Question about region free DVD players

F1nut
F1nut Posts: 50,813
edited January 2007 in Electronics
I need a region free (0-6) DVD player that will do PAL and NTSC with an built in video converter. I don't need or want Blu-Ray or HD capabilities.

I'm looking for suggestions and/or any knowledge one may have concerning these region free players, price isn't a concern.
Political Correctness'.........defined

"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

President of Club Polk

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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited January 2007
    I think the Cambridge 540 is. I remember my manual and setup menus having both formats listed.
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,813
    edited January 2007
    Thanks. Do you know if it has the built in video converter?

    I checked their website, it mentions that it plays PAL/NTSC, but nothing about the video converter. If your manual doesn't say anything about it, I'll contact them.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited January 2007
    OK, not sure if I understand what you are looking for, but the manual says:

    TV Type: The DVD player can be set for either a European PAL television or for an NTSC unit. Alternatively AUTO will allow the DVD to adjust automatically, following the TV format of the DVD disc.

    The manual doesn't have a lot of information in it.
    DKG999
    HT System: LSi9, LSiCx2, LSiFX, LSi7, SVS 20-39 PC+, B&K 507.s2 AVR, B&K Ref 125.2, Tripplite LCR-2400, Cambridge 650BD, Signal Cable PC/SC, BJC IC, Samsung 55" LED

    Music System: Magnepan 1.6QR, SVS SB12+, ARC pre, Parasound HCA1500 vertically bi-amped, Jolida CDP, Pro-Ject RM5.1SE TT, Pro-Ject TubeBox SE phono pre, SBT, PS Audio DLIII DAC
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  • Polk65
    Polk65 Posts: 1,405
    edited January 2007
    http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

    Search for a model of your liking and read the comments. Some play NTSC and PAL discs by default. Others can be unlocked with a code sent by the remote or a service disc.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,813
    edited January 2007
    Ok, apparently some DVD players can play both PAL/NTSC, but need an external video converter to be viewed on either type of TV system. Others play PAL/NTSC and include the video converter. I'll contact Cambridge, thanks again.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,813
    edited January 2007
    Interesting link, I'll give it a good look. Thanks.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • Polk65
    Polk65 Posts: 1,405
    edited January 2007
    Here's another. Tick the Multisystem PAL/NTSC box on the lower right then the search button up top.

    http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php
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  • okiepolkie
    okiepolkie Posts: 2,258
    edited January 2007
    The Cambridge 540 has been replaced wite the DVD87 and
    DVD89, which are both region free players. I know a couple guys at tech support if you need any help.
    Tschüss
    Zach
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,813
    edited January 2007
    Thanks Zach. The only thing I need to know is do they include the video converter.

    I've found a bunch of players, but hardly any of them say anything about having the converter built in, very frustrating.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • Toka78
    Toka78 Posts: 192
    edited January 2007
    I recently bought a Toshiba SD-K760SU player for mother so she could watch some BBC programs that aren't available on DVD in Region 1/NTSC...while the manual makes no mention of any conversion (legal issue?), it played a Region 2/PAL DVD with no problems. Also, the following link has some players listed which mention a built-in converter (can't vouch for the vendor, FWIW):

    http://www.regioncodefreedvd.com/dvdorig.html
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  • okiepolkie
    okiepolkie Posts: 2,258
    edited January 2007
    I'll email them in the morning to see if they can shed a little light on the subject.
    Tschüss
    Zach
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  • Ferres
    Ferres Posts: 310
    edited January 2007
    I think most current dvd players can do both pal and ntsc. You just need to select a proper output source if you're using older crt TV's. If it's a flat panel type it won't matter anymore, it should support both.

    Regarding region coding, there are players, probably a lot of them that has a kind of cheatcode to bypass the region locks. This requires the open tray thing.
    Gear: Rotel RC 1082, Rotel RSP 1068 pre/pro, Rotel RMB1077 amp, Cayin CDT 15a CD player, S301 bluray.

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  • Billm57
    Billm57 Posts: 689
    edited January 2007
    F1nut wrote:
    I need a region free (0-6) DVD player that will do PAL and NTSC with an built in video converter. I don't need or want Blu-Ray or HD capabilities.

    I'm looking for suggestions and/or any knowledge one may have concerning these region free players, price isn't a concern.

    these guys rock..the website shouts schlocky outfit but they do a good job..
    my player from them is going on 3 years now..they do a good job
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  • Billm57
    Billm57 Posts: 689
    edited January 2007
    F1nut wrote:
    I need a region free (0-6) DVD player that will do PAL and NTSC with an built in video converter. I don't need or want Blu-Ray or HD capabilities.

