Question:
Hi there,
I have just bought an american friend a copy of 'The Office' from the airport on the way out to see her. She was going to replace her DVD player anyway but on asking her local dealer was told that it is illeagal to sell multi region players in the US. So, it looks like there is no chance of the Yanks getting a taste of top Brit comedy!
Can anyone elaborate on this situation?
Is it possible to hack the remote to overcome this?
Look forward to hearing from you - many thanks,
Ben
Have you got the make and model number? most of them have ways of making them multi region.
The same way we watch Region 1 I would imagine. Either via a remote hack, or chipping the DVD player.
There are a couple of complications. Most US TVs cannot support PAL in any way. They're 60Hz NTSC only. This means some form of conversion is necersary.
http://www.dvdoverseas.com/ supply a range of products
Just go to a good search engine, type in DVD HACKS, and you will get a load of websites, i did my own one.
My one was easy a couple of key presses on the remote and it was done, some are a little harder and you might need to get a new remote for the player, but this is only once in a blue moon.
Trust me making most DVD players multi region is dead easy.
And selling MR dvd players in america is illegal??
Learn something new every day.:confused:
only problem she will have is watching it as most dvd players and tvs cant display pal pictures where as uk players can do both pal & ntsc. best bet would be to view on a pc
dam phill beat me to it;)
Originally posted by KierO
And selling MR dvd players in america is illegal??Probably salesman crap.
I think the same would be said here by our Dixons salesman, but to be perfectly honest I assume any player in reality can be modified to play MR, some already MR ready.
Manufacturers cant sell multiregion DVD players and still keep the DVD symbol on their product, theres nothing illigal about changing that after sale, and theres nothing illigal or wrong about manufacturers making it easy to change:)
As for US playing R2, as has been stated PAL will be a problem - most US kit cant cope with it.
There ARE some DVD players that will do PAL->NTSC but, not caring, I dont know which.
As already stated there is more than one issue to consider :
1) Your friends DVD player needs to be multi region so it can play Region 2 DVDs as well as Region 1 DVDs - it also needs to be able to play PAL format DVDs and not just NTSC ones
Making it mutli region may not be enough if it cannot play PAL format DVDs
2) As already mentioned your friends TV may not accept the PAL signal coming out of the DVD player - I believe you can buy PAL to NTSC converters to address this issue - perhaps some DVD players do this automatically ?
Im no expert so maybe someone wcan provide a more definative reply
So my Pioneer is effectively an illegal product? It was MR out of the box....I'm pressuming that it has been modified before sale, but wouldn't that invalidate the warranty?
Originally posted by danielsesay
Probably salesman crap.
I think the same would be said here by our Dixons salesman, but to be perfectly honest I assume any player in reality can be modified to play MR, some already MR ready.
I once asked in Dixons if a DVD player was multi regional, and the salesman smiled and said it wasn't as they were not allowed to sell multi region DVD's, he continued to smile, and asked if I knew that DVD's could be made multi regional. Confirmed I did, and he just said that there wouldn't be any problems with the machine I had just asked about.
Note - Would like to add that I obviously didn't buy a DVD player from Dixons, I'm not that stupid!
It is not possible. Their DVD players (if not bought here) can't play PAL DVDs even if they are multiregion. They can play Japanese NTSC region 2 though
Originally posted by danielsesay
So my Pioneer is effectively an illegal product? It was MR out of the box....I'm pressuming that it has been modified before sale, but wouldn't that invalidate the warranty?
Nope - no multi-region player is illigal, a manufacturer has to agree to single region in order to be able to put the DVD logo on the player.
Your Player will have been modified at some point but may be warrentied by the manufacturer if software mod, or retaielr if hardware.
Originally posted by GCfreako
It is not possible. Their DVD players (if not bought here) can't play PAL DVDs even if they are multiregion. They can play Japanese NTSC region 2 though
Not true, there ARE players and TV's in the US which can deal with PAL, and someplayers than will convert PAL to NTSC. there often higehr end or more expensive, but they exist.
If you follw the link I posted, you'll find loads of players that can do the conversion and TV's that'll handle any signal.
I think some player called Mallato has a good reputation as it has some kind of vertical scalling which can be a problem apparently.
