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Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

post #1 of 19
2/21/08 at 9:53am
Thread Starter 
Is there an online source that details which Blu-ray titles are available that are:

1) Not officially released in the U.S., or have a lesser-quality release in the U.S.
2) Are NTSC format
3) Are Region A or Region 0?

I never got a region-free DVD player, but since the region encoding on Blu-rays is, so far, not quite as "noose tight" as DVD is, I'd like to take advantage of any titles from outside the U.S. that will play fine on my current system.
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post #2 of 19
2/21/08 at 10:42am

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

I don't know of such a source, but a comprehensive Blu-ray Disc import thread would be highly useful. Perhaps we could start one right here?

Additionally, I'm not sure that there are any PAL BDs. I do not believe the NTSC/PAL distinction matters anymore in the world of HD. I could be wrong about that however.

From my own collection, I have the following titles that fit your above requirements:

Almost Famous: Extended Edition
Company of Wolves, The
Starship Troopers
Transformers: The Movie

These are all UK imports.
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post #3 of 19
2/21/08 at 11:01am
Thread Starter 

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

Hmm...ALMOST FAMOUS...see, that's the kind of stuff I need to know!
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post #4 of 19
2/21/08 at 11:02am

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

Look here: Blu-Ray Region Code Info

NTSC and PAL don't exist anymore in HD.
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post #5 of 19
2/21/08 at 12:20pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny_N
Look here: Blu-Ray Region Code Info

NTSC and PAL don't exist anymore in HD.

Very informative, thanks, and I truly didn't know that about the whole NTSC/PAL issue...does that mean that traditionally PAL countries no longer have to worry about its dreaded "speed up" issue?
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post #6 of 19
2/21/08 at 12:36pm

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

That's correct. HD doesn't have the framerate issues that PAL/NTSC does.
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post #7 of 19
2/21/08 at 2:40pm

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

I just read a review for Capricorn One on Blu. Its a non region encoded disc from Europe. Thats the kind of stuff i want. So i can retire my old non anamorphic Artisan DVD from 98!
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post #8 of 19
2/21/08 at 3:35pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

Quote:
Originally Posted by RickER
I just read a review for Capricorn One on Blu. Its a non region encoded disc from Europe. Thats the kind of stuff i want. So i can retire my old non anamorphic Artisan DVD from 98!

Holy sh#t! Where can I get ahold of that bad boy?
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post #9 of 19
2/21/08 at 3:40pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny_N

Is there anything with this site that denotes which versions (when multiples are available across the regions) are superior?
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post #10 of 19
2/21/08 at 8:09pm

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Travis Brashear
Holy sh#t! Where can I get ahold of that bad boy?

I wish i knew. The review is on DVDTALK. At the end of the review it has a link, "where to buy Capricorn One on Blu-ray", and that went no place. I might have to try Amazon.uk, see if they have it.
The review was very positive, but the jacket art didnt get a damn thing right as far as what was on the disc, according to the review.

Amazon.uk has it.
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post #11 of 19
2/22/08 at 10:14am

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

Sendit.com - Try Here.
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post #12 of 19
2/22/08 at 10:56am

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Arnette

Additionally, I'm not sure that there are any PAL BDs. I do not believe the NTSC/PAL distinction matters anymore in the world of HD. I could be wrong about that however.


Yes, HDTV is its own format, and that format has been accepted world wide. So other than region coding, there are no limitations on importing blu-ray from anywhere in the world.

By the way, an HDTV will display both pal and ntsc formatted DVDs as long as you have a region free dvd player that will play one or the other or both formats. Pal need not be converted to ntsc or the other way around by the player.

Doug
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post #13 of 19
2/22/08 at 11:47am

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

not quite that simple though - although not implemented on the relevant releases (which have been converted) European HDTV material will almost certainly be 25p or 50i.

So far all of the BBC releases have been converted to 24p or 60i
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post #14 of 19
2/22/08 at 3:03pm

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Duncan Harvey
not quite that simple though - although not implemented on the relevant releases (which have been converted) European HDTV material will almost certainly be 25p or 50i.

So far all of the BBC releases have been converted to 24p or 60i

And that means what when talking about Blu-ray from another region playing in U.S. players?
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post #15 of 19
2/25/08 at 8:17am

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

By the way, an HDTV will display both pal and ntsc formatted DVDs as long as you have a region free dvd player that will play one or the other or both formats. Pal need not be converted to ntsc or the other way around by the player.

Doug

I don't think this is true,
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post #16 of 19
3/3/08 at 5:30am

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

I ordered both "Capricorn One" and "The Eagle Has Landed" on BD from Amazon.co.uk; the cost was approximately $30 per disc including air mail shipping. I'm looking forward to them as replacements for the really inferior standard DVDs. They should be here later this week.
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post #17 of 19
3/3/08 at 8:04am

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

You will be able to playe BDs from Europe UNLESS they're coded for another region than Region A.

PAL/NTSC etc. issues no longer exists. I still have to meet the first 24fps/50fps issue: non-existing here (my HD TV set solves this through the HDMI interface). I'm not totally sure how TV sets in the US behave in this respect, but I doubt there could be a problem.

However, the Region Coding is a serious one, although there's a rumour that "hacks" are already availably for several of the players.

Capricorn One is available from Amazon UK, Germany and France, as well as Play-dot-com, all at about the same prices: £15 or € 22. Beware the bad dollar rate, BTW: it just went down several points again.
( €1 = $1.51; £1 = €1.38; £1 = $2)


Cees
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post #18 of 19
3/3/08 at 8:10am

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

Here's a great list of region coding. Pretty much it's Fox using it.

Blu-Ray Region Code Info
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post #19 of 19
3/3/08 at 6:15pm

Re: Question: Blu-Ray Titles from Outside the U.S. that Work in U.S. Players?

George, let me know what you think when you get Capricorn One. Its on my wish list. I got my finger on the trigger!
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