    I'm looking for suggestions and/or any knowledge one may have concerning these region free players, price isn't a concern.

    these guys rock..the website shouts schlocky outfit but they do a good job..
    my player from them is going on 3 years now..they do a good job

    www.220-electronics.com
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,813
    edited January 2007
    LOL....I found a few more "shouts schlocky outfit" sites. They all seem to be around the Chicago area, which is interesting. I wonder if they are all related somehow?

    I found this Pioneer DV-696AV-S unit that looks pretty good, going to call them tomorrow as I have a few addtional questions. It appears from my research that the Pioneer unit above is very popular in England and "Down under."

    http://www.samstores.com/details.asp?ProdID=6700
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • PolkWannabie
    PolkWannabie Posts: 2,763
    edited January 2007
    The Oppo 981 while not an out of the box region free unit has a cheat from the remote detailed by the manufacturer to remove the restriction ... I think the 970/971 have this as well but am not positive ...

    It is also PAL & NTSC capable ...
    Rick
    HT+ Sunfire TG IV, Dual CG Sig II's, CinePro 1K2, Oppo 981, Audio Technica PL120, Polk SRT's & F/X1000's, Samsung 71" DLP
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,813
    edited January 2007
    I was looking at those too. I saw that they all are PAL & NTSC capable with the converter built in, but it didn't say anything about region free, so thanks for that info about the cheat. The 970 seems to have what I'm looking for, but that yellow display....ugh.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • PolkWannabie
    PolkWannabie Posts: 2,763
    edited January 2007
    I have never seen or used the 970 ... but I have had ( and sold ) the 971 in favor of the 981 I have now ...

    It is IMHO a decent inexpensive upscaling DVD player w/CD, DVD-A & SACD capabilities ... and it has a more pleasing blue display & black face ...
    Rick
    HT+ Sunfire TG IV, Dual CG Sig II's, CinePro 1K2, Oppo 981, Audio Technica PL120, Polk SRT's & F/X1000's, Samsung 71" DLP
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  • dudeinaroom
    dudeinaroom Posts: 3,609
    edited January 2007
    Hey f1, I had a cheapy apex dvd player that would do both, and if you switched it from ntsc to pal the screen would get all messed up, so that might work for ya. Good luck
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,813
    edited January 2007
    PW, I agree that it seems to be a nice unit, but it's really designed for 50" or larger sets and only uses HDMI. That doesn't work for me at this time. Thank you for your help, I really do appreciate it.







    dude, The reason your screen got, "all messed up" is because the Apex didn't have a video converter built in.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,093
    edited January 2007
    What's the deal? You find a bunch of Malaysian midget **** DVD's at the Flea Market or what??

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,813
    edited January 2007
    Nah, I let Sean grab those.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,093
    edited January 2007
    Gold, Jerry, GOLD

    K. Bania
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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  • Roy Munson
    Roy Munson Posts: 886
    edited January 2007
    The Oppo 971 can be made region free by doing the following:

    1. With no disc in the tray and using the remote
    2. Press Setup on remote control to access the setup page
    3. Enter 9210 on the remote
    4. A secret menu will pop up
    5. Select 0 to 6 in region code (0 is region free)
    6. Press Setup on remote again to exit

    You're done!
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  • Billm57
    Billm57 Posts: 689
    edited January 2007
    F1nut wrote:
    LOL....I found a few more "shouts schlocky outfit" sites. They all seem to be around the Chicago area, which is interesting. I wonder if they are all related somehow?

    I found this Pioneer DV-696AV-S unit that looks pretty good, going to call them tomorrow as I have a few addtional questions. It appears from my research that the Pioneer unit above is very popular in England and "Down under."

    http://www.samstores.com/details.asp?ProdID=6700

    not sure..I can only vouch for the one I left the link for..my JVC i got from them a few years ago plays anything I throw at it region wise and plays PAL flawlessly..I will probably pickup the Pioneer upconverting one from them in a couple weeks..139 bucks...
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  • Danny Tse
    Danny Tse Posts: 5,206
    edited January 2007
    I believe the Oppo players are indeed region-free. Go to avsforum.com and look into that 100 page thread.

    Have you check the Philips 642? This is a $50.00 DVD player that should play any disc you have.
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited January 2007
    All Denon's can be region free as well with a firmware upgrade.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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