Region X? Is there an equivalent of that in the US?
Originally posted by GCfreako
It is not possible. Their DVD players (if not bought here) can't play PAL DVDs even if they are multiregion. They can play Japanese NTSC region 2 though Amy has a toshiba something-or-other that's multiregion and does PAL conversion.
well if the worst comes to the worst can she watch it on a PC?
These are all region free, and will provide onboard PAL to NTSC conversions.
http://www.dvdoverseas.com/store/index.html?catalog86_0.html
The best bet is one of the JVC models. The problem with the others is that they don't put letterboxes on anamorphic 16:9 footage when viewed on a 4:3 TV, making a very long, tall image that looks BAD - the JVC definitely does the job, and also produces the best converted picture.
The Office, btw, is in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen.
As for the PC option - yes, that will work, but not if the drive has been locked onto Region 1. Most of them only allow you to swap region five times before locking.
Moving to Hardware Forum...
Oh and I use a Malata player which I got from HK Flix, great piece of kit for playing PAL discs on NTSC TV's :)
Originally posted by Grandmaster
The best bet is one of the JVC models. The problem with the others is that they don't put letterboxes on anamorphic 16:9 footage when viewed on a 4:3 TV, making a very long, tall image that looks BAD - the JVC definitely does the job, and also produces the best converted picture.
The Office, btw, is in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen.
The Malata actually does a slightly better job than the JVC from what I have read as it has fully independant X-Y scaling to make sure that everything can be kept in the correct aspect ratio.
Thanks all,
That's a speedy response!
So, to summarise the situation.
1. There may be a hack for US home market dvd players to enable them to play region 2 discs.
2. My friend would need to ensure that the new player supported PAL format or would have to purchase a converter
3. My friend would need to ensure her TV supported PAL format.
4. US Salesman may be blatant liars!
5. Need to be wary of the picture format to TV screen compatability WS, Ana, 4.3 etc
6. If all else fails - watch it on the PC.
Thanks for all your help, and the useful links..
Film quote..."I'll be back..."
Cheers
ben
Jeez I cant beleive some of the tosh posted here....multi region is frowned on by the motion picture bods...but it can be done easily -
FACT - Toshiba sell in the USA - there upper range TVs output NTSC and PAL.....and so do their DVD players !
I knwo my mate has a tosh and played a region 2 DVD I sent him :O)
Originally posted by Celtic
FACT - Toshiba sell in the USA - there upper range TVs output NTSC and PAL.....and so do their DVD players !
FACT: Toshiba's top of the range TV's DO NOT support PAL as I was looking for one that did and the only ones I found were the $15k Pioneer Elites unless you went down to CRT or over to Plasma. 99.9% of all RPTV's sold here do not support PAL and a very high percentage of CRT's don't either (although some of the higher end ones do) but WalMart were welling a cheap $99 TV a while back which actually supported PAL :nuts: Was on 19" and I didn't need one but a collegue got one at work and proved it worked with some of my PAL DVD's.
I did a huge amount of research into playing PAL discs here in the US and the Malata was the best option unless you bought one of the TV's mentioned above.
I may be being a bit thick (and I think I once new the reason and have forgot!) but why don't the likes of Dixons etc sell multiregion dvd players? presumabley they can't be happy at the thought of losing sales etc to Richer Sounds / online shops etc...
Originally posted by bencartwright
Thanks all,
That's a speedy response!
So, to summarise the situation.
1. There may be a hack for US home market dvd players to enable them to play region 2 discs.
2. My friend would need to ensure that the new player supported PAL format or would have to purchase a converter
3. My friend would need to ensure her TV supported PAL format.
4. US Salesman may be blatant liars!
5. Need to be wary of the picture format to TV screen compatability WS, Ana, 4.3 etc
6. If all else fails - watch it on the PC.
Thanks for all your help, and the useful links..
Film quote..."I'll be back..."
