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International Region free Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Thomas T

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As a long time hold out on Blu, it looks like I'm going to take the plunge but I have some questions you experts can help with.

Obviously with my large collection of DVDs from all over the world (England, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Denmark, Sweden etc.) it must be a region free Blu. However, I've heard that many region free Blu players don't work as smoothly as standard DVD region free players (as in some discs won't play at all). So what has been your experience?

1. Do all standard DVDs play smoothly on your region free Blu?

2. Have you had any problems at all?

3. Are there certain brands of region free Blue I should avoid because of problems?

4. Are the ratios (1.33/1.85/2.35) adjusted automatically or must you do it manually?

5. Anything I should know before purchasing one?

Sorry if some of my questions sound dumb and thanks in advance for your help.
 

Robin9

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In my experience . . . and please note I am not a techno-nerd obsessed with mastering all new technology:
1. Do all standard DVDs play smoothly on your region free Blu?
This depends on the machine you have made region free. Some Blu-ray player can be converted to play "foreign" DVDs automatically. Other Blu-ray players need to be adjusted each time by punching in a code in exactly the same way as for Blu-ray discs. My strong advice is that as you already have a region-free DVD player, keep it! Do not regard it as redundant. I still watch DVDs on my Oppo DV-981.
2. Have you had any problems at all?
Not that I can think of.
3. Are there certain brands of region free Blue I should avoid because of problems?
I've had no problems with any discs. A point to remember about Blu-ray is that the protection codes on discs are changed frequently so that an old Blu-ray player cannot play all the latest discs without first being updated or replaced. In that sense Blu-ray is a pain in the . . . .. DVD is so much simpler!
4. Are the ratios (1.33/1.85/2.35) adjusted automatically or must you do it manually?
A Blu-ray player will automatically adjust for aspect ratios on Blu-ray discs but for DVDs it is often necessary to adjust manually either the player or the display device.
5. Anything I should know before purchasing one?
Yes. The picture quality of players from mainstream manufacturers is pretty much the same. Buy from a mainstream manufacturer and you'll be on safe ground. Oh yes, one other thing: if you have a large TV or projector, once you have gone Blue, there's no going back!
 

Thomas T

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Thanks for the feedback, Robin.

I'm really not interested in blu-ray but my reason for going blu is that so many "wide screen" movies in my collection are not anamorphic but 4x3 letterbox. Titles like Annie Hall, The Abyss, Barry Lyndon, The American President, Darling and Bullets Over Broadway to name just five apparently have never been released 16x9 on standard DVD. I've noticed that many titles on blu are anamorphic that aren't on anamorphic on standard DVD. Of course, many titles are available in anamorphic editions in regions 2 or 4.

But that's my main reason to caving in on blu, anamorphic titles not HD. Frankly, I have zero interest in seeing every thread on Gable's buttons in GWTW. I dislike the look of HD, standard DVD is good enough for me. If only the anamorphic titles were available, I'd still be holding out.
 

schan1269

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Then...why do you need a BD player at all?Toshiba BD players, out of the box, can be set region 0 DVD. They are still region A BD though.I have an Orei BD(There is thread). I too still have separate region DVD players.Three of them, Oppo 970, Pio 420 and Elite 49 produce better scaled images than any of my BD players.And, those three have picture controls(including aspect) That the BD players do not have.
 

Sumnernor

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I live in Germany. There are some BRs made by the BBC whick are 50 cycle. Do a search for the name "Attenborough" on Amaz-GB. Some of those BRs are 50 cycle and region free but will probably NOT work on a US set. Most TVs here can take PAL and NTSC and 50/60 cycle. Because there are some BRs that have only "A" I need a region free player such as made near Chicago. Look at www.220-electronics.com Tel 847-640.9000. I have a modified play from this company the BP325W and have had no problems. In regards to the 50 cycle disks, they wrote me that the software converts this so that and disk will play on any TV. The TV must have digital input NOT a tube TV.
 

Robin9

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schan1269 said:
I too still have separate region DVD players. Three of them, Oppo 970, Pio 420 and Elite 49 produce better scaled images than any of my BD players.
Yes, I'd like to endorse this. Although modern Blu-ray players are quite good with DVD, they are still not as good as the best DVD only players. Which is why I still use my Oppo DV-981.
 

Robert Crawford

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Robin9 said:
Yes, I'd like to endorse this. Although modern Blu-ray players are quite good with DVD, they are still not as good as the best DVD only players. Which is why I still use my Oppo DV-981.
I have a hard time believing that most people can tell the difference playing a DVD with an Oppo 103 upconverted and Oppo DV-981.
 

schan1269

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That isn't Apple to Apple's RC...The OP doesn't have that BD player...and probably isn't in that market, especially region free.
 

Richard V

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Robert Crawford said:
I have a hard time believing that most people can tell the difference playing a DVD with an Oppo 103 upconverted and Oppo DV-981.
I can't compare them side by side (I have never owned an Oppo DV-981, but DO own an Oppo 103), but I agree with Robert on this point. My DVDs on the Oppo 103 are spectacular.
 

