Pros and Cons on Hardware vs Software Region-free features on DVD/Blu-ray Players

Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
My question is:

If you buy a Blu-ray player which had a Region-free software installed by a third-party seller, when an update becomes available from the manufacturer and you proceed to have the update downloaded to the player, does this action disable the region-free software that had been installed by the selling party or a distributor?

The situation should not arise when a region-free hardware module is installed, but with a software? A manufacturer could deliberately arrange to have the software inoperative after the update.

Your comments and experiences are welcome.
 
Last edited:
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
My Oppo's are 'universal' in their ability to read PAL or NTSC, but without a PAL compatible display it is a useless feature.
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
My question is:

If you buy a Blu-ray player which had a Region-free software installed by a third-party seller, when an update becomes available from the manufacturer and you proceed to have the update downloaded to the player, does this action disable the region-free software that had been installed by the selling party or a distributor?

The situation should not arise when a region-free hardware module is installed, but with a software? A manufacturer could deliberately arrange to have the software inoperative after the update.

Your comments and experiences are welcome.
Yeah, s/w is likely to get broken with a future update.

Dunno, region free just isn't as important as it used to be, considering all the streaming options today.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
My question is:

If you buy a Blu-ray player which had a Region-free software installed by a third-party seller, when an update becomes available from the manufacturer and you proceed to have the update downloaded to the player, does this action disable the region-free software that had been installed by the selling party or a distributor?

The situation should not arise when a region-free hardware module is installed, but with a software? A manufacturer could deliberately arrange to have the software inoperative after the update.

Your comments and experiences are welcome.
Yes it does. If you buy one of those players, don't even think of connecting it to the Internet.

I have one dedicated to playing out of region discs.
 
Montucky

Montucky

Full Audioholic
This is an excellent example of why I love backing up my Blu-Rays and DVDs. By doing so, you can easily do away with all the region and pal/ntsc nonsense.

If I'm not mistaken, the industry is moving away from region specific discs with 4K Blu-Ray. Hooray!
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
My Oppo's are 'universal' in their ability to read PAL or NTSC, but without a PAL compatible display it is a useless feature.
I have a BDP-95 on which I installed a region-free hardware obtained from the authorized seller, and there's no problem with the updating. I am going to keep it for playing a few Region 2 DVDs that I have.

But I won't have to look for a region-free 4K player as discs with this new format don't carry any specific region anyway.
 
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