Cheers
ben
Er, yes, or you could just get the JVC player I pointed out in my previous post which will *definitely* sort your friend out. Sounds to me like there's a lot of variables that could cause it all to go horrendously wrong.
errr Kryten - go for the WD32 From Toshiba....I have it and it has an option for NTSC or PAL....and I can quite happily change form one ot other or auto....I am looking at it right now !!!
then again maybe 32 inches isnt big enough for you ;O)
Originally posted by Celtic
errr Kryten - go for the WD32 From Toshiba....I have it and it has an option for NTSC or PAL....and I can quite happily change form one ot other or auto....I am looking at it right now !!!
then again maybe 32 inches isnt big enough for you ;O)
32" is not a high-end TV (its CRT too). I stated that some of the higher end CRT's do support it, but I wanted RPTV only (I have a 47" WS Panny).
EDIT: Also you are in the UK and the US TV's are different.
look ok youve forced my hand here...I will sell you mine for £10000....faie enough ??
:O)
Originally posted by Celtic
look ok youve forced my hand here...I will sell you mine for £10000....faie enough ??
:O)
:D I would have got a Tosh or Sony if going CRT though as they do support PAL over here, but the RP's don't :( and I wanted a big screen TV ;)
Originally posted by bencartwright
Thanks all,
That's a speedy response!
So, to summarise the situation.
1. There may be a hack for US home market dvd players to enable them to play region 2 discs.
2. My friend would need to ensure that the new player supported PAL format or would have to purchase a converter
3. My friend would need to ensure her TV supported PAL format.
4. US Salesman may be blatant liars!
5. Need to be wary of the picture format to TV screen compatability WS, Ana, 4.3 etc
6. If all else fails - watch it on the PC.
Thanks for all your help, and the useful links..
Film quote..."I'll be back..."
Cheers
ben
1. YES
2. The DVD player MUST be able to play PAL format disks - if you have a player playing only NTSC format disks then any PAL to NTSC converter is useless as the dvd player cannot produce a signal to convert in the first place
3. Not necessarily if you have a PAL to NTSC converter i.e. the signal going into the TV is NTSC
4. No comment :)
5. Someone else can answer that one - not my forte
6. YES
I have just bought an american friend a copy of 'The Office' from the airport on the way out to see her. She was going to replace her DVD player anyway but on asking her local dealer was told that it is illeagal to sell multi region players in the US. So, it looks like there is no chance of the Yanks getting a taste of top Brit comedy!
Can anyone elaborate on this situation?
Is it possible to hack the remote to overcome this?
Look forward to hearing from you - many thanks,
Ben
Answers:
Have you got the make and model number? most of them have ways of making them multi region.
Answers:
The same way we watch Region 1 I would imagine. Either via a remote hack, or chipping the DVD player.
Answers:
There are a couple of complications. Most US TVs cannot support PAL in any way. They're 60Hz NTSC only. This means some form of conversion is necersary.
http://www.dvdoverseas.com/ supply a range of products
Answers:
Just go to a good search engine, type in DVD HACKS, and you will get a load of websites, i did my own one.
My one was easy a couple of key presses on the remote and it was done, some are a little harder and you might need to get a new remote for the player, but this is only once in a blue moon.
Trust me making most DVD players multi region is dead easy.
And selling MR dvd players in america is illegal??
Learn something new every day.:confused:
Answers:
only problem she will have is watching it as most dvd players and tvs cant display pal pictures where as uk players can do both pal & ntsc. best bet would be to view on a pc
dam phill beat me to it;)
Answers:
Originally posted by KierO
And selling MR dvd players in america is illegal??Probably salesman crap.
I think the same would be said here by our Dixons salesman, but to be perfectly honest I assume any player in reality can be modified to play MR, some already MR ready.
Answers:
Manufacturers cant sell multiregion DVD players and still keep the DVD symbol on their product, theres nothing illigal about changing that after sale, and theres nothing illigal or wrong about manufacturers making it easy to change:)
As for US playing R2, as has been stated PAL will be a problem - most US kit cant cope with it.
There ARE some DVD players that will do PAL->NTSC but, not caring, I dont know which.
Answers:
As already stated there is more than one issue to consider :
1) Your friends DVD player needs to be multi region so it can play Region 2 DVDs as well as Region 1 DVDs - it also needs to be able to play PAL format DVDs and not just NTSC ones
Making it mutli region may not be enough if it cannot play PAL format DVDs
2) As already mentioned your friends TV may not accept the PAL signal coming out of the DVD player - I believe you can buy PAL to NTSC converters to address this issue - perhaps some DVD players do this automatically ?
