How to keep "0" setting on DVD player permanent?

[reeser]

I just bought a Koss KS4122 DVD player & changed the region code from "1" to "0". I am able to watch my region 1 DVDs from N. America and region 2 DVDs from the UK. My question is about keeping this capability permanently. If I unplug it, will it revert to the default settings? I've heard that DVD players can only be set to region free a limited number of times.

Previous to this purchase, I used a Malata 393A for my region 2 DVDs (after setting it to region free) , but after unhooking it from the cables to my TV for a while, and then hooking it up again a few months later, the screen flickered so much that I couldn't read the menu any longer.

Does anyone know if unhooking the cables to the TV or even simply unplugging a DVD player will cause it to revert to its' default settings? I'd like to keep the Koss at its' current "0" setting, but don't want to lose this setting if I have to unplug it occasionally. Thanks.

[jman98]

Your player should keep the region setting in memory and not reset when it loses power, unless the player was badly designed. DVD drives with standard firmware can only be changed 5 times before they lock on a region, but there should be no limit to changing regions on a standalone player with firmware that allows you to change it. It's all a function of firmware. If the Koss lets you change regions at all, then you don't have to worry about this.

You might not want to permanently set your Koss to region 0 even if you can. The reason is that many region 1 DVDs use a bogus region control mechanism to prevent region 0 players from playing the discs. In those cases, you will have to set your region to 1 to play these discs. I think it's called "RCE" for this control mechanism. I believe the mechanism works like this:

DVD to player - "I'm region 2. Can you play me?"
Player to DVD - "Yes I can." (meaning the player is either region 0 or region 2 and thus NOT a region 1 player.)
DVD to player - "I lied!!! I'm really region 1. I'm refusing to let you play me now."
and you can't play the disc.

[hexxisoft]

that is the most amusing dialogue ive ever seen.

[reeser]

Hi jman98 - thanks for your input. Your DVD/player dialogue is hysterically funny, and illustrates regional control mechanisms quite clearly.

As for firmware - well, I don't know if my Koss has limits for changing regions or not. If anyone knows how to find out, other than risking changing the regions on the player 5 times, I'd love to know. So far, I've only hacked it once, changing it from region "1" to "0".

I'll mainly be using this player for DVDs from the UK and Australia, so for now I'm just going to leave it as is. I like to unplug electronic equipment that I'm not using for long periods, so I hope you're right about that part of my question. And in the near future I'll probalby get a DVD recorder/player, so that means unhooking from my only TV occasionally (unless I can find one that will play the DVDs I play on the Koss).

I recently put a DVD player on my computer & will use that for watching region 1 DVDs. The quality is so much better on my MultiSync 22" monitor anyway.