universal = region free?

[Mega2000]

are these spendy ($400+) universal players region free?

my girlfriend got me some cool DVDs for christmas but they are region 2 and I can't play them right now. If I spend big$$$ on a new universal player with they play regiou 2 DVDs as well as DVD-A, SACD and region 1 DVDs?

 

[Rex]

are these spendy ($400+) universal players region free?

my girlfriend got me some cool DVDs for christmas but they are region 2 and I can't play them right now. If I spend big$$$ on a new universal player with they play regiou 2 DVDs as well as DVD-A, SACD and region 1 DVDs?

Yes, they should be region free, but more importantly play PAL, NTSC .

 

[Rob Babcock]

Most universal players are not region free. Some can be "hacked" to play discs from other regions, but that's not a simple DIY project.

 

[Rex]

Most universal players are not region free. Some can be "hacked" to play discs from other regions, but that's not a simple DIY project.

That should be the intent of being Universal, shouldnt it? However, I just bought a Sony DVD player which I think plays all regions, but does not play PAL DVD's. ON the other hand, I briefly, before taking it back, bought a player that played all regions plus played PAL that I bought from CompUsa.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Universal in the common meaning means it plays all types of discs (ie SACD, DVD-A, Redbook CD & DVD- occasionally VCD & MP3, too). You may by some chance get one that is region free, but that's another issue. My Pioneer & Denon universals aren't region free. Click here for a map of the Code Regions.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Note: unless you consciously buy imports, pretty much everything you buy here is Region 1. A lot of import stuff is either code free or encoded for the intended market (eg a lot of import music DVDs are code free).

 

[Rex]

Note: unless you consciously buy imports, pretty much everything you buy here is Region 1. A lot of import stuff is either code free or encoded for the intended market (eg a lot of import music DVDs are code free).

That's exactly what I mean. I do on occasion buy imports from UK.
That is why I have a PAL issue, but some US players will play PAL.

 

[Rex]

Funny you mention thought that the intent of Universal is Dvd types not regions. I always thought it meant regions

 

[Mega2000]

i am not going to be buying a lot of region 2 stuff but I do like to get a lot of japanimation that is region 2 (i think) plus some England release only DVD concerts

I think I might just get a cheapo region free DVD off of eBay to play those and get a decent universal for my good movies and eventually SACDs and DVD-A's

 

[genesis471]

At least for the Denon 2910 and the 3910 you can go this route:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&postid=2476450

 

[Rex]

i am not going to be buying a lot of region 2 stuff but I do like to get a lot of japanimation that is region 2 (i think) plus some England release only DVD concerts

I think I might just get a cheapo region free DVD off of eBay to play those and get a decent universal for my good movies and eventually SACDs and DVD-A's

Yeah, the only thing Im getting from England are DVD Concerts which is mostly my concern.

 

[Rex]

At least for the Denon 2910 and the 3910 you can go this route:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&postid=2476450

I need one for Sony.

 

[Rob Babcock]

You can often get very very cheap players that are region free and play back NTSC & PAL. I got a cheapo Coby as an Xmas gift last year from the bank I worked at. Despite being a dinky psuedo-portable, it had PAL output and played back MP3, DVD-R, etc. I hooked it up on a goof and was surprised by it's wide compatibility with a huge array of media (another case of the cheapest players having the greatest tolerances for out of spec media?). It was made in Korea or China, so the fact is was code free isn't a shock- those markets have always shown a cavelier attitude towards copyright & the like.

 

[Lee_Kee_Brain]

Isn't it possible to make a copy of the disk and remove the region from it.? With all the programs out there it should work fine.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Yes of course it's possible, unless you live in the US. Certainly software such as DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink would do a superb job of stripping regional coding from the disc and would be easy to download from the web, but doing so would be a violation of the law here. So obviously none of us would do that.

 

[Mega2000]

problem w/ DVD shrink is that you can make a copy but more often than not the original DVD is dual layered and makes you compress the video to fit onto a single layer DVD-R.

I don't know if DVD shrink works w/ the new dual layered DVD-R disks and I don't even know if those DVD-R disk will even play in a commercial player. The Dual layer blanks are like $10+ anyway and not worth it for copying DVD when you can get the originals for close to the same price as one blank.

As far as I have heard is that they only play in computer DVD R/RW's, but I could be wrong.

 

[Rob Babcock]

You can use deep analysis to do "custom compression" that works very well. Most movies around 2 hours fit with little or no tinkering. I've been *told* that the movies look damn near as good as the original- but of course, I couldn't tell you. Since I like in the US, using evil software like this isn't legal. And given my deep abiding love and respect for the MPAA, I'd never do something so dastardly as making a copy of my own legally purchased DVDs.