Im no expert so maybe someone wcan provide a more definative reply
Answers:
So my Pioneer is effectively an illegal product? It was MR out of the box....I'm pressuming that it has been modified before sale, but wouldn't that invalidate the warranty?
Answers:
Originally posted by danielsesay
Probably salesman crap.
I think the same would be said here by our Dixons salesman, but to be perfectly honest I assume any player in reality can be modified to play MR, some already MR ready.
I once asked in Dixons if a DVD player was multi regional, and the salesman smiled and said it wasn't as they were not allowed to sell multi region DVD's, he continued to smile, and asked if I knew that DVD's could be made multi regional. Confirmed I did, and he just said that there wouldn't be any problems with the machine I had just asked about.
Note - Would like to add that I obviously didn't buy a DVD player from Dixons, I'm not that stupid!
Answers:
It is not possible. Their DVD players (if not bought here) can't play PAL DVDs even if they are multiregion. They can play Japanese NTSC region 2 though
Answers:
Originally posted by danielsesay
So my Pioneer is effectively an illegal product? It was MR out of the box....I'm pressuming that it has been modified before sale, but wouldn't that invalidate the warranty?
Nope - no multi-region player is illigal, a manufacturer has to agree to single region in order to be able to put the DVD logo on the player.
Your Player will have been modified at some point but may be warrentied by the manufacturer if software mod, or retaielr if hardware.
Originally posted by GCfreako
It is not possible. Their DVD players (if not bought here) can't play PAL DVDs even if they are multiregion. They can play Japanese NTSC region 2 though
Not true, there ARE players and TV's in the US which can deal with PAL, and someplayers than will convert PAL to NTSC. there often higehr end or more expensive, but they exist.
Answers:
If you follw the link I posted, you'll find loads of players that can do the conversion and TV's that'll handle any signal.
I think some player called Mallato has a good reputation as it has some kind of vertical scalling which can be a problem apparently.
Answers:
Region X? Is there an equivalent of that in the US?
Answers:
Originally posted by GCfreako
It is not possible. Their DVD players (if not bought here) can't play PAL DVDs even if they are multiregion. They can play Japanese NTSC region 2 though Amy has a toshiba something-or-other that's multiregion and does PAL conversion.
Answers:
well if the worst comes to the worst can she watch it on a PC?
Answers:
These are all region free, and will provide onboard PAL to NTSC conversions.
http://www.dvdoverseas.com/store/index.html?catalog86_0.html
The best bet is one of the JVC models. The problem with the others is that they don't put letterboxes on anamorphic 16:9 footage when viewed on a 4:3 TV, making a very long, tall image that looks BAD - the JVC definitely does the job, and also produces the best converted picture.
The Office, btw, is in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen.
As for the PC option - yes, that will work, but not if the drive has been locked onto Region 1. Most of them only allow you to swap region five times before locking.
Answers:
Moving to Hardware Forum...
Oh and I use a Malata player which I got from HK Flix, great piece of kit for playing PAL discs on NTSC TV's :)
Answers:
Originally posted by Grandmaster
The best bet is one of the JVC models. The problem with the others is that they don't put letterboxes on anamorphic 16:9 footage when viewed on a 4:3 TV, making a very long, tall image that looks BAD - the JVC definitely does the job, and also produces the best converted picture.
The Office, btw, is in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen.
The Malata actually does a slightly better job than the JVC from what I have read as it has fully independant X-Y scaling to make sure that everything can be kept in the correct aspect ratio.
Answers:
Thanks all,
That's a speedy response!
So, to summarise the situation.
1. There may be a hack for US home market dvd players to enable them to play region 2 discs.
2. My friend would need to ensure that the new player supported PAL format or would have to purchase a converter
3. My friend would need to ensure her TV supported PAL format.
4. US Salesman may be blatant liars!
5. Need to be wary of the picture format to TV screen compatability WS, Ana, 4.3 etc
6. If all else fails - watch it on the PC.
Thanks for all your help, and the useful links..
Film quote..."I'll be back..."
