the range Player unreasonable, if agreed a little expensive. If I didn't want to support both formats I'd buy one.

I paid £550 for my Pioneer DVD Player back in 2005 and while I won't get anywhere near that for it on eBay (I'll be finding out soon), it is much, much better than any other DVD Player I've ever used. Including my BH200.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 03 Aug 2008, 17:16

blu-ray players are much of a muchness from what i can tell in regards PQ etc.which is the most important thing to me,ie the £170 samsung would probably display as good a picture as the £530 panny.although panasonic usually make better kit than sammy,agreed.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 03 Aug 2008, 17:51

Well I've given up on the HTPC (lousy PowerDVD software) and ordered the multi-region DMP-BD50.

I borrowed a BD30 from work to watch Batman Begins and it was really good but the sound let it down a little - no HD analog audio output, so I opted for the BD50 instead.

No point beating around the bush & worrying about what discs I can or can't play, so rather than buy it from work I bought it from MRM.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 03 Aug 2008, 18:47

I can state categorically that I will not pay more than £300 for a BD player even if it is Multi-Region. So those jokers are taking the proverbial piss.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 03 Aug 2008, 19:52

saltysam wrote:blu-ray players are much of a muchness from what i can tell in regards PQ etc.which is the most important thing to me

When it comes to DVD Players they differ wildly but you could be right about BD Players.

That said it's often the little things that make the more expensive kit worth the money, like a decent selection of aspect ratio modes on more expensive TVs. You don't spend £200-300+ on kit that often so buy the best you can afford IMO.

Markgway wrote:I can state categorically that I will not pay more than £300 for a BD player even if it is Multi-Region. So those jokers are taking the proverbial piss.

It's a good job not everyone thinks like you then

. The market needs early adopters to bring the price down for everyone else. We'll have been enjoying HD for years by the time you buy one

.

£300 for a decent BD Player will come. I wouldn't trust a Samsung BD Player myself.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 03 Aug 2008, 19:55

IronMonkey wrote:No point beating around the bush & worrying about what discs I can or can't play, so rather than buy it from work I bought it from MRM.

Please post how you get on with MRM and the DMP-BD50.

IronMonkey wrote:no HD analog audio output, so I opted for the BD50 instead.

The BD50 even has on-board decoding for DTS-HD, that's rare and means you can get full lossless audio support with any legacy Amp that has Anaologue inputs.

I wish my BH200 had Analogue outputs. For now I'm happy to compromise with 1.5Mbps audio instead.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 03 Aug 2008, 20:01

bradavon wrote: That said it's often the little things that make the more expensive kit worth the money, like a decent selection of aspect ratio modes on more expensive TVs.

Just 'Exact Scan' will do for me.

bradavon wrote: We'll have been enjoying HD for years by the time you buy one .

Oh, the irony!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 03 Aug 2008, 20:47

gasteropod wrote:Oh, the irony!

That's why I said it

.

What's Exact Scan?

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 03 Aug 2008, 20:59

Is it not self-explanatory lol, 1:1 pixel mapping.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 03 Aug 2008, 21:33

Having never seen 1:1 pixel mapping in action, no. Thanks though.