Philips DVP642 DIVX and Macrovision free

[wulf109]

Compusa is selling this player for $69.00,it plays DIVX and it is macrovision free out of the box. Macrovision free DVD players are a rare item these days.

[lets]

I don't think it's macrovision free. I tried to make analog recording to my Toshiba RD-X2 (dvd recorder with hard drive) and I got the error message.

[jntaylor63]

If you are thinking about this player, do to the hardware forums at divx.com The owners are raving about it. It looks like a great DVD / MPEG4 player and cheap!

I think that I may ditch my X-card and get one.

[wulf109]

It is macrovision free. Digital recorders,HD or DVD,have Digital copy protection in addition to macrovision. No macrovision means you can to a VHS vcr but not to a digital recorder of any kind.

[FulciLives]

I would like a DVD player that can do DivX and Xvid but I also have a lot of PAL DVD discs and since I live in the USA and only have a NTSC TV it is important for me to also be region free with PAL to NTSC conversion.

I know most other Philips DVD players do PAL to NTSC and can be "hacked" to be made region free.

Does anyone have any info on this in regards to the DVP642 ?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[lets]

Digital recorders,HD or DVD,have Digital copy protection in addition to macrovision.

Thank you, I didn't know about this.

[FulciLives]

Digital recorders,HD or DVD,have Digital copy protection in addition to macrovision.

Thank you, I didn't know about this.

It is called CGMS/A and most of the DVD players that can be made MACROVISION FREE still pass the CGMS/A signal ... so you can copy to a VHS VCR for instance but not a stand alone DVD recorder.

A full frame TBC will allow you to copy as it will filter out both MACROVISION and CGMS/A

The AVT-8710 by AV TOOLBOX can do this as well as the DataVideo TBC-1000 which can be bought from a variety of places such as VIDEOGUYS.COM

If you have a stand alone DVD recorder and need to copy from a DVD player or even from pre-record VHS tapes then such a TBC device is almost essential.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[wulf109]

There are a few DVD players that will defeat digital copy protection. The Apex AD-500W with upgraded firmware chip disables macro and digital protection. I believe,but not sure the Sampo 612 also,but not the 612N.

[FulciLives]

There are a few DVD players that will defeat digital copy protection. The Apex AD-500W with upgraded firmware chip disables macro and digital protection. I believe,but not sure the Sampo 612 also,but not the 612N.

So does the Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 which is the only DVD player that does PAL to NTSC correctly which also can disable both MACROVISION and CGMS/A

I have one and it is GREAT but it is sometimes (not often) tempramental with certain discs so that is why I want another model/make that can do region free PAL to NTSC ... this way between the two I can hopefully play ALL discs without problems.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[coyote]

I just picked up this baby yesterday at a Compusa in Manhattan (they seemed to have many in stock) and so far..the only problems I had were with older divx3 files......the video played but not the audio.

When reading the directories of discs the drive is a little loud. When playing the video though...its as quiet as I would expect from a player that is as thin as it is.

The remote is kinda sucky...but for $69....I'm not exactly complaining.

I still have to test whether it will play a pal disc correctly on my set. I only have one and its region coded

Did anyone figure out a hack for this player yet?

[next]

I just picked up this baby yesterday at a Compusa in Manhattan (they seemed to have many in stock) and so far..the only problems I had were with older divx3 files......the video played but not the audio.

When reading the directories of discs the drive is a little loud. When playing the video though...its as quiet as I would expect from a player that is as thin as it is.

The remote is kinda sucky...but for $69....I'm not exactly complaining.

I still have to test whether it will play a pal disc correctly on my set. I only have one and its region coded

Did anyone figure out a hack for this player yet?

I'm cautioning my comments here because I do not wish to create a trend.

I did an exchange with this unit because of a grinding sound from the drive (noted previously). The second unit did not display the same sound.