Cheers
ben
Answers:
Jeez I cant beleive some of the tosh posted here....multi region is frowned on by the motion picture bods...but it can be done easily -
FACT - Toshiba sell in the USA - there upper range TVs output NTSC and PAL.....and so do their DVD players !
I knwo my mate has a tosh and played a region 2 DVD I sent him :O)
Answers:
Originally posted by Celtic
FACT - Toshiba sell in the USA - there upper range TVs output NTSC and PAL.....and so do their DVD players !
FACT: Toshiba's top of the range TV's DO NOT support PAL as I was looking for one that did and the only ones I found were the $15k Pioneer Elites unless you went down to CRT or over to Plasma. 99.9% of all RPTV's sold here do not support PAL and a very high percentage of CRT's don't either (although some of the higher end ones do) but WalMart were welling a cheap $99 TV a while back which actually supported PAL :nuts: Was on 19" and I didn't need one but a collegue got one at work and proved it worked with some of my PAL DVD's.
I did a huge amount of research into playing PAL discs here in the US and the Malata was the best option unless you bought one of the TV's mentioned above.
Answers:
I may be being a bit thick (and I think I once new the reason and have forgot!) but why don't the likes of Dixons etc sell multiregion dvd players? presumabley they can't be happy at the thought of losing sales etc to Richer Sounds / online shops etc...
Answers:
Originally posted by bencartwright
Thanks all,
That's a speedy response!
So, to summarise the situation.
1. There may be a hack for US home market dvd players to enable them to play region 2 discs.
2. My friend would need to ensure that the new player supported PAL format or would have to purchase a converter
3. My friend would need to ensure her TV supported PAL format.
4. US Salesman may be blatant liars!
5. Need to be wary of the picture format to TV screen compatability WS, Ana, 4.3 etc
6. If all else fails - watch it on the PC.
Thanks for all your help, and the useful links..
Film quote..."I'll be back..."
Cheers
ben
Er, yes, or you could just get the JVC player I pointed out in my previous post which will *definitely* sort your friend out. Sounds to me like there's a lot of variables that could cause it all to go horrendously wrong.
Answers:
errr Kryten - go for the WD32 From Toshiba....I have it and it has an option for NTSC or PAL....and I can quite happily change form one ot other or auto....I am looking at it right now !!!
then again maybe 32 inches isnt big enough for you ;O)
Answers:
Originally posted by Celtic
errr Kryten - go for the WD32 From Toshiba....I have it and it has an option for NTSC or PAL....and I can quite happily change form one ot other or auto....I am looking at it right now !!!
then again maybe 32 inches isnt big enough for you ;O)
32" is not a high-end TV (its CRT too). I stated that some of the higher end CRT's do support it, but I wanted RPTV only (I have a 47" WS Panny).
EDIT: Also you are in the UK and the US TV's are different.
Answers:
look ok youve forced my hand here...I will sell you mine for £10000....faie enough ??
:O)
Answers:
Originally posted by Celtic
look ok youve forced my hand here...I will sell you mine for £10000....faie enough ??
:O)
:D I would have got a Tosh or Sony if going CRT though as they do support PAL over here, but the RP's don't :( and I wanted a big screen TV ;)
Answers:
Originally posted by bencartwright
Thanks all,
That's a speedy response!
So, to summarise the situation.
1. There may be a hack for US home market dvd players to enable them to play region 2 discs.
2. My friend would need to ensure that the new player supported PAL format or would have to purchase a converter
3. My friend would need to ensure her TV supported PAL format.
4. US Salesman may be blatant liars!
5. Need to be wary of the picture format to TV screen compatability WS, Ana, 4.3 etc
6. If all else fails - watch it on the PC.
Thanks for all your help, and the useful links..
Film quote..."I'll be back..."
Cheers
ben
1. YES
2. The DVD player MUST be able to play PAL format disks - if you have a player playing only NTSC format disks then any PAL to NTSC converter is useless as the dvd player cannot produce a signal to convert in the first place
3. Not necessarily if you have a PAL to NTSC converter i.e. the signal going into the TV is NTSC
4. No comment :)
5. Someone else can answer that one - not my forte
6. YES
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