Ernest

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I own Toshiba, LG and Momitsu region-Free Blu-ray players as well as many Region 2 DVD's and Region B Blu-ray and have never experienced a problem playing any non region 1 DVD or region A Blu-ray. I have purchased my Region-Free Blu-ray players from 220 electronics who guarantee they will work and they do work.

Because DVD Region codes are 1-9 0 works as a wild card. Once any of my players are set to 0 I never have to make any further adjustments. Just pop in the DVD regardless of the region code and it plays. Blu-ray region codes are A, B, C there is no wild card so you have to manually change the code when necessary. A word of caution for Blu-ray. Some covers will state the region code while others won't. Even then the information can be wrong. You never know what the region code is until you pop the disc in your player. Sometimes the Blu-ray will load and play perfectly. Other times you will receive an error message the player and Blu-ray region codes are not equal. You take the disc out of the tray enter into the setup menu to change the region code. Pop the disc back in the tray and it plays perfectly.

Also Region-free Blu-ray players have large video converters (128 mb) allowing them to play PAL DVD's in real time. There is no speed up that exists with older region-free DVD players with small memory video converters. My advise is if you are interested in buying a region-free Blu-ray player buy it from a company that specializes in selling them. With 220 if you have a question you can speak with their technical department who will be able to help you out. Good luck.
 

schan1269

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I've always used Bombay. They, like 220, are in Chicago with a real store front.They both sell in person, their own site, Amazon and Ebay.
 

Robin9

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Robert Crawford said:
I have a hard time believing that most people can tell the difference playing a DVD with an Oppo 103 upconverted and Oppo DV-981.
That may be true but Thomas T has not said he is going to buy an Oppo 103. He is asking for general advice.
 

Robert Crawford

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Robin9 said:
That may be true but Thomas T has not said he is going to buy an Oppo 103. He is asking for general advice.
I don't expect him to buy the Oppo 103 as indicated by his disdain for HD, why would he spend that amount of cash on a BD player.
 

Thomas T

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Thanks for all the feedback which has given me much to ponder. Right now I'm looking at a Samsung BD-F5100E region free Blu which seems to have gotten unanimous thumbs up from the Amazon reviews I've read so I've put it in my cart ... for later.
 

Sumnernor

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I am not familiar with the Oppo 103 or the Oppo DV-981.. I assume they can read "region Free" DVDs and Blue rays BUT can it read and play on a US TV a 50 cycle region free disk. See my post earlier (post 5). The 50 cycle has nothing to do with "a good quality" player and many region free players may not be able to play on a US TV 50 cycle disks.

For example see "http://www.amazon.co.uk/Africa-Blu-ray-David-Attenborough/dp/B00AF1H8D6/ref=pd_cp_d_h__1"
 

Persianimmortal

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classicmovieguy said:
Does anybody here know of a good quality, reasonably-priced region free Blu-ray player in Australia???
From what I saw while researching, you can either have a good quality region free player, or a reasonably priced but crap one (e.g. Soniq or Kogan brand), but not both in Australia. I went for an expensive chip modded imported US Panasonic unit. But if you don't want to spend a lot of money, you can obtain an "enhanced firmware" for any standard Aussie Panasonic Blu-ray player to make it region free by going through the convoluted "donation" process at this site. It apparently works as advertised based on the feedback I've seen on various forums.
 

AndyMcKinney

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Robin9 said:
Yes, I'd like to endorse this. Although modern Blu-ray players are quite good with DVD, they are still not as good as the best DVD only players. Which is why I still use my Oppo DV-981.
Not entirely true. All Oppo blu-ray players (except for the BDP-80) have theexact same (in the BDP-83) or better (all subsequent models) scaler that you'd find inside the DV-981. I know the OP isn't looking for an Oppo, but I felt this slight bit of misinformation should be directly addressed. If you have an Oppo BDP-830 or above, there's no reason to watch DVDs on a DVD player



I am not familiar with the Oppo 103 or the Oppo DV-981.. I assume they can read "region Free" DVDs and Blue rays BUT can it read and play on a US TV a 50 cycle region free disk. See my post earlier (post 5). The 50 cycle has nothing to do with "a good quality" player and many region free players may not be able to play on a US TV 50 cycle disks.
All Oppo blu-ray players can "do it all". They can play back 50hz discs on a "60hz-only" television (by converting them to 60hz inside the player) and you may also choose to output the discs at their native 50hz frame-rate if your TV can support it (such as all Aquos TVs made by Sharp). It's all controlled by having your "output system" set to either NTSC (for 60hz-only TVs) or multi-system (for multi-sync TVs). It can also be set to PAL (for 50hz-only TVs) for anyone who would need that, though as you say, outside North America, most TVs are multi-system anyway.

There is a list on another forum detailing which US blu-ray players are compatible with 50hz discs and which are not (and it also tells whether they output the discs at 50hz, 60hz, or if you can choose). It is located here.
 

Keith Cobby

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I have recently bought a Panasonic BDT-230 code free DVD/blu-ray player. I am very pleased with it and the only thing it doesn't play (unlike all my other UK Panasonic players) are DVD-RAM discs.
 

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